Dobinsons 3.5" Tapered Lift... or? (1 Viewer)

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I have most of the 3.5vt kit in the garage. Glad these lift more than advertised, hopefully going to get 4in out of it for 37s. My truck isn’t particularly heavy yet.
You will absolutely get 4” of lift from the 3.5/3.0 kit on a moderately heavy 80. I did and mine weighs about 5800# empty.
 
Anyone else with the 2.5VT springs up front having issues with the bumpstop contacting the spring when the suspension cycles?
You’ll need to clearance the bump stops and that bracket they are bolted to with a grinder. I’ll assume you already have an adjustable track bar.
 
You will absolutely get 4” of lift from the 3.5/3.0 kit on a moderately heavy 80. I did and mine weighs about 5800# empty.
Excellent! I have been scrounging together a one piece at a time BYO kit with some mixed brands of parts. Dobinsons 3.5vt springs, and dobinsons 6in shocks are the meet and potatoes of it. Hope everything ends up playing nice.
 
Excellent! I have been scrounging together a one piece at a time BYO kit with some mixed brands of parts. Dobinsons 3.5vt springs, and dobinsons 6in shocks are the meet and potatoes of it. Hope everything ends up playing nice.
I run the 6” shocks up front with delta arms, it works well. The 6” shocks are too long for the rear springs. The spring can become completely unloaded which does nothing for you. I run the yellow 4” shocks in the rear.

I want IMS shocks now but Dobinson USA told me today that they have no plans to make IMS in the 6” version due to lack of interest.
 
Anyone else with the 2.5VT springs up front having issues with the bumpstop contacting the spring when the suspension cycles?
it’s really close, but doesn’t seem to be hitting. I have an adjustable front panhard though.
 
Anyone else with the 2.5VT springs up front having issues with the bumpstop contacting the spring when the suspension cycles?
it’s really close, but doesn’t seem to be hitting. I have an adjustable front panhard though.
See post #143.
 
I run the 6” shocks up front with delta arms, it works well. The 6” shocks are too long for the rear springs. The spring can become completely unloaded which does nothing for you. I run the yellow 4” shocks in the rear.

I want IMS shocks now but Dobinson USA told me today that they have no plans to make IMS in the 6” version due to lack of interest.
Glad you said something, I haven’t bought rear shocks yet. Only the 6in for the front. So 4in is probably best for the rear 👍🏼 Thanks
 
Glad you said something, I haven’t bought rear shocks yet. Only the 6in for the front. So 4in is probably best for the rear 👍🏼 Thanks
Yes, i went with 4" initially 4 years ago and recently decided that I needed the rear 6" shocks (stupid) and found out they are unnecessarily long.
 
I'm getting their 2.5 vt kit with ims shocks, will put it in and let it settle, then adjust it to my height liking using their spacers once my heavy stuff is back on in the summer.

I have full armour, heavy front and rear bumpers with swingout, winch, skids, sliders, york oba, factory sub-tank, rtt, diesel engine, full slide out kitchen, and 3 kids. LOL

I'll definitely be posting pics on this thread as I go!
 
I run the 6” shocks up front with delta arms, it works well. The 6” shocks are too long for the rear springs. The spring can become completely unloaded which does nothing for you. I run the yellow 4” shocks in the rear.
Which delta arms? 4" or 6"?
For the rear, why not the 4" MRR?
 
Which delta arms? 4" or 6"?
For the rear, why not the 4" MRR?
Delta 6" arms because I run 1"/30MM spacers,respectively, on top of the springs. Those MRR shocks are too expensive for my blood and I'm not interested in dealing with the external reservoirs.
 
