Combining FRONT REMOTE RESERVOIR COIL-OVERs with Dobinson IMS long travel rear (1 Viewer)

[grogugx]

Hey I’m new to the thread and new to GXOR.

Bought a Dobinson IMS lift kit with a 2.5” rear lift and long travel coils that I haven’t yet installed. Can’t return it because of a restock fee, so I’m gonna sell the front shocks

I’m considering putting King front remote reservoir shocks I think model #25001-124A.

Has anyone done anything similar? How would the performance be since it isn’t the full kit of the same suspension? I’m good with the IMS, but I’ve been told that having a reservoir is on another level of ride quality and capability.

 

[Jstawgn]

Sell them as a pair. Suspension need to work as a system. Unmatched front and rear just would not work well. You can custom valve the king to match but then what is the point. It would be more hassle than what it's worth.

Remote reservoir would give more consistent damping because the gas pressure got room to move and prevent rapid pressure fluctuations. It would give more consistent damping. Especially if you run high speed off road. Slow speed off road it would be negligible. How do you use your vehicle?

Sell them same price as black friday price and a lot of people would take it. Maybe lucky selling at MSRP for somebody that don't want to wait. They are on back order anyway.

For most use this actually would be more than enough. Nobody cares about standard king on Instagram any more. It's just not glamorous enough

 

[jewish4WD]

Sell them as a pair. Suspension need to work as a system. Unmatched front and rear just would not work well. You can custom valve the king to match but then what is the point. It would be more hassle than what it's worth.

Remote reservoir would give more consistent damping because the gas pressure got room to move and prevent rapid pressure fluctuations. It would give more consistent damping. Especially if you run high speed off road. Slow speed off road it would be negligible. How do you use your vehicle?

Sell them same price as black friday price and a lot of people would take it. Maybe lucky selling at MSRP for somebody that don't want to wait. They are on back order anyway.

For most use this actually would be more than enough. Nobody cares about standard king on Instagram any more. It's just not glamorous enough

Why would this matter? People are getting completely different settings within even the same brand and changing out springs and customizing stiffness all the time. What difference would it make if I got one brand in the front and another in the rear if they are both doing what I want them to do? Completely different spring rates and many times and shock specs as well many times, I dont see how that is any different than different brands

 

[Jstawgn]

Why would this matter? People are getting completely different settings within even the same brand and changing out springs and customizing stiffness all the time. What difference would it make if I got one brand in the front and another in the rear if they are both doing what I want them to do? Completely different spring rates and many times and shock specs as well many times, I don't see how that is any different than different brands

It matters because for people that willing to spend that much money, they want performance. They want the specific tuning that comes from engineered sets. If the goal is to just have a suspension that can be bolted on, then this does not matter. Just don't expect same performance that comes from properly matched sets.

 

[jewish4WD]

It matters because for people that willing to spend that much money, they want performance. They want the specific tuning that comes from engineered sets. If the goal is to just have a suspension that can be bolted on, then this does not matter. Just don't expect same performance that comes from properly matched sets.

I sort of see the opposite, I rarely find anybody who genuinely seems to know what they're talking about go with a standard set. ITs always customized with different springs from another brand, or this type of shock in the front and this type of shock in the rear. I would say most of the people with Kings front and back in GXOR for example probaly dont even go anywhere other than forrest roads 95% of the time. Then the people who really know their s*** have a coilover in the front and a nice shock in the rear typically not packaged out. People who know what they want rarely fit into a package. Im not saying im right, just saying what I've observed. People going out and buying a 5k+ packaged deal are rarely the experienced ones who truly know waht they want. Not to mention, anything that expensive has adjustability of the valving inside the shocks so you can even it out regardless..... right?

 

[EsbTaco]

I know tons of people that interchange different rear and font shock types. The biggest thing really is the valving and what spring you are running. Putting a King shock on from another vehicle with a different weight etc is a much bigger problem. Also - reservoir shocks are great if you are doing a lot of bumpy fast fire roads etc that needs the fluid to not overheat. If you are just rock crawling and going slow - you wont really see any difference. Not sure about your budget - but just work with a good shop that can point you in the right direction on spring rates for the Kings if you go that way. Having the same suspension all around is a very easy way to get a kit that works well front to back - BUT it is not necessary if you are running the correct spring rate and valving..... One last thing, any of the higher performance shocks - King, Icon, etc all need to be serviced at some point. My older Icons went about 50k before needing service. If it was me and you are looking at going King - I would sell the whole Dobinsons kit and go King. But most people go King because of the way they look - they are good but there are a ton of kits out there that are good and better. I would have a hard look at your use and go from there. I have heard the Dobinsons is pretty good. I actually ended up going Ironman Foamcell because I can actually rebuild them myself......Price was right and it fits my needs.

 

[jewish4WD]

I know tons of people that interchange different rear and font shock types. The biggest thing really is the valving and what spring you are running. Putting a King shock on from another vehicle with a different weight etc is a much bigger problem. Also - reservoir shocks are great if you are doing a lot of bumpy fast fire roads etc that needs the fluid to not overheat. If you are just rock crawling and going slow - you wont really see any difference. Not sure about your budget - but just work with a good shop that can point you in the right direction on spring rates for the Kings if you go that way. Having the same suspension all around is a very easy way to get a kit that works well front to back - BUT it is not necessary if you are running the correct spring rate and valving..... One last thing, any of the higher performance shocks - King, Icon, etc all need to be serviced at some point. My older Icons went about 50k before needing service. If it was me and you are looking at going King - I would sell the whole Dobinsons kit and go King. But most people go King because of the way they look - they are good but there are a ton of kits out there that are good and better. I would have a hard look at your use and go from there. I have heard the Dobinsons is pretty good. I actually ended up going Ironman Foamcell because I can actually rebuild them myself......Price was right and it fits my needs.

Most valving specs and stuff like that isn't even that readily available. Thats one part that has me confused.
What makes Ironman buildable by you whereas the others aren't? The internals are readily available to purchase anywhere?

What would you consider better than Kings? Brand dicsussions are just a dick measuring contest with a lot of bias, it would be nice to know what is actually better or not and why. From an educational standpoint. Also helps evaluate new brands that come out and what makes their shocks better or worse than whats already out there!

 

[EsbTaco]

There are plenty of suspension shops that will take Fox, King, Radflo, Icon etc and re-valve them for a specific vehicle and handling that the customer wants. Kings are great shocks - but so are Fox, Radflo, OME Bp series, some bilsteins etc. Lots of great tunable shocks. You can increase or modify the size of the shim stack to get a specific rebound/compression setting for your rig. If you are going to spend money on any of those above - it is worth it to buy them from a shop that can talk to you, know what type of rig you have, what kind of offroading you do and build a shock for you. It is not much more money. In fact I know a shop that tunes them for free if you buy the shock from them.

The Ironman Foamcells do not use nitrogen to fill it - which means I can service them and replace the oil.

I would probably buy the FOX DSC over the Kings if money was no object. I would love to be able to adjust my suspension to what terrain I am on.