Progressive aal retaining clip question

Interesting. Those look different from mine. That 3rd leaf (upper) is longer and the clamp is on a different leaf.

 

Interdasting.

These are 4 leaf OEM leafs from @IronPeak4x4 and 3 leaf from HeadStrong.

FWIW, I'm 99% sure my truck looked the same with the 3 leaf OEM pack and a Wheeler's 3 leaf AAL.

 

Only modification to that setup was the removal of one of the 2 rear OEM clamps, which is needed for some leaf pack versions.

 

Yeah, I had to remove that clamp also. Mine are also the oem 4 leaf. Something either changed or there are variations. If you look at the advertised pictures of the leaf packs, they look similar to the one in your picture. Clamp is attached to the upper leaf. But the ones that I have and the OPs look different from them. Clamp is attached to the 2nd leaf which puts it further back towards the axle housing.

 

Lol well thats where im at as far as thinking about leaf springs today. Thanks for the flick @DCSBFTMFW maybe cut that clamp if i can find an aftermarket one to attach to the bottom of the overload like in the pic. If thats possible. Would really like to have that gap so i know how much of the overload im using

 

Found this tho.
Factory 3 + 3 leaf aal + overload same as mine. No clamp

 

Yeah, Im wondering if thats how they use to make them, and now they make them the way ours are. Perhaps they are a slightly different type of 3 leaf. You can see the clamp was manufactured that way because of the pin rivet in the clamp.

 

Probably trying to stop fools from keeping the overload in lol

 

I just bought my 2008 in July from a dealer, and it has what appear to be brand new TSB leaf packs.(EDIT: Can now confirm my new leaf packs were installed June 2016)

I installed my Wheeler's AAL a few weeks ago, and was unable to leave my overload leaf in for the same reason. Perhaps they've changed the clamp locations on the newer production OEM springs? Or maybe there's no rhyme or reason to it...

 

Paging @Crom in here..... Few of us here in thread are debating putting back our OEM overload leafs for additional load carrying and height. I think I have read in your build that you had done the same.

Can you possibly weigh in on your overload re-install experience? Pics are always welcome . TIA

 

I have a picture I can share that was the TSB 4 leaf pack, obtained in 2009 under warranty claim.

I ran this pack as is, then went to Dakar.

My old Toyota leafs were made in Mexico and currently live there on another truck, lol

 

Thanks for chiming in. Looks like you had trimmed the overload to be just shy of the cradles that hold the pack together. I may go that route to avoid having the overload hitting the nipple on the cradle that holds the pack together.

 

Actually no. That's all stock, no mods.

Your solution should work just fine though...

 

A month has gone by and im in the same position as the OP... I have the icon 3 leaf aal installed now and want to raise the rear a little. If i put the overload in, it will hit the clip and the nipple from the leaf above it. Just curious if people who put the overload in if they encountered any problems with the overload hitting the clip? Or if anyone has cut down the overload a few inches on each side to avoid any contact... The pic is from @kjkroll83 but looks exactly like mine would if I put the overload in.

 

@ImpulsedComa I ended up cutting the head of the rivet off. Kinda a short term fix but I left enough of it where the the clamp wouldn't loosen. There was a decent dent were the head had embeded into the overload but it didn't settle as much as I thought it would. just needed about an 1/8", probably didn't matter in the end but it was bugging me. I have about 450lbs in bed though (camper shell, toolbox, tools) so it may not even contact for you. I dont see why cutting end of overload off before retainer thing would be a problem. It pretty much just acts like a block for most people anyway but the aal smallest leaf was making more than just superficial contact because of load so I decided to keep it even though i wanted to remove it.

 

Thanks alot, it would bother me too that those two nipples on the clamp were hitting the overload. The clamp and the two nipples are considerably thick together and stop the end of the overload from contacting anyway. I wonder if anyone else has done anything or maybe just cut the ends off. It would be around 5 or 6 inches off one end and 3 to 4 inches off the other end

 

You dont want to cut the overload apart. The overload acts as a support arm to the regular leaves during heavy loads, hence overload. If you remove the ends then you are essentially removing the supports and putting more pressure in areas its not designed for. If you want that extra height, you may as well get a block.

 

Here is my idea(I also have icon aal). cut off the icon clip off, then use a fixed size u-bolt to hold everything together. weld the u-bolt to the over load to keep them in place.

 

As long as you dont clamp them togther. The leaves need to slide against each other as it flexes. If you look close at the 'clip', youll see that it doesnt clamp, just holds the leaves from falling out of place.