Hello!

Fairly new to the game here, since getting the truck last winter, I've been mostly dealing with suspension issues (other recent revamps include new axle boots/ ball joints) this is the first rear suspension refresh I'll be doing on the truck.

Some more context: The truck came with a 4" lift and 33" tires, had a sag on the driver's side so I had the torsion bar adjusted, this may have put too much strain on the right side leaf spring since it recently cracked.

It's time for new rear springs/ bushings maybe shocks too



I'm shopping around for new spings (re-leafing the stock ones is way out of my league) and I'm currently considering the following options:

a) swap for aftermarket stock springs (seems like the more "bandaid" solution)
b) swap for lifted springs and remove the block that sits on top of the axle (see image below)

I'd like to think that 4" lifted leaf springs will fit right in but my concern is that they will sit too high and I might have to do more work on the front suspension to get things right.

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Any advice is appreciated!! would love to hear your thoughts/ suggestions on what leaf springs to buy. So far I've only looked at OME's seems like the way to go, though I hear they have to be broken in quite a bit and might require new shackle as well

 

Personally I would go with the lift springs and get rid of the lift blocks, If it ends up a little too tall in the rear give it time for the springs to settle, they always do.
Plus, the 4runners always seem to be a little saggy in the rear, so starting out a little high will allow it to settle into a more level stance.
If it really seems too tall in the back when your done with the leaf springs put a good load in the back and do some flexing off road, this will speed up the settling process.

 

Back in the day on my 1982 long bed 4X4 I had put on a Leer Shell and cut the cab and bed to make it a walk through, not that you could stand in there. The leaf springs I had were from Downey Off-Road who are long gone now. But I took the overloads out of the leaf pack and I ran Revolver Shackles which provided two things. I got a perfect ride height and excellent droop when the 10" travel shocks were extended. The articulation was awesome and high speed desert runs did not have the rear end bucking about because the over loads were not there and this provided a much more linear spring rate when the suspension was bottomed out. This might be something to consider and definitely loose those idiotic lift blocks! Northwest Offroad use to offer a lot of leaf springs but, I am not sure if they are still in business? Deaver is a leaf spring company for a custom or reproduction of the OEM spring and there is a leaf spring from a Chevy truck that gets mention fairly often.