Change the front bushings in your Dakars

Is that a 3/4 piece of pipe and cap you used as a puller I assume I'm going to run to the store tonight and make a puller in case I have troubles pressing the stock bushings out

 

I'm going to go through wheelers. I've had mine on for three years. I want to upgrade to expo's. My leafs even with add aleaf don't really hold the weight I carry. They squat a lot. Still come right back up when take everything out of the truck though.

 

Wow this is a rare statement. How much weight are you carrying?

 

I have mid rise cap with reinforced roof. Then I have a chainsaw with oil, mixed and non mixed e-free gas, bar and chain oil, a small tool box with files and spare chains/spark plugs.
A tool box for the truck with pry bars, adjustables, a couple breaker bars and ratchets. Three jaw puller. Metric wrenches and a couple sae wrenches. Deep and standard impact sockets, extensions, universal joints for the sockets and wheel bearing socket. Three pound hammer and small ball peen hammer. Male hex sockets. Striker for torches and some packets of tungsten. A male tweco end for welding lead. Punches, center punch, chisels and metric allen wrench kit. Screwdrivers and pliers. Snap wring pliers. Soldering iron. Voltmeter. Spark plug gapper. Electrical tape. Some emory cloth. And various other doodads.
I have a separate stanley 96 piece automotive socket set. A crafstmen tap and die set that is around 60 pieces. A husky socket set that is only 20 or so pieces.
Two big 50 cal ammo cans. One has 140' of winch rope. 60' of straps. Two snatch blocks six or eight shackles of varying sizes. The other ammo can has a grease gun with two spare tubes. Rags. Jumper cables. Another set of metric wrenches. My tow hitch and some work gloves.
Spare oil. Spare u joints for both drive shafts. Two spare cv axles. Two wheel bearings and seals to replace all that stuff. A cordless sawzall and an inverter. A tin pail. Two twenty ton bottle jacks.
Large spade and small spade. 36" axe and camp hatchet. Four ton come along. A few trump pence election signs. Five gallon can of gas for the truck. Rubber bed mat. Twelve volt air compressor. I know there's a few things I've left out.
I have wheelers superbumps with the 3/8's spacer, and the truck sits about an inch off the bumps most of the time. When I take everything out it sits a little more than two inches higher.
I'd like the expo's because they should keep the three inch lift even with the weight. At some point I'd like to put a rear plate bumper on and add my own swing out to it and have a mounting spot for vise and a small foldable work bench. I don't do hardcore overlanding, but I have done some pretty remote trail and road trips.

I had a slightly different load out for this trip I took two years ago. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/four-months-and-20k-miles-in-a-tacoma.408592/

It's been loaded like that ever since and I've put on about 86k miles since then.

ETA: thumbs up on your sig under the user name. I avoided this site for about a year. Now I'm spending all kinds of money on my truck again.

 

Damn that is a shit ton of weight. Dakar's are pretty stout so I'm not sure how much better the expo's are going to handle it for the price they command. Maybe get some airbags instead? And yes, this site is both a gift and a curse. I've learned way more about my Tacoma than I ever thought I would, but have also spent more on her than I thought I would. Neither seem to be letting up anytime soon

 

The pipe is 1.5" steel schedule 40. Matches the spring eye nicely. End cap isn't really necessary; you could use a thick piece of flat steel instead.

 

Quick question did you guys only grease the inner hole, pin and face of these bushings leaving the outer part with the grooves dry if I'm reading this correct?
ARB shipped these here in less than 2 days they rock!

 

I greased everything inside and out. Some people say not to grease between the spring eye and outer bushing because you don't want the bushing to rotate, but my humble opinion is that I actually do want it to rotate even if only slightly just to help with the spring articulation. I honestly don't see any harm in adding grease there. If someone has a good reason why I shouldn't, feel free to chime in.

 

I'm a fan of either prothane super grease
Prothane 19-1751 Super Grease Tube - 14 oz.

$73 Prothane 19-1751 Super Grease Tube - 14 oz.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JMEC0E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BjdbzbVHPA00Y

or super lube
Super Lube 41150 Synthetic Grease (NLGI 2), 14.1 oz Cartridge

$15 Super Lube 41150 Synthetic Multi-Purpose Grease, 400g, Translucent White Color

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042FG74W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MhdbzbFC5B2BN

You might think the $50 price tag of the super grease is high, but it's high quality stuff. Super greasy and sticky and thick as hell. Basically it stays where you put it and is more resisitant to "melting" or "sweating" like other greases tend to do when exposed to heat. You'll know it when you try to pump it out of your grease gun too because it takes more force.

The super lube is actually my second choice but it's also what I use currently on my truck. Same consistency as regular grease but for some reason I feel like it is also more resistant to water and heat.
Both are clear in color so when it comes time to clean and R&R any suspension components it's really easy to see when the old dirty stuff is all cleaned out. That part might just be a mind-fuck and a personal preference, but I've been super happy with the super lube on my UCAs as well as rear suspension.

 

This is the Grease I plan on using i have used it on my Camburg uca and my ujoints using a grease gun for the zerk fittings on those parts
https://m.advanceautoparts.com/p/lu...b.-10574/10584101-P?searchTerm=red+and+tacky+

 

I used Mobil 1 Synthetic grease when I assembled everything on my suspension. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I have more than 32,000 miles on the suspension change out.

 

Red-n-tacky seems to melt and get pushed out really easy, in my experience.

 

I've used the blue marine grade stuff before too with good results, but to be honest, grease is grease. This kind of goes back to personal preference or even "I used whatever I had". I don't see any harm in using the grease you posted but I don't have any personal experience with it. There's a few guys on here that swear by it. Worst case scenario, if it gives you any problems, it isn't too hard to get in there and use something else.

 

Well everything went we well jacked the truck removed the tires and put it on jack stands, put a jack under the rear end and slowly let down on the springs, we had to unbolt the rear shock to give us clearance. Once it was low enough the best method was using a big socket and pounding the bushing out. After removing the bushings I lubed the inner bore and outer face and reinstalled the new bushings after that we were pretty home free, just reinstalled everything and torque once we had the tires on the ground. Went for a drive and no more squeaks so happy !! Thank you all for the help!!

 

A couple other methods to remove while on vehicle
https://youtu.be/sZueMg_FpqM
https://youtu.be/9DMvzjVw1VM

 

I should of did a video of me removing mine and added some country music like that guy did lol

 

Going to be ordering some dakars. should I get the OME or Wheeler's bushings? Opinions/Preferences?

 

Poly bushings regardless of where you buy from. Energy suspension has a set too.

 

Posting the link so it shows in the "products discussed
Energy Suspension 82116G Leaf Spring Bushing

$68 Energy Suspension- 8.2116G LEAF SPRING BSHING SET - REAR

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LSTUAQ6/

 

Just did this, should have done it when I first installed these. Got rid of the rear clunk that the original bushings were creating with the leaf pack. It also rides a lot smoother in the rear, pretty much how it should.