New Dobinsons VT series dual rate coils

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@ExpoMax what are you using to correct the caster ? Any updates with ride quality ?
Looking for something, just really confused with so much info
D.
 
The springs still work great! I just wish I went with the 6” shocks😂. I’m sure you’ll be stoked with them! And is that 35” from the ground to the flare? Usually it’s measure from the hub to the flare, mines a about 24”.
Running the 6" lift shocks opens a hole new bag of worms.
Ask me how I know Haha
 
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@ExpoMax what are you using to correct the caster ? Any updates with ride quality ?
Looking for something, just really confused with so much info
D.
I am using the Dobinsons 5 degree castor plates. Ride quality is perfect in my opinion. Probably the best riding truck I've been in to date. I am in love with the new VT Springs.
 
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bUt tHeY’Re nOt tAPeReD. Good.

One way to deal with longer shocks is run 38’s with more lift and strand an inch of up travel. Or you could ask which OME lift you should be running.
 
The NeXt bEsT thIng. If only........
 
What issues did you run into?!?!!?
I running the C97-146VT as well, I getting 3.5" of lift from these 2.5"springs even with a heavy front bumper, 10k winch and a 78lb.battery. And the Rig is set for this ride height. My last set up I had 4.5" of lift ( OME & 30mm spacers ) had it dialed in for that lift extended brake lines, dbl cardan lengthened driveshaft. etc.etc.

When I went to the C97-146VTs I new they had a much taller free height and to try to take advantage of this I got the 6" lift shocks .

Well the longer shock do let the front axle drop out more but this was maxing out my extended brake lines (so I modified the hard line/mounts ) My Hydro Lines that
were fine with the 4.5" lift were now being stretched to the max !, My long spline driveshaft was extending to the end of the splines ( not good ) and I did not like the way the panhard would pull the axle way over to the side at full droop causing the spring to rub ( clank ) on the frame and bump stops.

Now if you have your Rig set up for a 5 or 6" lift some of these issues are already taken care of and I would have address them as well.
But for me the hole idea of the longer shocks was to try to get more articulation with the taller free height springs.

What I found was that with the stock control arm even if you grind the tops ( I did ) for more clearance , the arms are limiting factor.
when testing with the springs out, I was not getting any more articulation then with the 4" shocks and I could see it was trying to rip my brand new bushing right out of the arms ! Real world testing show the same results.

If one was to grind more and had old bushing maybe you could get more articulation 🤷‍♂️ not sure.


In short theirs only so much you can get out of the stock arms ! You need to go to a three Link to get those Sexy Flexy Instagram shots :rofl:

I ended up getting a set of the 4" lift shocks, They allow the same articulation with out the other issue.
1622904617486.png

PS, if any one is interested in the 6" lift shocks they were on my Rig less then 200 miles, PM me
 
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Tha
I running the C97-146VT as well, I getting 3.5" of lift from these 2.5"springs even with a heavy front bumper, 10k winch and a 78lb.battery. And the Rig is set for this ride height. My last set up I had 4.5" of lift ( OME & 30mm spacers ) had it dialed in for that lift extended brake lines, dbl cardan lengthened driveshaft. etc.etc.

When I went to the C97-146VTs I new they had a much taller free height and to try to take advantage of this I got the 6" lift shocks .

Well the longer shock do let the front axle drop out more but this was maxing out my extended brake lines (so I modified the hard line/mounts ) My Hydro Lines that
were fine with the 4.5" lift were now being stretched to the max !, My long spline driveshaft was extending to the end of the splines ( not good ) and I did not like the way the panhard would pull the axle way over to the side at full droop causing the spring to rub ( clank ) on the frame and bump stops.

Now if you have your Rig set up for a 5 or 6" lift some of these issues are already taken care of and I would have address them as well.
But for me the hole idea of the longer shocks was to try to get more articulation with the taller free height springs.

