Hey guys what do you think of this suspension set option OLD man Emu 1.5 soft springs vs DOBINSONS 1.5-2.0" IMS

[newoffroad]

Hey guys thanks for the help here are my goals for the new 2006 100 Landcruiser

The car that I purchased has old shocks and bushings, there is a lot of brake dive and cornering dive.

My goal would be to stiffen up the suspension slightly and reduce brake dive and hopefully make the ride better.
I'm not really interested in lifting Landcruiser as I live in Miami and I need to drive into parking garage on a daily basis for work.

Option 1: Old man emu 1.5 soft Spring with stock Toyota control arms and stock torsion bars. - Installation cost $3900.

Option 2: DOBINSONS 1.5-2.0" IMS Sharks with Toyota control arms and Toyota torsion bars. - installation cost $4900.

 

[AlpineAccess]

You don't want to lift it, but are picking two lift kits?

Why not put stock shocks in if the ones it has are shot and replace the suspension bushings for a lot less money?

 

[newoffroad]

You don't want to lift it, but are picking two lift kits?

Why not put stock shocks in if the ones it has are shot and replace the suspension bushings for a lot less money?

I was told that the stock suspension still has a lot of brake dive.

Maybe someone with new stock suspension can give us a idea on quality of ride.

 

[AlpineAccess]

I was told that the stock suspension still has a lot of brake dive.

Maybe someone with new stock suspension can give us a idea on quality of ride.

I fully rebuilt my suspension on OEM before lifting and adding metal bumpers. Drove it that way for around 10k miles.

It was by far the best ride quality and handled exceptionally well for how heavy the vehicle is. I find the Old man emu components far too stiff overall to be on a factory weight vehicle, and I prefer stiffer suspension.

In fact I am considering going back that direction.

 

[newoffroad]

I fully rebuilt my suspension on OEM before lifting and adding metal bumpers. Drove it that way for around 10k miles.

It was by far the best ride quality and handled exceptionally well for how heavy the vehicle is. I find the Old man emu components far too stiff overall to be on a factory weight vehicle, and I prefer stiffer suspension.

In fact I am considering going back that direction.

Thank you for your advice previous experience with the stock suspension… I think I might go that direction . Especially if it saves me money.

 

[medtro]

Do you have AHC?

 

[OwnerCS]

That seems like a lot of money for a shock installation. I usually do my own work to offset the cost of a more expensive component.
.

 

[jLB]

The car that I purchased has old shocks and bushings, there is a lot of brake dive and cornering dive.

My goal would be to stiffen up the suspension slightly and reduce brake dive and hopefully make the ride better.

I'm not really interested in lifting Landcruiser as I live in Miami and I need to drive into parking garage on a daily basis for work.

In my opinion:

1) If you’re not adding weight, not wanting a lift, and wanting decent ride quality, you probably want to stick with the factory springs and torsion bars.

2) If the current shocks and bushings are bad, simply replacing them with the OE parts should be a major improvement, at a reasonable cost, without adversely affecting the ride. If after that, you’re not happy with the “brake dive” and “body sway”, you could move to aftermarket shocks with more low speed compression dampening, and still be ahead money wise compared to the lift kits that you’ve selected.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Body sway is coming mostly from bad shocks, and next from the sway bar bushings most likely being shot.

I'd tackle shocks and sway bar bushings first and see how it goes. You will not need an alignment if you just do those items and you're not benefiting from any "while you're in there" stuff by doing anything else at that time.

You'll get familiar with how it runs with an investment if under $300 for parts; and can then decide if you want the extra 10-15% improvement with control arms, steering rack bushings, diff mount bushings, rear control arm bushings etc

 

[newoffroad]

Do you have AHC?

no I don't have AHC

 

[Fitterblue]

FWIW, I put 336k miles on my original suspension. My suspension issue only began last month with a little vibration in my steering wheel when breaking on the freeway. I knew it wasn't my brakes and rotors because they had less than 10k on them. After I looked at my tired parts and did some youtube research, I was happy because now I had a good excuse for a lift!
Just last week I just went with Dobinsons 2" lift, UCAs, torsion and diff drop. I did not get IMS. Since my suspension was so old, all ball joints were leaking, a cv boot was leaking, outer tie rods shot, axle flange and wheel bearing probably tired, I decided to replace everything, and save labor $!!
In addition to that lift, instead of rebuilding ball joints/axles, I got all new LCA, tie rods, ext sway bar links and CV axles. I got new axle flanges and snap rings too. The only thing not replaced were the wheel bearings cuz they weren't leaking but I did buy the bearings/races and will install them later.
NOW, mine handles like it's a brand new truck!! It's amazing!! No more floating around like a Crown Victoria when I go over bumps!! I highly recommend Dobinsons and everything I did. We tow a 16' boat and play in the snow with ours. If you're in CA, Stellar Built did the work. Except for the Dobinsons kit that Stellar Built ordered, I sourced all my parts from partsouq, cruiserteq, partsgeek and trail tailor. Hope this helps