New OME Dakar Leaf Pack Review

Yours look good though I think HD would have been a better fit. If you are taking the rack and RTT of regularly then I would opt for airbags to supplement the weight.

Unsure where you read the 300. The MD are 0 lbs and 2.75" lift and the HD are 660 lbs and 2.75" lift.

 

Right on the website where I bought everything from. It says “...or if you plan to carry an extra 330 lbs regularly you can leave leaf 3 in the pack for better load stability while maintaining ride height.” I don’t have 330 lbs, but still have definitely not maintained right height.

 

They must not have updated it then. That’s what the old dakars we’re advertised as. Go look at headstrong website.

 

Yeah I see that not mentioned on the HS site. Honestly I’m very unimpressed with the service I got from Wheeler’s. They sold me 6112s with 700# springs which I found out after purchasing but before install that this voids the warranty from Bilstein. When I called Wheeler’s they told me I could send the coilovers back and they’d swap the springs but I’d have to pay shipping both ways which didn’t sit right with me. So I ordered 650# springs and sold the 700#s and still lost less money than sending everything back and forth. Honestly I should have listened to everyone here and just gone through Marie in the first place.

 

It seems like my medium duty dakars have gotten soft in the less than year I've owned them. I hit my bumpstops frequently on fire roads with the only added weight being RCI sliders and an alcucab canopy. Not nearly enough weight to consider the HD pack.

 

Just wanted to say don't forget to lube up your leafs every now again. Mine were getting squeaky so I jacked up the rear and put it on jack stands then removed the tires to make it easier to get in there. For some reason I thought they might already have grease from the factory but I was wrong. Good thing they've only been on for a month or so. Also my friend that is a master tech at Toyota didn't even know these are greasable. I sent him a pick of mine with no grease and his exact words were 'you can grease those things? I never do it when I install them!' There is a video some where that shows how to do it but I couldn't find it. You need 2 pry bars and a flat head screw driver. You can only do a few of them with out having to pry the leafs apart but it's easier since you have to do this to get them all. You just pry the one you want to add grease to and leave a pry bar in between the leaves then take the flat head with some grease on it and smear it on the puck. Just remember Do Not put your finger in there to grease it because the pry bar could slip and you will be left in serious pain and possibly without part of your finger. Continue the process for the rest of the pucks and your done. This is also a great time to check the torque on your ubolts and leaf ends since your right there and the tire is off.

 

Which leaf do I take out on the EL096 HD leaf pack to turn it into the MD leaf pack?

 

The third from the top

 

All these confusing numbers
I just want a leaf pack that will replace my stock springs. I got the TSB notice but have heard the replacements are weaker than my originals. I dont want much if any lift and i dont often carry loads. I do occasionally tow however so I need a leaf pack stronger than OEM.

 

Alcan or Deaver will make you anything you want.

 

I would just Firestone airbags paired with oem leafs. Much better for the person for occasional load. Otherwise the rest of the time it will be fairly stiff, unless you’re shelling out close to a grand for something custom.

 

As an update. My dakars are being replaced under warranty. I had to remove them and measure free camber and they were found to be out of spec.

I have the yellow OME bushings in these and would like to move them to the replacement springs. Can I do that? How and what grease should I use?

 

You can. Use an appropriate sized socket and a hammer and knock out the inner metal sleeve.

To get the bushings back out is a little tricky. Just takes some finesse with a couple flat head screwdrivers

 

I thought about mounting a fire extinguisher there. what is behind that panel? any issues?

 

Nothing behind there. Small pilot holes and sheet metal screws. Easily done. I have seat back molle panels from Blue Ridge Overland Gear with an additional extinguisher pouch that they offer which fits this or a water bottle:

https://www.blueridgeoverlandgear.com/products/molle-seat-back-panel-14-x-20-black

 

Ah nice! I have bed stiffeners otw so hoping i can make a mount for them to hold the extinguisher

 

Please let us know how that goes. I’ve been thinking about the same thing.

 

Hey everyone. Been reading over this thread and was hoping to get an opinion from everyone.

I have an 08 TRD sport. My OEM leaf springs broke a while back, like 3 or 4 years ago, I replaced them with Skyjacker TCR525S leaf springs and Bilstein 5100 shocks.

So now one of my Skyjackers is broken so I need to replace my leaf springs again.

My question is are the Dakar leaf springs a better replacement than the skyjackers? If so which leaf pack do you recommend? And lastly will the Dakar’s be compatible with my Bilstein 5100s.

Any advice is welcomed. (The skyjackers currently cost roughly $215 per side)

Thanks in advance

 

did you need any longer shocks? i have fox 2.0 shocks on right now and im not sure if i need longer shocks to fit the dakar leafs

 

Not sure what the specs are on fox 2.0 however I’d check collapse and extended measurements and pair it from there. If the 2.0 collapse/ext rate is low then that can be your limiting factor so basically you won’t get full use of the Dakar’s