[New Red Truck]

Hey guys, I recently bought an '83 to replace the '80 I had some years back and the ride is really damned rough! My old red truck had 31" tires on steel wheels whereas this one has the stock size 27" tires on stock wheels so I'm attributing the harsher ride to having less unsprung mass to soak up the bumps and jolts. My new red truck is totally stock.

Anyway, I'm about at the point where I no longer want to live with this ride quality. What was Toyota thinking back then? Going over pothole fields actually makes me mad, like having someone knocking you in the back of the head repeatedly or something.

My question is this: Has anyone simply removed the bottom leaf from the stock front suspension? Obviously it would yield a softer ride but I'm wondering just how much softer. And perhaps more importantly, I'm wondering how far the remaining leaves will then sag over the axle, as they're basically flat now. I could live with a suspension drop of 1-2" I think but beyond that, I'm not sure.

 

[fourwd1]

I'm wondering how far the remaining leaves will then sag over the axle, as they're basically flat now

It would be extremely hard to say what the result would be with a spring pack that already has 27 yrs of wear on it. But it would be worth trying. It's not that difficult. Start soaking the u-bolt and center bolt nuts with penetrating oil now. Then 2 c-clamps and some jack stands and you're in business.

 

[New Red Truck]

What are the C-clamps for? Are they like D-clamps used in woodworking? Forgive me if that's an annoyingly naive question. The bottom springs I have in mind are flatish and do not wrap around the shackle bolts like the rest so I'm thinking I can just separate the leaf packs from the axle and slide them out. Of course, nothing is ever that simple...

They have locating clamps mounted to them that wrap around the entire leaf pack which appear to be riveted on. Is that the case? If so, where does the other end of the rivet terminate and how do I get them off? With these clamps in place, the bottom springs won't be going anywhere. Which is, of course, Toyota's intention.