Stiff Suspension with King 2.5s and Dakar Medium Duty EL111R

Are you sure that 45 psi is the correct inflation pressure? My C-load tires (not LT/10 ply) are kept at 28 psi per the load/inflation tables.

 

Yes per the Toyo rep who I spoke to. Spent about 20 minutes talking to her and converting P-LT inflation specs specifically for the Tacomas. I will say since i went from 32PSI to 45, I no longer have wet performance issues. I know it seems high and I almost didnt believe her. but i guess LT tires call for higher inflation.

 

45 psi is surely not helping your harsh ride issue. Even at 35 on LT tires you’ll notice it.

 

Interesting, I thought the durobumps were softer than that.

I run my 285s with 35 front, 30 rear and get good mpg and handling. 45 does seem high.

 

I'm kinda confused. You said your tires are C-load/6 ply. From what I understand, LT tires are E-load/10 ply. Match up your tire specs (both OEM and new) on this calculator and see what inflation value pops out:

 

I agree about the Dakars.
I went from stock leafs to AAL to used Dakar heavies to used Dakar mediums to used All-Pro Expos, and i'm about to buy some new Deavers because the All-Pros are getting tired. I also have no extra weight besides camper shell and stuff hauled around in the bed, and I like a soft ride. The difference in ride quality between the Dakar mediums and the All-Pro Expos was the most striking. Opinions differ, but Dakar's are way overkill for a light Tacoma.
I also recently switched from 10-ply E load skinny ST Maxx's to C-load ATIII's (32psi) and that difference was amazing.
Fox 2.0's w/RR in rear.

 

This was the comment I was looking for! Someone that's similarly specced weight wise and has tried most of the popular leaf packs. To be fair the dakars are excellent for someone who needs payload capacity. But I'm unloaded 99% of the time and also like a softer ride on road.

How were the allpros? I'm curious how they compare to deaver 10 leafs. I'm about to buy the icon RTX since I've heard it's a soft ride and it should be what I'm after.

 

I love the All-Pro Expos, but I bought them used and have run them now for a year, and the drivers side are sagging. I swapped sides and added a half inch spacer under the driver leafs, but I'd rather have a cleaner setup. So i'm shopping for new leafs. I want to try Deavers or I would definitely buy new All-Pro Expos. As soon as I can get a return email from Deaver, I will pull the trigger. I want their opinion on which stage to buy, based on my truck weight and use.

 

Gotcha so the allpros were a plush ride? How much lift are you after?

 

Yes the mediums has overloads heck both 95R and 96R have overload.

 

The All-Pro Expos are the best ride i've had so far. It's hard to say what my lift is rn because I have the bed loaded with tools from a project this weekend, my leafs are getting pretty tired, I have 3º shims both sides, and a 1/2" shim drivers side for taco lean. I just went out and measured 24" hub to fender, so unloaded it's somewhere between 2" and 3" lift.
I'm looking forward to trying Deavers soon, and if I don't like them I will go back to new AP Expos.

 

I appreciate everyone's help so far. I believe my issue was simply that I do not need medium duty Dakars in the rear and the 600lbs front springs are a tad too firm for my personal liking. Being pretty much stock weight, I figured that the Dakars were overkill but desired the 2-2.5in of rear lift I got.

To be fair, the medium duty Dakars weren't too bad but going over potholes and crappy roads would jolt/shake the rear end and it got old quickly. Im fairly new to lifts and matching suspension components, so sorry to those that roll their eyes at these questions. Whats good for one person may be crap for another. Im after a very specific ride quality and thus am picky. The argument of a truck riding like a truck is outdated when all modern trucks have comfortable compliant suspensions now.

Anyways, I was between Deaver J66 and Icon RXT leafs to replace the Dakars and ultimately went with Icon since it would allow 1.8-2.6in of rear lift whereas the Deavers were ~1.5in. I thought about a custom leaf pack from Deaver but the lead time was around 9 weeks so I pulled the trigger on the Icons since many people said they ride pretty plush.

I got them in like 3 days and needless to say I had a busy weekend... Im going to post my experience for anyone else that comes across this thread with similar issues.

 

On the Icons RXTs, I decided to first try Option 2 since I wanted more lift. This felt like a rice rocket lowered civic. It was very hard to compress them on the truck. I did take it for a drive and it felt like driving on solid blocks. On the flip side, I took a double set of real steep gutter/road drainage dips at 50mph and it took it like a champ. No hard bottoming out, instead just floated over. On everything else though, it was too much.

So then for the hell of it, I went to option 1, BUT also removed the 5th leaf down. This netted a very soft ride almost too soft. Normal driving around town and freeway was nice. Soaked up a lot of the things I wanted it to but my front end was technically higher than the rear now. You couldn't really tell from looking but at night, my headlights would be aimed way high up. Not a huge deal as I could've lowered the front or added a lift block. But there was another issue with this setup. Taking the same gutter dips as before, this time at 35-40mph, would bottom the rear out HARD. And even on superbumps it felt like being kicked.

Ok Goldilocks now. The third time I took them off, I put the 5th leaf back in and ran it just as it comes, option 1. (Should've started here but glad I experienced the above two first). Its nearly perfect. Taking the same crap roads I always take, the back end no longer jolts and shakes when going over potholes. It dampens the imperfections nicely and is very flexible. I don't feel my back getting yanked like I did on the Dakars. It's pretty much exactly where I want it to be.

Just two, small solvable issues for me personally. Its giving me about 2.25in of rear lift at the moment and Im sure it'll settle a little. I will likely try to add a 1in lift block to get me up to 3in-3.5in rear lift (despite people hating blocks). I want that rake. I am 22.5in front and 24.25in rear measured hub to fender. The other small issue is taking those double road gutters at 40-50mph would still bottom out on the superbumps, but feels more normal now--still hard but not as hard as before. I am technically asking way more than anyone in their right mind should. I mean not wanting to slow down for speedbumps and road dips are probably some early psychopathic signs...........anyways Im likely going to add some air bumps in the rear to fix this issue. Other than that, speedbumps and everything onroad so far has been a dream. More body roll when cornering but its actually the good kind and not excessive at all.

I am going to see about changing my front coils to 550lbs. But at this point I think most of my issue was in the rear. If the 550s end up being too soft, Ill be happy sticking with the 600lb. Now I just need to sell these damn dakars.....


Dakar vs Icons.