Baja Chaser Build Help

I have a 2014 Scab that I primarily use to haul 2 bikes and gear to Baja, then use the truck as a support vehicle while prerunning the Baja 500 and general adventure riding down the peninsula. As of now, mechanically my truck is stock. I am wanting to upgrade my truck to have a better ride quality while running off road/ chasing in Baja AND possibly increase my load capacity for the 1,000 mile trip from TX to MX. I have done my own research and think I have a decent idea of what I need. That being said, I'm always looking for input from others.
I don't treat the truck as a pre runner, however I have run most of the course before and I'm not scared to adventure off the trail.

The truck needs to comfortably haul 3 dudes, 2 450's, 3 gear bags, cooler, 2 gas cans, ramp, camera gear, 2 action packer full of parts and tools, and some other odds and ends. By my calculations, all of this weighs just over 1,000 lb minus the tree of us in the truck. Total load is probably around 1400 - 1500 lb.

I'd like to increase the load capacity of the truck for the long haul to Mexico and back, AND want to increase the ride quality off road.

Mods I think will suit my needs:

Stock shock rebuild and revalve. I've read about the flutter stacks some are doing in the stock shocks and think this is a good way to have the truck ride better over corrugated roads. In a perfect world I'd put 3.0's on it, but I don't like the service life of them and the cost.

Custom Deaver leaf springs to add some carrying capacity. I haven't called Deaver yet to discuss the trade off between increased carrying capacity and ride quality when unloaded. Any prior experience would be greatly appreciated.

Add an ARB onboard air compressor. I have seen a few threads with these installed, but haven't decided on where I'm going to put the compressor. Ideally it would go in the truck to keep it clean, but I don't have that much room in my Scab. In front of the radiator and in-between the frame rails is probably where it will go. I'll need to make a custom bracket though.

Mods I'm debating on:

SVC adjustable bump stops. The only benefit I see with these is the ability to use them as helper springs. I don't push my truck hard enough to really need bumps, but it wouldn't hurt.

New upper arms. I read a thread on RDC where Cameron Steel posted what they do to their trucks when they run the trail of missions. They changed out the upper arms because they heard they are a weak point, but he also mentioned that he never saw an absolute need for them.


If you have any input on on my plan and what I'm trying to accomplish, please feel free to chime in. I know its not a crazy pre runner build, and a lame "support vehicle/expedition vehicle" build, but I don't want to start heading down the wrong path and realize I should have done things different.

As far as load capacity deavers are probably a good choice but I don't have experience with them. For a cheaper route that worked for my situation I had a local suspension shop re-arch and add an overload spring to gain me 500 lbs capacity. Cost me 200 bucks if I remember right. I probably should have went a little more because of my usual capacity. I have a 50 gal fuel tank with two toolboxes and a cooler and some small things in the bed and my back seat is packed with gear but with this set up I can't tell the difference with it loaded or unloaded as far as ride goes. Although the tool boxes never leave I do unload the rest and run with an empty reserve tank sometimes. Hope this is a little help.

I have Deaver +3's and SVC bumpstop kit. I carry 1,000 lbs of feed every other month and pull a 3 round bale trailer. The SVC kit works great as a spring helper and my truck sits pretty level with these loads. I think it would work great for you. I carry a cordless impact and it takes five minutes to adjust bumpstops to tow/haul mode, love that feature.