Bilstein 5100 w/ 885 coils and Icon AAL or OME w/ 885 coils and EL111R leaf pack?

Assuming that I can find either of these in stock in Canada which would be better for 90% city/highway and 10% gravel/forest service roads. Either scenario would be paired with air bags for towing a 3500 Lbs travel trailer. I am looking for around 2" of lift and do not plan to get UCA's unless necessary for alignment.

 

So one of my local shops came through and has ordered me a full OME set-up. 90021 front shocks with 885 coils and 60091 rear shocks with the EL111R medium leaf pack. I'll see how this set-up does with my travel trailer and then add air bags if necessary.

 

You'll be happier with the full leaf pack instead of the AAL. My old leaf packs were inverted and one side had a broken leaf. I went with 885 and EL112R (heavy) but with Bilstein shocks front/rear and am loving the ride now.

Also towing a TT around 3500lbs and it's all good.

 

Yeah, the factory leaf pack is pretty soft at this point. I debated just going with the EL112R to handle towing the trailer but I don't always have extra weight in the back so I figured it would ride too rough on a daily basis.

 

I can't recommend the OME leaf pack, but some people really like it. It works well I just have to live with all the squeaking!

 

i did the aal and now i'm searching for some full spring packs. With my shell, it didn't take long for the aal to start sagging so whatever lift they added at the beginning is now probably half.

 

Just install 5100/ome885/iconAAL. Tossed on newer stock leafs with fewer miles. So far so good (2 days haha)

 

Looks good. Did you go w the progressive AAL from Icon and how much lift did you end up getting after it settled?

 

Yeah, 3 of my local shops told me not to bother with an AAL because it would just be a band-aid solution with my soft factory leaf springs. That's why I decided to bite the bullet and get a proper upgrade.

 

From your profile pic, it looks like you have a shell. So yeah, it would be a waste of time. If no shell or weight, I think and aal would work fine for the most part.

 

I forgot to mention that I have a shell which is almost 200lbs constant weight so the Dakar HD aren't too stiff.

If you don't carry any weight the AAL could work for you.

 

Yes, I do have the canopy on full time and then a 3500 Lbs travel trailer as often as possible in the summer. On those trips the tongue weight is probably around 300 Lbs and I'll usually have a half bed full of fire wood which I try to keep as far forward in the bed as possible. The HD leaf pack would probably have been better in that scenario but I run it empty with only the canopy more often than not.

 

Just measured my stock truck from center of the hub to the fender. Full tank of gas and a canopy but otherwise empty.

Front driver side: 19.5"
Front passenger side: 19.75"
Rear driver side: 20.5"
Rear passenger side: 21.25"

Is that about right? I assume the full tank of gas is causing the lean to one side?

 

I have a 14 DCSB 4x w a shell. Here are my stock measurements from center of wheel to bottom of fender with a full tank of gas:
LF: 20 1/8 RF: 20 1/2
LR: 21 RR: 21 1/4

 

Almost exact from my stock measurements. Taco lean is real.

After doing 5100/885/Dakar HD I'm at 22"/22.25" Front and 24.5/25" Rear. That's with a 1/4" spacer (driver side) and a Leer shell. This will settle some as the lift is only about a month old.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Here is my before pic. The truck goes in to the shop on Wednesday for the new suspension!

 

So here is the after picture:



Current measurements:

Front driver side: 21"
Front passenger: 21.5"
Rear driver: 23"
Rear passenger: 23.75"

So a couple of issues. First, you'll notice that I still have the Taco lean going on. My kit didn't come with the 1/4" spacer for the driver's side. Not the end of the world but I will probably try to source that and add it later. Second, I only gained 1.5" up front and 2.5" in the back. I was hoping for the full 2" of lift in the front and was under the impression that 885 coils would have done that for a double cab with no additional weight on the front. I guess we'll wait and see how it settles out. On the bright side, they came in $775 CAD under their original quote.

Here are the numbers from my alignment:



Should I be concerned that the caster is below the minimum specifications?

 

OK, my brain hurts. I forgot to measure the height of my hitch before the suspension upgrade. I was just figuring that since it lifted 2.5" in the rear that I would get a new hitch bar with a 2" drop and that would be close enough. But I'm looking at it now and realizing that the hitch is now sitting much higher than 2.5" since the lift wasn't even front to back. Is there any easy way to do the math to work this one out? I guess worst case is I have to measure the trailer tongue height while level and then hitch it up, measure again and work out the difference.

* Edit - according to this: https://www.etrailer.com/faq-ballmount.aspx, I need an 8" drop. But should I account for the fact that the suspension will sag once it is hitched up? So should I get a 7" or even a 6" drop instead?

 

Went for a shakedown cruise and took her down 40 KM (approximately 25 miles) of forest service road. A huge improvement in ride quality over the tired factory suspension.