Regain factory rake and load capacity with a topper

I didn't do a before and after measurement but looks pretty level now. I think the original rake was around an inch so probably sagged an inch.

 

So 1 or 3 leaf AAl with the overload leaf retained? Personally I'm leaning towards the 3 leaf approach.

 

its about 1.5 inches

If you look around this forum people have posted there before with stock tires. Look for before and after for a trd offroad specifically with stock tires.

Are you running stock tire size?

once you figure this out then you can calculate what needs to be done to get it back.

 

Hub to fender the rear is .25" higher than front so almost level. Info I can find says 1" factory rake so lifting the back about an inch should do it. A hair more would be fine as that might mean a bit more load capacity.

Not stock tires but that shouldn't have any effect on hub to fender distance.

 

Sub'd for the results, I have a cap and would consider doing this too.

 

Heres how things are going here. Honestly not too hard. The bolts that came with the aal are ridiculously long so i had to go buy an angle grinder so i could get the bump stop back on

 

Yes retain the overload spring if you use the bed, even more important with a shell. Without overload you’ll wear out the springs quicker and will loose the progressive-ness of the leaf.

 

Just finished it up, and very impressed with how it turned out

 

Looks good! Did you buy new u-bolts or did it come with them?

 

Thanks! It actually didn’t require new u bolts

 

Here is a before and after pic

Before:After:

 

Clean vs dirty

Does it seem to drive or feel different? Better? Worse?

 

As soon as the lift went on, I took it to an offroad park up here in Arkansas. It really doesn’t feel all that different. It stiffened up the rear enough to account for the weight so it rides pretty close to stock if not a little better in my opinion.

 

Looks good man! How long it took you for the install? Thx.

 

Thanks man! The left side took me about 3 hours because I had to leave and go get stuff like vice grips and an angle grinder, but after the first side and a bit of trial and error I got it down to a science. Right side took me 40 minutes max.

 

Sounds like you should just go AAL. you will probably want an 1.5 "AAL of your choice.

In the end you will be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch higher than it was stock.....that is ok because you are probably going to have some weight back there anyway.

 

Just throwing my 2 cents here, I installed Billys 5100s all around, OME 887 coils in the front and the Icon 3-leaf progressive AAL in the back and left the overload out. I have a topper and I feel like it's a little saggy in the back. I plan to put the overload back in one of these days.

 

Yes the Icon AAL is a perfect rear lift to match their coilovers, but won't hold any weight from what I found.

 

I love my firestone airbags, just saying