on Tuesday. Only a mild upgrade. OME Dakar medium duty leaf springs with OME rear shocks. Bilstein 5100 up front.
Any advice or suggestions? Anything I need to be sure gets done?
Install at Desert Rat in Albuquerque.
I hope that the installation goes smoothly. 
Peace.
I went with the heavy duty springs and I think it’s perfect. YMMV
They squeak like a mofo…
you may want to do an add-a-leaf later when you have the camper installed… OME has an add-a-leaf set available for most of their leaf packs
Thanks for the info. I’ve been reading about the squeaks. Oh well, fluid film anyone? I already have my camper. If the leafs will at least handle the weight of the camper, I think I’ll be good. If not, I’ll add a leaf. I really just want to stay stock height or slightly more. I plan on getting 265/75/16 tires. Not any larger.
We’ll see… So far I’ve had zero luck predicting the future with this truck.
Peace.
if you end up hitting your bump stops a lot, look into the timbren bumpstops for the rear. They are a great option. i used to ride on my bump stops when loaded up for trips for many years. they’ve held up great and saved my frame.
Thanks. I hope to stay off the bump stops entirely when unloaded. Maybe some bump stop contact when loaded. I’ll ask about the aal tomorrow at my install. Maybe I’ll need something, maybe not. Time will tell.
Peace.
Have you had any success in stopping or quieting the squeaks at all? Mine started pretty quiet, but now it is to the point where the noise is embarrassingly loud. If I can’t fix it I might have to switch out to another brand…
When I had the dakars, I applied marine grease between each leaf pack and never had squeaks. There is an issue with the dakars as the 1st and 2nd are the same length and this will cause the 2nd leaf to hit the shackle. I had this issue also.
Here is a thread that talks about it, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dakars-make-contact-with-shackle.609818/
I recommend going to Deavers u402 ot Icon RXT if its not too late.
Yeah. I tried to get deavers. It was more effort and more $$. I didn’t really know the difference. I’m all inked in for the ome leafs. I’ll give them a shot. I’ll see if they can grease them at the installation.
I just sprayed mine down with Fluidfilm. We’ll see. If that doesn’t work - I’ll jack them up and grease them. Damn - they’re squeaky. Sound like a 1976 chevy after driving in the winter.
I was told that OME had a fix - I think it’s metal shims. I was also told that OME would have a program to supply the fix. I haven’t checked though.
I got Alcan leaf packs and they squeaked like hell initially. Sprayed some fluid film and noises went away completely after some time and flexing.
Deaver stage 2 loaded up… unloaded I was just above the bump.
Haven’t gotten a loaded pic yet but this is ride height on stage 3… going to be a lot better
just know that racetrucks make racetruck noises… just turn up the radio louder or get a louder exhaust 
Damn, that’s quite the sag in that pic loaded down. I thought I’d do a little experiment. Here’s what mine looks like overloaded and then someone empty. Empty (368#) would be bike rack plus GFC. The loaded pic (1,221#) is bike rack, GFC, and all the free weights I own. When it comes to camping I’m normally somewhere between 500 to 800.
Anyone getting a new suspension on a Tacoma needs to be aware of a known issue with the needle bearing on the driver side of the front diff. There is a lot of slop between the axle and this bearing and it (or the carrier bearing right inside the needle bearing) will eventually fail because of the new angle of the axle after a lift. I just had to replace my front diff to the tune of almost $4k! I had an OME suspension upgrade. East Coast Gear Supply sells a bushing that replaces the needle bearing to fix this issue. It is a much tighter fit so the axle can’t heel-toe as much in the diff. You can install it yourself. You need to do this before your bearing fails and send metal flakes into the diff fluid! That is what happened to me. There is a thread on TacomaWorld that discusses this in more detail.
I’m planning to stay close to stock height. Do I need to worry?
Peace.
I don’t think you have to worry about this if you’re near stock height. From what I’ve read the needle bearing issue is related to a lift of 3 in or more but I could be wrong.
@MechEMike, how much lift do you have upfront? Did you notice vibrations right away?
My truck has been lifted from day one, now with 250K+ of hard miles. If you do crazy shit, crazy shit happens, if you do not do crazy shit crazy shit is less likely to happen. Everything I have broken has been my fault and for what its worth I have never had an issue with the needle bearing and you likely wont either staying below 3" of lift. I stayed at 2" in the front for ride handling and just cut more fender for clearance haha. I’ve been through just about every set up (NON LT) from the cheap but effective B5100’sz to the Kings with reservoirs I have now. Then only major difference for me is that it is now more comfortable but I am still going the exact same places in the same speeds I was then as I am now. Unless you go full LT or some crazy other set up your story will be the same. I wheel with plenty of people on front LT and rear leaf over and I go the same places they do at the same speeds and I paid significantly less for my set up. Just depends on your level of comfort needed or how much you want from that bling factor. For what its worth I have also never broken a CV staying at 2" of lift in the front without LT and I’m open diffs and have done plenty people swore I needed a locker for. Just run what you brung and wheel with some cool ass people and you should never be able to go wrong.
The other option is have the install shop cut down the 2nd leaf about 2”
