5100 aal and tire questions

Is that something I can look at now when it still assembled? that way I can order everything at once

 

If you have a stock 2014, I highly doubt you'll need new top hats. The ones on my 2015 looked fantastic with 15k miles on them

 

Take a look at the top rubber bushing for your strut assembly. If they look good on both sides, you should be fine.

 

When I got the 3 leaf AAL pack from Headstrong the longer u-bolts were required, according to the website. They came with the complete kit though.

 

Single leaf AAL's may not need longer u bolts, but why take that Chance. Also U bolts are stretch style bolts, so according to industry standards, those bolts are considered single use. I've reused u bolts with out an issue before though.

 

That's what I was thinking with only 36k.

You guys suggest that I do a diff drop? With 2.5" lift in the front

 

That's a highly debatable topic on here. Everyone against it says "It just rotates the diff, so it barely helps and just starves the diff of oil." but whenever I ask if they have ACTUALLY seen one fail from that, they haven't.

I personally did one because even though it just helps a little bit, it still helps, so I figured what the hell.

 

Here is 265/75/16 (32") with 885 coils and 5100 on the front. The rear has a .5" AAL with 5100. 5100 are set at 0 - no preload. Truck sits level with this setup.

 

Do you mean 1.5"?

 

...for comparison here it is with the same setup in the front but with the Dakar leaf pack in the rear.



I personally like the look of the truck better when it was level but I tow a tent trailer so when it's hooked up, the truck sits perfectly level which is what I was after. I hate when the ass end of a truck sags when loaded.

 

No, I meant .5". The truck had the 4 leaf pack from the factory. When I lifted it with the custom AAL the shop told me it only required .5".

 

A bit of rake in the rear is ideal, IMO. That's how a truck usually looks, to compensate for weight in the bed. Leveling is for mall crawlers

 

I have some before and after measurements from hub to fender somewhere on this forum....

 

LOL. that would be me. If I'm going to take one of our vehicles off road it will be this

My wife's Pro 4X with OME lift.

 

...and that's why I went with the Dakars. I tow out tent trailer and yard stuff. The front just looks a little too low for me now.

Towing:

Hauling:

Dakars with close to 750lbs of top soil in the bed. Nice and level. No headlights in the trees or oncoming traffic.

 

Looking at your truck, you have more rake then I did with the .5" AAL.

Truck looks good brother. I had a deposit on a 6MT MGM TRD Sport but decided to go with the white SR5. Other then the seats in the sport, there wasn't much on that package that I could justify the extra 3K for. Although the paint matched everything on the MGM looks sharp, I didn't like the look of white mirrors, door handles and rear bumper on the SW. Thought it looked better with the black accents. If I had to do it again though, I would go with the MGM Sport. Black wheels look sick on that color.

 

This is true, but sometimes they get stripped when removing them. They are cheap enough to have them replaced. Also, most shops should be able to make U bolts on site.

 

No diff drop, no carrier bearing drop, no shims. I have a VERY SLIGHT shudder when leaving from a stop. I have the carrier bearing drop kit at home but haven't put it in yet. The wife's Xterra on the other hand needed 2 degree shims because of vibrations.

 

That's nice for comparison. .And my truck is white as well.....I'm looking to have a little bit of rake when I do it, does that mean I should get a 1" or a 1.5" aal? Because if I'm not mistaken, since my truck is a 14' I have the 4 leaf pack from the factory.

 

If you could find a shop that can manufacture the AAL spring right then and there it would be golden. I told my shop I wanted my truck to sit level and when they did their measurements the truck needed .5" AAL. It sat perfectly level. When I did my first camping trip the ass end sagged even with the AAL. So I would say you would be safe with 1.5" AAL. All springs are going to sag when heavily loaded, it's the nature of the beast. Unfortunately for us Taco guys the AAL is only going to be as strong as the weakest link, which in our case is the crisply OEM leaf springs.