Removing leaf from Dakars

Who has removed a leaf or two from their OME Dakar leaf packs to maintain stock ride height? Is this a myth? If you did, which leaf did you remove, what do you use the truck for and how do you like the ride?

 

In all honesty, shocks will determine how your pack rides. My friend's DCSB has a leaf removed with OME shocks. His truck rides 10x rougher than my lighter ACLB with a full pack and bilstein 5100.

Removing one leaf will still leave you at about 2.25" lift. You will just reduce capacity. Removing the two overloads could get your lower, but i would leave the full length leafs in since you won't have bottom out support besides the bump stops.

 

I have removed the top overload and middle leaves on my Dakars. Still got about 2" of lift INITIALLY on my access cab 4x4. Then I put the camper shell back on and within a couple of months lost all lift. Leaf pack is fucking flat now but ride is very nice. Gonna put middle leaf back for the time being but will get a custom built deaver pack eventually, or do the chevy 63 swap

 

I removed the top overload from my dakars as well. Didn't improve the ride quality but it leveled out the truck at around 2.5" of lift

 

+1. I did the exact same when installing my suspension upgrade.

 

I pulled the 3rd leaf. The ride is like butter. Don't recall the measurements but I can get some hub to fender if you need. I run a shell and 50 to 150lbs of stuff in the bed.

 

I was having a discussion about this in another thread. I posted the question just to accumulate info from those with experience in one spot.

I have the full Dakar pack with AAL and Firestone Ride Rite bags on Daystar cradles. Even with the 500 or so pounds I carry most of the time, I got more lift (with no air in the bags) than I wanted. That issue was resolved by raising the front to an acceptable amount of rake. I should have pulled the top overload from the pack before install though, in retrospect.

For those wondering, it rides great with my B110 shocks.

All info posted by those who pulled leaves is greatly appreciated!

 

How many miles on your setup? I'm set up the same way but removed the top overload too and my leaf pack is pretty flat now with about 20k miles on it. Icon RR shocks but that probably doesn't matter too much

 

It seems we are limited in choices. I still have the flat and weak original leafs but want better leafs that wont invert or break. I'd love a leaf pack that gives no lift or under 1" at the most since I dont want the extra headaches associated with lifts but still offers a better than OEM suspension.

 

Probably somewhere around 12,000 miles since the install. I've loaded the bed several times and tow a 5,000lb trailer. I didn't remove the overload, just the 3rd leaf. Running Fox 2.0RR in the rear.

In my opinion, flat leafs are not a problem. The Tacoma has flat leafs off the manufacturing line. If you want minimal lift then your leaf pack is going to be flat...no way around that.

 

Icon 1.5 AAL, take the overload off..

 

I agree with this. Flat leafs are okay, as long as they're high quality. Arched leafs will give lift and a firmer ride.

 

If anything, a leaf that is flat at ride height will give you more droop.

 

Wouldnt using an add-a-leaf with subpar OEM leafs still leave you with the dangers of the subpar OEM leafs?

 

What's dangerous about oem leafs? You said you were looking for a lift between 0 and 1.0 inches. The icon AAL "claims" 1.5 inches of lift. Put the AAL on, remove the overload (about .5 in) and you got between 0 and 1 inch

 

OEM leafs are weak. Weak metal breaks. OEM have been known to break enough that Toyota even admits its a danger.

 

Have yours broken?

 

Ok so for any of you who may have removed a leaf or more I have a question. With my new set up including an ome hd pack I somehow ended up much higher than I think I had planned. So here are my concerns and questions. First off my ride is a bit rough and bouncy, I measure about 25 inches from center hub to fender on the rear. I did have 1 inch longer extended rod ends put on by Dsm as they said it was almost necessary for performance and longevity of my shocks.I do have some vibrations going on that I didn't have before. I will be having it regeared and the needle bearing swapped next week but its not only at a low speed its pretty constant. Making me feel it may be the driveline angles.I do not currently have any weight in the bed,I do have a bed rack and rtt that will be on very soon and hope to be putting a rear bumper on as well along with other various things that will obviously add weight. Do i need to be considering removing a leaf or no?I do think I may get the 3 degree shims to see if it helps with my vibrations any, I already have the carrier bearing drop in. Im also still not 100% sure I am where I need to be in the front on my kings, from reading others I am close to where most are set but again it seems I achieved a bit more lift than intended. Im just trying to figure it out and enjoy my truck, after all the money and time I've spent I just want it to be what it should. Thanks ahead for your help.

 

Can't tell you what will work with your truck. You'll have to fiddle with it as all trucks are different. I have medium Dakars with the top overload removed, run an ARE cap full time and are 23" rear hub to Fender (about 2" lift). At first I had both 3 degree shims and CB drop and had slight vibration. I pulled the CB drop (since it was easy to pull) and the vibrations got better. I'd recommend you get everything you want on the truck and then adjust.

 

I have the "old" pack that came with 7 leaf, with one removed. Factory rear shocks. Judging by the undercoat overspray on the shock body, it sits almost exactly 1 inch higher than it did on the factory springs (note that looking at other trucks, mine seemed to sit higher than others from the factory, which could have been related to the Canadian 4-leaf OEM pack). Also note that the additional height approximately corresponds to the additional thickness of the pack itself compared to the OEM spring. These are a sprung-over configuration, so thicker pack is like adding a block between the axle and the spring. I actually was noticing a vibration on mine *before* the new springs, which cleared up with them. The carrier bearing rubber buffer is sagging a bit on mine, its probably related to that.

The weight capacity of the springs seems to be absurdly high, even with a leaf removed. At least double what any sane person would ever load into it. I'd say that they would hold up easily to a payload of over 5000 pounds.

Any time you are changing the suspension around, it has to potential to have consequences related to driveline vibrations. Pick the spring configuration you want longterm, and then adjust for vibrations. Personally, I can't imagine any reason to have all 7 in there. Its too much.


Also note that I wouldn't actually have bought aftermarket springs except for the fact that one of my OEM springs actually snapped, and Toyota wanted $1500 for one side, where OME wanted only $500 for both. Other than that, I never had a problem with the OEM springs, even under payload that exceeded capacity. I'm one of those kind of guys who buys loads by the yard and filled by loader. A yard load will usually run in the range of 2000-3000 pounds, depending on what it is.