Concerns on my Dobinson 3" Tapered spring lift (1 Viewer)

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lumbee1

Native American
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Threads
65
Messages
4,308
Location
Holly Springs, NC
Previously I was running 3" Flexicoils front and 4" Flexicoils rear. The Flexicoils were great until I started adding weight to the truck. Dual battery, full fridge, spare tire, family of 4, and misc camping gear/tools and the Flexicoils started riding low and wallowing quite a bit. The 4" lift in the rear quickly became a 2" lift and the axle was hitting my extended bump stops quite a bit. My caster was 3* positive and my front driveline was addressed with a DC driveshaft.

I was hoping to lower the Cruiser a little and gain some weight handling with the Dobinson Tapered coils. I purchased the 3" rear coils as part of the black Friday deal in 2020. The weight handling in the rear needed to be addressed first and foremost. I replaced the 4" Flexicoil springs and Fox shocks with 3" Tapered springs and IMS shocks and expected about a 1/2" drop in height. Instead the height was exactly the same as before however the ride quality was better.

My plan was to purchase the front Tapered coils and IMS shocks for the front in November 2021 but after hearing about the upcoming price increase for Dobinson springs, I went ahead and purchased the 3.5" Tapered springs and IMS shocks. Again I expected anywhere from .5" to 1" lift in the front and I forgot to measure the lift before installing the new springs. Out of the box, the new springs were really tall but I anticipated the thinner wire at the top to compress easily and act more as a spring retainer. Installation went smoothly but after dropping the Cruiser on it's own weight, there was a little problem. The 2 or 3" of extra spring length over the Flexicoils translated to 2 or 3" of lift height. My hub to fender measurement with 3.5" Tapered coils and IMS shocks is 27" even on both the driver and passenger sides. I thought surely the springs will settle some after hitting a few trails but they haven't changed at all.

I will say that the Dobinson ride great offroad and really absorb the track well. The ride is smooth but can feel a bit springy and wobbly. I drove 5 months with the Tapered coils in the rear and didn't notice this. The extra lift introduced other new issues. My caster is off and driving roads with bumps and curves can be a little unnerving. The body roll is more pronounced with the extra height at low and high speeds. My driveline is not happy even with a DC shaft and I can feel more grumbling from the front end. My axle is not centered. With the 3" Flexicoils, the axle was ever so slightly out of alignment with the body but now it's quite noticeable and I now need an adjustable panhard to correct.

In the end, my 3.5" Tapered coils netted me too much lift and I have to consider additional caster correction options, an adjustable panhard, and an upgraded rear swaybar for body roll. I'm tagging @crikeymike to see if he can help with my dilemma.

For others with the 3.5"Front and 3" Rear Tapererd coils, please post your hub to fender measurements. @Feldrian post a front hub to fender measurement of 25.875" and 25.5" in the front WITH a 1" spacer.



TL;DR replaced 3" Flexi front with 3.5" Tapered front and now have 5" lift with problems.

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@Beach80
1. Purchased Dobinson 4" lift kit with heavy shocks (future armor/bumper compensation), adjustable panhard, trailing arms, sway bar drop, caster correction plate(did not use), proportining valve bracket (did not use)
Before install measurements hub center to bottom of fender LF-23.50" RF-23.5" LR-23.00" RR-23.50"
After new lift install measurements (armor weight simulated) LF-26.75" RF-26.5" LR-27.25" RR-26.75"
I did leave a set of 20mm spacers in the front.
 
I've reached out to Dobinsons and shared your post to them to see what feedback they have about the lift height.

My initial thought is that this new version of the VT coils will take longer to settle than the old, as these are cold wound coils instead of hot, and cold wound coils always take longer to settle than hot. We've seen a lot of regular linear coils in the 4Runner/GX world take a lot longer to settle than the regular 500 miles since the change to cold wound production of them last year.

When were they installed? I think they were shipped to you about 2 or so weeks ago. Do you also have a winch up front? Looks like a pretty light front setup if it's only the front bumper on those coils, so about 4" would be the lift height with that weight on the C97-144VT coils without having a lot of weight on the truck. I think they haven't broken in fully yet, but your measurements definitely seem high. It just doesn't look that high from the photos though.

Any lift height over 3" up front will off-center the axle, but it isn't as pronounced as how quickly the rear gets off-center with a 3" lift.
 
