Bilstein 6112

As far as I know you should not be on option 1 on that much weight even with airbags. You will destroy the leaf pack by making them flat and by that time adding the leafs will be useless, if you really wants the RXT leaf pack at least be on option 2 if you want air bags. Otherwise get a custom leaf pack.

My offroad trip I had about 400lbs plus in the bed and the 8100 and RXT leaf pack option 3, soaked up all the bumps compared to my 5160s that did a horrible job. The bed was packed to the roof of my softopper with more wood in this pic and other gear from friends, waterport full of water etc. if your wondering the rear dropped about 1.5”-1.75” iirc.

Good luck.

 

Hit some trails this weekend. Guess this is why I added those 4” extended brake lines when I installed two right 5160s.

 

Question for those with the HD Dakars. How much lift did you gain with little or no weight in your bed? My MD Dakars are supposed to yield 2" above stock with no weight, which would be ~24" hub center to fender. Right now with my lightest load (just my Diamondback cover, roof rack with recovery gear, and shared slider weight), I am only 23.5" on the RR and 23" on the LR hub center to fender. This is how my truck will be setup during the fall and winter. When my bed rack and tent are on but I am home with no other added weight (how the truck is setup during the summer months but in between trips (~200 lbs)), I am 23.25" RR and 22.5" LR (which is .25" of sag from previous configuration). However, when I am fully loaded for a trip with a total of ~300 lbs, I sag down to 22.5" RR and 21.75" LR (another .75" of sag - and a full 1" or more of sag from lightest configuration). Keep in mind stock height is ~22" in the rear. At this height I am basically level on the right side, and actually 1/8" higher in the front on the driver side.

For reference I am 22" RF and 21.75" LF which is about 1.25" higher than stock for me.

I think I should add the

$55 EL46XL ARB XL to Suit El095R 96R

EL46XL AAL to the pack to convert my MD pack into a HD pack. I am concerned though, that during the off season when I am at my lightest that my rear will be too high. Marie says that the AAL will add just over .5" which would bring me up close to 24" in the rear when unloaded. I think that is acceptable, but I think I had heard that the HD pack could give 4" of lift with an empty bed and there is no way I want to be 26" in the rear, but I don't see how that could be possible given my current numbers. I don't really care how the truck "rides" with the empty bed and the HD pack. It's a truck, and I own it to use as a truck. If I wanted a comfortable ride I'd be driving a sedan.

I didn't add any shims, but did do the carrier bearing drop. I don't have any vibrations and would love to stay that way. I did however measure all of my angles with stock suspension before doing anything, so I hope that worst case scenario I can find the right shim without too much trial and error.

I thought about air bags to compensate for the added weight when on a trip, but honestly I don't want to go that route because trips usually involve some mild off roading.

Here is how my MD Dakars look with just the bed rack and RTT. Apparently this amount of flatness is acceptable for the Dakars, but certainly doesn't look great to me.


Profile shot of the truck with the rack and tent, but no other weight.

 

my only concern with doing that would be that you 5160's might top out. remember that the heavy dakars are made for 660 lbs of consistent weight...

 

Correct. By top out you mean that the leafs would want to extend the shocks farther than they are designed for, yes?

Headstrong does sell the 5160s paired with the HD pack, but I guess the key word there is consistent weight.

Any other ideas on what to do about my variable weight and sag that comes with it?

 

Honestly, moving to the heavy dakars I think wouldn't be a bad thing. I am thinking about doing the same. I wouldn't go with the AAL though. You still should have enough articulation due to the 5169's and the original OME 60091's having the same measurements.

 

Yes, I think they would top out with the AAL and not the heavy dakars

 

Well adding the

$55 El46XL ARB XL to Suit El095R 96R

El46XL leaf to the medium duty converts it directly into the heavy duty. So it’s an AAL but really converting one to the other without having to buy a whole new pack.

 

The only difference between the MD and HD pack is the one leaf. By adding that leaf I'd just be changing from MD to HD.

 

Found this thread by @Sapnjack where he measures his height from the HD pack with the same setup as I would have when at my lightest. He's getting 24.75" in the rear while I am at 23.5" with the MD pack. I cannot see how the one extra leaf (converting me from MD to HD) would give me 1.25" of additional height. This is what's so confusing for me.

