Advice with rear suspensión

I am in the process of getting my truck as close to stock as possible. I am going to leave it with the Bilsteins at 0 and OME 883, which give the Prerunner 1.5". And I already went from 285/70r17 to 265/70r17. But my problem is with the rear suspension. I have OME Dakars medium duty springs and they feel very harsh now. I already removed one of the overloads and the suspension is still harsh. ARB doesn't recommend removing any leaves because they want to cover themselves as a company, which makes sense. But I wonder if I could maybe remove the third leaf from top to bottom as well? Not only would it lower the height (which I need), but it might also loosen the suspension a little more. Is there anyone here who has experience with this and can advise me? The reason I'm doing this is because in the process of restoring my truck, I've had some huge expenses with adverse problems that have put me in a very tight financial situation. So, I am trying to achieve my goal by investing as little money as possible.

 

Yeah, so Dakars are just kinda shit and ride like that no matter what. The medium duty versions are literally just the heavy duty with a leaf removed. You can't really remove any more leafs without causing problems like excessive axle wrap or loss of payload. Removing overloads does basically nothing for ride quality because they are only used once the rest of the pack is loaded to the point where the leafs are in a negative arch. Basically there is no "correct" leaf to remove to do what you are wanting. You are essentially modifying the leaf pack in a way that it was never designed to be used.

FWIW, I had the same issue with my medium dakars. I researched and tried different things for years and came to the conclusion that there is no way to fix the ride quality with those leafs. I tossed them and replaced them with Deavers. IMO, the problem (with ride quality, they have many other problems) is the main leaf is too stiff on the mediums. It works fine for the heavies because usually you'd get those for heavier setups, but without that weight the main leaf just causes a harsh ride. Which is also why removing any other leafs doesn't really help.

Either try to find someone's old OEM leafs that they took off for an upgrade, or just toss some weight in the box (bags of landscape rock work great) to reduce the lift and help with the ride quality. Greasing the slider pucks can help a little too. It's allows the leafs to flex with less resistance which helps with smaller bumps and undulations.

 

Thanks, bro! I'm feeling a little down because I was hoping something could be done, but it is what it is. I've been trying to get some stock springs, but they're expensive and I can't find anyone willing to trade. With the 285 tires, I never realized how rough they are, but now with 265s, damn, it feels like the rear end is collapsing. And the roads here in Houston are terrible. I never wanted to remove my lift kit, but here in Houston you need better response in your vehicle because people drive like idiots. So far, I've recovered about 80% of the truck's acceleration. But the suspension is not pleasant at all!
Greasing them is something that can be done right away!

 

Look for a set of rear takeoffs sometime may be getting rid of. Heck sometimes you’ll find someone getting rid of a set. At worst you throw a 1” block in the back so you not nose high.

 

I've been trying to get some, but it hasn't been easy, and some people want to sell them for more than the Toyota.