The ole flat rear leaf

So i am wanting to give my ole rear leafs some help because theyve flattened out over the years. My conundrum is my truck already has a 6” rc lift with the right shocks and all so it sits level even with the flat leafs in the rear..
Will putting on an add a leaf help my situation any or would it put an additional 1.5”-2” lift on the rear and not do anything for the leafs? I am really not trying to spend the 400$ or so on new leaf packs and the 75$ add a leaf just seems more my ballpark. I’ve already put on some brackets clamping the leafs to stop axle wrap which over time will cause the leafs to flatten even more.. i just had to haul a few loads of gravel and cinder block which i could feel it bottom out a couple times and put the thing into squirrelly mode going 60.. and i dont want that, i just got the seats clean and dont want to shit all over em again hauling something..
Any suggestions? Like will an add a leaf help? Or do i need to bite the tit and buy a new leaf pack/ junkyard warrior style..? I dont want any carolina lean or a truck with its ass up in the air like it wants something..

Thankee…

 

I mean the right way to fix it is replace the 20 year old leaf pack. You've already gotten more than you money's worth out of that pack. AAL is just going to be a bandaid and it will lift the rear. Springs don't last forever.

My stock leaf packs were shot (inverted) after 75k miles so I replaced them but the OMEs are still kicking after another 100k miles. Admittedly the OEM 2nd gen leaf packs were notoriously crappy.

 

Labor-wise AAL is almost as much effort as a new leaf pack FWIW, I'm pretty sure. I've not been all too happy with my OME's though tbh, wish I would have waited longer and get some Deavers or Alcans. Sure, they handle a lot of load, but without it the back is uncomfy.

 

That's interesting to hear, I had the opposite experience with the OME's. I went from factory leafs with an aal to the OME Dakars. Compared to the factory packs with aal, the Dakars sagged more with the same load. I ended up adding their extra leaf to help better handle a load. I've been happy with the Dakars, even though I no longer have a shell, rarely any load, still have the extra leaf, and find the unloaded ride to be fine. I wouldn't describe it as uncomfortable at all.
Offroad they provide a substantial gain in wheel travel compared to the stock leaves. Not saying that Deavers or Alcans might not provide an even better ride(I wouldn't know), but the Dakars haven't been bad in my experience.

 

Ya, they basically ride my shocks at full stretch. No down travel.

 

Adding a add a leaf would be like putting a bandaid on a injury that needs ER care.

Time for another set of Lift kit springs.

Your Truck your money.

 

Having done both I’d say an AAL is MORE labor than just popping in a new pack.

Pulling leaf packs apart to put in an AAL is a pain in the ass. Plus the disassembly to get to that point is the same as swapping leaf packs. The difference being that for the leaf pack swap you just take off the bolt at each end and pop the new one in vs an AAL where you have to wrestle with abunch of clamps to get the center pin out, install the AAL and then wrestle it all back together.

 

These ICON AAL's look like they could be a little better than a band-aid.

https://www.extremeterrain.com/icon-vehicle-dynamics-tacoma-150-inch-add-a-leaf-kit-51100.html

 

the add a leaf to the Dakars I think is the way to go. The leaf pack without it is great for off road. They are not designed to haul but designed more for flex and off-road abilities.

 

Yea i figured the aal would be a band aid but never thought about it being more work than taking off the 20 yr old leaves and all. Ive actually never looked into aal before and thought they went on top of the pack and used some shackle or just bolted tight to the rest.. but going in between would make more sense..
I know these stock leaves with a 6” rc lift after trying to pull a 25’ fiberglass boat, the axle wrap was real.. it would stand up another couple inches if i got on it at all.. my cheap butt took some cold rolled quarter inch plate steel and some beef cake screws and made some clamps that i put on the fronts of the spring packs.. stopped the wrapping but theyre literally a straight line.. and this is with 0 load..



Straight as hell.. lol..

 

Now i gotta figure out whats throwing my cel.. got a p0441, p0442 & p0446 all the sudden.. been smelling raw fuel now and again also.. figured it was a leaky injector o ring.. was about to replace all the injectors and replace valve cover seals cuz shes on her rag i guess.. dripping on the exhaust and thats not kosher..

 

When you get the Dakar pack the instructions say to put it as the 3rd one from the top if I remember correctly. Just put the pack in about 3 months ago. I have a topper, carry a motorcycle on a hitch carrier and going to be pulling a small trailer. Was well worth it to replace my springs. I had an add-a-leaf to the original pack and one of my leafs just snapped off while driving. Lost it somewhere in Wyoming I think. lol

 

Haha, sounds like new longer shocks might help with the uncomfortable ride, or, if you have too much height, remove the one spring they say you can remove. I first ran the Bilstein 5125's that were often sold for 2" rear lift, something like 8" and 8.5" travel. They weren't limiting travel in daily driving. You must have some really short shocks, or stock length. Offroad is where I knew the Dakars were being down travel limited, so I went with an even longer travel shock. They can use every bit of a 10" travel shock, but then need extended bump stops to avoid bottoming the shock.

 

The factory leafs are flat when new.