I have a 2000 Tacoma 4x4 and never carry any weight but both of my rear leaf springs keep breaking. A local spring shop replaced the broken leafs on each side, but within a year they broke again. I think the leaf design in this truck has some shortcomings. Anyone have any suggestions?
Aftermarket solutions?

Thanks,
Ron

are they replacing just the broken spring or the hole thing??

Wow, that is strange, I haul crap in mine a lot and drive it a hard as necessary to get to where I need to hunt, fish or cut wood. I have never had one break or even heard of anyone elses breaking. Where is it breaking at?

mine broke a while ago and all the junkyards i called told me that they break so often they cant sell used ones anymore. i bought one from www.jcwhitney.com for around $140 and havent had any problems since, excext a little noise when its muddy.

20+ years ago I worked for a company that did a lot of bumper-pull and gooseneck trailer repairs. I learned that most trailer leaf springs break on rough roads with no load. Seems they can really bounce and break easier when not under load.
You might try keeping some weight in the back of your truck. It will improve the ride and traction at least, and might save on the springs.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. When the spring shop repaired the leafs, they just replaced the one broken leaf on each side and not the full set. I'm sure the question below is based on the fact that the whole set should be replaced. A Toyota parts dealer just told me the same thing. I wish the spring shop had told that before I spent over $300 getting one leaf replaced on each side. Guess I'll now pursue complete replacement. The same spring shop wants $500-$600 for full replacement. I'll have to check out
JC Whitney's. There's also another supplier I found on the net. I also heard the same thing that sometimes an empty, hard ever weighted situation can be worse on the springs.

Thanks again! Sounds like a common problem and I heard that Toyota redesigned the springs in subsequent models.

Ron

I have a set, email me.

Leaf springs for my boat trailer (about 2000# capacity) are $14/ea (have to replace them every few years due to the salt water). Sure the truck springs are beefier, but I can't believe they're THAT much beefier to cost $500-$600 for replacement!? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Was $300 a lot? Yea, but they they provided the two leafs and did all the labor. Did they install new u-bolts also? That would have added some to the cost.

If it happens again, consider the All-Pro replacement leaf packs for the Tacoma($299). They're well made and very flexy. If you're not lifted, give them a call and see if they can custom make a set at the factory height.

I take it that if the remaining leafs suddenly break, I'm in big trouble right? As in, the body comes down to the axle?

Ron