I am looking to freshen up my 30 year old suspension. I am practical almost to a fault, and honest enough that I believe I will be staying with a ~33" tired for the foreseeable future. I love the look and functionality of bigger tires and lifts, but I am almost never in a situation where I actually NEED them. Consequently, I have decided to stay with a stock height "lift". Looking around, it looks like Dobinson may be the way to go. OME is another option, but it seems like the Dobinson might utilize some newer tech with their springs. I run a lot of washboard roads in the desert, and occasionally venture onto tamer Moab trails (trails no harder than Cliffhanger and Golden Spike). I plan on armoring all the low hanging bits because I know I will be scraping more than lifted rigs on larger tires. I am wanting a nice ride for washboard stuff without a bunch of wallowing pig behavior on the crawling stuff. I know airing down and speed makes a big difference with washboard roads, but I am thinking some more modern suspension components also could go a long way toward helping. I am also debating between the Dobinson MRA or IMS shocks. I have no winch, big bumpers, roof rack, RTT, or other stuff weighing me down (at the moment), so I'm relatively light for an 80. I am not terribly concerned with budget (within reason) as long as I get close to the desired behavior out of my suspension. So, ladies and gentlemen of the 80 forum, let me have your input! Better ride on rough roads without necessarily needing to change caster or fiddle with anything other than springs and shocks.
Stock replacement suspension options
- Thread starter Izeloz
- Start date
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Jungle80farmer
Jungle Fruit Farmer
I put the Dobinson stock height kit on my 97 with 295 tires about 3 weeks ago.. They are absolutely FANTASTIC. I've drove it for 7 years (245k) with the blown out stock springs and some crappy monroe shocks. It rides so nice now it's ridiculous. Took it down many miles of fire access trails in northern California and they soak up the bumps very nice. Every part about the ride is improved.
I just installed DFG rear drawers and a new oem gas tank. Since I can put a full tank in now instead of 12 gallons I got the firestone 1000 airbags in the back for when I load it up heavy. We load it to the gills for camping.
I would reccomend the dobinson kit fo sho. I'm amazed with how great it feels now but I can't compare it to ome.
I bought all new Toyota, washers, nuts bolts and bushings so I believe once the bushings are pressed in it will ride and handle even nicer.
The bushings and bolts cost more then the Dobinson kit
Lifted it about a 1.5 in the front and 2 inches in back from the blown out stock setup but will probably settle a bit.
The big bore stabilizer is on it's way
So I can't comment on that.
I went with the keep it simple stupid plan. 33s are all I'm going, no need for anything bigger for my needs. I have a 71 FJ40 on 35s locked front and rear for real wheeling.
While your in there you could get Land cruiser phils sway bar disconnect kit if you want extra travel easy in front.
Also mise well get his battery tie down bracket before hitting miles of bumpy dirt roads
I installed it today along with doing the rear heat delete and heater control valve.
The while your in there never ends with land cruisers.
I just installed DFG rear drawers and a new oem gas tank. Since I can put a full tank in now instead of 12 gallons I got the firestone 1000 airbags in the back for when I load it up heavy. We load it to the gills for camping.
I would reccomend the dobinson kit fo sho. I'm amazed with how great it feels now but I can't compare it to ome.
I bought all new Toyota, washers, nuts bolts and bushings so I believe once the bushings are pressed in it will ride and handle even nicer.
The bushings and bolts cost more then the Dobinson kit
Lifted it about a 1.5 in the front and 2 inches in back from the blown out stock setup but will probably settle a bit.
The big bore stabilizer is on it's way
So I can't comment on that.
I went with the keep it simple stupid plan. 33s are all I'm going, no need for anything bigger for my needs. I have a 71 FJ40 on 35s locked front and rear for real wheeling.
While your in there you could get Land cruiser phils sway bar disconnect kit if you want extra travel easy in front.
Also mise well get his battery tie down bracket before hitting miles of bumpy dirt roads
I installed it today along with doing the rear heat delete and heater control valve.The while your in there never ends with land cruisers.
I’ve done the Dobinson route also. 340K on what was probably the original springs. Ride was improved. Not sure the technology is a new thing but it seems that Dobinson is in line as far as as quality related to OME. If stock is your end goal, have you priced out OEM? Shocks are reasonably priced if I remember correctly and they are pretty darn good.
- Thread starter
- #4
I replaced the original shocks with OEM Tokico (sp?) shocks about 20K ago. Only have around 160K on the truck.
What newer tech would that be?
Fzj80 from factory is said to stand 73.6 inches tall. You could add one half of the change in your larger tire dimension, then subtract your current ride height to see if the 80 has sagged at all from the day it was new.
ALMOST the same exact question here, but stock height at +800 lbs (over stock weight) empty. Seems like everything but Dobinsons and OME are for higher lifts. Are there other high-quality options to consider? Thanks!
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I really like the oem tokico shocks and put some new ones in along with new Dobinson springs just recently. It rides extremely smooth over potholes, washboard etc. They are not a great choice for serious off-road and are a inch or so shorter than OME,Dobinson etc shocks but they are surprisingly cheap. I mainly do mild off-roading and have full skid plates and sliders for the worst case when I have to bash it over obstacles.
