Old Man Emu Leaf Springs Sagging...

When you say these days, when did they turn to absolute garbage?

I see that the part# changed since mine were installed but there have been complaints about ride height with a load since before the part# change. Figured they were the same. I can agree that in base form they are not going to carry heavy loads without losing ride height, but in my use they have held up extremely well and I have been perfectly content with the ride and offroad performance they have given...and I'm not in anyway a "fanboy". People just seem to overestimate the Dakar load limits and expect a certain lift amount even with that load. I believe the Dakars are designed to operate somewhat flat and even past flat, evident by the fact that the overloads aren't fully engaged until the main leafs are deflected quite a bit.

Mine have been on since around 2010. Offroad they have enough flex and travel to allow me to use every inch of a 10" travel shock, and handle all loads that my use has required. Although it took adding the extra leaf to completely make me satisfied. Having said that, the Dakars are not the right choice for all use cases. I've heard great things about Alcan springs, not just on Toyotas, but various vehicle platforms.

 

I couldn't tell you when the quality changed, and I haven't been in the game long enough to say when they were ever actually good. I bought my 2nd gen in 2016 and at the time dakars were all the rage. the ones I had were purchased immediately the part number I change I believe you're talking about, and they seemed to get worse after that.

I do agree 100% that some people overestimate the capacity or under estimate their weight, but theres plenty of folks out there who are well within weight ratings on saggy dakars. On the flip side, in the same time period I have ever seen a single example or complaint about upgraded Alcan or Deaver springs. I'm sure there's some stories out there, but nowhere near the same.

 

I put a set of Dakars with AAL on last summer. I run a 150lb ish shell full time. They aren't sagging, but don't sit high either. They feel leaps over the stock setup, but this is all I have to compare with on my truck. BUT if I were to buy again I'd go with All Pro Expo or something else. These squeak like hell, something OME had supposedly fixed. False. I read to disassemble and put doorman pads in. Yeah right. I'd just sell these and get something else at that point. So for now they run soaked in spray lube and grease where I can get to and when they ride quit they are great, but when they start to squeak again I hate them until I can get to squirting a can of spray lube on them. So many threads and videos going around about how to bandaid your brand new leaf pack.

 

I know your pain man. Ordered a new set of deavers last week to get rid of these flat dakars… I’m just sitting in the bump stops right now lol

 

Do the shorter 95-97 dakars have this same issue? I've been looking at getting them for a while..

 

Looks like timbrens or the like? Those leafs aren't maxed out, not really engaging the bottom overload yet, getting close, no extra leaf. What kind of weight do you estimate is on the rear?

 

i would guess that my standard weight is 600-700lbs (swingout bumper, full size spare and RTT) but I run bootcamp classes on the weekends and carry an additional 400lbs of workout equipment in the bed

 

Yeah, too much for Dakars, especially without the extra leaf. Even with the extra leaf it would be too much as a full time load. I have found my load limit, to be between 800-900lbs in the bed. With my extended bump stops that has me close but not on them, still has some gap, and compression travel of the bump stops. I would not want to have that kind of weight full time with these leafs.