I've reached out to Dobinsons and shared your post to them to see what feedback they have about the lift height.

My initial thought is that this new version of the VT coils will take longer to settle than the old, as these are cold wound coils instead of hot, and cold wound coils always take longer to settle than hot. We've seen a lot of regular linear coils in the 4Runner/GX world take a lot longer to settle than the regular 500 miles since the change to cold wound production of them last year.

When were they installed? I think they were shipped to you about 2 or so weeks ago. Do you also have a winch up front? Looks like a pretty light front setup if it's only the front bumper on those coils, so about 4" would be the lift height with that weight on the C97-144VT coils without having a lot of weight on the truck. I think they haven't broken in fully yet, but your measurements definitely seem high. It just doesn't look that high from the photos though.

Any lift height over 3" up front will off-center the axle, but it isn't as pronounced as how quickly the rear gets off-center with a 3" lift.
My springs are definitely the OG Tapered coils and not the new ones that look like Flexicoils. The front springs were installed on May 11th; the rear springs installed on November 14th. On the front, I have a group 24F battery, group 24 house battery, ARB winch bumper, and a 11000lb winch with syn line. The rear of the Cruiser is empty but has rear bumper and spare tire.

27" hub to fender in the front
26.5" nub to fender in the rear

Update: I didn't account for my 1" body lift (fender measurement).

Without the body lift:
26" hub to fender in the front
25.5" nub to fender in the rear
 
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Going to be hard to compare trucks with flares to your non-flared fenders. I have the older 3.5 VTs and IMS shocks and I'm sitting at 24.5 - 25 inches to my fender flare edges. Probably about an inch more than I want as it sits just barely higher in the front than the back. I have Slinky 70mm in the rear. Dual batteries, ARB and M12k with synthetic rope up front for weight.


PXL_20210328_215307070.jpg
 
The short answer is Slee 4” heavies. Get the rear progressives. When I get home from CÁ I’m putting my slee rear heavies back in. The green tapered springs do everything well until the load gets heavy. Slee heavies rule the load.
 
I am also running slee in the rear, once I put my bumper and tire out back the Dobinson couldn’t hold, the Slee’s handle the weight and ride way better
 
I am also running slee in the rear, once I put my bumper and tire out back the Dobinson couldn’t hold, the Slee’s handle the weight and ride way better
Which part number though? Dobinsons have a lot of coils rated to different capacities.
 
Which part number though? Dobinsons have a lot of coils rated to different capacities.
The 3.0” rear tapered coils is what I’m running presently. Is there more than one type of 3” tapered spring. Wire dimension is 20mm thick.
 
Which part number though? Dobinsons have a lot of coils rated to different capacities.
4inch progressive flexi don’t remember the p/n, without weight they were ok, lost about inch and half once bumper went on, springs are three years old, prob have the p/n at home
 
4inch progressive flexi don’t remember the p/n, without weight they were ok, lost about inch and half once bumper went on, springs are three years old, prob have the p/n at home
Same here. My 4" Flexicoils would blow through their travel and the Fox shocks did little to stop the bouncing. That's the primary reason why I went with the Tapered springs.
 
I don't know if I can provide any useful information to this thread but I can share my experience and measurements.

I've got the 3" tapered heavy springs with the basic yellow shocks. My rig is light by most standards but Dobinsons feels it is too heavy for flexi springs. I've got front and rear bumpers, winch w/ synthetic line and dual batteries. In the rear I've got a spare and 25 gallon aux fuel tank. I generally run without much gear inside on the trail except recovery gear, but do carry a relatively moderate load of camping gear on the road. I'm at approx. 24" hub center to flair front and rear.

My opinion is the lift is too tall and the ride is too stiff. I'm definitely more than 3" of lift. The rear is almost acceptable but the front is definitely too stiff. What adds to the front stiffness is that I'm running a Chevy LQ4 and 4L80e, which is over 200# lighter than the 1fz package. I did talk to Dobinsons about options and they were pretty adamant that the flexi's were to light.

Opinions?
 
I don't know if I can provide any useful information to this thread but I can share my experience and measurements.

I've got the 3" tapered heavy springs with the basic yellow shocks. My rig is light by most standards but Dobinsons feels it is too heavy for flexi springs. I've got front and rear bumpers, winch w/ synthetic line and dual batteries. In the rear I've got a spare and 25 gallon aux fuel tank. I generally run without much gear inside on the trail except recovery gear, but do carry a relatively moderate load of camping gear on the road. I'm at approx. 24" hub center to flair front and rear.

