question for toyota tacoma owners

[JustinC]

have any of you tacoma owners had problems with broken leaf springs? a few weeks ago i noticed some clanking coming from the rear of the truck. i crawled underneath to take a look and sure enough the passenger side spring was broken. i called around to parts stores and the dealer is the only place that has it and they want $450 for one. now the other day i noticed a lot more clanking and noise than usual, it used to only make noise driving over large bumps and pot holes, so i just crawled under to take a look and now the drivers side spring is broken-this sucks! do any of you guys know of any aftermarket springs(stock ride height)? if you had someone do the repairs do you know how much the labor was? if anyone has any information for me it would be great.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

I would bet a few calls to junk yards would find a spring or two.

 

[rickyd]

What year Taco is it?? Whereabouts is it?? Call the junkyards, try and find another Taco owner that has lifted their truck..
Rick

 

[xsnrg]

You should just save yourself the hassle and go with decent aftermarket equipment and maybe put a 'helper' spring on it as well. Helper springs don't make contact unless you have a load in the bed, so they should affect the ride like installing stiff springs may.

 

[JustinC]

thanks for the responses guys. my tacoma is 2000, 4x4, 2.7L, extra cab. i did a search and found that they are known for breaking. i called around to salvage yards around here and none of them have any. i did another search and found a few toyota only salvage yards throughout the country, i am going to call them tomorrow. the only problem with used springs is that i could go through the hassle of installing them, only to have those ones break on me. i am really disappointed with this truck. when i bought it it had 65k miles it and ran great, it has 87k on it know and it is starting to go down hill.

 

[bsmith]

I don't have a Toyota, yet everything I have seen and heard shows me they are good solid pick-ups. Since it was used you never now how the previous owner used it! Did they off road it hard or did the just abuse it? Heavily loads in those could cause a lot of damage to a spring that wasn't designed to carry a heavy load and you could just now be seeing the effect of prior abuse, espeically if your taking it offroad aswell.

 

[Ryone]

I'd be willing to bet that that's the only problem you'll have with it for a long time. Tacoma rear leaf springs and notorious for causing problems and being noisy. If you can find a good set of aftermarket leafs you'll be all set.

For way too much information, go to www.tundrasolutions.com and do a search for leaf springs.

Ryan

 

[Peer Lovell]

Have you gone to the dealer? I assume your truck is off warranty, but does Toyota have some form of "adjustment"? Often they do when they know its a rampant problem.

 

[JustinC]

Have you gone to the dealer? I assume your truck is off warranty, but does Toyota have some form of "adjustment"? Often they do when they know its a rampant problem.

i will check to see what the dealer has to say, but will close to 90k miles on it i doubt they will do anything. i did find a pair of new aftermarket springs for around $400, when i called the dealer they wanted $450 for each spring.

 

[y_a_m_a_h_a_2005]

get a good set of aftermarket ones my friend had the same problem about 4 weeks ago and he paid about $900-$1800 and got a really good set but then again he got the ones that can take alot of a beating because hes offroad most of the time and has a lot of weight on the back end becaues we go out and pull heavy loads ( we broke his stock springs jumping his truck opps )