Truck bed bounce. Is it the leaf packs?

I've switched from OME nitrocharger shocks to Dobinsons, 3" front lift down to 2" (save cv boots, joints) , KO2s to AT3W falkens. Still have the OME heavy duty dakkar leaf pack in.

I like the ride better but the bed bounce is still there, and it's bad. On a less than perfectly smooth road my passengers are bouncing up and down like they're in a dump truck and the truck bed can be seen in the rear view bouncing hard like my truck is trying to twerk. I've tried low tire pressures, alignments, driveline angles, many tire/wheel balancings, etc I mean, it has to be the leaf pack right? It really does feel like it barely flexes at all. I almost always have the bed empty.

 

Not an expert on this problem, but it does sound like your springs, axel weight and shocks are not in tune with each other. Twerking leads me to believe it’s the shocks, but you have to figure out where in the precompression stroke your springs are and etc. I’d think you need to search the gen 2 threads as they have messed with this longer.

 

Mine does the same. I have 1.5" blocks in the rear and icon remote resi shocks in the rear. At 45-60 mph the bed bounce is so annoying.

Thinking about trying some headstrong 3 leaf aal instead of the blocks.

 

How much weight in the bed

 

The Tacoma frame moves like a wet noodle, and this is what we all feel as poor ride quality over the bumps. Unless the frame is boxed, various braces are installed, or a solution to damp the movement is achieved, the ride quality we all desire from it will never exist.

 

Assuming if your shocks are adjustable you’ve tried playing with the settings?
I’ve owned heavily sprung trucks that bounced and the ride usually softens up by temporarily putting a few hundred pounds of anything in the back until the springs get some loaded miles on them......easier than pulling a leaf out of each spring anyway......Just a thought..

 

I've come to the conclusion that as long as it's not my tires or something like that out of whack I'm OK with it. It's a truck, not a car.

 

My Gen 3 has a perfect ride at all speeds and loads. True I have an excellent suspension upgrade with digressive shocks to accomplish this but it can be done.

 

Fox suspension here on KO2's and love it.

 

Put a few hundred pounds of weight in it and see what happens.

That should prove the springs are the issue, and you go from there.

 

My money is on the leaf pack. Is there a reason that you went with the HD leaf pack when you're typically running no load? Have you put weight (more than say 300lb) in the bed since installing the setup? If so, how was the ride theN?

 

yes

 

I also maintained the factory rake with my lift.

 

0. Empty bed.

Sure, but I've owned and driven other trucks. None of which felt like this.

What shocks?

I'll try this.

It came with the OME lift kit when I bought it. Have not put that much weight in the bed. I'll try loading it with bags if sand or bricks. Not a permanent solution but if ride improves I will get stock or lower weight rating leaf pack.

 

@Doc1303

I have an Icon 8 kit.

I did not max it out, kept everything within its optimal adjustment ranges and I set the rear at Medium because I run about 150 lbs over stock, although it is midcenter loaded anyway.

I drive a bit above optimally, so I tend to preload as I stop and turn.
My camber is forward.

 

Id say your rear springs are to stiff if youre getting hop. Since they aren't flexing much or at all without weight in the back. Throw like 200lbs in the bed and see if that helps your hop

 

Boxed frames bounce worse.

The open channel frame helps conform to the road and obstacles. It has many advantages. I am glad Toyota has the sense not to engineer these trucks with a boxed frame.

 

Add-a-leaf will result in a stiffer ride and bounce worse than blocks.

Blocks retain factory ride quality (with OEM shocks) but add height, only.

Your shocks will be the culprit.

 

Like others, I'm going to put my money on the spring packs. If you have HD spring packs with no load, then it's going to ride rough. Take my F250 for example. With an empty bed on logging roads, your kidneys are going to take a hit. Put 2000 lbs in the bed and she rides better than a Cadillac. Putting 200-300 lbs in the bed will smooth out the ride, but your MPG is going to go down. If putting a couple of hundred pounds in the bed smooths out your ride then you have a pretty good idea that the springs are the reason. After that, you have some decisions to make. One, leave it how it is and live with it. Two, leave 200-300 lbs in the bed and deal with less MPG's. Or three, change out your leaf packs to something closer to OEM.

 

Wait hold on, you have the heavy duty dakar leaf pack with 0 weight in the bed and you’re wondering why it’s bouncing around?

Throw 400lbs of weight in your bed and go drive around. Tell us how it feels.

The heavy duty pack is meant for weight! Remove the overload leaf and it’ll
be much better