My opinion is the lift is too tall and the ride is too stiff. I'm definitely more than 3" of lift. The rear is almost acceptable but the front is definitely too stiff. What adds to the front stiffness is that I'm running a Chevy LQ4 and 4L80e, which is over 200# lighter than the 1fz package. I did talk to Dobinsons about options and they were pretty adamant that the flexi's were to light.

Opinions?
From my experience the Flexicoils would have been good for the front of your Cruiser. With bumper, winch, and single battery, I was pretty happy with the Flexi in the front. A 200lb difference in engine weight is similar in comparison to a stock bumper vs aftermarket front bumper and winch. I would consider that to be on the lighter side and I can see why the Tapered coils feel stiff.

My biggest complaint with the Flexicoils was the weight handling in the rear. Even when standing on the tailgate and loading camping gear, the Cruiser would sink an inch.

My Cruiser is 2" taller in the front and 1.5" taller in the rear with the same springs and 200lbs of additional weight. Just doesn't make much sense.
 
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I have 2.5 VT springs and on the front I'm at:
25 Right Passenger and
24 1/4 Left Driver

This is an uneven 5 inch lift, that I'm not really happy with, considering I thought I was going with somewhere around 2.5"

These have been on for quite a few months and quite a bit more than 500 miles and they haven't settled much. I double checked the tags and I have them on the correct sides.

Weight on the front is a Coastal Offroad steel bumper, sliders, and a 13k Winch.
I've also got a 10 gallon water tank behind the front seats and a RTT, thus I doubt weight is the issue.
 
Don't know if this is useful info, but I have 3" Dobinson coils, C59-170 and C59-185. These are linear coils for plus 220 pounds. I have 24" from hub center to fender up front, and 25" out back. Really nice ride. I have them paired with the Dobinson yellow shocks. No extra weight other than a Costa Fab front bumper, and a hand built rear bumper. Second and third rows are removed as well.

PXL_20210414_164837261_2.jpg
 
I have 2.5 VT springs and on the front I'm at:
25 Right Passenger and
24 1/4 Left Driver

This is an uneven 5 inch lift, that I'm not really happy with, considering I thought I was going with somewhere around 2.5"

These have been on for quite a few months and quite a bit more than 500 miles and they haven't settled much. I double checked the tags and I have them on the correct sides.

Weight on the front is a Coastal Offroad steel bumper, sliders, and a 13k Winch.
I've also got a 10 gallon water tank behind the front seats and a RTT, thus I doubt weight is the issue.
Hey this is like what happened to me! But you got an inch more than I did!. I just hit up the dobinson reps. They were super helpful and warrantied one of my springs, because it was way out of spec. The other one they didn’t warranty because everything was within spec but I was still getting 4” of lift out of the spring. They gave me the option to buy another spring at a discount which I declined. Turns out I kinda like the 4” lift🤷🏽‍♀️.
 
The 144VT and 145VT are tall springs. IME, they sit higher than the advertamount.

@iptman I’m surprised you’re sitting so tall. Spacer time for the rear I suppose.
 
The 144VT and 145VT are tall springs. IME, they sit higher than the advertamount.

@iptman I’m surprised you’re sitting so tall. Spacer time for the rear I suppose.
I would love my Cruiser to be at 26" hub to fender with my 1" body lift.
 
I would love my Cruiser to be at 26" hub to fender with my 1" body lift.
If I had to lift an 80 series, I’d pick up the 146VT and 147VT. I think someone here uses that combo and posted measurements.

Here you go.
 
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I have 2.5 VT springs and on the front I'm at:
25 Right Passenger and
24 1/4 Left Driver

This is an uneven 5 inch lift, that I'm not really happy with, considering I thought I was going with somewhere around 2.5"

These have been on for quite a few months and quite a bit more than 500 miles and they haven't settled much. I double checked the tags and I have them on the correct sides.

Weight on the front is a Coastal Offroad steel bumper, sliders, and a 13k Winch.
I've also got a 10 gallon water tank behind the front seats and a RTT, thus I doubt weight is the issue.

Thats crazy. I'm on the same springs sitting right around 23" up front. Similar weight to your truck.
 

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