Suspension Upgrades - No lift wanted

I got the Wheeler's 4 leaf pack because like you I didn't want any lift just heavier duty stock leafs. Ended up with 1" driver's side lean and sitting on overload leaf. Only extra weight I have is a 200# shell. Very disappointed and now working on solution with Wheeler's. They said they will send me a new driver's side pack but are backordered for 6 weeks. Their 5 pack seems to have good reviews and some guys say that after a few months they settle from 2" lift to about 1" so looking back that's the way I should have gone.

 

The 5 pack sounds heavy duty. What's the weight rating for them?

 

my Deaver 8 pack J59 settled to a 1.5 inch lift over a few weeks and have been the same and perfect for over 2 years now.

Some folks have removed inner leafs to get a stock height from it and they dont sag.

I highly recommend the J59, I tried an add a leaf setup on my old stock pack..was harsh as hell and still super weak under load.

 

Yea if you have the $$$, I've heard nothing but good things about the Deaver J59s. My father in law had them on his 04 and put over 200k miles on em and didnt sag.
I wanted to go that route but didnt have the cash lol

 

true:

Adda leaf - $200
Deaver J59 - $600

 

Don't know. Give Dan at Wheelers a call. I expected the 4 pack to be heavy duty but that was not the case. Quite a few members here have the 5 pack so maybe ask around. By the way none of the leaf packs are made by Alcan anymore as someone stated.

 

Not an expert here but I am pretty confident that just better rear shocks [even ICONs] isn't going to resolve what is wrong with mine.

On washboards, the ass end of my 2002 is just all over the place. It's simply dangerous. I love this truck but, though most of my trucks have been full size [yes, I'm an old fart], I've owned both a Ford Ranger and GMC Canyon and this Tacoma is by far more squirrelly. Now, I know the front end can "start" the problem and then the ass end loses control but I believe that replacing the stock leaf springs will be essential to get this thing to ride right.

I'm leaning OME coilover and rear shock kit without AAL just out of budget especially considering I think new rear leafs are going to be required. The OME 46s add 2" lift though so don't want to just add those to the ToyTec kit.

Just not sure what leaf packs to buy ~ for those of us not wanting much if any lift?

I do have this question asked to Mike at Toytec. Will advise on his response.

 

Well, after talking with Toytec and Wheelers, here is what I ordered.

Boss COs from Toytec with 550 lb. Silver coils

Deaver J59s from Wheelers
Bilstein 5125 rear shocks from Wheelers

I can then dial in the Boss COs to match where the rear settles.

I had convinced myself after talking to both companies that my stock rear leafs were a big part of the problem so I was willing to put some extra cash in the Deaver replacement. AAL wasn't going to fix anything, just provide some lift, and might actually exacerbate the problem.

This "should" give me minimal lift while "hopefully" resolving the much to be desired ride and handling of the stock suspension. I really wanted to go with the ICON Stage 1 but had a $1500 budget for the whole thing. The Boss COs @ $800 plus the J59s and Bilsteins @ $800 got me "close".

Will advise on results when I receive.

Thanks to the OP with the same issue and those that chimed in here!

 

if the j59 is too tall you can always remove 1-2 leafs from the pack

Measure stock height with your old setup on the truck, pull a leaf and measure height and measure the j59 and account for some sag on the new leafs but not much and plan from there. the j59 should net you 1.5 over stock or so.

Get stock height greaseable shackles too if you get a chance they are less than $100

 

And I do apologize for "bogarting" your thread.

Sadly, though, if I had started my own with the exact same problem, I would have gotten chastised by 19 people for not using the "search" function.

Hopefully, we can both learn from this or, situation normal, I'll make the mistakes and then you can "do it right!"

Should have my parts this week . . .

Deal?

 

Argh!

After ordering 550s and verifying that by phone, I got my 550 lb Boss COs today and they are the red 600s. Toytec admitted they yorglemeyered the order but, before I send these back, has anyone put one step higher coils on and what were the implications?

I assume it's going to ride a bit stiffer but badly enough so that it would be a really bad idea? Being a 2WD TRD, I do not plan on adding a winch or anything else up front. Just want this thing to ride/handle better.

Asking cuz the rear springs and shocks are arriving tomorrow and a friend that was already coming to town this weekend was going help me do the deed and now we won't be able to if I return these and wait on the 550s.

 

Anyone still monitoring this thread? Had some issues getting stuff I ordered here right and timely but I "should" start the install this weekend. Don't know whether to document it here or start a new thread?

 

i've been keeping tabs on it...when someone posts

 

I am going to take one spring out of my J59s to keep my overall lift down and I'm adding Firestone bags for loads while I've got the rear scattered.

Going to go ahead and try the 600lb. Boss COs I got sent because, even though I ordered 550s and confirmed that with their order management before they shipped, I got sent 600s and have to pay $50 to exchange them [beware of the fine-fine print!]. But I've been somewhat assured by Toytec that "they should" ride fine on a V6 PreRunner especially at minimal lift. I'd rather hear "they will" but I guess I'll find out ??

Still hoping to start Saturday . . .

Think I should start a new thread or post it all here?

 

I hope we can all just share this thread. I didn't see any point to start a new thread for this topic since most folks do want lift and we don't. Plus others can learn by my mistakes and post here accordingly . . .

Will start wrenching tomorrow [Saturday]. Sorry for the 4 corner pic quality. Lupus is acting up and was struggling to hold the camera still with one hand while holding the tape with the other.

As it sits today:



The 4 corner measurements, measuring from the floor since I'm not changing wheels/tires.

Driver's Front:



Driver's Rear:



Passenger's Front:



Passenger's Rear:



All the new toys [except the Daystar Cradles not pictured]:



Ready to go in the air: Like my tool "box"? Sad, I've got a really nice heated detached man cave with all the tools nicely hung, etc. but I currently have my 442 scattered in there so this is happening in our attached garage. Not complaining though as I spent so many times years ago doing this stuff out in the driveway . . .

 

Let us know how the rear billies work out for you, I hated mine for being so soft and swapped to icons then now fox.

 

If you post pictures of your install, it would be more useful to create your own thread. That way people can search off of titles of instead of the body of the message.

I don't have anything against hi-jacking someone else's thread, just that as a new Tacoma owner I find information is disseminated through threads enough as it is.

 

I actually think it's easier to keep all the info in this thread, since it's still related to the same question. I don't mind, and I find it frustrating to have to search several threads for info on just one topic.

Keep the info coming! Good stuff - Thanks!