Stacking old stock leaves onto the 3rd gen stock leaf pack, need advice on total height

I have a '13 DCLB sport with about 230k km on it (that's about 143k miles for those of you south of the border). I am the second owner. The guy before me added one leaf onto the leaf pack (he told me he used to carry a quad). Now the rear is sagging pretty bad and there is no recall available to me.

Preface: I carry a fiberglass canopy that I believe is about 170-180 lbs at all times and sometimes carry a bunch of camping or hunting gear. Couple of times a year I may haul some dirt for the garden and some firewood.

Based on this I decided that I will be better served with something beefier than a standard stock replacement leaf pack.

I am trying to save a few bucks, so instead of getting an aftermarket leaf pack, I got my hands on a set of 3rd gen sport takeoffs to tinker with (the 3-leaf and the bottom bar variety, no helper).

My current plan is to take off the old fatigued pack, take apart the new pack, and add one or two old leaves onto the new pack. I figured this should give me more weight capacity, a stiffer ride, and some lift. The million dollar question, is how much lift over stock would it give me, as now I need to get aftermarket shocks to accommodate the lift.

Has anyone done a mod like this? If you know how much one or two extra stock leaves would add I would really appreciate it.

This is my daily, and I am not super handy, so I am hoping to rely on your knowledge and not have my truck apart for longer than it needs to be while I do the measurements with the new frankenleaves and have to order new shocks.

 

Well.....I can't give you exact numbers in terms of lift but I can describe my journey with creating a rear leaf pack to suit my needs by combining an '06 stock 2+1 set with a TSB 3+1 set (2nd gen.). My '06 TRO OR 4x4 AC long bed with a Leer fiberglass shell and Yakima bar rack is my work truck and I need it to carry an additional 200# of tools daily plus materials, ladders and what ever I might need. I didn't care about lift, I needed load capacity and I can't stand a truck with a saggy ass.

I started by swapping out the stock 2+1 with the TSB 3+1 set. My result, zero lift difference and zero increase in load capacity.

Next was to add the longest spring from the stock 2+1 to the TSB 3+1. I used an angle grinder with a metal cutoff wheel to cut the long 2+1 spring to fit into the pack. Sorry I don't remember where I placed it into the pack I just cut it to fit in the most logical place. Every time you add a leaf you need to replace the centering pin and cut it to length. Picked up some height and some load capacity but the rear still sagged.

Then I added the other shorter leaf from the 2+1 stock pack (you can see where this is going). This resulted in a good stance, enough lift to not have a sagging rear and some load carrying capacity. I recall that with this configuration I needed to get a pair of longer U-bolts and center pin. The truck road great and looked good but with any additional load the rear sagged. Not OK.

Last step; add the +1 or overload to the now 5+1 leaf pack (3 TSB springs + the 2 leaf from the stock pack and the 2 short overloads). I turned one of the short overloads to the curve of the springs and the other one curved down. This fit with the U-bolts I bought with another center pin replacement.

Final result is a truck that rides well, sits great and can actually carry a working load. I installed Bilstein 5100 all the way around with fronts on 3rd setting and stock springs. When the truck is empty of tools it is a bit stiff but I almost never have it unloaded, it ether has tools or camping gear loaded. Cost was $200 for the new takeoff TSB spring set, $30 for the center pins and perhaps $45 for the U-bolts. I had the angle grinder and cutoff wheels. Yea, I know this is not the way for everyone but I didn't mind the adventure.

Here is what the final springs looked like:



Installed:



and Truck with a load:

 

That is incredibly helpful, thank you for sharing the detailed writeup!

 

ive been considering this mod myself. thank you for those pics.

do you have a similar pic with rear unloaded?

 

I did a similar thing about a year ago. I used my original 2013 Off Road spring (main leaf and second leaf, overload removed) plus the third leaf from a 2015 Toyota OEM spring pack plus a 3 leaf Icon type add a leaf pack, no Toyota overload spring used. You will need longer center bolts by the way. The used 2015 pack ( with the add a leaf installed) was put on in 2017 but was not as beefy as I had hoped and had started to sag a little. Luckily I saved the original springs.

I have a height now of about 38" to the rear wheel arch. I was at 37.5" with the 2015 three leaf pack. Weight carrying ability is better regarding sag. I have had the rated payload (about 1200 lbs.) on with no contact with bumps stops. Empty (usually) ride is not bad but it is stiffer than the 2015 pack and add a leaf setup. The main and second leaf of the stock 2 leaf off-road leaf pack are thicker (higher spring rate) than those on the 3 leaf pack. Adding the third leaf adds spring rate. The addition of the 3 leaf add a leaf adds both rate and height. I am still using the stock Toyota Bilstein yellow off road shocks. I don't off-road so extension is not an issue for me.

 

So you went from stock 3 leaf pack (2+overload), to 6 total (2 original, plus 3rd from 2015 plus 3 aal pack), and you were at 37.5 and then you added 7th (old overload) and now you're at roughly 38"?

Also what was your logic about keeping the first 2 fatigued leaves and only taking the 3rd leaf from the 2015 pack instead of just using the whole 2015 and throwing 3 aal in?

 

The 2015s were flimsy as mentioned. One side was damaged a year ago and needed the main leaf replaced anyway. My originals were removed with about 40K on them and were still good. I wanted the lift of the add a leaf and saved work and money by buying used and assembled already. I paid $100 for the pair of 2015s.

 

I clearly missed that part. Thanks for the feedback! My 3rd gen takeoffs are almost brand new, so I'm curious if I'll get more lift because of the steeper curve.

 

Ok, you caught me with the truck unloaded so here is a photo.

Measurements from center of hub to fender lips:

Front: 22 1/2"
Rear: 24 3/4"

With my usual 200# of tools the rear sits down about 3/4". I think most folks would be OK without adding the second short overload and the additional lift and load carrying it provided if the truck was not loaded all the time and needing to carry the daily load plus.