Lift vs stock airbags for comfort ride? (1 Viewer)

[jagsy]

Calling for all the folks that experienced 2" lift/suspension and stock suspensions...

I would like to raise my GX470 - which is my daily driver - first for the look and then the offroad capability when I want to overland with friends 4 to 5 times a year. Now I do love the smooth air stock suspension, it feels like floating/hovering over the road.

I read that lift were necessarily stiffer and I am wondering if there is lift kit for the GX that still provides a good level of comfort similar to stock air suspension. It seems the Dobinsons 2" is a good compromise.

Do you guys have feedback to share when comparing stock and 'comfortable' lift kits ?

Oh I also intend to shoe the car with 33s Ko2.

 

[Tanaman]

I have some experience with this so Ill say this:

The factory suspension was nice and soft and even kinda floaty. To me it felt a little too floaty and I wasn’t a big fan. Albeit I bought my GX with 170k miles and by 200k it was time for a change.

I put in dobinsons struts, shocks, and springs and couldn’t be happier. I went with a decent lift (about 2.5 inches) all around. I also did UCA, LCA, tie rods, and a few other things too. The ride is night and day different in all aspects. A little bit more firm and much less floaty while still feeling comfortable.

There are many things that I’ve changed and upgraded over the few years I had my GX but I would say that getting rid of the airbags and going with coils was the best thing I’ve done.

Good luck with your choices though as this can very quickly become a money pit as I’m sure many here will agree with

 

[TheNomad]

I'll x2 everything stated above even though I just changed the shocks and still have the bags. Once they go I'll swap completely to springs. It's the shocks that give the floaty ride. Too floaty offroad.

 

[Rednexus]

Most any lift will ride better than 15-year old springs, shocks, and bags on a GX . Like most others on this forum, I ditched bags for a rear coil conversion and have never looked back. Bags are "nice", but I prefer the way my GX rides with Ironman FCP shocks and springs. I looked at keeping the bags and found that to do it right (expended bags from AU, rather than tricking and over-pressurizing the OEM bags), it would cost quite a bit more than springs and still be more failure prone.

Many lift kits come with a few different choices of springs based on how much weight your GX is carrying over stock. For my Ironman kit I selected the lowest-weight spring (designed for 0-110# over stock) and love the way it rides, both unloaded, loaded with inside gear, and towing a trailer. My GX just has rock sliders and a front skidplate, so the dry weight of the vehicle is not much over stock at all. Using stiffer springs than that could cause a pretty rough ride.

 

[sanands1313]

I bought the exact shocks that you are looking. Initially I had 3 inch spacer lift on stock front suspension and rear airbag. Spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacer and 285/70R17 Cooper STT Pro tires. The ride was very rough/bumpy on the front. Talked to Dobinsons rep and was advised to go for 701V on the back. I'm very happy so far. Deleted the airbag. Currently have 2" front and 3" rear (Expecting reduced lift if more weight beyond listed below is added). Now the ride is smooth on front and back. No big difference between airbag and coil suspension.


Current setup:
Spidertrax 1.25 wheel spacer and 285/70R17 Cooper STT Pro tires.
Dobinsons 1.5-3" IMS Lift Kit for Lexus GX470 2002 to 2009
Front Springs: C59-352 - V8 - 2" Lift, 110-220LBS front end load
Rear Springs : C59-701V - 3" lift
Rear Shocks: IMS59-50575 Internal Monotube IFP Shock suits suits 0-3" (long travel)
Optional Install Parts: SC59-001 - Pair Front Strut Caps

Coastal Offroad
Front bumper with Winch
Rear bumper with dual swing-out (Tire carrier and Jeer can carrier)
Skid plates
Rock slider

Future mods:
33" KO2
VTX Series ROGUE SL | SATIN BLACK
Size: 17X8.5 -10 6X139.7 (6X5.5) 106.1 | TACOMA GEN 1-3 | 4RUNNER GEN 1-5