Squeaky Dakars : Any advice from others with the Dakars ?

Check the isolator pads on your leaf packs! They may be the cause of the squeaking and creaking on the updated Dakar leaf packs.

Ok, so I had some time today to try and pinpoint where the squeaky creaking noise was coming from on my updated Dakar leaf packs. I flexed out the the leaf packs, power washed them out even though they were not that dirty and the squeaking was still there. So, I remembered on my other two stock leaf packs, the isolator pads would squeak after so many thousand miles and I would put marine grease on the isolator pads and they were good for quite some time. Pretty easy fix.
So I started prying between the individual leafs of my Dakar’s ever so easily and to my surprise they still made squeaking noise even with no load on them! So I took a big metal chisel to spread the leafs apart to get the isolator pads out and noticed they had channels cut in the tops of them from factory with some grease in the channels. But the grease was pretty much gone and had dirt and road salt in it. Possible cause of noise..... I recently bought some of that good grease from energy suspension on Amazon for the polyurethane bushings because I was gonna tear them apart and regrease them, but instead, I cleaned up the isolator pads, put that super sticky grease on all of them and now the leaf packs are silent again! I now know it wasn’t the poly bushings making the noise which I was relieved to find out.
So just a heads up, you might want to check your isolator pads on the updated Dakar’s and make sure their clean and well greased.

 

Any one using greasable pins? Looking for some for 3rd gen. I found the Dobinsons kit, but looks like thats only for the spring to frame side, not the shackle side.

 

I purchased 2 Dobinsons kit. I haven't had time to install them yet. I also plan on drilling a hole in the sleeves so the grease reaches the bushings as well. I'm hoping that the greasable pins works on both ends of the springs.

 

According to Dobinsons, they only work for the fixed end. Im not sure why they wouldnt work for the shackle end

 

What grease are you using?

 

This stuff from energy suspension


It’s super sticky and doesn’t wash out easy at all. Can’t even wash it off your hands. It’s good grease I think for this application.

 

How often have you done it?

 

I’ve done it once so far and it took the creaking noise away completely. Hopefully it will last longer than the grease ARB uses from factory.

 

Nice. I use chain lube from time to time, but I haven’t pried the leaves open in a while. They’ve gotten pretty noisy with all the rain we’ve had here in Dallas.

 

Does anyone know how to install the leaf spring liners? I thought they would come with an adhesive side but they don’t. Do you need to glue them on to the leaves or just put them on without adhesive and tighten the springs back up? Thanks.

 

Sounds good thank you!

 

Has anyone tried this

http://blastercorp.com/Dry-Lube-with-Teflon

I'm going to try it on my stock springs tomorrow. Will report back.

I don't have any but maybe this also:

http://blastercorp.com/Garage-Door-Lubricant

 

Still haven't found the time to install the Dobinsons greasable bolts, but I did do an oil change on my truck last night. While the truck was on the lift, I was checking out the rear shackle. The bolt is installed from the inside. This might be the reason why Dobinson says that their bolts are for the front only..... but that's easy enough to work around. Even if I have to install the bolts the opposite way and cut off a few threads for clearance, that shouldn't be a huge issue... or install the bolt from the inside like OEM and replace the straight zerk fitting with a 90 degree one. I don't see any reason for the Dobinsons bolts to not work on the rear shackle. Excuse the New York State rust. This is why we have frame rot recalls. Lol

 

@griffin407c they do work. I installed them on my 3rd gen. I put them in “backwards” so the zerk is facing out. Only slight contact with the hanger on the opposite side. Works great though, definitely would recommend

 

I figured they would one way or another. This project of mine keeps getting pushed back and the squeaks continue. Thanks for the heads up though. Much appreciated.

 

I have a set of the newer medium Dakars with the yellow isolaters getting ready to go on my 2015 Tacoma. I am going to be putting a new center pin and head pin lengthen-er from Headstrong before installation . From experience from the guys who have been dealing with squeaky Dakars do you guys think it would be a good idea to put full length liners such as the link below before I even install them? I live in New Mexico so pretty dry conditions and no road salt. Mostly just dusty dirt roads since it hasn't rained for months.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Leaf-Spring-Liner-with-Lip-2-Inch,39861.html

Thanks

 

I have a first gen with Dakars/yellow isolaters. Took a trip out to NM and did some moderate off-roading and a lot of driving in the dust. Now my Dakars squeak 100% of the time.

 

Still haven't installed the Dobinson's pins. Life has been a roller coaster ride lately. Good news though, my Dakars stopped squeaking, completely, out of nowhere.

 

Did this work? seems like my squeak is coming from the front as well...

 

Finally got the Dobinson greasable pins installed front and rear. The inner sleeve had corrosion from the lovely NYS salt.... presumingly causing the squeaking sound. I cleaned the sleeves up with my wire wheel and then cross drilled holes in the center of the sleeves. Cleaned up the poly bushings and reapplied grease to everything and reassembled. Applied grease to the zerk fittings and no more squeaks. I did cut off some threads on the rear bolts so they wouldn't hit/rub. I'll be applying grease every few days for the next few weeks. I didn't take many pictures, but I'll try to get some tomorrow. Cheers to no more squeaks!