Rear shackles or blocks?

I have a AAL on the rear of my 03 tacoma.... I have a camper shell on the back and that extra weight makes my rear sit about 1" lower than the front which cuts off suspension travel for offroad. I want to bring the rear up a bit but dont have the $$$ for a new leaf pack at the moment so I was curious if i should go with a block system in the rear or lift shackles.

Any advice and pros and cons of both would be awesome! Thanks

 

Both are undesirable. I'd go with shackles. Easier to install, more rigid.

 

Like mentioned both are not ideal. Especially if you are taking your truck offroad. Just save up a couple more hundred bucks and get a new leaf pack would be my suggestion.

Blocks Pro- cheap
Blocks con- axle wrap and weakens the leaf over time

Shackles Pro- Cheap (nonadjustable version) and allows flex
Shackles Con- Will flatten the leaf springsover time. Also I believe they can change your pinion angle causing vibrations.

 

Well shit.... Whats the best bang for your buck leaf pack? Like i said, i did the aal.... Will a leaf pack give me more lift than the factory pack with the aal?

 

If its just an inch needed, id go with a tappered block over shackles. Blocks arent as bad as some make them out to be, heck even some oems use blocks on new rigs for certain applications. I believe wheelers sells small blocks you could use.

To address your last question look into the leaf packs that wheelers sells too! They have a few good choices at different lift heights!

 

Tacoma leafs specifically are so prone to axle wrap id never recommend a block over another option.

Referring to other posts the lift shackles actually do correct pinion angle to an extent so vibs shouldn't be a problem under 3"


Ome leafs are best bang for buck imo.

 

This is all very interesting - I too also just tossed a shell (Leer 100r) onto the truck. I swear the thing has muffed up my ride height. I was stock before sitting on Bilstein 4600s front and rear. Handling has definitely changed as well (speed bumps = more roll).

I messaged the Toytec rep and he suggested the following (I really am not looking for a 3" lift - just something to compensate for the shell) -

So with the exception of a spacer your basically going to get a full 2.5-3" lift with most of the kits unless you went fully adjustable. Like i said if you go fully adjustable you can fine tune exactly what height you want in the front and as for the rear you can do blocks or add a leafs or full leaf pack to give you the height you are looking for as well. The 5100's are fine and will work great. You can use them with our 3 inch coils and get a full lift or you can use your current stock coils and use the clip settings to give you 0, 1.25, or 2.5 inches of lift in the front.

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Bilstein-5100-Series-Front-and-Rear-Shocks_p_94.html
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ToyTec-Adjustable-Lift-Shackles-955-04-Tacoma_p_291.html
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com...ing-ValveBrake-Cable-extension-Kit_p_134.html
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I asked about the Icon Progressive AAL vs the shackles and his response was:

The progressive add a leaf will be a better performance and ride over all in my opinion.
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Also a note, my current mid-hub to beginning of fender flare is approximately 21.25 - 21.5" front and back.

Anyway, just wanted to add this to your options OP.

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