Tacoma 3rd Gen - Wheelers AAL - Rivet Question

Hello TW,


My first post evah! After many hours of snooping the forums I finally decided on a wheel/tire and lift kit.

I finished installing the Wheelers progressive AAL on the rear. Sitting in bed, i had a realization.

I didn't fully grind the rivet flush to the factory leaf springs. I cut the rear retaining bracket then ground off the head of the rivet. After that I used a mallet to knock off the clip and immediately proceeded to installing the AAL.

I inspected the leafs and can see a small tab sticking out from the remains of the rivet pressing against the friction pad on the AAL.

I still need to get the front aligned so I haven't driven yet but.....is this a cause for any concern? Should I do it all over and grind that rivet flush?


Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

I'm not completely clear on what you just ground off and left flat

If you are saying that you didn't replace the center pin with a new pin that goes through all of the leafs, you definitely did it wrong.

If you are saying something else, then I'm not clear yet.

 

Welcome to TW

 

It’ll probably wear thru the friction pad and may be putting uneven pressure on the leaf under it depending on how much of it is still there. Kinda hard to say for sure without pics, but from your description, I’d probably go back and grind it off flush. On a side note, I went with a Headstrong 3 leaf AAL because it was designed to not need to cut that shackle off.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Brian2Sun answered it pretty well, I'm in the process of taking it apart now.
I've already ground, spray painted and reassembled one side. Hitting the other side now.


Nhpoke - it's not the center pin, it's the rivet shaft and head that held the old retaining clip. First photo is how it is now, second is after the fix.