I don't think this came stock...

Newly acquired Tundra here.
Word from previous owner is that it was only "leveled" in the front. However after getting the wheels off and doing some wrenching, I discovered a 1.75" aluminum block under the leaf springs in the rear and need to know how to get the truck back to the stock TRD-Pro suspension setup.

I intend to pull our 6,500 lbs. camper and want to avoid having the suspension compromised for looks, as I've read a lot of negatives about block lifts in the rear. I can't figure out what is going on in the front, since it clearly would have a spacer with the truck currently being leveled and the block lifting up the rear. May install an RAS system once I get this all figured out..

Does anyone have some insight of what is going on here?

Is this a removable spacer on top or part of the Factory FOX coil pack?


Offending block.. I assume I will need to purchase OEM u-bolts and possibly a bracket?

 

Stock TRD PRO on wife's Sequoia. Should be similar to Tundra's.

 

Yup. Gotta ditch the spacers above the front coils and rear leafs. Technically the PO was correct. The PRO comes level, so a “lift / level” would require lifting the front and rear equally.

 

Thanks.. looks like it's clearly a spacer. Wonder if the bolts will be too long if I remove the spacer to match. Looks like yours protrude quite a bit and could be the same bolts that were used..

 

Definitely looks to me like a spacer lift in the front. A lot of leveling kits will provide lift in the front an rear to both lift the truck and level it. 4/2 lift, 3/1 lift, etc. That's probably what they did.

 

Assuming the PO added these when it was new, do you think the rear leafs are compromised/flattened out at this point?

 

Yours are not the stock bolts. You may leave them in place, only cut the excess off. Access to the rearmost bolt is difficult, may need to cut a bit more.

 

These leafs are pretty flat even on a new vehicle. He did the cheapest crappiest lift entirely for the looks.

 

That's what I'm figuring out. I'm considering swapping out the leafs entirely for old man emus with the appropriate lift and keeping the spacers up front. From my understanding, the block under the leaf is the biggest concern out of this setup.

 

You should never reuse U-bolts once they are torqued to spec it ruins them for reuse. As cheap as they are better to buy new and be sure.

 

OME are known to be pretty squeaky at least in the Tacoma world. Look into the upgraded bushings if you go the OME route. Deaver and Alcan were the go to for custom springs for towing in the Tacoma world both will match your estimated weights and get you set up right. I ran Alcan after talking to Lew and weighing my truck loaded and unloaded he built me a set of progressive springs. They were softer with no load but stiffer when the trailer was hitched up. It was around 1000 for the set up but it was some of the best money I spent on my Tacoma. Ultimately I'm in a Tundra because the Tacoma didn't have the power I wanted to tow the trailer.

 

What about the RAS coils on stock TRD leafs for towing? I'm honestly not too concerned about the lift and don't mind going back to stock TRD height.

 

Squeaky in what part? In the bushings or in the pack itself?

I'm looking at upgrading my rears in the future. Circling over to Dobinson, but open to opinions. Bushings I would want to keep OE rubber. Have had pretty bad experience with polyurethane in winter offroading.

 

It's like you read my mind.. this is the path I'm headed down. I actually forgot about the RAS lifting the rear up that much, but it's pretty level right now so I'm thinking I would still need to pull the front spacer. However, this will at least allow me to pull the rear block, add the RAS and see where I'm at. With the spacer I have up front, is anything typically done to the control arms or any other modifications to adjust for the CV angle changes etc. ? In my mind, if I pull both the spacers and the blocks all will be right in the world.. just don't want to be surprised by something else.

 

Also, any chance you have a link to the stock coil pack bolts for when I pull the spacer out?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/squeaky-ome-dakar-leaf-pack-fix-solution.487394/

Lots of conversations here about the ome/Dakar packs and some of the solutions. They're are prolly 50 threads on the subject. Just remember that some rake is good if you tow very much. The rake will keep the weight from lifting the front end making it less stable and steering more difficult.

 

I also know i heard a lot about the sumo springs but I have no experience with the ras or the sumo system. Just thought a couple options might help with research.

 

RAS is active, adds more spring rate and some additional lift. Sumo is passive and is more of a mega progressive bump stop.

 

So you think those are the stock bolts that I can re-use? How is the spacer attached to the top of the factory coil tower then?

 

A lot of spacer lifts have an extra set of nuts and bolts that attach the spacer to the coilover and then you attach the whole assembly to the truck. In this case though it looks like they go all the way through. If that is the case and you pull the spacer, you'd probably just have to cut them down a bit once you put the assembly back on. You unfortunately wont really know for sure until you take them off. The other option, if you are concerned about opening a can of worms with the front, is to leave the front spacer and get custom rear leaf springs that provide the lift you are looking for in the rear for towing. I know Alcan will custom make your springs to the amount of lift you are looking for.

 

Makes sense. Switching gears to the rear, is that lower u-bolt bracket able to be re-used (is it factory?) when I remove the block? I've already ordered new u-bolts that I believe match the OEM dims. 7.75" inner diameter and 2.5" inner width. 9/16 thread

 

Thanks. I would prefer to be back at stock height, but my primary goal is to get rid of the block in the rear and add the RAS system. I'm thinking I will tackle that job first, see where the ride height is, and then go from there. My hunch is that it will be lower in the rear which will force me to go ahead and remove the spacers up front. I'll save the latter for a weekend in case the can does in fact contain worms..

 

What is the general consensus on these coil spacers and blocks and affect on towing and overall ride comfort? I would expect both to be improved after removing and going back to stock..

 

Removing the coilover spacer would definitely improve ride quality especially with the fox shocks. Not sure how it effects towing, but I would assume improvement as well.

 

I hope so.. another thing I noticed is that it doesn’t look like spacers were added to the front diff, unless these are? Is the CV angle overly stressed or do most not worry about this when putting spacers in?