Leaf springs: Dobinsons or deavers

Looking for some input on deavers u-748 and the dobinson 120s.

Who has what and what do you use your truck for? Do you carry any additional weight?

we all know how terrible the factory leafs are. Let’s get some experienced answers going.

 

There was a thread here in the last 3 weeks that discussed rather consistent issues with Deavers width vs. shackle widths and that they didn't mate up properly.

 

Depends on what you’re trying to get at. The Deaver 748s are great for mid-travel suspension but when I had it on my heavy ass (8300lb), hard core wheeling truck, they sucked. They flattened out quick.

 

I guess that’s pretty much what I was getting at. Dobinsons it is. Thanks

 

I did the regular dobinsons 2.25” in the front and rear to maintain stock rake. I also put sumo springs in as well. I often put 1600lbs or more in the bed of concrete bags/etc., which in my prior unlifted Tundra with sumo springs you couldn’t tell there was any weight back there (without the sumos it was way squatted).

 

Incoming payload police

 

My immediate thoughts, lol.

 

So, you’re discounting the performance of a spring that is being way overloaded… 8,300# is about 1,500# more than empty. To think a spring won’t suffer from that kind of abuse is pretty naive.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t load a truck to that weight, but you’ll need springs built to do that.



I’ve got U748 rears on my truck, which has a canopy, bed slide, Dometic fridge, and a tote full of stuff in the bed. My truck runs in the 7,100-7,200# range about every day. I’ve had the Deavers for about 11 months and close to 25K miles so far. I tow quite a bit as well. Zero issues. Zero complaints. Do not show any signs of wearing out with the use I dole out. Like most of us, my use is primarily streets/highway. It does get rallied on occasion, but it’s not a dedicated wheeler.

 

+2 dobinsons . Med pack. Big difference. Same trailer both pics , similar vehicle weights

Dobinsons
Stock leaves

 

Could you post a photo showing the Sumo springs? Just curious if they're close to touching or always touching the contact point with the lifted springs on there and when empty.

 

I had sumos before and on stock suspension they just barely touch. So with the 2.25” lift I had to come up with a way to get them nearly touching. So I got the regular Tundra sumo spring size plus a sprinter van version and cut it down so there was about a quarter inch gap unloaded. Mounted upside down. So far seems to work well, Sumo springs did say you can cut their springs from what I saw, which I was worried about.

 

Sumo sammich

 

Before your truck was lifted it sounds like the Sumo Springs made a quite a difference? I just put in 0-2", 2.5" body Elkas in the front set at around 1 3/4" lift over stock and would like something to compliment the stance when I tow the boat with about 350lb tongue weight so the headlights aren't pointing at the stars.
Which color were you running and how were they unloaded on/off road?
Thanks for the feedback.

 

Oh for sure. I had 2017 Doublecab and put the

$303 SSR-610-47 | SumoSprings Rear for Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Nissan Titan

SSR-610-47 (1000lb blue) springs on it for about 4 years, it had otherwise stock suspension. Those sumos would just barely engage unloaded. They made the truck feel like it had a rear sway bar, cuts way down on body roll. Ride in terms of bounce did not seem to change much. The big difference was when loaded with 500+lbs there was minimal squat (with positive rake still), to the point that you would have to overload the bed to make the truck level/rear below the front. Thus the black/yellow sumos are likely way too stiff. Overall the sumos were great for everyday use and when towing/hauling with stock suspension. You can install yourself in your driveway in about 30mins, although it is recommend to get new Ubolts when you do so (and use a torque wrench to spec). Then you could see the actual gap, which is likely equal to the 1.75" lift you added (unless the leaf packs are thicker/thinner/etc.). I had considered just putting a solid plastic block in the gap (and make it removable too), which may work in your situation.

 

Sound better then my timbren. The timbren have like an inch gap, it rides like factory, but once it hit the rubber it bounce. So the timbren is good for no load or max load.

 

These sound like a great option I may not have much gap as the rear springs are factory with no changes. I considered a 5/8" shackle from Coachbuilder although with my lighter loads and possible Sumo option the 1/2" or so of current rake may not be an issue.

If the rear springs eventually sag I may throw in the Toytec progressive add a leaf or just the single leaf.

Looks like the upside down mount you fabricated worked out well.
Thanks!