Leveling Kit woes...

By better shocks do you mean 5100s around with some OME coils? If so. That’s what I did and couldn’t be happier and was planning on getting coilovers prior that

 

I always get confused my the acronym OME. Is that Original Manufacturers Equipment or Old Man Emu?
I was talking about just putting Bilsteins all around. I wanted 5100's, but Bilstein recommended 4600's on the front and 5100's on the rear with this leveling kit. So I guess I was talking about the stock coils that came on the truck. Do you think I should change them out if I went Option 2?

 

Yeah old man emu and I would recommend changing out the coils if you get the 5100s. It’ll ride better because you’re not overcompressing the coil to gain lift. And there’s many different heights and weights to pick from to accommodate bumpers and what not

 

I would toss the front spacer lift and install 5100's and old man emu 888 springs to get the 3" lift you want. They ride great and very cost effective unless you want to spend 3K on a lift. Talk to head strong off road they have great prices and I believe they give a military discount. Here is a graph they made to help with spring and shock lift.
https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/uploads/1/1/8/4/11846658/lift_guide.pdf

 

Hey, thanks a lot man. That graph says the 888's with the better 5100's will give me 2.75" in the front. That's petty damn close. Probably good enough.
What should I do in the rear, 5100's and Dakar medium AAL pack?

I'd say this ties my other number one.
Cheaper for sure, still way better than what I have. The other option says 3.5". But that's a petty big price difference.

 

You could leave the block's you have now on the rear. AAL would be better, Headstrong has their own AAL talk to Marie at headstrong she will get you set up.

 

Yeah, I'll try to give her a call. I'm in Afghanistan right now so it's difficult to call. We have a phone, but they open at like 9-10pm my time and the only phone we have is at work, when work is closed, etc etc. I tried emailing but haven't heard back. I mean, worse case scenario is I wait til I get home. I've just heard that these things take a minute to get in the mail and I want to have a project for when I get home to do during leave.
I still am bouncing back and forth between the 5100's on 888's w/ Dakar Mediums OR the ICON kit I referenced earlier. I've pretty much ruled out the 6" drop bracket options. I keep hearing about Marie in the forums. I need to get ahold of her and have her set me straight on a decision lol. Thanks for the info!

 

They don't show their phone number any longer email is the only way to get a hold of them. They are a small family run business sometime's it takes a day or two to get back with you.

 

What about Max Trac 4in lifted spindles, there' no change in geometry but u have to run wheel spacers if u run stock wheels

 

(To my knowledge) that only works on 2WD. I'm 4WD. I ended up just going with 5100's X4 / OME 888's in the front and Dakar Medium Leaf Pack in the rear. And some aftermarket UCA's. This should give me a better ride, get rid of the bottoming out (whether it was the UCA's or the shocks) and look about the same lift wise.

 

That's interesting. My Toyota dealer is selling the ReadyLift SST 3/2" leveling kit installed (with alignment) for 760.00 and they state that 3" lift's are the maximum to maintain factory suspension.

 

I'm taking the 3/2 leveling kit out of my truck for multiple reasons. It's cheap for a reason.

 

Post pics when you install, pretty much same setup I’m looking but may go with a aal instead.

 

Yes, u are correct, only 2wd

 

i have pretty much the same set-up, but went with OME nitrochargers all the way around. I have the soft valve in the front and regular in the rear. I am really happy with the results and ride.

The dakars are your answer to the rear issue and sag. I couldn't even sit on my tailgate without it dropping a foot. Changed the pack for dakars and it doesn't move. The shocks absorb so well though the stiffness isn't an issue ride wise. It is very pronounced when driving highway, but in a good way. The front and rear are both stiffer and that allows for way better handling when cornering at speed. The shocks absorb the impacts pretty damn well, so it still feels like stock as far as bumps go, but it is more responsive on the downtravel. Sometimes that isn't the best, but it allows the rear to recover before compressing again. With my old leaf pack any load would hit my bump stops with consecutive bumps. I haven't had an issue since I went with dakars, but haven't loaded real heavy yet.

Did route clearance near Kunduz and Mazar-I-Sharif, godspeed brother!

Contact Marie from headstrong though. They know everything suspension wise about these things, and are easy to work with. Their full OME kit was like $1700 shipped, and arrived 5 days later across the country.

 

Curious if you're using the 5100's with stock springs or did you get OME coils? Did you use the notches on the 5100's? And what did you end up getting for height our of this setup?

 

I have an icon stage 1 lift + SPC UCA. I run 33's without rubbing and no CMC. I don't tow or haul very often though, but if I did, I would just put in some airbags. I think the total cost of my suspension was ~2k. I purchased both from @HeadStrong Off-Road.

 

I have the same setup you do and am wondering the same thing... I was thinking to remove the 3" in the front and swap it with a 1" and 5100's set at 2", super cushy ride with 3" lift overall. For the rear I'd AAL allowing my to remove that damn 1" block and then having the 5100's in the back at X" setting

 

This made me laugh a lot cause it's the same crap my truck was doing lol. I went through Headstrong and talked Marie's ears off lol. Finally pulled the trigger on (4) 5100's, (2) OME 888's, Dakar Medium Duty Leaf Pack and aftermarket UCA's. Looking forward to the difference in ride, and hopefully the same look lift wise. Marie was extremely patient with me. I probably asked a thousand questions.

I would recommend (after weeks of talking to Marie) to just take out the spacer kit and get the 888's. You won't need the spacer kit. They make a bilstein package that has everthing to have the same look but way better functionality on their site and it's like $1280 shipped. Coils, Shocks, Dakar Leaf Pack.

 

Stock springs, no new coils. Not sure of the setting, but I believe it is the tallest notch. Probably 2" lift. I also got slightly bigger tires so that may have played a factor.