Broken leaf - advice

Well I wasn't fully ready to pull the trigger on new suspension components, but a quick look at my truck this afternoon has pushed me over the edge. I have a broken leaf spring on the drivers side. I will be purchasing new leaf packs and placing the order tomorrow. There is no way I'd put Toyota springs back on this thing. The ones that came factory are the canadian 4 leafs and they sagged as soon as I started hauling my quad around.

I'd like the rear to be a little more stiff because I haul a 14ft trailer with quads. As for lift I don't really want it to be more than 1 1/2" - 1 3/4".

Option 1: Dakars with 3rd leaf removed. Can people that have done this chime in on what their center hub to fender measurements are? Or just any info at all would be appreciated, about height gained, settling etc.

Option 2: Wheelers HD leaf spring. Anyone with experience? I searched around and doesn't seem to be that much info on them.

For reference I have a 2007 DCLB SR5 with 200000km. My rear measurements now are 22inches both sides with a little less than 1/4 tank of fuel.

All help is appreciated I'd like to make a more informed purchase tomorrow because I need my truck in a couple weeks, so I'd like to get this stuff ordered ASAP.

 

can't offer too much help. my truck broke the same leaf, i wish wheelers had their replacement option available when mine broke. looks like a good product. i ended up getting a good deal on a basically new 3 leaf pack and put those back on.

 

not the same as your situation but last week i added the dakar leaf pack and am very pleased. my stock leaf pack with a 2" toytec aal would sag from simple errands like dumping trash; no can that kine! i did not pull the third leaf but instead ADDED the extra overload leaf because i did not want to run into this problem again. in hind sight i think i may have OVER did it with the adding over the xl leaf but i dont regret it. the dakars are very stiff and can handle weight well. the back doesnt even flex now (im exaggerating but you get the point). i measured 25 1/4". a little more rake than i like but im sure these new leaf packs is gonna settle soon.

 

That's a little more rake than I'm going for. I'm sure the dakars will settle, how much is the question. I'm thinking they might even settle more with the 3rd leaf removed. I'd be happy at 23 1/2 or so. I've read that 2 inches of lift is around where you have to start dealing with vibes. How much troubleshooting did you have to do with vibrations?

 

ive put on a good 100 miles so far since ive installed the leaf packs; not much since this is not my daily drive. i have since dumped trash and loaded up my quad around just to haste the leaf settling and have not ran into vibration issues. im very grateful for that sitatuion, cause i crossing fingers, toes, and puckering assholes to avoid that issue LOL.

 

You must be one of the lucky few. Did you have the tsb rear and did you measure pre lift?

 

Do the Wheelers HD

You will get at least 2 1/2" lift from the Dakars

 

Only reason I was considering dakars is because a couple members in your measurements thread got 23 3/8 with the third leaf removed. One with AC and one DCSB, I'm at 22 now so I could live with another 1.5 inches, and after break in maybe closer to 23.

 

2 1/2 inches even with the 3rd removed OZ? Not sure if those guys that took it out were running caps or weight in their bed.

 

Oh my bad , missed the 3rd removed

You probably get around 2"

 

Dakar advertises their lift over stock. What do they consider stock? TSB or non TSB springs?

 

Non TSB

 

Thanks OZ.

I'll have to sleep on this... very tough decision.

 

Went with Bilstein 5100 on the 4 corners, Wheelers HD leaf pack, stem cushions and new eye bolts for the rear leafs. Will post pics once installed.

 

What's a stem cushion ?

 

The strut stem cushion and washer kit for the top bolt on the struts. The 5100's don't come with new ones so for 20 bucks I ordered replacements for my weather cracked stock ones.

 

I removed the third leaf on my dakars, after install i was at about 23.5", thats with about 100lbs in the bed on my access cab. They have settled a little, ive added some weight with sliders and a hi-lift in the bed, probably only 1/4" lower now. I havnt checked in awhile so ill measure again when im home.

 

Interested to see what height your truck sits at with the Wheelers pack... I'd like some stiffer springs that raise the back a wee bit.

 

I will have the package by the end of next week but probably won't be able to get it on the truck until the week after. I will post pre and post measurements ie: hub to fender, driveline angles and actual measurements along with a few pictures. I will be setting the 5100's at 1.75.

 

Sorry for the crappy cell pics but you get the idea. This is Bilstein 5100's on all 4 corners with the front set at 1.75 with a Wheeler's HD leaf pack in the rear (4 leafs 1 overload).

Before lift measurements center hub to fender:

FR: 20 inches
FL: 20 inches

RR: 22 inches
RL: 22 inches

After lift center hub to fender:

FR: 22 inches
FL: 22 inches

RR: 24 inches
RL: 24 inches

Full 2 inches all the way around.




I haven't got around to measuring post lift drive angles because of all the snow we got but prior to the lift my driveshaft was almost straight with a - 5 deg angle towards the rear end. Will update with better pics when we get a nice day.

First impressions are pretty good, I haven't been able to try it out that much because of the weather. The ride is slightly stiffer than stock, it doesn't float over bumps anymore it's a little more jarring but nothing crazy. There isn't much room between the 4th leaf and the overload so I can't imagine much flex out of this pack.

More updates to come.