Coachbuilder or Icon RXT leaf pack

What are the advantages/disadvantages of going with new leaf packs as a replacement instead of shackles? In this case I’m talking about Icon leaf pack instead of shackles. Not looking at real heavy loads, just more ride quality. Found a decent deal on the leafs and if they improve general ride quality, I may pull the trigger.

 

No experience with the Icon leaf packs, but have ran Deavers for the last couple years.

They ain’t cheap, but the ride is incredible compared to the flimsy OEM leaf packs. A real set of springs with a progressive rate will be so much nicer than the soft OEM set that you won’t believe Toyota even put them on in the first place.

Especially when you want to carry any load.

That said, most nice springs will require a shackle that is a bit longer than stock. Lots of good options out there for you beyond the two you’ve mentioned.

 

I have the icon RXT leaf pack, the leaf pack is progressive so it handles changing loads better and gives a better ride. The Icon RXT pack is designed for use with the stock shackle.

If I did it again, I would get the Deaver U748's, my icon leaf packs squeak like crazy.

 

I’ve heard putting pieces from a bicycle inner tube between the pieces reduces the squeaks. Did you run your RXTs with a light load or empty? I’m looking at using the least amount of packs.

Bottom-line, I’d be interested to understand how much (or if) new leafs perform when adding height to the rear instead of shackles.

 

A shackle will add some lift, approximately 1/2 the difference in hole-to-hole length from your OEM. In other words, a shackle that is 1.5” longer will bet about .75” of lift. It’s not exact, since the spring center bolt may not be perfectly centered (I haven’t measured and am assuming) and the shackle typically won’t be vertical.

New springs will change your ride, and hopefully for the better. No experience with Icon, but they can’t be worse than stockers! A good pack is designed to ride correctly at a given height. For example, my U748 packs are a 2” lift. They have held up great over two years and ~50K miles. I’m heavy. Truck waleughs over 7,000# every day, and there is no sign of leaf fatigue.


If you can swing a good set of springs, I’d highly recommend it… then good shocks.

 

Well my setup would be TRD Pro Fox front and rear and the RXT’s.

 

The leaf packs will (should) improve ride over a shackle or block, especially paired with properly valved shocks. I ran the stage 1 RXT with no load for a while and it rode great, then added a decked system and topper. I'm still on stage 1, but should probably go to stage 2 soon.

 

You will need to make sure that your shocks are long enough to work with your modified rear suspension.

 

Good point. Will have to do some looking.