LOTSOFTOYS PANDA BUILD

Simple if you ask me. From your post I'm assuming you're running standard Dakars without the extra leaf? If that's the case, I'd totally jump on a pair of extra leaves for the Dakars. They're like $50 for both sides and can be installed in about an hour. It will add about .75" of lift which is mostly from the thickness of the leaf. I didn't notice any change in ride quality or flex. Ride stayed nice, and the flex wasn't limited by the extra leaf.

You'll definitely want to start looking at relocating your shocks. It's really not a hard job. Just takes a little time to get your measurements and the shocks positioned correctly. If you buy a u-bolt flip kit (which I would do) it will come with longer u-bolts so don't need to worry about that. One thing to keep in mind.....I ordered the TG flip kit. The hole in the ubolt plate for the center pin won't line up and the ubolts will be crooked since you have spring relocation plates. You'll need to either drill a new hole in the ubolt plate or elongate the one that's there so that the ubolts are straight up and down. No biggie.

The extra leaf will do a lot for your load capacity. Mine are loaded pretty heavily almost all the time and they sit nearly flat at ride height. Honestly I think I'm at about the max weight for what would be ideal for these springs. It's got me thinking about swapping for some AllPro Expo Springs because the spring rate is a bit higher. It's not a big deal yet. I just spent 5 days in the San Rafael Swell and Moab with my whole family of 6 crammed in the truck, fully loaded with gear in both the truck and towing my full offroad trailer. So there was a lot of weight for the springs to deal with and we were hauling ass a lot through the roads in the Swell. The springs still handled it fine, but I could tell I was pushing them. But that's way more weight than you'll be dealing with what the ideas you described.

Here's the best shot I've got from the trip that shows how the truck was sitting with all the weight. You can see its still almost perfectly level. That's with the Dakars and extra leaf and 1.5" shackles.


Good luck. let me know if I can help out.

 

And so it begins.... next up is the RTT!

 

actually Adam ive already done the u bolt flip kit and shock relocate about a month ago. see a page or 2 back....

but ok i like the idea of the aal as well. but i only have 2 threads showing above the nuts on the ubolts as it sits now.. id need longer u bolts if i do the aal. where the hell do i find some that have the same 'u' dimensions for the taco axle just longer? this is all because im anal and id like the nuts to have the full amounts of the threads used

 

oh and i know all about the u bolt flip centering hole. with the relocation plate... that whole process sucked a**

 

nope no rtt for me

 

This is gonna be good!

 

Gotcha. Shouldn't be hard to find ubolts. Did you cut your ubolts down that you're using now? Just order some of the trail gear ones. They should send them with nuts and they'll be the right radius bend for the axle. Mine are plenty long and probably need to be cut down a little.

 

no i didnt cut them down. its the allpro u bolt flip kit. wonder if the tg ubolts will work with my AP top plate?

 

They should since the hole pattern would be the same. Question would be the length in terms of the AP plate thickness.

 

yeah got some emails out to a couple companies

 

sweet.... throwein my new rack in today. just ordered the d6xl aal and centering pins. and also got new spring isolators from arb coming. rear leaf spring refurb coming up!!!!

 

I saw that! yes lets hope so...











IN completely other and non related news.... this is what I do in the winter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6kvQDibnnQ

 

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrap


was that a bad ass wheelie mid vid?

 

she wheelies every once in a while

 

list before moab:
install ome aal and new centerig pins
replace dakar spring anti squeak pads
replace grip tape on rear bumper
touch up armor
measure, order, install new rear shocks
shake down trail somewhere in CO!

 

I will be ready for this part sooner then I thought!

 

reminds me...what do you use for grip tape? thinking about putting some on my kickout

 

Some 2" stuff from Lowe's. I might still have some in the garage. Not certain though. How do dem sliders look?

 

great...better than the first set for sure...and we got them spaced even front and rear this time

level is a different story


but it's good having sliders again....ready for the parking lots again!!