Removing a leaf from stage 1 RXTs?

If it's any help, here's my truck right now with 250lbs of sand as well as my spare tire in the back, still on stage 1 for reference. At this height my 4° shims still aren't cutting it for the new driveshaft, so I'm installing 6° ones when I mess with the springs. Also, if you do go the Tom woods route, make sure to get pinion shims made to bolt into your leaf pack (they usually come with a 5/16 countersunk hole but it's easy to drill out to 3/8 with a step bit). The smaller shims people usually run are shorter than the centering pins, but the aggressive angle needed for this shaft on a RC are thicker than the pin head so I can't run a shim that just goes between leaf and axle.

 

At this point I'm thinking I'll start by taking off the 3rd leaf since it'll give me better ride and would leave the most minimal gap in the lengths as you go down the pack for good progression. As long as I can load up a few hundred pounds without them bowing weird then it should work out if the height is right. Right now I have 250lbs of sand out back, and while it does ride better, it's still a little on the high side. It'll be really hard to add that much weight since I'll be lucky to add 200lbs with the bumper and bracing (cutting out half the amount of metal I'll put in) so my only option is to modify these packs or get new ones, aka I'm not really worried about their warranty. I could get one of those decked systems I've been drooling over too, but my wallet can only take so much abuse lol. I actually emailed icon about this too, and haven't heard a peep, so the customer service comment seems spot on..

 

it’s very helpful. I’m glad I saw this one I would’ve probably put it in stage three on my truck and gotten 4 inches . It’s my first time working on suspension. I tend to have just enough mechanical knowledge/ability to get myself in trouble.

I’ve never put shims in, so I’m not understanding what you meanin the last sentence. Are pinion shims different from regular axle shims? What shims would you recommend?

 

Yeah my bad, I suppose the most accurate term would be pinion angle shims, as the pinion should have its own shims inside the diff which are different. I'm referring to the wedge shaped spacers that go in between the axle and leaf springs, used to point the pinion, or "snout" as I sometimes call it, up or down depending on driveline reqs. Because our driveshafts are so short on RC's, and a double cardan shaft requires the snout to be pointed inline with the angle of the shaft, the upward angle needed is more agressive than the usual numbers people run in the 2-4 degree range on longer wheelbase tacos, or trucks with basic 2 joint shafts where the pinion should be parallel with the output on the Tcase (your current one).

I haven't gotten them yet, but I got these 6° ones in the bottom link on order from Amazon. Notice the countersunk hole; that's so you can bolt them to your leaf pack with the centering pin and still have enough sticking out to go in the hole on the axle's mount. The lower angle shims are thinner, so a lot of times you'll see them with a bigger hole that lets it go right over the center pin instead of having to clamp and undo the bolt on the leaf pack. I don't like this style, but they work on thinner shims with less angle. There are less guess-y ways to calculate the angle you'll need online, but if you want to lift it at a similar-ish height to mine (+/- an inch or so) then you'll probably need 4 or 6 degree shims. Don't take my word for it since all setups vary slightly, but that's the ballpark.

Shims I'm putting in this weekend: https://a.co/d/brZjHYi

 

Any updates?

 

Unfortunately my shims are taking their sweet time getting in, but looks like they should be in tomorrow so I'll have one for you then if they are. I would just take a leaf out now, but with the durobumps Ubolt flip plate, you can only torque them down so many times before the plates and bolts start to bend so hopefully I can just do it one more time and leave em for the time being.

Just got done with my leaky tranny lines/pan and some new temporary CVs though, so at least I'm making progress somewhere. No more snail trails for this guy

 

Also, looks like the countersunk hole is tapered so the bolt head sits flush.
Think a 4 degree would help a slight take off shudder? RXT stage 2... 2" of lift. Carrier shim took care of most of it.

 

It's countersunk just enough to be flat where it mounts, but so that the round head of the leaf spring center pin/bolt can stick out enough from the shim to get good purchase on the spring perch hole. This is really important, because if the shim covers too much of the bolt head (like with one that doesn't require unbolting the spring pack with a larger hole) then getting the axle in and located right is a bitch and a half, and it could potentially shift enough to make some noise.

As for your case, I've never owned a Tacoma with a 2 piece shaft, and I'm not sure what style your shaft is. Your best bet is to get a little angle finder and plug it in to an online calculator. If your shaft has only 1 ujoint on the backside of the carrier, you'll want your axle pinion to be at the same parallel angle as the carrier. If your rear shaft has a double ujoint (double cardan) behind the carrier bearing, then the less angle you have on the rearmost single ujoint, the better. My regular cab experience isn't too relevant to a long wheelbase truck. The RCs have a much shorter shaft that doesn't usually handle a lift well, making a double cardan the best solution (really common in jeeps for this reason).

 

I tried to put a cv in today. Nightmare. First, the axle wouldn’t come out of the hub, so I tried to rent a hub puller but that didn’t work with my lug pattern. So I tried to get the caliper off so I could remove the rotor and use a three jaw puller on the hub. caliper bolts were rusted to hell. Tried everything before my only option was a torch. Obviously burned myself in the process , and I managed to burn through a seal on the caliper, so now it needs rebuilt. Three jaw puller worked to get the axle out. Then after all that I had the bright idea of replacing my seals (which were probably perfectly fine), so now I’ll be waiting on those

 

I installed the RXT pack on Stage II a few months back, along with some new 5160s and have had 0 issues on my regular cab. I do have a GFC mounted on the rear so that adds a little under 300lb, but the truck rides super well. I have 5100s up front and have a little rake that evened out when I added all my camping gear in the back. I travel/live out of the truck full time for 8+ months of the year, mostly gravel/forest road/off road travel with occasional big highway days. I have actually been carrying my extra leaf around in case I wanted to jump up to Stage III - planning a switch to a Chubby Ovrlnd Camper in the fall with a bit more of a build so the Stage III might be needed.

