What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

layer one. will do the final layer tomorrow, some spots need attention before I go any further.



before anyone goes "that's the same color as before!" here's the before picture.

 

Installed a new custom built bumper with light bar, light pods behind the mesh, and led turn signal

 

Tundra brake upgrade

 

Ooops...doing 550 as we speak

Stock brakes but only doing 60

 

You’ve gotta have tundra brakes

 

I gotta keep my 15s

 

I was just being annoying

15’s for life


Or till they stop making them I guess

 

Are you doing one side at a time or something? With the frame on jackstands, I would unbolt the ubolts, set the axle on another set of jack stands, replace leafs, and then you can move the axle around as needed to get it to line up.

This. Although I'm far from an engineer, leafs pivot/slide on the center location of the centering pin. I'd be more concerned about the leafs than the perch. Clamping the leaf pack in a location other than the center seems like it would have some weird affects.

Yep. Just make them fit.

I don't think it's a problem if they're building leaf packs with the same measurement from front hanger to centering pin as stock.

My guess is people are hyper-aware after making a change, or adding larger tires at the same time, etc.

Also I had to trim the front of my rear wheel well as is. I'd really have to hack it up if I moved the axle forward an inch.

 

Thanks, that's good to know. Not sure we have the exact same bumper though and I can't see recovery points on the front. Mine looks like an All Pro but I don't think it is. What is yours?

 

Sumitomo makes the originals, but the NGK are just as good if not better as long as they're not exposed to oil. For some reason the NGK silicone gets waxy and breaks down in oil unlike the OE sumitomos

 

They are both All-pro, but yours is a slightly older style.
There should be one of these on both sides. You can attach a D-ring to it and then boom. you're good to go



EDIT: in going back and looking at your pictures, your bumper weirdly enough looks like it doesn't have those points. Unless I couldn't tell from the picture.

If you don't, I would recommend having someone weld on something like these
https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/BCLEV-SH.html

bumpers are really the only places you want to be attaching to when pulling/getting pulled.

 

Yeah I just went out to check to make sure I wasn’t going insane. Thanks for the advice! Will look into getting some rings welded.

 

No problem!
It would really suck if you went to get pulled out or something and then ended up tearing/bending your frame

 

Well they canceled my order on my wheels because they only had 1 left in stock so I order some Raceline Black Daytona wheels.Supposedly they will ship out on the 29th so ill have to wait a while but I wanted that gloss black styled wheel

 

This guy tried to attack me on the way home today. Scared me pretty bad.

 

New valve cover gasket and plugs

 

I went back and forth with them for a couple weeks about resolving the issue, but once they were making the new uppers, it was quick - like less than a week from doing it to me having them. So, if you go straight to "I need new top leafs," then it would be quick...assuming no backlog in the shop.

When/if you talk to them, you also need to get new versions of the torque leafs (the "half" leaf on the very top of the pack that wraps around the front eye) since that has a hole in it too.

And my previously linked post has the measurements in it that I used, so you can check there for those.

Only happens on some trucks, which is why it took me a week of working with them before I got new ones.

They covered shipping but not the new leafs as a "compromise." Actually, they didn't really want to compromise at all, and claimed they'd never heard of this issue before. Whether that's true or not, two things were true for me:

1. I walked around my neighborhood looking at other 1st gens when this happened, and sure enough, it was about 50-50 whether the axle was centered in the wheel well with factory springs. So, there was definitely some mfg difference that doesn't matter when you run 31" tires. And it wasn't the usual 98-00/01-04 difference because I found trucks in both ranges that had axle-too-far-back syndrome. So, Alcan's leafs were "right" for some of the trucks.
2. I really like Alcan, the quality of their springs, and supporting a small business, so even though I'd have liked them to 'make it right for free,' I was willing to pay.

I paid $200 for the new top leafs, they paid shipping. Initially they only sent the long leafs, and I had to call them again for the torque leafs, which they weren't happy about having to send out separately and "for free," but it was hard for them not to at that point...

All in all, I'm still a happy customer and I don't think there's a better leaf pack out there. I'm about 5 days away from ordering another pack just so I have it on hand when my current pack wears out. Don't want to risk Alcan getting sold and me not getting the same quality.

 

Thanks for the explanation.
I'm really tempted to get a set before they sell to another business owner, although was curious about the whole "new top leaf" ordeal.

Wish there was a way to account for this axle centering discrepancy before delivery.
Although it seems like it's just one of those things with first gens quality control at the factory on certain things.

 

Honestly, I think that you can account for it beforehand, you just need to do a couple things (so there's some homework to do):

1. Get a ~33" wheel/tire installed (borrow one if you don't have one already) and get it stuffed up into your wheel well with the OEM leafs. Note if it is centered/going to rub on the front or back if it stuffs further. Note: with OEM leafs, I this should be easy, since they are easy to get to frown (fully stuff).
2. Remove the OEM leaf and measure from the center of the front eye to the center pin. Take a measurement where the tape measure is a straight line between the two, and one where it follows the curve of the top leaf, just so you have both measurements.

With that info, call Alcan and tell them what you want those measurements to be - either exactly what you measured if the tire was centered, or adjusted however you need to if it wasn't. They will make the leafs to your spec and you will be happy. But yeah, a couple hours of homework first.

Well, I don't know, but mine have already lasted as long (3 years) and many more miles (73K) as each of Mike's sets (he's now on his 3rd set, as I understand it) so I feel like I have maybe another 2-3 years with them at most given the amount of miles I put on the truck.

And, as I said, it's not about them wearing out as much as it is about Alcan going out of business or getting sold to someone who does a bunch of cost reductions. I don't know of a similar quality leaf spring out there compared to the current product. Deaver is closest, maybe?