Flat Leaf Springs

My new Dakar leaf springs seem pretty flat. Is this normal?

 

Send a picture to OME.

 

Those look like my stock leafs with 120k on em. Interesting. Let us know what they say.

 

Normal for Dakars. It's up to you to decide if it matters.

 

Yea, mine look like that too, post a reply if you hear anything about it

 

OP, loaded or unloaded?

 

I keep seeing this same type of post more and more often with flat or inverted dakars. This is coming to be pretty normal expectation for dakars, but that's not how a leaf spring is supposed to look or function. I know some others have complained to dakar and gotten the "it's normal" response or otherwise disappointing results from their customer service. Dakar quality does not seem to be what it once was, and most folks I have heard from are running at least 200 lbs under the weight limit for those springs. Good luck OP. Hope you can get it resolved.

 

Agreed. Glad I made the move from HD Dakars to Deavers.

 

Yep it's normal and I dont see ANY grease between them packs

Do it before it gets cold or they'll squeak like mad

 

Its unfortunate. A few years ago I think they were a great budget option for a little lift and nicer ride than stock, but that just doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I have been steering people towards other options.

Here's a thread on them:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ome-dakar-heavy-duty-springs-problem.618417/

Here's a recent discussion in CO threads and end result after talking to dakar:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/colorado-b-s-thread.131441/page-8640#post-22613491
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/colorado-b-s-thread.131441/page-8743#post-23245995

Guy on Youtube with 350lbs on brand new dakars showing negative arch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JcxSJYVqJA

So yes...normal for dakar, but no, that's not normal.

 

FWIW, I'm happy with my Dakar pack. But it has been a progression. Taking a cutoff wheel to a new leaf pack to avoid effing my shackles still bothers me.

Definitely better choices out there

 

I've spent way more time researching this than I would like to admit, and I cannot find anything concrete about why leaf springs need to maintain an arch. All I can find is that's the way it is and spring shops saying that they should be that way and you should replace your springs if they are flat. The best I can find from a safety standpoint is from this article that says that due to increases in friction, there may be a decrease in fatigue life. But I'm not reading about Dakar leaf packs breaking everywhere so that seems like it stays in the "theoretical" realm for now.

You will technically have a harsher ride if you have a flat leaf pack because you are riding on your overload leaf. But if you're happy with the ride height and the ride quality, then IMO it doesn't matter if the leaf packs are flat. FWIW I'm not saying that springs like Deavers aren't better, I just don't think flat leaf packs matter if you don't have any suspension symptoms that you're trying to resolve.

 

Somewhat loaded, I have a canopy on. How do you like the Deavers compared to the Dakars?

 

Way better. Better handling, more planted etc. I have stage III U402's rated for 1k. But my bitch has a THICC ass though...

 

I cant say I have spent any time researching the subject, I have just always accepted that flat leaves are either old and tired or past their weight capacity. I am speaking more from my personal experience on their older packs and my 3rd party observations on the new ones. I had the older dakars and was actually quite pleased with them up till I hit the upper end of the advertised weight limit. My old dakar HDs didn't actually go flat until I hit closer to 1000lbs in the bed. Here's the old dakars right before my alcan upgrade:





Curb weight on these trucks is 4800ish? So at 6200lbs that's roughly 1400 lbs over curb...split between axles i'll say that's easily 7-800lbs on a 650lb spring and they are just barely flat kissing my bumps. That's a damn good spring! But its over capacity.
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The same just doesn't seem to be true (at least anecdotally) with the newer packs coming from them. A spring rated for 650lbs with 350lbs on it and shaped like a W is not a well made spring, and its certainly not what they used to make.

Moral of the story is old Dakar = good, new dakar = not as good as old dakar.

I agree with you though, if you're happy with the ride quality....who cares what shape the leaves are?

How are your bump stops looking? Cant tell from the pics how negative you can go.