I’m running the 3.5vt 144vt fronts and 319 linears in back with 6” MRR shocks all around. I net a 4” lift in front and 4.25” lift in back at 7700# weight. The truck drives like its on rails in the mountain roads and flexes and controls the body bounce on trails. A great setup for a heavy 80. I finally got it dialed with all the extra parts to make it work with no noise or annoyances (adjustable front panhard, delta arms, delta rear bracket, HD rear sway, DC front, adjustable rear uppers)

I ground down the front coil metal inner cup above the bumpstop that has seemed to help the popping noise when articulating. Here shows uncut.
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Delta 6" arms because I run 1"/30MM spacers,respectively, on top of the springs. Those MRR shocks are too expensive for my blood and I'm not interested in dealing with the external reservoirs.
I thought about the shock after I asked, just assumed you had the MRR up front. Makes sense.
So for the 144/145 combo you basically running near 5" F/R total lift then? That's quite a bit so I assume your on 37's as well? I just jumped to 37's so was liking the thought of this combo with a 1" body would get me about right and maybe a bit high. I'm not running as heavy as most here though, yet...
Started thinking Slinky 3", 1" body and Icon shock mix but the supply chain on those coils aren't sounding to reliable right now. Starting to lean this direction. Having a MX background I like the thought of the 3 way Dorb's but don't hear a lot about them and how well they perform. I was shooting for 4"-4.5" but from what your saying I may be more in the 5" range.

Sorry for all the questions but Dave suggested the 6" for what I was thinking but it seemed a bit overkill to me. I do like the thought now they are a bit more extended for the 37" clearance but how does your 80 handle with the over caster? I'm about 148lbs a piece on the wheel tire combo so not liking the thought of a stiffer steering setup on top of that.
 
My hub to fender measurements show anywhere from just under 5” on the front left corner to just over 5” on the right rear corner so, yes, it averages out to about 5” lift when the rig isn’t carrying much weight. It has a 4x4Labs rear bumper, sliders, skid plates, light tube bumper and winch that weight just under 150 pounds. Yes, I run 37’s on stock wheels with a 1” spacer.

I haven’t had my castor angle checked at a shop but I have checked it with a steel ruler and digital angle finder over top of the knuckle and it shows about 5 degrees. It drives much more stable than before the delta arms. I also made a bracket to raise the axle end of the rear track bar which also made a noticeable difference in on road handling.

I’m not a fan of the body lift. I’d rather have the extra inch, or so, between the frame and ground if I need to have that extra inch to clear tires. I’ve considered dropping it down to 10mm trim packers all the way around. Not sure if that will ever happen though
I’ve always run an extra 10mm trim packer at the left rear corner to help with the natural “Cruiser lean”

The 3.5/3.0 springs alone would probably work with 37’s, you’d just have 1” less up travel. You’ll need to move that front axle forward a bit also unless sheet metal trimming isn’t something you mind doing.
 
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I’m really glad you guys didn’t have any front driveline Vibrations with a 2.5 vts. However I got a lot more than 2.5 inches of lift off mine even with a 12,000 pound winch and a front bumper. Thus, with the lift I was getting a lot of vibrations and noise from the driveshaft above 55. I knew it was the driveshaft because when I removed it all the noise went away.

Initially I greased the front driveshaft which didn’t help. Then, I rebuilt the front driveshaft with new U joints, but that didn’t help either. I just bit the bullet and installed a custom Tom Woods double carden front driveshaft.
F2D281E4-6695-4BB6-BB6F-766790DB9824.jpeg

All vibrations and noises above 55 are now gone. So be careful thinking you won’t have driveshaft issues with the 2.5vts.
 
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I’m really glad you guys didn’t have any front driveline Vibrations with a 2.5 vts. However I got a lot more than 2.5 inches of lift off mine even with a 12,000 pound winch and a front bumper. Thus, with the lift I was getting a lot of vibrations and noise from the driveshaft above 55. I knew it was the driveshaft because when I removed it all the noise went away.

Initially I greased the front driveshaft which didn’t help. Then, I rebuilt the front driveshaft with new juicHowever I got a lot more than 2.5 inches of lift off mine even with a 12,000 pound winch and a front bumper.

Initially I greased the front driveshaft which didn’t help. Then, I rebuilt the front driveshaft with new U joints, but that didn’t help either. I just bit the bullet and installed a custom Tom Woods double carden front driveshaft.
View attachment 2592703
All vibrations and noises above 55 are now gone. So be careful thinking you won’t have driveshaft issues with the 2.5vts.
Thanks for the info! What’s that driveline cost you? I may be getting a tiny bit of vibration but there has been a ton of snow since I installed the lift, so idk yet. Otherwise the ride is excellent.
 

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