your dakar leafs over time

recently installed Dakars on my truck and it has a little rake to it plus some minor take off vibe and small drivetrain whine around 40. I put 200lbs in the bed over the weekend and much of that was gone. I'm thinking of either pulling a leaf or an overload spring. Before I do can you guys with Dakars tell me about your long term experience? Do they settle over time? If so how much and when?

 

Mine squat down about 3/4"-1" with my constant 450lb load of tools and my Leer 100RCC cap , if I remove the 250lbs of tools the rear comes back up to within 1/4"-3/8" of the original install height . It's been 4 years now

 

I have had mine on for a little while now and they have not settled down any from the day they went on. I removed one of the overload leaves before the install for the height I wanted.

 

Oz, are you running the

$81 D29XL Leaf Spring

D29XL add a leafs?

 

Nope

 

Hey Chief, can you go into a little more detail about which leaf you removed?

I've had the Dakar setup in rear for about 3 years and 100,000k and these springs haven't settled at all.

I'm thinking of selling the truck to my dad and if I can get rid of the vibes for him I know I would save myself a few worrisome phone calls from him.

 

from what I've read: taking out the top overload (long 2nd from the bottom) lowers your vehicle the height of the spring. Removing the 3rd spring from the top lowers approx 1" and provides a softer ride but decreases your payload capacity. I'm gonna take out my 3rd this weekend. Dont like the raked look plus softer ride will be good too.

For definitive answers regarding Dakars, OZ is the man.

 

Do you know the difference in payload capacity?

 

No i dont. I do know with (3) 45 lb weights in my bed near the tailgate, and my factory spare on top, plus had my full size spare under the bed it sagged about 5/8". This is with the full 7 leaf pack. My guess is taking 1 leaf out with the same cargo might be 1" sag??

I picked up a little take off and 40MPH vibe which was much better (almost zero) with that weight in the back so I'm hoping by lowering the rear an inch, it will help or go away.

 

You can remove the 3rd leaf down from the top to reduce spring rate and lift height and / or the upper overload to just reduce lift height

 

Ive had mine on for 3years now. They settled about an inch after hauling a super heavy load a couple hundred miles on one lake trip. Now that ive had my rtt on for about a year plus tool box weight they sit about another inch lower than that but they perk back up if I pull the rtt off. Im getting ready to install the add a leaf due to the constant excess weight I carry. All in all ive put them through alot of hell on alot of trails with alot of weight on them and ive been very happy with them.

 

Thanks for the replies, I don't often haul large or heavy loads often but when I do tend to push the limits.

Now will my dad likely carry heavy loads? Even less than I would however he is coming from a 2010 f150.. I'll probably start with the top overload leaf and reassess how she rides.

 

Removed the 3rd leaf over the weekend and lost the rake and about an 1" of lift. Rides better. Someone else here said something about better control and I have to agree. The back end bounces less over roads with continuous cracks.

I believe taking that overload out isnt gonna do a thing for the ride. Just reduce your payload capacity and lower it the thickness of that leaf.

 

The 2 overload leaves on the OME Dakar pack are the same. When I purchased mine from Wheelers I had them go ahead and take one out for me so I could just swap them out easier. The only thing it changes is the amount of lift by the thickness of the leaf. The ride itself is/should be the same. Yes it will technically reduce your max payload but I don't ever really carry that much weight and if I need to I have a trailer. My lift has been on for about 6 months and it has not settled even the slightest which is perfect because I bought the set up for the height I wanted. I had no vibs before or after so I don't have any info on that.

 

How much does the RTT weigh and which one is it?

 

Taking out the overload doesn't change the stiffness only the height

 

Right, I'll start with the overload, and if I don't get the desired results (regarding vibes and overall ride quality) then I'll consider removing the 3rd leaf!

 

It can't change the " overall ride quality "

 

Ah, I read in another post that a user here mentioned the spring felt a little more progressive with the second overload removed

 

The overload isn't in contact with the other leafs except at the middle 6-8" when the truck is unloaded so it has no impact on the stiffness of the regular leafs