4th Gen Tacoma Springs 101: Everything You Need to Know When Selecting Springs

[marie_arb]

Last post, we covered how to pick a suspension kit for your 4th Gen. Today, we’re switching gears slightly and going over how to select your springs.

Your coils do two big jobs: they hold up your truck, and they set your lift height. But the spring rate you pick also decides how your Tacoma rides, how it handles with gear loaded, and how level it sits. Get it right, and you gain stability, control, and a level stance. Get it wrong, and you're chasing sag or fighting a harsh ride. Here's how to dial it in.

Match Your Springs to the Load: Constant vs. Variable
Your first step is to determine the weight of all of your gear. There are two kinds of load to think about, even before you figure out which spring rate to choose: constant and variable.

Constant load is the permanent stuff bolted to your truck. Think steel bumpers, a winch, drawers, a rooftop tent, and underbody armor. Variable load is everything that comes and goes: passengers, water, recovery gear, camping supplies.

Springs that are too soft for your load will sag and wear out early. Too stiff for your setup, and the ride turns harsh when the truck is empty. The fix is to match your springs to what you actually carry every day, not what you load up for each of your trips.

Quick note, you can always re-spring as your build evolves, but that costs more down the road, so it pays to know your goals up front, literally.

Spring Rate and Ride Quality

Spring rate is the force needed to compress a spring, and it's where ride quality lives. You'll see three tiers: light, medium, and heavy-duty.

• Light springs compress easily for a soft, comfortable on-road feel, but they'll sag or bottom out under extra weight.
• Medium springs are the sweet spot for rigs carrying moderate gear regularly.
• Heavy-duty springs are stiffer and built for full-time overland loads, though they can feel firm when the truck is unloaded.

Here’s a cheat sheet:

	Front Additions	Rear Additions
Light Springs	No aftermarket bumper or constant weight.	No roof rack, RTT, drawers, or heavy gear.
Medium Springs	Steel bumper without winch, or lightweight bumper with winch. May include dual batteries or auxiliary lighting.	Moderate, part-time loads like an empty bed rack, light RTT, or light camping gear.
Heavy Springs	Full-width steel bumper with winch and/or tire carrier.	Constant weight in the rear from a loaded drawer system, roof rack with RTT, fridge, or recovery gear.

Quick tip: rock sliders, side steps, and roof racks spread weight across both the front and rear, so factor them into both ends.

What ARB Offers and Why It's Easy
Every OME kit is engineered to take the guesswork out of spring selection. Each one is tuned to your Tacoma's weight and how you use it, with light-, medium-, and heavy-duty options covering everything from daily drivers to fully loaded overlanders. Our coil springs are double-scragged before and after shot peening to relieve stress and extend spring life, so they hold their rate whether the truck is loaded or empty.

Best of all, you don't dig through part numbers. Head over to our website, pick the kit that matches your front and rear loads, then fine-tune the lift with preload collars. That's it. And our products are all backed by our 3-year warranty and trusted by 4x4 owners worldwide.

Spec Your Springs
Find the right OME coils for your 4th gen Tacoma with the fitment guide on our website, and match your kit to your front and rear loads in a couple of clicks.

Not sure which tier fits your build? Drop your accessory list below, and we'll help you pick!

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[Rmarin4272]

I’ve got a smartcap EVO sport, plywood platform and wooden drawers. When I was at the expo in AZ the ARB rep told me to get the standard springs (up to 400lbs). Seems like you are suggesting the medium springs for my constant weight? Since the rock sliders attach to the frame and not the body, it doesn’t affect the springs.

 

[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

Speaking from my personal, real world experience and testing. The stock Springs/ Suspension on my OR became worthless once I started my overland build because of the weight I was adding. I chose a king' suspension upgrade with Dobson 819s in the rear. At this point I had rock sliders, smart cap roof racks and overland tent with 270 awning, the traff became an animal and handled amazing. Once I added the front backwoods, hybrid bumper with A12K winch I lost most all my performance in the front ( felt like it was standing on its toes when I would hit the brake.
The kings came with 450 coils originally. Back to adding weight, I added a rear fridge slide, overland cargo boxes and recovery gear I could feel the truck becoming rolly poly again!
I i just finally received my new rear coils from Dobson. I went with their heaviest 821 (1000lb) over stock and just picked up a set of six hundred pound coils from king to replace the front ones.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this combo is going to workout.
I know it's going to be a little stiff when the rear of the truck isn't loaded for overlanding, yet, I know when I add the rear dual swing bumper and winch it should balance it out perfectly.

