With OME being the overwhelming suspension choice, I wanted to put my thoughts and experience on record for the Dobinson IMS package.
I've got a 1984 fj60 that I've had for just under a year now. It was a rough example but relatively rust free where it matters, and I've spent the past year just driving it as is and refreshing as I go. When I bought the vehicle it was on 35's with a ~4 inch lift. The suspension was all more or less bottomed out at all times, all over the place in turns, and miserable on washboard roads to the point where I was going 3-4mph in some sections, and called a camping trip quits only 1/3 of the way in. All this was compounded by the fact that my front axle suddenly decided to leave this plane of existence (shout out to State Automotive for a very quality rebuild). After addressing the axle, the ride was bad but bearable until I added my winch and roof tent, at which point the lean in the corners convinced me to park it down at A Rusted Development for a transfer case rebuild (also a very good job), and start researching suspensions.
I only saw a couple standalone Dobinson reviews for our rigs, but after reading mixed reviews on some of the recent OME products and not seeing a bad review to date of the Dobinsons, I took the leap and purchased heavy leaves, shocks, and bushings front and rear. For context I've got a bull bar/12k winch and two pods lights up front, and a slimline 2 roof rack and hard shell tent on the back. I ordered the suspension through Cruiser Outfitters and they arranged pickup with State Automotive, who removed (cut out) my rusty old suspension and installed the Dobinson kit.
Immediately upon pickup, the change was night and day. I could drive CONFIDENTLY at speed and in turns, and the rig felt so much more communicative and dialed in. Bumps in the road didn't threaten to pull me into another lane. I could hop a curb or drive over a small log without concussing myself on the roof. I drove ~ 60 miles home at night, in tthe rain, with zero issue, and it felt miles better than a trip across town in the daylight before.
All of that could be probably be attributed to an old and collapsed suspension before, so now for the comparison and 1,000 mile thoughts:
After 1,000 miles, two fair weather MOAB trips, two local blizzard camping trips, and being daily'ed to work a good few times, and having driven my friend's OME rig, I have to say I'm still in love with the Dobinson setup. While I've yet to tackle any serious crawling, I've been on some seriously off camber trails over medium-large obstacles and probably 100 miles of washboard roads, and the rig has handled everything perfectly. The body lean is so controlled, the suspension absorbs bumps very nicely at speed, and I've yet to run into an obstacle where I felt like I had to have more travel. My buddy has a similar amount of weight on his 62 with an OME setup, and while I feel it's still plenty capable and a massive upgrade over old stock components, it felt a little overly stiff, even with the weight on it. That could totally be down to preference, I am NOT a suspension guru, but it just didn't feel as settled. My only complain with the Dobinsons would be that in the first ~150miles it was pretty damn bouncy, sometimes getting into these rhythms on the highway where it would seem like it just kept bouncing forever unless I matted it or braked hard. After 200 miles and a re-torque, it was perfectly settled in though.
Overall, I couldn't be happier. The only time I might advise against the Dobinsons would be; if you've got zero sunk cost into your cruisers original driveline already and are planning on some serious off roading in its future, you might be better off just breaking out your wallet and doing an 80-series axle swap for the coil suspension right out the gate. I already had enough sunk into the axles to make that prohibitively expensive. Hope this helps!
I've got a 1984 fj60 that I've had for just under a year now. It was a rough example but relatively rust free where it matters, and I've spent the past year just driving it as is and refreshing as I go. When I bought the vehicle it was on 35's with a ~4 inch lift. The suspension was all more or less bottomed out at all times, all over the place in turns, and miserable on washboard roads to the point where I was going 3-4mph in some sections, and called a camping trip quits only 1/3 of the way in. All this was compounded by the fact that my front axle suddenly decided to leave this plane of existence (shout out to State Automotive for a very quality rebuild). After addressing the axle, the ride was bad but bearable until I added my winch and roof tent, at which point the lean in the corners convinced me to park it down at A Rusted Development for a transfer case rebuild (also a very good job), and start researching suspensions.
I only saw a couple standalone Dobinson reviews for our rigs, but after reading mixed reviews on some of the recent OME products and not seeing a bad review to date of the Dobinsons, I took the leap and purchased heavy leaves, shocks, and bushings front and rear. For context I've got a bull bar/12k winch and two pods lights up front, and a slimline 2 roof rack and hard shell tent on the back. I ordered the suspension through Cruiser Outfitters and they arranged pickup with State Automotive, who removed (cut out) my rusty old suspension and installed the Dobinson kit.
Immediately upon pickup, the change was night and day. I could drive CONFIDENTLY at speed and in turns, and the rig felt so much more communicative and dialed in. Bumps in the road didn't threaten to pull me into another lane. I could hop a curb or drive over a small log without concussing myself on the roof. I drove ~ 60 miles home at night, in tthe rain, with zero issue, and it felt miles better than a trip across town in the daylight before.
All of that could be probably be attributed to an old and collapsed suspension before, so now for the comparison and 1,000 mile thoughts:
After 1,000 miles, two fair weather MOAB trips, two local blizzard camping trips, and being daily'ed to work a good few times, and having driven my friend's OME rig, I have to say I'm still in love with the Dobinson setup. While I've yet to tackle any serious crawling, I've been on some seriously off camber trails over medium-large obstacles and probably 100 miles of washboard roads, and the rig has handled everything perfectly. The body lean is so controlled, the suspension absorbs bumps very nicely at speed, and I've yet to run into an obstacle where I felt like I had to have more travel. My buddy has a similar amount of weight on his 62 with an OME setup, and while I feel it's still plenty capable and a massive upgrade over old stock components, it felt a little overly stiff, even with the weight on it. That could totally be down to preference, I am NOT a suspension guru, but it just didn't feel as settled. My only complain with the Dobinsons would be that in the first ~150miles it was pretty damn bouncy, sometimes getting into these rhythms on the highway where it would seem like it just kept bouncing forever unless I matted it or braked hard. After 200 miles and a re-torque, it was perfectly settled in though.
Overall, I couldn't be happier. The only time I might advise against the Dobinsons would be; if you've got zero sunk cost into your cruisers original driveline already and are planning on some serious off roading in its future, you might be better off just breaking out your wallet and doing an 80-series axle swap for the coil suspension right out the gate. I already had enough sunk into the axles to make that prohibitively expensive. Hope this helps!
