Dakar vs Deaver?

You sound like you are comparing apples and oranges. You can't compare a light/medium leaf pack from one manufacturer to a heavy leaf pack from another. It's like comparing a 30" tire from manufacturer A to a 40" from manufacturer B and saying A's sucks because B's is bigger! Most (all?) leaf spring and coil manufactures have multiple spring rate options. Choose the optimal spring rate for your application.

 

Bud he's saying that the medium-duty Deavers are superior to the heavy-duty Dakars. I think the comparison is apt in this case

 

I 'm not sure he said that nor do I think your statement is true. Optimal spring rate depends on the application. Higher is not always better. Lower is not always better.

 

Another way to put it is that you put springs on your truck of a given spring rate and they don’t work for you, unless the springs are not the advertised spring rate, the blame is on you for choosing the wrong spring rate; not the manufacturer.

 

I like both apples and oranges, but not both leaf packs. Never said Dakars sucked, just expressed my happiness with my new pack. and one of the many reasons I found for my application why I made the switch.

 

Dakars are known for the springs flattening out, even inverting. Didn't know of those issues when I purchased them. I'm not the only one with this complaint let alone the only one to be told to pound sand from the manufacturer. Op asked, I shared my experiences, and my solution for the springs I needed.

 

Doesn’t that go for everyone wanting to do a lift in that case

 

Thanks!

 

OP IMO I say Deaver or Icon RXT depending on what weight you plan on running.

 

If you are referring to the claims that springs “settle” over time, I think that is a myth. Steel doesn’t work that way. It will fatigue and corrode eventually, form cracks and rust and that will cause a decrease in spring rate, but that takes a long time

If you are referring to the springs not providing said lift, I think that is user error; not a quality issue. It’s like ordering a 5mm bolt when you needed a 6mm bolt and then blaming the manufacturer.

CAVEAT: leaf spring manufactures don’t provide precise specs on spring rate, length, arch, etc, so it’s a bit of a crap shoot.

 

Jesus Christ do you go thread to thread to argue with people or what?

Carry on

 

@lee1092

As most have already covered (goals, budget, etc)…..Dakars will flatten out with weight. I had the only Dakar CS047R pack with the OME aal and as seen in the below picture, they were flat with all my weight. Switched to Dobinsons 112 plus 113 aal and am very happy. I was also considering the Deaver expo stage 3 but they were more expensive and longer wait time. If you plan on moderate to heavy weight, buy once cry once and go for not the Dakars.

 

Should I tell everyone they need a tune, King racing shocks, 5 ton axles, dual transfer cases, 12” drop bracket lift, and 40’s instead?

 

Yes cause you always have to BIG DICK EVERYONE

 

Put me as one more in the "Went Dakars, should have gone Deavers" camp.

My HD dakars rated for 600 pound constant load W'd out despite me being under that figure by a fair bit. My main wheeling buddy with a near identical setup has deavers and they do not have this issue.

But more importantly, THEY SQUEAK. My god, they squeak. I read they squeak over and over, but making them not squeak even temporarily is a sisyphean task.

 

I have the HD Dakar’s. I don’t carry a load MOST of the time. I used to haul 1-3 dirt bikes once a month. Now my bed only carries my spare 35. I have a full rear steel bumper and rock sliders as well. If you plan to go with heavier rear bumper and shell I’d just replace the whole pack. DONT just aal (my two cents). Things usually get heavier not the opposite.

I like the HD Dakars because they do the job and I did not know of the Deavers until recently.

My truck is used for tent camping road trips and light to moderate off roading. No complaints about the squeak here (unless it’s right after a huge rain fall) then the squeaking happens but then goes away.

Are you going to eventually go to a rear shackle like archive garage hammer hangers? Do you want a lot more flex or just to support a constant heavy load?


Deavers seem to be the most talked about “better” overall leaf spring but I’m a F’ing noob with not a lot of close off roading friends.

buy once, cry once. But if you get a deal on the HD Dakars, they’ve never let me down.

pic of my truck for reference with different bed loads.

Pics are all with HD Dakars installed. Other mods changed over time

 

For my Limited, I went with Icon RTX... Started with Stage 2. RSI Smartcap + skiing or fishing gear make stock leaf spring gooey. Chose them over Deavers for their flexibility to add or remove a lead. Also went with Toytec 2.0 Aluma Coilovers with Toytec 2.0 rear shocks. Happy with the ride.