Figuring out what's needed for the rear

I know this is asked alot, but I am still a little confused and just want to get it right the first time.

I am trying to lift my truck 2.5 to 3 inches and I am going to go with bilstein 5100 all around with ome 885 coils with LR control arms. I am just having trouble figuring out exactly what I need for rear. An aal or a leaf pack. I dont havr consistent weight in rear, but I do tow a 24ft boat every week in the summer and load the rear with firewood throughout the year.

2014 double cab 4x4 sr5

Thank you for all help and recommendations

 

Take a measurement from the center of the wheel hub straight up to the edge of the fender. Stock measurements for the rear is suppose to be 21.5. Knowing yours is a 2014, we've seen people in the grey area where half were fine measuring 21.5 so they go with an AAL, but under 21.5 by an inch like 20.5 I would just replace them.

 

Medium duty Dakars. If that's not enough you can always add the extra leaf to make it HD.

Stock leafs are junk and adding anything to it will simply be a bandaid until you're forced to upgrade the leaf pack. Do it once, do it right.

 

I was looking at those, but I thought I saw they were for a consistent load of like 300lbs. Would they ride fine if the bed was empty majority of time?

 

I'll put it this way, my HD Dakars ride smoother and more comfortable than my stock leafs with a single AAL. And they tow and haul better than the stock leafs and AAL.

Towed once with the single AAL and it caused sag and made the rear end ride like a dump truck.

 

Perfect sold me thank you

 

In my experience OME mediums ride fine empty and will sag a bit with significant cargo. Adding one leaf to make them heavies is OK but I found the ride bouncy more than what I'd call harsh empty. I was using OME shocks with them at the time so tuning the ride with shocks might tame that a little. Adjustable shocks would have been nice to have though.

 

The 5100s are only good for 1” of lift in the rear, they’ll tolerate 2” but more than that you may want a different shock for the rear.

 

I got extended for rear

 

Exactly what I did . MD Dakar’s a couple years ago and my AAL is going in Tuesday.

 

5125s for 2-3” lift is what I’m using!

 

My question is how do I know if I will need the axle shims . Because if I get a vibe after the AAL is installed I would have to take everything apart to get a shim in . If I put the shim in with the AAL maybe it will make vibrations

 

From what I have read you just have to lift and see. Might get lucky and no vibes. First time lifting a vehicle so I'm not sure either

 

I’m already lifted almost 3” and have just a slight steering wheel vibe between 47-51 mph but I can live with that . Just have to wait and see I guess .

 

Goodluck

 

You too

 

Good general rule of thumb is 1* for each inch of lift.