Make my own leaf spring pack ?

Hi all. I have a 07 4wd long bed and have had the pitiful leaf spring recall done, (which made it worse) so put in the 3 leaf AAL and still have axle wrap. It really gets to me but just haven't got to the point of putting in a Dakar or Deaver spring pack due to the cost. I kept the old leaf springs when they were replaced in the recall, and being an evil genius.... I was wondering if anyone had made their own leaf spring pack out of these two entities to solve this problem?
I welcome any ideas and reviews from those who have done something like it, or have an opinion on this.

 

Making your own spring pack is common but you need to have some basic tools and fabrication know-how to do it right. Some things to consider are below:

1) Longer Center Bolts - If you are making a thicker pack you will likely need them.

2) Taking apart the leaf packs - Some have retaining clips that bolt on and others are riveted, and others are press brake formed around the pack. Whatever type you have, you will need to remove, modify, and replace once you get the new pack assembled.

3) Reassembling leafs - In many cases you will need to make the new retaining clips and figure out how to attach them to the leafs. You also need to make sure that the clips allow the proper amount of droop without putting too much pressure on the main leaf or you risk breaking the main leaf.

4) Leaf spring isolating pads - many packs now come with a rubber or poly isolating pad between the leaf ends to help noise. When you start combining different packs they will act differently then they did before and could get noisy if you don't do this.

5) Any Spring over Axle leaf pack has the tendency to cause axle wrap. Consider a half leaf on top of the pack to combat this, or look into a traction bar if it is really bad.

 

I've added leafs to a pack to increase the spring rate, similar to your 3 leaf add on. The issue with similar packs is the leafs are the same length. Ideally, you want to add leafs progressively longer in between your leafs to strengthen the pack.

 

Thank you. That's some really good information and also knowing that it's something quite a few people do is heartening. The part with adding a smaller leaf at the top of the pack is a great idea. Thanks again.

 

This is the thread you want to read. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-spring-refurbishing.194386/