Nose High With 5100's

No and no.

 

Look at my front end gap with the same settings as OP.

And my rear gap without a shell and the 1.5" AAL installed.

 

With the shell.

 

Front end is perfectly fine. The ass end is the problem - don't waste his effort or time suggesting the front end is clearly fucked up somehow.

Pics are worth 1000 words.

 

I have 3 bed bars and a slightly oversized spare tire. I would think if i didn't have those I'd be even closer to 1 1/2" lift. I imagine your biggest problem is you don't have the TSB's. Not to mention AAL's are essentially just bandaids to begin with. If you're going to be running a full-time cap + weight I would look into a leaf pack.

 

Alright boys, here are some pics.

Driver side:



I did some measurements from the ground to the center of the wheel wells, on ground that was about as level as I could eyeball. The front end on both sides measured 37", and the rear end measured 36.5". Pretty consistent, but to my eye the back end just looks like it is sagging more than .5"

 

OH MY GOD.

THE FRONT IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

 

My thoughts exactly. Maybe this will silence the doubters.

 

Now we can get back to fixing it instead of throwing darts at wrong ideas just for the sake of throwing darts.

 

I've pretty much decided on going with the airbags and the daystars cradles. From everything I've read, and people I've talked to, it seems to be the way to go, and the cradles seem to be a great option with no real downsides. Now I just need to save up a little expendable cash.

 

Good option for sure.

I was on the fence between bags and leaf pack replacement for 2 months. Bags were far more cost effective than the route I chose, but not as fun.

 

Just for the sake of knowing all of my options, what would be an appropriate replacement leaf sprint kit to go with, that would give me the lift I am looking for, while providing sufficient stability under heavy loads (camper, camping gear, hauling a trailer, etc.)?

 

There's a lot of options for leaf springs - I ended going with OME Dakars from @HeadStrong Off-Road and they're arguably the best purchase I've made - my ride with the shell is pretty damn comfortable especially on nice freeway stretches. Even my fiancee remarked how much better it rode than the 3 leaf AAL, and she's really not into feeling all the bumps on the road.

The only "issue" with going that route is it'll leave you with a good bit of rake - I got 2.75" inches from my Dakars with my shell, after settling. With your front end at 1.75 (just like mine was) it's an inch of rake, which is pretty noticeable and more than I need with the Dakars, who handle loads extremely well.

I ended up adding OME coils up front (which you could do for $160 +/-) to raise the front end up and compliment a much taller rear end height than the 1.5" AALs provided. In my case I had 5100s at all 4 corners, stock coils, and the Wheeler's 1.5" 3 leaf AAL and I sold all of it and went with OME shocks all around, OME coils and OME Dakars.

The bad news is the expense is great to go that route, I still need UCAs up front which are almost $400, not including the alignment (or two) to get them dialed in afterward.

The bags are a way more economical choice to accomplish the same thing, and you'd be able to leave your front end at 1.75 if you wanted - and you may want to.

 

Good to know. The bags are the way for me to go.

 

if i was in the same city as my 1 inch rear blocks i would send them to you for free to toss in there for now. if you decide you don't wanna spend the money on the bags maybe somebody has some 1 inch rear blocks for real cheap...

 

Well, I appreciate the thought!

 

Just trying to help man. You never know sometimes it's the obvious ones. Sorry the wheelers aal didn't work out for you. Hope you get the issue fixed with the air bags! The 20% off coupons on autoanything.com work for the air firestone bags.

 

Awesome, thanks for the heads up.

 

Hey OP, what did you decide to go with? I just took out my stock 4600's and put in 5100's at 1.75" and with my canopy on the back am sitting pretty nose high, very similar to the picture you first posted on this thread.

Am debating whether or not to go with a 1.5" AAL but am just worried it will still look nose high..

 

I went with Dakars AND RideRites AND Cradles. But my rig does double duty as my off-roader and towing rig, and I'm a belt and suspenders kinda guy