AAL or full leaf pack?

Can anyone that chose medium duty in the poll chime in and give me your opinion on the medium?

 

Begin with the Medium Dakar setup. If you end up with a little too much sag after adding the RTT and additional gear later, simply add the Dakar HD leaf to compensate. Too easy.

/done

 

I wrote about them already. They were fine but not as stout as you may think. If you plan to carry any load for extended periods of time then get the HD Dakars. Remove a leaf if it's not needed and then add the leaf back in later when they eventually start to sag. As I said, I have an RTT (130#) on bed bars and a tailgate reinforcement and they were at their limit. I was bottoming out easily. Do you have anything else in particular you are looking to figure out?

 

Definitely appreciate the opinion you had given me and respect it. When I'm shopping I like to hear more than one review about a product before making a decision, and since this poll has resulted in the medium dakars being a favorite, I would like to know why that is.
As of right now, being that your opinion kind of lines up with my own, I agree that it would be smarter to go the heavy route knowing that I will only be adding weight from here on out.

 

No worries, I wasn't trying to be accusatory. Im still waking up from a long day yesterday. Seriously though, any questions or concerns you are always welcome to PM me.

 

You do realize that the difference between medium and heavy is just one additional leaf, right? You can always add it at the same time you add the RTT and other gear. In the meantime, with just the Medium leaves, you wouldn't have to worry about excessive lift/rake.

 

Right on definitely will PM you because it sounds like our plans are/were pretty similar with our setups.

 

I had a RTT a rack fully loaded bed with camping supplies and I didnt have any sag with a single AAL. If your not putting weight on a single AAL will be fine. If you want to plan ahead get a full pack but sit high in the rear.. maybe

 

What makes sense to me, would be to buy HD pack. Remove 3rd leaf, so it's
medium for now. When you add RTT or more weight. You already the leaf to convert it back to HD pack. No extra leaf/HD to buy later.

 

I think it's cheaper to get that extra leaf all at once with the heavies and take it out right off the bat, than to buy the mediums and then purchase the AAL later, right? Not sure when the tent will be put on, but these last couple times I've gone off-roading I've loaded the shit out of my bed.

 

Dakar heavy pack. Pull 3rd leaf to make a medium for now, then put back in when you add extra load.

I have the dakar mediums, kept right around 2in of lift, ride is awesome and no squeaks thanks to leaf liners. Also pull the pack apart and paint the leafs while you are installing leaf liners.

 

Also like pale horse stated medium dakar is one less leaf. So buy the heavy and remove the leaf so you have it for the future.

 

Yeah, that would be the cheaper route if you think/know that you'll inevitably need the HD.

I just wouldn't install the complete HD pack without the weight in place. Begin with the HD leaf removed and go from there, as needed.

Sorry if my first post confused this point.

 

My buddy runs 3 tacomas on his ranch, everyone that has an AAL has broke it atleast once..

 

It is much cheaper. I just finished installing that leaf to my ELO95's. The extra leaf also doesn't come with center shims or the anti squeak pads, another cost.

The medium Dakars seemed too high at first but after 6 months they settled considerably and sagged when we loaded out the camping gear (before the RTT). I would highly recommend putting the HDs in and seeing how it settles. I think I'm going to be level with 2" lift up front and RTT/tailgate plate/some gear in the back now that I have the HDs.

 

I agree with this statement

 

Thanks gentlemen. This helps a lot. I think I'm steered in the heavy Pack direction.
If I have too much rake I'm always down to carry some sand bags to speed up the settling process. Fuck mileage, it's a truck, and my drive to work is only 7 miles. Lol

One last question, like stated in one of your responses, the center pin will be longer on the heavy as compared to the mediums. How would I go about adding the head pin lengthener for future needed shims? Will the heavy pin be long enough to support both the AAL when I add it back in the future AND the shim? Also, I'm assuming with the extra leaf removed, initially, the center pin will stick up a little higher so will my bump stop have any issues with that small extra length?

Appreciate all the info

 

Worst case you chop the pin with the leaf removed, and when you go to put it back in you get some longer bolts.

Or drill out the stock bumpstop a bit.


When you get the dakars i HIGHLY recommend pulling them apart keep everything oriented right, take the time to grab a can of Rustoleum Flat Black Protective Enamel, brush on some paint. As well as grab some Speedway 2.25in leaf liners (https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Leaf-Spring-Liner-with-Lip-2-1-4-Inch,39823.html?sku=91033038-BLK). you will need one roll per pack. Cut to size and poke a hole in the center, then grease up the anti friction pads and bolt everything back together. Leafs will look great, you wont deal with any squeaks etc.

 

Your operating angles should be close. The CB drop is the quick fix, the right fix is ditching that and going with shims. I have 2” of lift and run 3-degree shims with the Dakar medium pack and my operating angles are 0.2 degrees off from each other. It’s best not to lower the front shaft. I’ve been through this mess ALOT with my Tacomas. If you aren’t lifting more than 3” and no less than 1.75” you should be good with 2-3* shims

This is what my truck looks like with what I described and it rides cherry.

 

^this,


Not to mention if you run the heavy pack with little to no weight, you aren’t even really using your shocks. The ride is better with the medium pack and even with a full bed of camping gear the sag is like 3/4”