Rear Suspension

I have a DCLB 3rd gen V6 Auto Trans. I have a HC Rear Bumper, a camper shell, a decked drawer system, sliders and full skids. Up front I have ADS Coilovers with adjusters and 700lb springs. I have OME HD Dakars in the rear. I am adding a swingout for a full-size spare and some fuel storage. However my OME springs are already in a negative arc. I am going to have to upgrade to heavier springs. But I haul a 6.5x14 trailer with a polaris general and a Polaris ATV. The trailer loaded weighs around 2500#s. With 1200# of stone for my house the truck is nearly sitting on the rear tires. Should I be looking for a custom leaf pack at this point? Or looking into airbags while towing. Any advice would be appreciated.

it should be noted that a rough estimate of weight on the rear is around 450 lbs over stock and my rear suspension is sitting lower than I expected with the HD packs considering they’re advertised as a 2.75” lift with 600lbs over stock.

 

Bags.

 

Firestone air bags.

 

Would you even upgrade leaf packs?

 

You may find a custom set of springs too much for the small truck the Tacoma is... if the weight isn't always in the truck, I would suggest a quality set of air bags. That way it doesn't adversely affect the truck when not towing, or carrying stones...

 

I'd get a simple 1" lift "HD" leaf spring pack, so a 4 or 5 leaf pack and use airbags when loaded in the future.

Airbags are great for the varying loads you have.

 

Will I be loosing any travel with the airbags?

 

ICON RXT

 

You shouldn't with the right set.

 

look into replacing the OME springs and figure out which springs you’ll need to get the ride height where you want it with your daily extra load back there. May wanna look into customs because of how specific things are in your case. From there you can address if these springs are going to do enough when youre also towing, or if you need bags to help with the load.

But those ome springs are definitely a limiting factor IMO. Sounds like theyre already sagging and you plan on adding more weight anyways. Logical step is definitely replacing your leaf springs with a heavier duty, application specific set.

 

I have a similar (by similar I mean overloaded) set-up, with an Alu-cab canopy and awning/shower cube, ARB drawers, long ranger tank, additional 15 gallon fuel tank, 10 gallon water tank and pump/plumbing, ARB bumper and winch, steel under-vehicle protection, skids...etc. I remove all the contents and the roof top tent as well as the awning when I do not travel. My weight varies between (F/R/total)
- Fully loaded with above plus roof top tent, 2 people, luggage: 3250/3575/6825 (which is about 300 lb per axle above the GAWR)
- Empty: 3220/3075/6295

I have the OME BP51 shocks coupled with OME EL112R rear spring (660 lb constant load), plus the

$44 EL46XL EXTRA LEAF SPRING

EL46XL extra leaf, PLUS the Firestone airbags. When fully loaded I need only about 10 psi of air to level the truck, and for medium load or minimal load, no pressure in the air-bags. It works very well for me.

A few things to note:
- With same load but weaker springs I had previously, the air-bags caused a lot of rear bounciness (truck will bounce back excessively after impact). The is due to the non-linear nature of air as a spring medium. I had to crank the rebound up to max on my BP51's to compensate. After adding the stronger springs, I need much less air in the bags, and the rear is now happy with much lower damping settings.
- I had Daystar cradles and removed them - I found they did reduce the rear travel a little. I now run the bags not connected to the lower plate - they simply rest on the Firestone provided lower mount, and I added a layer of roofing rubber to help cushion the impact.

On an unrelated point - I have researched extensively the specifications of the Toyota Hills versus the Tacoma. The hills has a much, much higher load capability. The key items I was worried about, axles/hubs/half-shafts, are the same part numbers. The frame is different. So I feel comfortable that I will likely not see premature failure of the drive train. Anecdotal reports from my outfitter (Asheville Vehicle Outfiters, who has many years experience with both ARB and Toyotas) said that they just do not see failures in our trucks from such overload. So I decided to take my chances.