Nose High With 5100's

Did you read the thread??

 

Kind of. Sounds like he went with Ride Rites. Thanks for your help

 

Thank God you finally mentioned Dakars. LOL I'm skimming through this thread asking myself, "WTF hasn't anyone said "Dakar" yet??" I've had 400+lbs of boxes in the bed of my truck and not noticed it droop at all. However, that also means they are stiff - so an empty truck bed bounces a bit off-road. But a camper shell will help with that.

The underlying issue, as I've learned from this forum, is the original factory leaf springs sagging greatly over time. Putting AAL's on top of a poor foundation doesn't make things any better for very long.

And a second recommendation for the team at @HeadStrong Off-Road!

 

I find it interesting that your factory leafs with the 3 leaf AAL isn't doing much for your rear. I also have 5100s set at 1.75", a very similar topper which weighs 200 lbs I would guess, and I got at least 1.5" of lift with the same Wheeler's 3 leaf AAL. I also keep about 200 lbs worth of tools in the bed at all times and the truck is still just about level. Here's a pic with the topper on but the bed was empty:

 

As you probably saw in the thread, I also went with the AAL and they didn't do much for me. I have decided to go with airbags and the daystar cradles. I won't be purchasing them for another couple weeks or so, but I'll be sure to update this thread when I get them purchased and installed.

 

I ordered the Ride Rite kit and daystar cradles today. Found them on AutoAnything with a 20% off coupon code. Entire order came out to $360, with free shipping. Hard to beat that. Hopefully I will get them installed in a week or two.

 

The cradles and airbags came in today. I'm hoping to get them installed tomorrow morning. I'll be sure to take some before and after pics to post here. Also, I noticed the kit came with a mounting bracket for the inflation valves that attaches to the hitch receiver so you don't have to do any drilling. I hadn't seen these before.

 

I'd like to see photos of your install, if you can take some. thanks.

 

FYI on installing the Ride Rites, make sure you follow the directions closely. Like, in exact order closely.

I was in a hurry and kind of had a "How hard can it be?" attitude when I installed mine. And it made the install fucking suck, I was hating myself about the time I took the brackets off for the forth time due to not following directions.

Just offering some insight I learned from my mistake.

 

I'm guilty of that too, don't be too hard on yourself. Its like, real guys don't need instructions. I have to relearn this lesson every now and then.

 

Mounts with a zip tie. Fail!

Drill your mount holes in your 7 pin mount.

 

Translations suck.

 

I'll be sure to take some and post them here tomorrow.

 

Yea, it did seem kind of cheesy.

 

Installed the ride rites this morning. It took me and a buddy just under 2.5 hours, start to finish. Everything went really smooth, with no issues.
I currently have 25psi in both sides (I could probably add about 5psi more, really), and the ride is great. I can definitely tell the difference with them in though. The ass end seems a bit more... "bouncy." It's definitely not bad though, and rides well.
I can post some install pics if you guys really want to see them, but honestly they won't look any different than the many that are already posted in the official ride rite thread. I'll post some before and afters though.
Thanks again to all for all of the input from you guys and the recommendations.

 

That looks awesome.

Glad you're happy!

 

Yea man, definitely happy. Like I said, I think I'll end up putting about 5psi more in them, to give it a little more rear end lift, but I think it turned out great. The install was super simple, and I can really see why everyone loves them so much. I can't wait to put them to the test with the bed loaded down with bikes and camping gear!

 

Looks good man.

......Another TW happy ending.

 

Quite an improvement!!

 

Definitely! I'm finally satisfied with the truck's stance, and overall ride quality.