2017 Tundra Bed leaning heavily

I have a 2017 tundra sr5 Crewmax that has always had a slight lean in the driver side of the truck bed but it never bothered me very much. I installed a Eibach 2.5 inch lift kit on the front and the rear is sitting at 1.5 inches. I noticed that my truck bed had started to sag more and more so I replaced the leaf spring but I got no results. The driver side is about 10 inches from the axle to the frame and the passenger is 12 inches from the axle to the frame. What can I do to fix this issue and or is there any common mistakes I could have made during the install.

 

Seriuosly, though, a few pics would help. Could be as bad as a bent frame, could be something simple like you loaded everything on the drivers side of the bed or your font coilovers are adjusted properly. The driver, gas tank, battery, and brakes are all on the driver side of the vehicle, so they tend to have a slight lean; 1.5-2" is more than a slight lean... It' usually .25-5", .75" max.

 

I went and got some photos. My front coilovers I left at the stock position with the front sitting at an even 8 or 9 inch clearance.

 

Is a spring shackle binding up?

 

I never knew this was a thing until I looked it up just now. I think I torqued them while in the air so it is a strong possibility. I will let you know tomorrow thanks!

 

My 2020 bed has a slight sag on the passenger side, about 1/2 to 5/8 inch. It was even worse before I replaced the rear springs with 5-leaf HD springs. I see numerous Tundras with noticable bed sag on one side or the other. It's a shame that Toyota couldn't engineer this better. I think that the problems are in the frames.

 

So I looked at the shackles and they were good a little out of spec. Would this be a cause as to why the bed leans so much or should I bite the bullet and stiffen my springs?

 

Looking closely at the very first picture, it looks like the gap between the top bumper cover and the tailgate grows from driver side to passenger side. It looks to me like the frame is actually tweaked - maybe from taking a hit to that corner. The bed actually looks out of square as well, but that could just be perspective of the photo. I've seen trucks get rear ended or hit in the back quarter and tweak the frame, but not bend or crumple it.

Are you the original owner? Any accidents in the vehicle history?

Else, I'd guess the driver side spring is worn and needs to be replaced. Replacing both spring is advised in that situation.

 

Talk to the spring mfg. They are aftermarket.. right?

 

Speculating here, but I think it’s from a combination of things:

• Open rear diff (all torque coming from one wheel)
• Potentially slightly misaligned installation of the bed on the frame
• Asymmetric rear shock mounts (one is in front of the axle; the other behind)
• Soft factory leafs

These things add up to make your rear axle slightly off-center and your bed look a bit angled from the rear.

If you have visual OCD, it will bother you even though absolutely nothing is wrong with your truck. I see it a bit with mine, too.

 

The shackles install aside.....Measure the front height....both sides, measure from center of hub to bottom of fender and report back those measurements.

Out of the box, eibach assembled coilovers are set to 2 inch lift....however, Ive seem them lift less on driver side....surely due to gas tank and other stuff offset on that side. Is worse if you have the 38 gallon tank...with the big gas tank, makes the driver side half inch lower.

on the rear, make sure shackles are not in a bind and installed correctly. If your leafs are weak...RAS would be a better alternative to lift shackles- FYI.

Pretty much every Toyota 4wd Ive seen has some lean, even my 06 4runner. Always a slight lean....and then of course with the trucks the axles always sit a bit inside on one side and further out on the other side of the truck.

 

The springs are both OEM I was hauling recently and noticed the left moved quite a bit more than my right side when going over bumps (whether I was just imagining it or not). I may just bite the bullet and replace both springs to see what happens.

 

Not uncommon. I'd add a leaf just to driver side since you've got 2" difference. Seriously. It'll be fine and even if you have technically different spring rates it does not matter. Find any ~2.5" wide (are these still technically 60mm?) used pack with a similar (doesn't need to be identical) arch and throw in a leaf. Generally the longer the better. You can cut either end down with an angle grinder if necessary.

Get new u-bolts, do not reuse. You may need a longer center pin, but this is easy. You can use a basic Gr8 bolt and sand the head until it fits in the spring perch. Have some good clamps to clamp the pack when installing and removing the center pin -- even basic hardware store c-clamps are fine. I've done this a zillion times to Chevys, Fords, Nissans and Toyotas

 

I will give this a shot, even if it is just for the short term. I just need to be able to haul a trailer while saving money for some nicer rear springs.

 

Do you realize there is a left and right spring to compensate for the fuel tank and driver’s weight?

 

Has anyone measured it with an almost empty gas tank and compared to a full tank? 32 gallons of fuel weighs about 234 lbs.