Which Leaf Setup is Best for Me?

Hello all! I apologize as I realize that “which lift should I get” has been asked over and over and over. I have done a LOT of reading on this subject to learn what I can but I still feel overwhelmed with choice. My question is, what rear leaf setup would be best for my use case?

I plan to get a 6112/5160 kit and want to add about 1.5” in the rear. My truck isn’t very rusty (not a Cali truck but atill nice) and the leaf packs don’t look bad. However, it’s a 2014 with what I assume are the original rubber bushings. I don’t do much off-roading and just want a lift because I enjoy it.

My options are an Icon add a leaf (should get me about 1.5” and be cheaper but also makes me wonder if I should replace the packs and bushings) or full Icon leaf packs that add about 2” of lift (but then I’m nervous that I’ll need brake line extensions).

Should I just go for the add a leaf if there are no current issues or do some preventative action with a full leaf pack? Is there a specific bump stop I should go for or just any extended stop would work? Thank you in advance for sharing any wisdom


EDIT:
Ultimate goal is to put SCS F5 wheels with 16x8, 4.5BS and 265/75/16 tires with the desire to not rub AT ALL and require absolutely no chopping or cutting or hammering

 

I have a 2013 Sr 5 with 5160/6112 shocks, OME upper control arms, full Icon leaf pack and Timbren bump stops front and rear with 265/75 R17 Toyo AT III's
No brake line extension necessary and no rubbing

 

Okay 1.5in in rear.

Do you off-road = No/ once in a while.
Do you tow?
Do you haul?
Do you have additional constant load? (Example. Bed rack, or sliders, rent, roof rack, contractors rack, etc)

of all are no and it’s a daily driver.

I would get the AAL.
Cheaper, simpler, and minimal overall.




To answer if you want to get a 2in lift and break lines. Answer is no, you are still limited in maximum droop by the shocks.
Note if you go 2in on the IFS and 1.5in in the solid axle. The truck will be about level. (From factory it comes with a 1-1.5in taller on the rear solid axle)

I have slightly extended rear shocks by 1in and a full leaf pack replacement, and the mechanic said no I don’t need new break lines.

 

What option are you on?

 

Fantastic, I’ll look into the OME UCAs and bump stops you mentioned, thank you for sharing!

 

AAL on an old pack no matter how it looks is usually a waste of money, it will sit high, then as the AAL takes all the load it will sag quickly. I usually only suggest AAL with 2 year old packs max.

If your current pack isnt sagging, I'd say 1" block for now, then a full pack when you eventually need it. My 2c

 

Nope, I don’t have plans to actually Offroad any time soon (just dirt and gravel roads near me, so just normal light use), only light very infrequent towing (pulling a small utility trailer with small equipment maybe once a year), and haul light loads relatively infrequently (yard work stuff, packing for trips, etc) so this is very much a light duty setup. As far as addons, I got my fix with my old first gen, so I likely will only be adding sliders in the future. It looks like the AAL route may better suit my needs; I’ll take another look at my leaf packs and if they’re ok I’ll just go that route! Thank you for all of the help and sharing the brake line info.

 

Hmmm this is what I was worried about. Thank you, since I don’t want to go the block route and do it all over I’ll weigh the options between AAL and just a full leaf pack. Thank you!

 

No prob

 

Out of curiosity, I was looking to change the rear setup slightly and wanted to get some feedback if anything else should be changed/other preventative maintenance done while I’m doing a lift. I plan on:
6112/5100 kit (I think 5100 will be fine for the rears for me, I personally don’t really like remote resi) with the 6112s set to give about 2.2” lift in the front
Icon full leaf pack set up for about 2” lift
Durobumps bump stops with u bolt flip kit (just to get new hardware instead of using my kinda crusty retaining plate under the rear shocks)
JBA UCAs

is this a reasonable setup where I’m not skimping nor overdoing it for my basic needs? Anything else (wheel bearings, clamshell bushing, etc) I should plan on to make my life easier long term?

 

Yeah that sounds like great setup honestly. I agree about the 5160s, they are literally the same shock as the 5100s just with a resi and basically twice the price. Not really worth it.

I'd maybe also think about replacing the LCAs at the same time. Those bushings and ball joints are likely at the end of their life if they are original. And you are already going to need an alignment so mayaswell replace all the "needs alignment after" stuff.

 

Awesome, thank you so much for the feedback! I’ll look into getting LCAs too. What else should I consider? Outer tie rods?

 

Chances are the tie rod ends are fine, it's easy enough to check though. But really they aren't terribly expensive, so wouldn't hurt to swap them too if you got the money.

I guess you could also take a look at the CV boots. When you add the lift it will make those rub more and wear out faster. So if they are cracked at all now would be the time to re-boot them. And since that requires removing the axles, it's a perfect time to do the ECGS bushing as well. I would highly suggest doing both the boots and the bushing at the same time, whether that's now or down the road. You don't always need the bushing when adding a lift. So it's not something that necessarily needs to be done at the same time. Some guys just like to do it with everything else so it's all done and you don't have to be back wrenching on it again in a couple months. But it would suck to just do the bushing and then have to pull the axle again in a few months cause you didn't do the boots at the same time.

 

Thank you very much for the help! I’ll add checking the CV boots to my list to get most stuff done up front. I appreciate it