Help me confirm my new suspension is what I want

Update: after some feedback, I think I'm leaning towards a full Icon RXT leaf pack instead of AAL and since my shop can't get any Bilstein shocks thinking of the Eibach Pro Truck stage 2 coilovers up front and matching shocks for rear.

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I'm finally ready to replace my shocks and get a bit of lift. After lots of reading, I think I'm going with the 5100s and a 3 leaf progressive AAL in the rear. I'd like to get about 1.5-2" up front a bit more in the rear since I have a camper shell and have lost the factory rake. When loaded for camping I'm sagging a bit, which is why I want the 3 leaf AAL in the back to regain some of the load carrying capacity.

What I don't want is to overly adversely affect the daily driving aspects. I realize it will be a bit more stiff, but with the camper and typical things in the back I think I have around 300 lbs constant load.

In the below video he talks about it being a "floaty" with a load. Another video i watched mentioned something similar. For those who've done something similar, were you happy with just the stock springs up front, AAL in the rear and 5100s or did you find you had to change out other aspects of the suspension? Thanks for any advice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIu38U4VbDw

No good pics of the truck on my most recent camping trip, but here's the dog...

 

You might want to consider a full leaf pack in the back if youre concerned with sagging. I'm not sure a 3 leaf AAL is going to help with the sag a whole lot. You're probably not going to get 2" with an 3 leaf AAL, even if you leave the stock overload in.

I think my wheeler's three leaf AAL gave about 1.1" (without overload) and around 1.5" with overload.

 

One question to consider is, are you currently riding the bumpstops a bit with your camping equipment or anything else you haul? I know AALs can add a bit of progression to the spring rate, but the stock leaf packs are so one-dimensional. I opted for OME medium duty packs and air bags with daystar cradles, but I also carry about 250 pounds extra over the rear wheels between armor, and gear in the bed + softopper. I love the airbags because they pretty much keep a soft ride and correct height (with my application at least). One downside of airbags is they can feel pretty aggressive with the 5 PSI minimum required, when carrying nothing in the bed. Just went on a trip with probably 300-400 extra pounds in the bed and they did flawlessly at 25 PSI (max is 100). Hit a few trails in Moab, bombed some roads down in Durango and outside Gunni, nothing like power-sliding a 5000+lb truck on some medium gravel roads .

At the end of the day, you need what’s best for you, but personally I’ve been through two trucks and 5 suspension setups to get what I want, and if you need something for your dynamic life, a dynamic product may fit best.

 

As @Dank Donkeh Luvver said, you may want to consider a full leaf replacement if you want to still have rake after your swap. I added a single leaf aal advertised to supply 1.5" of lift and only got 1" so now I'm going to replace with Icon RXT leaf pack on option 2. I also doubt the 3 leaf aal will give you as much lift as you want, especially with a camper top. Furthermore, if you're concerned about keeping the ride comfortable and appropriate, I've read great reviews of the ride with the Icon leaf pack which is another reason why I'm going that way.

 

You should do well with the Bilsteins. Heck! When I was a kid we was overlanding in a Studebaker station wagon. I shit you not!

Well, actually it was a Rambler!!

 

I have the firestone ride rites (spelling?) on my 3/4 ton and they are amazing for towing! Without the airbags, the back end seemed to kind of wallow around with a heavy trailer. With the airbags and the same trailer, it's night and day difference.

I absolutely agree with the aggressive feel on an empty bed even at the minimum PSI. I'm sure my experience is worse though since it's a 30 year old truck and had a rough ride before the airbags, lol.

 

Like the others have said, I opted for the Dakar (OME) medium duty full leaf pack rather than AALs. I originally used a three leaf AAL and was not happy with the stiffness in addition to the fact that the original OEM leaf pack still sagged. I am much happier with the full leaf pack versus the AAL setup. Also, if you are planning to lift the front using the clips on the front shocks, you may be better off replacing the OEM coils with some OME (Old Man Emu) coils. The OME 2887 or 2888 coils with the clips set at zero will give you anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 inches of lift. This provides a much better ride than front loading the shocks by using the clips.

