Wow! 1700 miles, that's quite the drive. ×100 on the gearing, best mod so far for me was regearing. Way under rated, I wondered how I put up with the stock gearing for so long!
I realized after my earlier post that Tundras have different shackle mounts. Learn something new everyday I guess
As you know the thing about Chevy springs that makes them desirable is the fact that they are super long which means they can droop like crazy, but longer springs also means they can be quite soft. I too wanted to run short shackles but was actually surprised how low my truck sat when I used the stock thru the frame mounts and stock length shackles... the rear actually sat an inch lower than the front which was stock height at the time. I don't know if different years of half-ton springs will yield different results but 2000+ Silverado 1500 springs (2+1 overload) didn't sit high at all like I thought they would. I had to go to a lift shackle in order for it to sit level using the stock shackle mounts.
With around 500# of gear in the back (topper, RTT, camping gear), the current rear spring rate is great with an AAL, the springs don't touch the overload. There's a bit of body roll but nothing that makes me uneasy, i know the roll is because my RTT is mounted so high.
I've had that much weight in the back without an AAL and it was rough because the springs sat on the overload, but shackle angle can play a role there I think. I learned a lot when I bit the bullet and did the swap, there are a lot of variables that can affect the outcome.
Looking forward to what you do with your intake!