The front is tired 5100s on stock springs that I plan on refreshing with 6112s and some JBA UCAs in the near future, as well. Here are some photos of the truck for reference...

 

oof yeah, I hate popping CVs. I usually don't have problems with the hub side but getting them out of the diff is a massive pain in the ass. Also, here's the RXTs with the 3rd from the top taken out, with about 300lbs out back. I'm on clip 9 or 10 on the 6612s, and I'd say there's an ever so slight squat with the same amount of weight as my previous picture. Gets a bit boaty loaded up like that, but not bad at all with just a spare tire.

 

UPDATE: Finally got my 6° shims, so I got to removing that 3rd leaf from the top on the RXT packs. Definitely not as good for loading up so I'll be keeping the extra leaf on the wall with the original in case I ever add heavy stuff. However, it's a lot better unloaded now, and certainly good enough for any of the stuff I could do with it stock if not more.

This is spare only, on clip slot #8 on 6112s with 600lb springs, with a 1/2" and 1/4" spacer on the driver and passenger sides respectively. Also, I have the 3rd leaf removed but the 6° shim is pretty thick, so that's adding maybe 1/2" out back.

 

Nice, definitely works better with some good weight back there. I'm saving my 2 spare leaves for when I add more weight to the back of my truck, but for now the stage 0 (patent pending lol) RXTs seem to do pretty well unloaded. Not too sure, bit looks like I'm getting a rough equivalent to the advertised height of stage 1 on a double cab. Ride stiffness also matches the front now which is another plus.

 

I’m a little confused. You said you installed them in stage 2, but also that you’re carrying the leaf around. Stage 2 means you added the extra leaf to the packs, so you shouldn’t have an extra to carry around. Did you mean stage 2 (extra leaf installed in middle) or stage 1(installed in original configuration) I think our use case is pretty similar.



That’s great you didn’t have any issues. Looks like you didn’t even need shims. I hope I get that lucky.

I went to install the leaf pack today, but my passenger side front hanger bolt was seized to the bushing and I had to cut it out. Searched and search for a replacement, but it looks like I’m going to have to order it. In the meantime, I got the shocks ready for install (bushings have to be shaved down), and I’m planning to touch up my rust spots and everything I had to heat with some rust converter and undercoat, but I’ve got both oem springs out for now.

 

that looks good! What do you mean by clip 9 or 10? I’m not sure I understand.

as for the cv, got the new OEM axle and new aftermarket seals installed in the passenger side. I was planning to reboot my other axle, but I went ahead and got another new oem I’ll put in there, since I already would’ve had to wait for other new seals for the axle reboot, and I was able to get another new one for a decent price. I’ll hang on to the reboot kit for when one inevitably tears.

went ahead and redid the seals and painted both brake calipers. They’re looking good

 

The height adjustment on 6112 shocks is a circlip that holds the spring perch at the desired height. Also I missopke, I'm on #8 with a 1/2" spacer on driver side and 1/4" on passenger. I have different sizes for the same reason as these clip settings, on account of the driver side being heavier on tacos.

 

ah I see. I misunderstood the stage instructions. Stage 2 means you replaced the 3rd leaf. My bad!

now I’m considering going ahead and trying stage 2. I’m trying to minimize extra parts (shims, bumps, driveshaft, etc) and how much I’ll have to mess with it. But it seems like the kind of thing where you don’t know if you’ll have an issue until you go ahead and do it.

 

Right - Stage 3 is all of the leafs in the pack installed, Stage 2 is one of the leafs removed. And pretty much spot on - I got a decent feel for lift height and weight ballpark guestimations when I lifted my access cab with Deaver Stage III to handle the weight of a custom slide in camper. Sold the camper, bought the single cab when my wife caught the 4x4 bug and took over my old access cab. She rocks a custom height topper on the rear and a full build out that still worked really well with the Deaver Stage III U402s. I figured my truck weighed less, my set up weighed less so Stage 2 was a good place to start!

Also, swapped out the CVs on the access cab this past winter after a lifetime in New England before escaping to the west coast. It helps to have one person hold the CV and then use a long pry bar and hammer to pop them out hammering from the diff side. The OEM CVs should have flat spots for the pry bar to seat right on. A few good smacks and out she comes!

OP - your truck looks great! Love those TRD wheels with the red truck, as well. I grew up just outside Nashua funny enough! The access cab has a lot of the New England rust still (except for everything I've replaced in the last few years), but the regular cab is a west coast princess so she doesn't know what brine is and it is a night and day difference working on the two!

 

Hey thanks man, I'm glad I went with these wheels to ditch the stock steelies.

Unfortunately this truck spent it's first 10 years of life in VT with an old man who never heard of fluid film, so she's pretty rough all over. At this point I've worked on so many parts of it that most of the headache while working on it is gone, but I still need to pop the cab and bed off at some point to properly clean the rust to bare steel and add frame boxing and other fun fab stuff. Till then, my needle scaler's been getting a hell of a workout before I drench the thing in fluid film black. Did the whole front half, but in the next few weeks I need to tackle the rear section as seen in this pic (new axle tube because my other one rotted through in the leaf perch cavities...)

 

Sounds just like an old guy from VT lol. Looks like you've put a helluva lot of work in. 4x4 regular cabs are so rare these days, they're definitely worth preserving! It is a labor of love for sure.