Moral to this story, everyone (IMHO) take a relieve it!! If you're not made of money and are planning build an overland vehicle, i suggest you calculate how much weight you're gonna add, then add up roughly how much camping gear you're gonna take with you to get a good idea of your total gross weight before you start building your suspension.
Yeah sure, ARB IS COMPLETELY RIGHT THAT YOU CAN RESPRING, YOUR SUSPENSION WHEN YOUR NEEDS CHANGE., Butt it comes at the cost of tearing your whole front end of the part again, recalibrating all of the sensors. Toyota installed my lift but will not install the new Springs at this point. because it is too technical for them I guess and recommend that.I take it to a specialty shop.
That as soon as backwoods releases their rear high clearance, dual swing bumper, I will be upgrading my springs at the same time.
I estimate just the spring work is going to be over a $1000. And that is why I say if you're not a mechanic or you're not independently wealthy, these mistakes cost money.
Just the cost of the springs was over $800, labor ? I'm guessing about a $1000, and my time to have it done again, is the reason I say, be patient if you can, or put heavier springs on all the way around and live with it being stiff until you get everything added.
FYI my Tacoma loaded sits at about 2000lbs over stock.
I'll keep this thread posted on how it drives once everything installed.
Hope this helps someone save money.

 

[Devleen]

Speaking from my personal, real world experience and testing. The stock Springs/ Suspension on my OR became worthless once I started my overland build because of the weight I was adding. I chose a king' suspension upgrade with Dobson 819s in the rear. At this point I had rock sliders, smart cap roof racks and overland tent with 270 awning, the traff became an animal and handled amazing. Once I added the front backwoods, hybrid bumper with A12K winch I lost most all my performance in the front ( felt like it was standing on its toes when I would hit the brake.
The kings came with 450 coils originally. Back to adding weight, I added a rear fridge slide, overland cargo boxes and recovery gear I could feel the truck becoming rolly poly again!
I i just finally received my new rear coils from Dobson. I went with their heaviest 821 (1000lb) over stock and just picked up a set of six hundred pound coils from king to replace the front ones.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this combo is going to workout.
I know it's going to be a little stiff when the rear of the truck isn't loaded for overlanding, yet, I know when I add the rear dual swing bumper and winch it should balance it out perfectly.

Moral to this story, everyone (IMHO) take a relieve it!! If you're not made of money and are planning build an overland vehicle, i suggest you calculate how much weight you're gonna add, then add up roughly how much camping gear you're gonna take with you to get a good idea of your total gross weight before you start building your suspension.
Yeah sure, ARB IS COMPLETELY RIGHT THAT YOU CAN RESPRING, YOUR SUSPENSION WHEN YOUR NEEDS CHANGE., Butt it comes at the cost of tearing your whole front end of the part again, recalibrating all of the sensors. Toyota installed my lift but will not install the new Springs at this point. because it is too technical for them I guess and recommend that.I take it to a specialty shop.
That as soon as backwoods releases their rear high clearance, dual swing bumper, I will be upgrading my springs at the same time.
I estimate just the spring work is going to be over a $1000. And that is why I say if you're not a mechanic or you're not independently wealthy, these mistakes cost money.
Just the cost of the springs was over $800, labor ? I'm guessing about a $1000, and my time to have it done again, is the reason I say, be patient if you can, or put heavier springs on all the way around and live with it being stiff until you get everything added.
FYI my Tacoma loaded sits at about 2000lbs over stock.
I'll keep this thread posted on how it drives once everything installed.
Hope this helps someone save money.

Thanks for the info

 

[RESQCAT]

I did a weight study for my 2024 Trailhunter build. I got the weights for the SAR lights, scene lights, radios, rack, bed drawer, cargoglide, Leitner boxes, water cans, tools, clothes, etc etc. I calculated load at front, load in bed, and total load. I used that information to select Dobson springs and ARB BP-51s and dialed it in. Fantastic ride. And... since my SAR loadout differs from my overland/camping/small trailer loadout I can adjust. Pretty happy with it.

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