How much weight with stock suspension?

[DaveInDenver]

Everyone is so fast to upgrade these things these days before it's necessary

Sure, people have been over loading their Toyotas for 20+ years. I figure you have to view the truck as a whole. Toyota, like very manufacturer, makes assumptions based on what they think the market wants and know from history of buyers. A 4Runner has to ride well with just one person commuting on highways and handle it's maximum passenger and cargo safely but they don't necessarily expect their trucks to carry their GVWR constantly or comfortably on all weather and terrain. They aren't selling us commercial off highway utility trucks afterall.

There's two things I notice about Toyota stock suspension. First it's relatively soft. It can handle a lot of weight but it's sitting on a huge overload spring to do it. Second is that every Toyota I've had handled terribly on washboard no matter the payload (which I admit isn't a huge sample size, 1991 Pickup, 2008 Tacoma, 2005 4Runner). So there's more to suspension than just an X vs Y weight calculation. You might not even increase your cargo capacity but upgrade suspension so that your truck handles better where you actually use it.

I agree with you that it probably shouldn't be the first thing you do. Put in the seat time, really see what you need, if anything. But at the same time don't think Toyota has some magical powers and makes trucks that do everything perfectly. Match the suspension to the use.

 

[NoTraxx]

Well, I am not sure about Toyota. My Ford has a handy dandy sticker in the drivers door jam. It gives the specs of the front and rear axles along with the curb weight. Another sticker give the load capacity and the spring codes. I can use that code to get my spring rates and possibly order a factory spring with a higher rate.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Well, I am not sure about Toyota. My Ford has a handy dandy sticker in the drivers door jam. It gives the specs of the front and rear axles along with the curb weight. Another sticker give the load capacity and the spring codes. I can use that code to get my spring rates and possibly order a factory spring with a higher rate.

There's no a la carte suspension options with Toyota. There's differences depend on which trim you buy, TRD Pro, TRD Offroad, TRD Sport, etc. The Pro suspension is a custom FOX/Toyota system that's more like a Raptor than a simple upgrade. The others are smaller tweaks, like the TRD OR gets progressive rate front coil springs, the Sport is valved to be firmer.

The only customization I've ever heard of goes back a few years to the 05-15 Tacoma, which came from the factory with a 2 main + 1 overload (usually referred to as 2+1 or 3 leaf) spring pack that sagged with even just a camper shell on it. Toyota had an unadvertised service bulletin that if a customer complained about inadequate suspension capacity they would put a 3+1 pack on, which as I understand it was actually the pack available on Tacomas in Canada and Mexico. I'm not completely sure if it was an optional commercial pack or the standard pack for those markets.

I'm not aware of anything similar with 4Runner or other coil sprung trucks. They get the same trim-dependent suspensions but you can't AFAIK ask for a +300 lbs rear spring or anything like that.

 

[NoTraxx]

There's no a la carte suspension options with Toyota. There's differences depend on which trim you buy, TRD Pro, TRD Offroad, TRD Sport, etc. The Pro suspension is a custom FOX/Toyota system that's more like a Raptor than a simple upgrade. The others are smaller tweaks, like the TRD OR gets progressive rate front coil springs, the Sport is valved to be firmer.

The only customization I've ever heard of goes back a few years to the 05-15 Tacoma, which came from the factory with a 2 main + 1 overload (usually referred to as 2+1 or 3 leaf) spring pack that sagged with even just a camper shell on it. Toyota had an unadvertised service bulletin that if a customer complained about inadequate suspension capacity they would put a 3+1 pack on, which as I understand it was actually the pack available on Tacomas in Canada and Mexico. I'm not completely sure if it was an optional commercial pack or the standard pack for those markets.

I'm not aware of anything similar with 4Runner or other coil sprung trucks. They get the same trim-dependent suspensions but you can't AFAIK ask for a +300 lbs rear spring or anything like that.

Good point, however. If you know your spring code you can get the part number. Then look for the spring code/part number of the heavier springs if that is what you need. Then order just the springs. It is a direct parts swap with factory equipment.
For instance you have a yota and add a heavy bumper with winch. I am not sure if toyota has a snow plow package but if so then you can find out that spring and do a direct swap since they are designed to tote the load.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Good point, however. If you know your spring code you can get the part number. Then look for the spring code/part number of the heavier springs if that is what you need. Then order just the springs. It is a direct parts swap with factory equipment.
For instance you have a yota and add a heavy bumper with winch. I am not sure if toyota has a snow plow package but if so then you can find out that spring and do a direct swap since they are designed to tote the load.

Toyota isn't really in the business of offering trucks for work in the same way as the Big 3. They don't offer a snow plow package for the Tundra even though there are aftermarket blades that can be fitted to them. I'm a fanboy for Toyota but there's no illusion that they sell recreational (e.g. "lifestyle") trucks to the general market, not really the multitude of configurations necessary to service fleets or commercial users like you'd be familiar. It's kind of the old, old Ford mentality of "You can get any color you want as long as its black."

 

[NoTraxx]

Toyota isn't really in the business of offering trucks for work in the same way as the Big 3. They don't offer a snow plow package for the Tundra even though there are aftermarket blades that can be fitted to them. I'm a fanboy for Toyota but there's no illusion that they sell recreational (e.g. "lifestyle") trucks to the general market, not really the multitude of configurations necessary to service fleets or commercial users like you'd be familiar. It's kind of the old, old Ford mentality of "You can get any color you want as long as its black."

I agree to a point, but Toyota is definitely a work truck in other places than NA. Maybe some of our Aussie friends can help with this.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I agree to a point, but Toyota is definitely a work truck in other places than NA. Maybe some of our Aussie friends can help with this.

Totally true, the Land Cruiser and Hilux are far more configurable but they generally are selling trucks globally in ways the Big 3 do here. The opposite I suspect would be true in Australia. You can get an F150 or F350 there but I imagine the range of options is very small while getting the exact Hilux you want to suit a job is commonplace.

We've only seen one model Land Cruiser in the U.S. since the the 1980s and the model we get is essentially the top spec everywhere else. Toyota actually sells a whole line of Cruisers (the 70-series) that we never got at all and within that line there's several sub models, cab-and-chassis, ute, troop carrier, etc. Same with the wagon (60, 80, 100, 200), there's base models with cloth seats and stick shifts up to trims with leather like ours. The U.S. sales of Cruisers is a drop in the bucket globally, so much so that this is the last year they're even going to sell them at all here.

The last year we got a Hilux was I think 1982. We got the same truck from Japan, renamed Toyota Truck, up to 1991 and beginning in 1992 the truck we got shared the design but was made in the U.S. From 1995 the pickup we got, the Tacoma, has been similar to the Hilux but diverged in substantial ways. Not least of which is the chassis itself.