Which AAL or does it really matter?

So now that I've got my decked system + aluminum cap on the bed of the truck it's definitely a bit lower. I test loaded some stuff for camping including my bike rack and bike and the rear of the truck sagged another ~.75". I'll probably lift the truck eventually, but I'm not going to do it now and I'd like to help out with some of the sagging. The Decked + cap is probably 300 - 350lbs of weight that are always on the rear axle. Truck is a 2018 TRD OR.

I'm looking at the deaver AAL (TACOAAL). I'm planning on changing nothing else about the suspension. Is that the best option or should I get another brand?

Pic of truck for attention:

 

Just got a canopy. Have the same question. Searched and this was the first thread I found.

Don't know the answer, but I'm in for the ride

I also want to do a lift down the road, but am considering a AAL now. Don't want to have to redo the AAL after lift.

 

Icon progressive should work fine. 1.5 of lift with overload out so should get you where you need to be.

 

3 leaf rides nicer unloaded, which doesn’t apply with a canopy per se. Single leaf is stronger.

Installing either without overload leaf is a 10% loss of payload.

 

I have Icon progressives, when I’m loaded up with camping gear the back end feels like it’s floating and sliding,which I’m not a fan of. Maybe it’s the 5100s but it doesn’t feel controlled at all. I’ll add the overload to increase the spring rate but there goes the ride quality.

I’ll be investing in a decent leaf pack in the future.

 

I have an icon aal and it sags slightly more than I’d like under the weight of my ARE CX HD canopy which is on the heavier side since it has an internal frame.

I did remove the overload per the instructions. I don’t mean to hijack the thread but I think it’s a relevant question - are the supplied u-bolts that come with the icon aal long enough to clear the aal and the factory overload?

 

Yes, that’s how I originally installed them because I wanted 2 vs 1.5 lift. Truck empty, the ride comfort is on the stiff side. I may swap them back in to hold me over until a get a leaf pack.

 

thanks for the info. Are you running a shell?

 

Nope, softopper. But I’m loaded down pretty heavy when camping. Firewood, tons of beverages, equipment. And almost a full cabin at times. I have a long bed, and it’s packed to the brim.
Eventually, it will get a bedrack around the topper and an RTT.

 

Does anyone have experience in a similar situation with the wheeler AAL? $80 to fix my sag is super tempting

 

Bumping this up, so I found a leaf spring specific shop where I am and they are going to do a custom AAL, all in still significantly cheaper than a full pack.

My follow up question to y'all is: does anyone with a doublecab short bed (preferablya TRD OR) have 5 minutes to measure from the top of the rear bump stop to the frame? I've got just shy of 2" and the overload springs are engaged with the pack.

 

Just get it. $80, if it doesn’t work then you know you tried and didn’t lose much.

 

Are they doing a re arc of the springs? Also can you take a picture of the OL touching

 

It's making more contact in the front.

 

I had the same problem before my AAL. The tacoma spring are just soft that way for comfort. Once u do the aal and springs shop work, should be fine. I also did a sumo spring I the back. I did the tunda 1500lb one so unloaded its stiff as hell but nice when I load over 1k in the back for camping g

 

Yeah the guy I talked to on the phone seemed very confident he could make it perfect for me. So I think that'll be good, he was talking about an additional 1000lb spring. My big concern was overshooting and ending up with a wild rake.

 

DCLB here, but I put the single Wheeler's AAL for a bit. Only extra weight on the rear is whatever percentage of the sliders I've got, but the AAL with oem leafs still sagged. It was nothing special. If I had stayed on more stock suspension on mine, I would have gone the airbag/cradle route. I've got medium dakars under it now, and I'm happy. It's stiffer without much weight, but I like it. The AAL was "meh." There's lots of threads on here where people get AALs only to get full packs in a year or so.

 

A good shop should be able to accomplish whatever you desire. I seen the local shop here redo leaf packs with just 1 inch of additional lift all the way to 6 inches (with additional leafs added and spring re arcs) I'm sure you're fine. Just be very specific with what your end goal is

 

Yeah I think the difference here will be that it's going to be custom to the truck and what I use it for. He also mentioned possibly replacing 1 or 2 of the existing leafs if we need to.

Good point, either way it'll be nice to throw my steel fat bike and all of my camping crap in the back with no worries.

 

Even better than wheelers $80 is the $59 Wulf on Amazon with free shipping. Plus they give you a air freshener that smells really good.