Should I stiffen rear suspension if using a canopy and hitch bike rack?

My last vehicle was a Sprinter van that I built out and added HD suspension due to the extra weight -- it made a huge difference.

My Taco is a new '21 with 5k miles. DCLB. We have a canopy, bed slide, and use a hitch-mounted 1UP super duty bike rack. At its heaviest, the truck will carry a full bed of camping gear plus two 30# bikes (about 100# total hitch weight with the rack).

Is there anything I should do to prevent premature wear of the suspension? Is it worth swapping now while the OEM shocks are in good shape and can be sold?

 

you'll be fine. that's barely any weight.

 

I would say see how it feels before you buy a new leaf setup. No sense in purchasing if you don't feel that its a need!

 

That sounds like a pretty light load, and your max scenario (camping) is pretty infrequent and doesn't sound really heavy. I don't think you're taxing the OEM OR setup. But I don't want to talk you out of new suspension. My favorite change to my truck will always be the suspension. You can't go wrong with a better suspension and you know, maybe a tasteful lift... heh. So I say do it.

 

The rear suspension on an OR should last awhile, but the life really depends on what kinds of roads you'll be traveling on. I carried similar weight as you for a while and started noticing squishiness in the mid 40k range. At 58k miles I added a GFC shell, which weighs about 265#s. Even with nothing else in the truck bed there was about an inch of squat and I was starting to bottom out and take some heavy hits on minor obstacles.

Long story short - if you're mostly on pavement and a few gravel roads I'd estimate you'll be fine up to 55 - 65k miles. If you do a lot of rutted FS roads and moderate wheeling I'd shave about 10k off.

 

I'd run it until the shocks do wear out and then decide if you want/need to upgrade.

I have a cap, a 1up, and camp out of my crappy little Ranger with a rotten frame and $100 rear shocks. 90% of my driving is on gravel. You'll be fine.

Sometimes this forum makes people overthink things.

 

Awesome, thanks all. I'll hold out until these are noticeably too squishy... Or I get impatient and want to do a "tasteful lift" -- I like that idea.

 

Or just get airshocks and Daystar cups and forget about it

 

Look at Timbren
https://timbren.com/