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Quality of Life Leaf Springs - Light to Medium Duty Recommendations

V

VWtoToyota

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Sep 23, 2022
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Hello All,

Had some leaf spring questions on the 21 Trd Sport 6mt. What are the recommendations for light to medium duty leaf springs? I want to retain the stock ride height, ride and increase the load rating a bit. Also, are any supporting mods needed if the factory pack is replaced with an aftermarket one? Shocks?

For reference, my stock leaf pack has no arch (image attached), not sure if that's the factory spec.

Thank you!
 

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Your pack looks normal for stock.

IIRC there are no stock height leaf pack options that increase carrying capacity; they will all give you lift if you're at stock weight and they will all ride stiffer if you don't have the proper weight to compress them. What are you going to be carrying that requires beefed up leaves? The amount of weight added will be key to choosing packs.

Depending on how much the rear end lifts you might need extended shocks. My Deaver J66 has one of the lowest lift heights but does not increase the load rating, I think it reduces it a bit which is perfect for my needs since my bed only ever carries mtb's with the occasional hardware store trip. Rides much better than stock or the overly-stiff RXT's they replaced (RXT rides considerably better with weight in the bed - but awful without).

You might benefit most from an add-a-leaf and/or some upgraded bump stops, but hard to recommend anything without knowing what you're hauling back there. The sport shocks are also very stiff, you might be happier swapping them out with some 5100's or Off-Road take-off's for a more plush ride.
 
Thank you! for the quick response.

What are you going to be carrying that requires beefed up leaves? => All way below the factory load rating, mainly wanted to future proof. At the moment approx. 300lbs (tools, recovery kit, Diamondback SE bed cover)+ 2x 60lb sand bags in winter and occasional camping gear or bikes on the hitch. But the zero leaf arch concerned me, also good to know that's what stock looks like, I over think :)

With the Deaver J66s did you lift the front as-well?

Also thanks for the 5100's or Off-Road take-off's suggestion.
 
With 300lbs constant the Deaver u402 or RXT would be good fit but both will lift the rear. Deaver is a nicer pack but you pay for it. I know neither the RXT at stage 1 or the J66 is phased at ~100lbs (+ full size 33" spare underneath on a heavy wheel), but temporary weight isn't the same as constant weight over the life of the pack, so stage 2 might be a better option for you in the long run. The benefit with RXT is they ship @ stage 1 with the overload leaf separate so you can customize the pack to your needs via replacing or adding a leaf in the center. I know it rides decent with some weight, and flexes very well if you take it offroad. Like I said I don't have weight so the RXT was too stiff for me. Likely the Deaver u402 would be too stiff for me as well, but after having both brands, I can say that Deaver is a much nicer product.

Some good basic info on leaf packs here: Suspension - Leaf Spring Comparison: All-Pro, Allcan, Icon, Dobinsons, Deavers, Archive, Dakars (https://tacoma3g.com/threads/leaf-spring-comparison-all-pro-allcan-icon-dobinsons-deavers-archive-dakars.10306/)

I did lift both front and rear. I'm unsure of how much lift exactly, but I have about a .75" rake which looks perfect on these trucks. I lifted my front coils to 1 thread under where the cv boots are constantly touching, so likely in the 1.65" range. I was able to reduce my front preload by 1" when swapping from the RXT to the Deaver which makes the front end much happier via driveline angles and ride quality. With the leaf pack and extended travel shocks I needed to extend my rear brake lines as well. Front were fine with the lift but I put them on anyway since I had them already.

Another thing I did with my suspension upgrade is swap out the bump stops to Wheelers Superbumps and swap out the leaf spring shackles with the greaseable BAMF units. The stock shackle design binds and these do not - overall they feel a lot smother and the rear end is more controlled and it makes sense to upgrade when installing since you have to remove the leaf packs to change the shackles. This is not as extreme as a full on hanger replacement, but for now this does the job for me.
 
Thanks again :) I was going through Deaver's and Icon's website, but this makes much more sense. Good to know about the supporting mods, if I decide to lift it. Are you also running drive shaft spacers or are those not needed in your case?
 
VWtoToyota said:
Thanks again :) I was going through Deaver's and Icon's website, but this makes much more sense. Good to know about the supporting mods, if I decide to lift it. Are you also running drive shaft spacers or are those not needed in your case?
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I am running the ARB FK29 carrier bearing spacer. No vibrations front of rear with my setup. Personally I would recommend a carrier bearing spacer for any lift over 1" in the rear.

Good catch, totally forgot about mentioning that earlier.
 
Here’s what I did. Easy to install and they are adjustable.
8E56AD57-2643-48BD-826C-8FB0D7E8D60F.jpeg
 
Hey thoughts on j66s paired with 5100 in the rear, don’t have constant weight in the back just a softopper and some tools. I’m currently running a 1” block on stock leafs.
 
Johnnytwotimes said:
Hey thoughts on j66s paired with 5100 in the rear, don’t have constant weight in the back just a softopper and some tools. I’m currently running a 1” block on stock leafs.
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Will be a big upgrade for you. Still loving my J66. They get even better if you upgrade the leaf hangers as well.
 
Cool might be overkill for my needs but found a set for sale so I was genuinely curious about them. Thanks for the input
 
Johnnytwotimes said:
Cool might be overkill for my needs but found a set for sale so I was genuinely curious about them. Thanks for the input
Click to expand...
The downtravel you get from the hangers is cool, but the everyday ride quality increase with them is huge. They completely get rid of the jittery rear end that these trucks have.
 
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