Help - Deaver vs Dakars

I would do icon rxt option 3. It will support the weight well but not provide too much lift. This is crucial since you say you won't be replacing the rear shocks. Or get some firestone airbags to help better support the weight instead of new leafs.

 

Airbags are definitely a great option if not wanting lift and just needing load carrying capacity and no sagging. They are relatively affordable and awesome for varying weights.

 

Appreciate it, all! Time to do some more research

 

When I looked on line for silicon - manganese steel I found these words...... spring steel isn't often used in my line of work, so little experience in the properties of the material.

"Silicon SteelsThese are used for springs and have high strength. ... A steel, used for automobile leaf springs and recoil springs, contains 2%silicon, 0.75%manganese, and 0.60% carbon. The elastic limit is 689 to 2068 MPa, depending on drawing temperature, with hardness 250 to 600 Brinell."

The drawing temperature range caught my eye - as it would be a quick way to result in the yielded spring leaf shown in the photos.

 

I run floating airbags with the Daystar cradle and love the set up. (For leveling my truck/Opus trailer while towing and when I transport my enduro bike on the hitch carrier)
I am still having to upgrade due to my Dakar springs underperforming.

 

Great thread. Been a while since I've looked at truck stuff because we've been trying not to spend much lately. My full lift is still a ways out, but right now I'm lugging around waaaay too much stuff in/on my bed. May need to get rear springs sooner than the rest of the stuff. I overland a lot, and take the truck on some pretty gnarly stuff.

Currently bed weight sits around ~800lbs (we do 10 day trips at a time... beer weight adds up... dont judge). When I'm done I anticipate something closer to ~1100lbs (steel bumper, swingout, etc). Looks like a Deaver stage III is what I'd need.

A couple newb questions:

1) Can I just upgrade my rear springs for now and come back later to do shocks?
2) Should I do a u-bolt flip while I'm at it? Now or later?
3) Poly bushings worth it?
4) Hammer hangers now, or later?
5) Anything else I need to consider?

 

Buy once, cry once.

1: with all of that weight, if your upgraded springs don't net you any lift, you wont "need" shocks.... But it might help the ride quite a bit.

2: if you're already doing leaves, may as well.

3: they last longer, but need to be greased depending on useage

4: looking at these myself..... Not cheap. Probably worth every penny though. Deff considering the crossbar as well

5: OVTune, 2lo mod, MESO taillights..... As far as suspension goes, if you're not touching the front for now, nope. Lol

 

There was a post earlier in the thread about taking leaf springs out once per year to re-grease to get rid of squeaks. Axle U-bolts don't really like being tensioned and loosened multiple times. I know someone will say that they have reused U-bolts before and that they didn't break in half. The truth is that U-bolts are supposed to be replaced each time they get "tightened to yield" and if you really want to know more about it, please Google it and read on. I won't bore people with the details on that, suffice to say that U-bolts are not as strong if they get removed and retightened and who wants to play with fire? Regardless what springs you get, squeaks can develop and they are annoying. Don't waste time disassembling your rear suspension and either buying new sets of U-bolts once a year, or reusing your old ones which could be a disaster at some point if your number comes up. Instead, go buy a can of Wurth HHS 2000 spray grease and simply spray it into the sides of where the bushings are and you can even spray down the leaves themselves. The solvent draws the grease into the parts and then offgasses and just leaves behind the grease itself. Wurth makes some other types of spray greases that have other properties, but the HSS is great for this application. Totally compatible with bushings and it helps prevent corrosion. This will save you time and money and the squeaks will be gone for months. I grew up on a farm and anything without a zerk that squeaked got hosed down with Wurth.

And to tie it back to the original post, Deavers are superior in every way to Dakars except the price... but you get what you pay for.

 

I just had my 8 month old Dakars replaced after they started sagging. Other than a few camping trips, my bed is generally empty so they were not abused. I've seen a few other posts on TW saying similar.

Only ever heard good stuff about the Deavers.

 

The installer took before and after measurements when they installed my dakars. After 8 months I had lost between .75 and 1 inch. Installer went to bat for me with ARB and got them replaced under warranty. I just had them replaced with stage 2 Icon RXT last week.

Pics from around 8 months after install. Not as bad as others I've seen here, so their number must be even worse than mine.

 

You pix with the RXT’s

 

I've got some dobinsons light/medium (L59-110-R) springs going on soon. 90% if the time there will be a rack, bike mounts and 2 or 3 days a week a bike. The other 10% there will be a RTT, boards and other recovery gear, cooler, fishing gear, camping stuff, etc. Hopefully they are a good compromise between weight carrying capability and light load manners and comfort.

I'll post any useful info from post install and some measurements.

 

You can add a leaf to those 110-Rs, effectively making them 111s.

 

Sorry I don't have the exact same pics to compare, spare tire is in the way. These are all of the right side, but the left is similar. Much less sag after the replacement.

 

Are you running stock TRD Bilsteins? I'm in the same boat with long wheel base, camper shell, tools, trailer, etc. but trying to stay within a budget. Trying to keep my stock shocks for the moment (only 50k miles).

 

I originally planned to keep my stock Bilsteins for awhile, but ended up going with Bilstein 5160s instead. With the new Deavers your stock shocks will be acting like limit straps at full droop. If you hit them hard enough they could fail or even rip apart. HOWEVER, if you are just driving on the street or mild trails driving slow, they'd probably last quite awhile. If you are constantly jumping your truck or having them slam to full length... not so much.

https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/s...Shock_with_Reservoir_(PAIR)_-_05__Tacoma.html

 

I am looking at changing my rear leaf pack since my Dakars (CS047R) w/

$81 D29XL Leaf Spring

D29XL aal seem to not be holding the weight as well as I'd hoped. I have Wheelers Superbumps and Bilstein 5100 B110 shocks to go with the Dakars. Last summer (loaded for camping) I was riding approximately 1-1.5" off the bumpstops and could feel them hitting/touching when going over some dips on the highway. I will be adding a Drifta drawer system and fridge this summer. I plan to weigh my truck this year to see what it actually weighs when fully loaded for camping but want to know if the Deaver U402 stage III will be enough for me and work with my extended travel 5100 B110 shocks.
Dakars w/D29XL aal

Truck unloaded

Drifta drawers and similar fridge

 

I've been reading through the various Deaver threads and all the convos seem to be dancing around my main question. I just called Deaver and their phone lines aren't ringing through...

For the expedition series are the weight ratings geared toward max load out, or daily driving?

I think I need the stage II (400-600lb). I have a mid-built taco...constant bed weight is ~400lbs with the GFC, rod holder, and gear box. Of course, on the weekends I fill the thing up with beer and gear, which will for sure exceed 600lbs. I also tow a pretty light trailer setup with a white water raft.

I only need about 2" of lift to fit some 33 skinnies. Any know whether I should be considering stage III?

@JoeCOVA - I saw on another thread that you've had both. Do you think a medium weight rig should stick with stage II?

 

If you're getting Dakars, go heavy, as they're known to settle a bit.

As for Deavers, I would stay in the 600 range since most of your driving isn't overly loaded (you stated constant load around 400lbs)

 

Thx! I mistyped that second sentence...called Deaver today, not Dakar.