 

Did you look at this thread?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-ome-dakar-leaf-pack-review.489540/

 

I did. Most everyone suggests starting with the HD pack, and if they don't like the ride to remove a leaf. I'm doing the same thing and just going the other way. I just spoke to ARB and he said the new leaf could add 1.5". But Marie from HS said it would only add ~.6". I honesty can't see it adding 1.5" but I've been wrong before. I think I am just going to order the leaf and everything to go with it and throw it on. Worst case I'm out 100 bucks and a few hours of my time. I can live with a rough ride and being high in the rear during the off season if it means more capabilities for when I'm actually using the truck to its fullest extent. If I need to I can always keep the tent on, or throw some weight in the bed too.

 

So I'm looking at my numbers again and I cleaned up how I have them in my notes. Honestly I think the biggest concern is the amount of lean I have in the rear and the fact that I'm getting hung up on my driver side numbers. If I only look at the numbers on the passenger side I honestly think it might be acceptable. With this in mind I'm thinking it might be best to start small and add the OME TP04 trim packer to start with. Here are my cleaned up numbers. If you look at the passenger side, it is always at least .5" higher than the driver side. If I were to bring the driver side up to match the passenger side more closely, I think I might be good. I could always revisit things after everything finishes settling. Keep in mind also my stock height was only 20.5" in the front, and with all my added weight on stock suspension was all the way down to 19.75" up front and 20.25 in the rear at full load.

Winter weight: Empty bed - Only weight from tonneau cover and Hi-lift (110 lbs. combined)
Front: Driver side 21.75" / Passenger side 22” (.25” lean)
Rear: Driver side 23" / Passenger side 23.5” (.5” lean)
Driver 1.25” rake / passenger 1.5” rake

Summer weight: Tonneau cover, Hi-lift, bed rack, and RTT (266 lbs. combined)
Front: Driver side 21.75" / Passenger side 22” (.25” lean)
Rear: Driver side 22.5" / Passenger side 23.25” (.75” lean)
Driver .75” rake / passenger 1.25” rake

Extended trip weight: All of the above weight plus extra fuel, food/water, and supplies (~400 lbs. combined)
Front: Driver side 21 7/8" / Passenger side 22 1/8” (.25” lean)
Rear: Driver side 21.75 / Passenger side 22.5” (.75” lean)
Driver 1/8” reverse rake / passenger 3/8" rake

While the lift in the heaviest configuration isn't as high as it could be in a perfect world, this setup is really the exception to how the truck is loaded up 90% of the time.

 

In all honesty, you could do what I did. I researched and researched to see if anyone did this and found nothing so i decided to do it on my own. I went to wheelers offroad and bought a 1/2" spacer block for underneath the driver side rear and tried to fix the rear lean. BEST THING I EVER DID! I evened it right up and have no other lean issues. I have a 1/4" spacer in the front but it never really did much. The problem was in the rear. I highly recommend it.

 

Is anyone adding a roost shield to their passenger side 5160? Wheelers noted that they modified the Fox shield for better fitment. Wondering is this is worth the effort. So far I've only been able to find one person that has done it (or at least commented on it here).

 

I have not done this and had zero problems.....

 

& even more measurements...I’ll just leave these here

6112’s & B110’s + RXT option 2 at rear - day after install (sliders, RCI bed rack, 1/4 tank, 1/4” lean spacer, no other load):
DF: 23”
PF: 23”
DR: 24.75”
PR: 24.375”

2 months later with axle shims installed, 7/8 tank...
DF: 22.875”
PF: 22.75”
DR: 24.5”
PR: 24.875”

1 month later with full +-500# camping load-out, 1/4 tank...
DF: 23”
PF: 22.75”
DR:22.75”
PR: 23”

Couple of takeaways...
My 6112’s have not settled much at all in 3 months & it’s pretty darn level with 500# with the RXT’s at option 2...after a 3 day moderately rough offroad trip I’m very pleased with the setup...

 

What are the 6112's set at?

 

Sorry....the 4th notch for my 2nd gen

 

Thanks. Got pics? I have a set of RXT's on option 2 sitting behind me that I have not installed yet. My 6112's are on the third notch, but I may have to bring this up after I get the leaf ppack in. Also have a pair of 650# springs so that should bring it up a bit also.