 

I guess I'll need to look into the full leaf pack. The Icon sounds like a possible option.

Up front, I was under the impression that the clips only changed the bottom rest for the spring and by raising that point the result was a lift but no actual additional preload to the springs. Is that incorrect?

 

I'm no expert but my understanding is that it does preload the springs and result in less overall travel. If you still have questions @HeadStrong Off-Road is a great source of advice for all things suspension. Speak with Marie and she will answer any questions you may have.

 

Yes, I have the Firestone Ride Rights, and I think it’s doubly worse for me with more 330lb more aggressive springs PLUS a minimum of 5 PSI in the bags, but yeah the ride is less than stellar. I will say I have run the bags empty or near empty before, and I just make sure to not hit big bumps if I’m in a familiar place, and the ride is pretty sublime with them empty.

aside , from what I’ve seen, an AAL is a good budget option unless you weight the back down a lot, but I really have no experience. I personally found that the OME mediums (+330lb constant) have been pretty great in terms of comfort even with no extra weight in the back. Though, rake could be a serious concern though if you’re only doing 1.5-2” in the front. Assuming you DIY instead of a shop doing it, you can always do an AAL, and if it doesn’t work precisely how you like it, buy a full pack and sell the AAL pack local and recoup a good chunk of change.

 

+1 for @HeadStrong Off-Road , Marie’s helped me a couple times!

 

Thanks. Could you expand on the issue with the rake. Are you saying it would be too much rake or not enough? I'm leaning towards the Icon leaf pack now so maybe that will solve it.

 

Yeah, too much rake with no extra weight in the bed, especially with only a 1.5” lift in front.

I apologize, I had misread the OME specs on the medium packs. On a 2016+ Tacoma the medium packs provide about 2” of lift, and provide no extra spring rate. My bad!

 

Just so you know, the icon leaf pack I mentioned can be used in 3 configurations which each give you more or less lift. Option 2 is for 2.5" I believe. As they've all said Marie at Headstrong offroad is a good resource for this, that's where I got my suspension parts as well.

 

Whichever leaf pack you get, make sure it is designed for your constant bed load. Suppose you settled on a 1.5 inch lift up front, and you want an inch of rake. Don’t buy a 3 inch lift for the rear hoping it will sag to 2.5 inches. That much sag would wear out the leaf packs early. Get a 2.5 inch lift designed for your bed load. If a leaf pack doesn’t give any information about bed loads, it’s probably designed for a mostly empty bed and likely won’t work for you.

 

Thanks. I'm not sure if option 2 or 3 will be best with the Icon pack. Here is what they say.

Sounds like with option 2 I'd be about level with the camper and 1.5" up front. Option 3 will give more rake. They don't give a 200 lb lift measurement but I would assume a bit less than the unloaded 2.65" which would be around 2.5" or a bit less with the camper shell. Loaded for camping I'm probably in that 500 lbs range with the camper shell and gear so that would mean I'm not really sagging when loaded. Does this sound right? Or will option 3 be too stiff for daily driving with just the shell.

 

I have 5100s and think they are great. Good road manners. Also reasonable off-road. Probably not as cushy as a proper high-spec off-road shock, but everything is a compromise. The 5100s are much less wallowy and have less nose dive than stock TRD OR shocks. I have about 600lbs of gear added to the truck, equally distributed between axles. I have a custom add-a-leaf in back (leaf added by a spring shop to the centre of the OEM packs) and OME 888 springs up front to account for the weight of my steel stub bumper and winch.

Only complaint with my set up is the 888’s sagged some, so I’m gonna bump them up a notch soon.

I would buy 5100s again. With their price point, performance, durability, reasonable corrosion resistance, and lifetime warranty, they have a tonne of value. Billstein doesn’t mess around. It’s a proven commodity.

 

Sorry, can't answer as I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Don't have time to link it for you but there's a great thread here for the RXT leaf packs with lots of info there.

 

She is amazing, but no longer at Headstrong.

 

X2 for the full icon leaf pack. I bought the rtx from a vendor here after the ome heavys. Much better and no squeak