Am I Picking The Right Suspension?

After spending the last year doing a lot of research and looking at your sick ass trucks, I think I’m ready to pull the trigger, but want to some second opinions.

First my truck: 2014 DCSB TRD Off Road. The truck is my daily driver and I also do a fair amount of off road driving. I don’t bash rocks, but I do some more difficult trails. I plan on a relatively lightweight build with a belly skid and sliders. Maybe upgrading my front skid sometime in the future. No plans for bumpers or winch or a cap on the back. I’m running 265/75/16 tires and plan to stay there for a long time.

What I want: On and off road the stock suspension is way too soft and I want something firm, but not harsh. My last truck was an 80-series with OME heavies. I had no armor and loved the way it rode. I’m looking for 2+ inches of lift, but below 3”. I want something solid and reliable. I hear lots of complaints about add a leafs, so I want a full leaf pack. I want some rake in the back when unloaded.

The plan:

OME 885x’s with Nitrocharger sport shocks. No top plates, but may do that in the future if I ever go with 285s.
Light Racing UCAs. I know some don’t need them, but my alignment from the factory is not great and good caster is important to me.
Trim packer for the Taco lean
Dakars in back with the 3rd leaf removed. Going to add a collar to the center pin to help chase down the vibes later.
Bushings
OME shocks
New U-bolts
CB drop and shims as needed

A couple more questions:

Do I need extended brake lines in the rear? I do plan on using all the flex and lifting tires in the air.
Should I get greasable shackles?

What do y'all think? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

When you say lifting the tires in the air, do you mean jumping? If so you should read the "Mid travel" thread. Some of the guys there have strong feelings about LR UCAs.

Everything else looks great. You probably won't need longer brake lines, but a lot of guys do get extended brake lines. I am lifted 2 inches in the front and 1.5 inches in the rear and didn't change out the brake lines.

 

No jumping. Just flexing on the twisty stuff enough to lift a wheel in the air. Just one, not all four

 

Looks good. Consider ubolt flip when changing leaf springs paired with Timben bump stops. Check out All Pro site.
Not sure why you would remove the third leaf or any. Not all Tacomas have the vibration. Some shim the driveline, some don't
need it.
OME lifts are fantastic with no need for brake lines.
GL.

 

I'm removing the third leaf because I don't want all the height and I hear the leaves are pretty stiff if you don't carry weight in the bed.

I've thought about the ubolt flip. I'll take another look at that. Thanks!

I've got some minor vibes stock. So I'll wait to see how it is before I start shimming and dropping.

Anyone have any thoughts on the shackles?

 

Leave the shackles alone, I have not seen anyone modify them, no reason too,
As far as the leaf pack, if you do not have the weight necessity than consider the AAL from Toytec or along those lines. It will save bunches of money and perform very nice for your application.
Although if you ever plan on a steel rear bumper consider the 10 pack leaf now. You will need it.

 

Are those good strong feelings or bad ones?

If the OEM pack isnt too bad he can use a HD 3 leaf AAL. I have a steel rear bumper and used one with no issues at all.

 

I've never done an add a leaf before. My leaves are pretty new and in good shape. But there's a thread around here about the upgrade you regret the most and it's peppered with guys saying they wished they had gone right to a full leaf pack. But maybe their leaves were crapped out to begin with?

 

That setup is perfect. I've ran dakars and flexed the rear fully without extended brake lines.

 

I have a 2013 and went with the AAL at first. Truck had 5k miles on it when the AAL was added. At 8k miles, that truck rode like shit and she had an old saggy ass. So I replaced them with Dakars which I should have got from the beginning. I was able to sell my stock leafs as is to recoup the loss on the AAL but I, still, regret ever getting the AAL. Her ass is now lifted and perky just like they all should be

 

I've heard a lot of this. Thanks for input.

 

I have the dakars and I am very happy with them but now my truck is too heavy for them and they are too soft. Im adding the add a leaf they make specifically for the dakar leaf pack this weekend.

 

More people regret getting 5100/ome than using aal. Lots of people here used 5100/ome then switched to 2.5" coilovers like Icon or King.

Your truck is pretty new still your leaf pack should be fine, try the AAL for $159 it should be good. Like I said, I have a rear steel bumper and its still fine.

 

It's great to get different opinions. I'm thinking about it but still leaning toward a full leaf pack. If I decide I need more capacity I would have the option of putting a leaf back in.

 

If I may ask a quick off-topic question: I need new leaf springs, but where I live Tacoma parts are rare. Are they similar to Hilux or 4Runner?

 

This. If I could go back a few years I'd drop the $$$$ on decent coil overs rather than go with the OME package and have to piece it together later on. The dakar pack is great it's just stiff without any weight in the back like others have said.

 

What makes icons or kings so much better than OME? I had icons on my first gen tacoma and they didn't blow me away. Honest question, I'm curious.

It seems like all the full leaf packs are stiff or give more lift than I want. Is there an option I'm not thinking of?

 

Better because they have a bigger shock body and better internals.

Look at the size difference.

 

If you are just driving down the street or a smooth gravel road, yeah you probably are going to feel a big difference.

 

I'm not doing this to crawl the malls!

Thanks for the pic. There's definitely a difference. Icons are bigger, but that doesn't say anything about the ride. I'm sure they have better fade resistance. What else?