Need some help with suspension upgrades

Hello all, this is my first post here. Recently i bought an 09 Tacoma TRD Offroad. My girlfriend and i are going to be spending a good part of 2025 in Alaska for her work. We'll be driving there and carrying everything we can in my truck as well as using my truck for camping trips and other outdooor adventures. Recently i bought a camper shell to give us some extra storage while we are there. With the addition of a camper shell my back sags about half an inch. I assume with the load of all our stuff it will sag even more, so i am looking to go ahead and make some suspension upgrades. Would upgrading the leafs alone to something like the icon RXT be a good idea or would i also need to grab shocks to go with that? Any help is appreciated.

 

Pairing the RXT's with fresh shocks would be a good idea, simple 5100's are everywhere and will pair perfectly with the bigger spring while keeping the budget in control.

What kind of camper shell? How heavy?

 

It is a used ATC shell. Not too sure on the weight, the guy i bought it from helped me lift it on my truck fairly easy, so maybe 150lbs. With the full load of our stuff for 6 months, I'm going to assume there will be another 500-800lbs of stuff in the truck.

 

Ya I think the RXT is a good choice for you for sure.

I just replaced a set of old leaf springs on a 2005 yesterday, it was a chore with all the rust. Hopefully yours isnt too bad.

 

Got the truck down in texas from one owner, luckily i have basically zero rust. Previous cars i have had to deal with that tho, huge PIA.

 

Very interested, would you also advise upgrading front suspension if im going to be doing rear?

 

Yea suspension upgrade has been on list of things to go ahead and do, just been waiting for the right time. With front 6112s is there a need to grab new UCAs or anything else?

 

Hmm ok, 2k isnt too bad. Nothing else i would need to get with that setup? Will stock u bolts hold rxt pack or do i need to grab bigger?

 

Word, any recommendations on notch to go with?

 

I’d add a set of Firestone airbags to the rear upgrade also.

 

Are you planning on doing much offroading? If not, you can save several hundred dollars and just go with add-a-leafs in the rear to bolster your existing leaf packs. There's no need to replace the shocks if you go that route either, although I would still replace them if they have more than (or close to) 75K on them.

The main advantage of moving to a complete aftermarket leaf pack like the RXT's (after load carrying capacity) is increased suspension travel, which you don't need, unless you really enjoy hitting the trails.

As for the 6112's in front, they are a quality off-road oriented coilover. I have them, and I love them. But if I were not driving offroad as much as I do, I would happily settle for 5100's in front, and again save myself some money, for a better interior build-out of my camper, e.g.

Final thought: If you are planning to drive offroad much, I'd skip the Firestone airbags. They limit suspension uptravel as well as downtravel, and while you can get cradles that allow the axle to move freely downward, there's no way to fix the loss of uptravel. But if you are not planning to drive offroad much, Firestone airbags are a pretty great way to dial in variable suspension stiffness on the fly, depending on your load. My truck came with them, although I eventually took them off for offroading sake, and I would be happy to sell them to you for cheap if that's the direction you decide to go.