What I found was that with the stock control arm even if you grind the tops ( I did ) for more clearance , the arms are limiting factor.
when testing with the springs out, I was not getting any more articulation then with the 4" shocks and I could see it was trying to rip my brand new bushing right out of the arms ! Real world testing show the same results.

If one was to grind more and had old bushing maybe you could more articulation 🤷‍♂️ not sure.

In short theirs
only so much you can get out of the stock arms ! You need to go to a three Link to get those Sexy Flexy Instagram shots :rofl:

I ended up getting a set of the 4" lift shocks, They allow the same articulation with out the other issue.
View attachment 2695064
PS, if any one is interested in the 6" lift shocks they were on my Rig less then 200 miles, PM
Thanks for all the info. I’m trying to figure out how to get more down travel. I’m 6” up and 4” down right now with the 4” shocks. I’d like to flip that😂. I planned on making a spacer for the shock but it seems like I’m going have to extend a couple other thing too! This helped a ton
 
Thanks for all the info. I’m trying to figure out how to get more down travel. I’m 6” up and 4” down right now with the 4” shocks. I’d like to flip that😂. I planned on making a spacer for the shock but it seems like I’m going have to extend a couple other thing too! This helped a ton
Not sure how your getting 6" up with a 3" lift ?
I think if you can get 5" up and 5"down would be the way to go!
 
Not sure how your getting 6" up with a 3" lift ?
I think if you can get 5" up and 5"down would be the way to go!
I’m at about 4” of lift and running 35s- I should probably update my profile for the new 80😅. Big lift and little tires gives you a lot of up travel to work with but the shock sits at 22.5” out of the 26.37”
 
New 144/145 coils installed. These are a lot firmer than the Flexi. I took a bunch of pics and measurements as I went along. I’ll post up more detail tomorrow. For now…

Center of hub to fender (no flares) is 26” exactly on all four corners. I have zero weight up front (just a stinger at this point) and about 250 lbs in the cargo area (spare tire, spare axles, tools). Just a tube rear bumper and integrated hitch.

With the Flexi 4”, I was at 25.5”, so I gained a half inch, maybe a bit more in the rear, which was exactly what I was looking for. Rear coils are shorter by 1.5” and I can get them to just barely start to release tension at full droop with 6” Ironman foam cell pro shocks. So they are long enough, but you aren’t doing a seriously long travel setup with this coil in the rear.

Firmness is way up - suppose depending on what you want out of coils v. shocks v. swaybars that could be good or bad. I don’t run swaybars and I don’t like high rebound damping, so I’m really stoked. Right setup for 38’s, we’re dropping a 38 below the frame here, almost dialed now.

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@crikeymike @David Otero do we have any official specs I can post in the Compiled spec thread?

I measured the difference between the 4” Flexi and these.

Rears are about 1.5” shorter and fronts are a bit over 1” longer. I was holding the level and tape measure in the front pic and the angle isn’t very good.

In absence of official specs this should help.

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Just got mine installed. My truck is pretty light right now, my home built built bumpers are hundreds of pounds lighter than most and my cargo drawers and spare are not in the truck currently. I ended up with 6-7” of lift over a stock truck. This before picture has stock springs with 2” spacers all around. The second picture is an empty truck with the new springs. Im looking forward to filling it up and seeing where it sits then. A big thanks to @ExpoMax for the quick and personal service, much appriciated!
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The 6-7” lift shocks, front and rear. I figured im losing so much up travel with 40s i could use the longer shocks to my advantage. That has yet to be tested, theyve been on a week, and only driven 15-20 miles on road..
I was thinking the same thing. but ended up going back to the 4" shocks. The 6 -7" shocks created to meany issue without any benefits that I could see. They wer on the truck one run and less the 100 miles. I am running a smaller lift and that could make a difference.
Keep a eye on the DS, brake lines and my Hydro lines were a issue. those shocks allow a massive amount of droop.
 

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