2nd gen taco All Pro vs. Dakar...

[McFly2003]

I am sure that this has been brought up in the past, but I wanted to bring the question to the surface. I am currently just running Toytec add-a-leafs in the rear as that was all I needed to suit my needs at the time of purchase. I have since added a topper, am about to purchase a rear plate bumper (no swing-out), and I occasionally tow an enclosed trailer with the motorcycles. I was looking at switching to the heavy All Pro expo springs as I've heard good things, but have been reading some good reviews on the OME Dakars. I wanted to see if anyone here might have had experience with both or is able to provide some good comparative info. Thanks in advance!!

 

[McFly2003]

Yikes, thank you! Certainly makes my decision a lot easier.

 

[bkg]

Love the All-Pros on my first gen and have never, in 20 years, had a bad experience with them... and they’ve gotten a lot of my money over those years.

Edit: they did send me the wrong set of springs once. Called Tracy and it was resolved in 5 minutes.

Edit edit: my 2010 doublecab has AP’s, now that I think about it. Was happy with them as well.

NWOR, on the other hand, still owes me $1200 from over 20!years ago. Lol

 

[DaveInDenver]

To be fair OME springs are also made in Malaysia, it's not impossible by the same manufacturer even (although that is purely speculation on my part).

FWIW, I've had Northwest Offroad, then Australian made OME, replaced those with Dakars on my old truck and now a set of Dakars on the Tacoma and they've all been fine (although I did fatigue and break the Aussie ones on the Rubicon). It ain't rocket surgery, they either hold up the weight or they don't. If they don't you add more leafs.

Another FWIW, if I was buying springs now it would be Alcan, but that's because they are made down the road from where I now live, so there's that.

 

[bkg]

One of the threads I read today mentioned that All Pro used to use a US-based company called "Brett" (or something like that) to manufacture springs for the first gen Tacos and mini trucks, and at that point/for those vehicles All Pro springs were the best. For newer vehicles, All Pro moved production to somewhere in Asia (Malaysia?) and quality went down the toilet.

To the best of my knowledge, they always used Betts... who, iirc, also makes TG and Marlin springs.

I just put my second set of 3” rears on my xcab thinking the old ones were sagging after nearly 12 years. Nope. Same ride height. Oh well.

 

[McFly2003]

Looking at the Dakars, might anyone have any good techniques for deciding which model to go with? I am certainly heavier than stock on the back end with the topper and gear when I go camp, and will only get heavier with a steel bumper.

 

[crazysccrmd]

The stock 2nd gen rear bumper and hitch weighs about 90lbs. Depending on what style of aftermarket steel bumper you go with you might not gain much if any weight. A Pelfreybilt with integrated hitch weighs 85lbs, high clearance version with a lot more steel weighs 130lbs.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Looking at the Dakars, might anyone have any good techniques for deciding which model to go with? I am certainly heavier than stock on the back end with the topper and gear when I go camp, and will only get heavier with a steel bumper.

I have standard CS047R Dakars, which are usually placed between the EL095R and EL096R is capacity. According to the data OME publishes they should be closer to the EL096R (5+2 leaf configuration) but people who have had both say the EL096R are stiffer.

Anyway, with my stock bumper and hitch, mid-rise fiberglass topper, shovel, axe, Hi-Lift, recovery gear I have about 23.5" from center of hub to the fender lip. This is about 2" of lift. I'm putting in an extra leaf to bump my rate and height since I lose about an inch when fully loaded.

 

[Clutch]

To be fair OME springs are also made in Malaysia, it's not impossible by the same manufacturer even (although that is purely speculation on my part).

Kinda like Bicycle frames...most all of them are made in Taiwan...just to different companies' spec, they just slap a different logo on them.

IIRC when I got my set, one was made in India and the other was Malaysia...the one from had rubber bushings. Had to order a set of poly so they all matched.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Are you talking about OME Dakars? Wasn't aware they have ever been made in India. And what kind of rubber bushings? Both of mine had factory sleeved bushings pressed into the front eyes but that's the way OME said they'd come.

 

[Clutch]

Are you talking about OME Dakars? Wasn't aware they have ever been made in India. And what kind of rubber bushings? Both of mine had factory sleeved bushings pressed into the front eyes but that's the way OME said they'd come.

Yep the Dakars...one from India was factory sleeved the other was poly. (Or was it the other way around, can't remember has been awhile, but the one was different) Quite the miss matched set I thought, but I was replacing a set of broken Deavers, didn't have the time to complain. Didn't notice until I went to install them and had everything ripped apart...one of those "oh crap" moments.

 

[tacollie]

@Clutch when did you put those leaves on? I know they had some issues when they first moved production to Malaysia.

I vote Alcan or OME. I wanted less lift so Alcans were ideal but for the money it's hard to beat OME. I have the lighter duty EL095R. With the Flippac, yeti cooler (heavy), dogs, bikes, and other miscellaneous (around 600 lbs) I am still 23.5".

 

[andrew61987]

I carry about 350 lbs of constant load when DDing my 2nd gen and that goes way up when camping. I was going to go with All Pro Expos but all the recent drama turned me off so I run EL096R. Both were "+" marked. They gave me a solid 4 inches of lift with that extra weight. I've had the truck seriously loaded up (5 people stuffed in the cab plus the rear absolutely packed with ******** for everybody including a 10 gallon water tank, easily 1100+ lbs) and it still had proper rake and I wheeled it like that. They can handle a lot of weight that's for sure. I went with B110 shocks (which I'm pretty sure are just F150 shocks) to take advantage of the extra droop. Here's a pic with maybe 500 lbs in the bed.

The nice thing about them is unlike the All Pros you can remove a leaf if they're too much and have the EL095 pack, or you can even add a leaf and have some crazy super heavy duty leaf pack that can probably handle 1000 lbs of constant load. Not sure why you'd still be rocking a Taco at that point but just sayin'.

 

[Clutch]

@Clutch when did you put those leaves on? I know they had some issues when they first moved production to Malaysia.

I vote Alcan or OME. I wanted less lift so Alcans were ideal but for the money it's hard to beat OME. I have the lighter duty EL095R. With the Flippac, yeti cooler (heavy), dogs, bikes, and other miscellaneous (around 600 lbs) I am still 23.5".

I can't even remember 10+ years ago??? It may of not of been India...maybe another country. I'll have to check when I toss on my other set of wheels.


So are the "suspension manufactures" all using Chinese steel stock and different spring shops?


Those Deavers I broke were the 5 leafs I bought from Wheelers, at the time I was looking for minimal lift, really don't like the look of lifted trucks. Ideally would do custom under axle springs with zero lift and 31" tires. But I am cheap SOB and went with OME...which have too much lift for my liking.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Meh, stick with SOA so that you're not relying on u-bolts to hold the axle on. Plus, losing clearance is kind of the antithesis of driving off highway. It's not usually about 4x4, it's about dragging low hanging stuff.

Me, the reason I lift is so I can fit under the truck on a creeper without needing to pull out the jack and stands. It's about safety and not smacking my melon on the danged frame rails.