Dobinsons Suspension Review

I’m driving a Land Cruiser right now and it’s great and all, but I miss my rough truck ride and just pounding the bumps and shredding the turns. My dad as the LC owner and the others I’ve met they expect to just casually float down the road at 5-10 Over the limit. I miss driving by in my truck doing 15-20 over and feeling very casual and planted. I really like the feel of the Dobinsons suspension lift I have. The Land cruiser is just like driving a floaty bus by comparison. I also miss the gigantic interior of my truck and the bed. Oh I love a truck bed especially with mountain biking.

 

Your right about that. I spoke with rep from dobinson today and he said that the first setting is suppose to be the stock setting. He said they made a mistake on the measurements and will be updating their website.

 

I also spoke with a rep from dobinson today. He gave me the same options as you.

He also advised me to change my current setting 3rd clip to the 2nd clip (driver) and 1st clip (passenger). According to him it should alleviate the stiffness.

If that doesnt work I think I might exchange it for the yellow twins.

 

Thank you for that info!

 

Are you for real, the rear shocks are easier to change than a flat tire. What makes them so terrible, I honestly don't think you will like the twin tubes with mine I get a little bed bounce depending on what section of
HWY I'm on but they are so good everywhere else. I tried swapping them out for 5160 and those were just so stiff all the time so I sent them back. Dialing in suspension is all a bit of a
compromise, if I was in your shoes I'd send it all back and go with a different company like Eibach, Ironman or OME.

I'm not sure why any of the people in this thread are using anything other than the 1st clip, why the hell do you want so much lift?

 

Why are you so worried about how much other people lift their truck lol. Let's say the 610 springs are supposed to lift 2.25" (I believe that is correct for the part number). The clips "should" make it easy to adjust for the Tundra lean, and, if one chooses to, gain a little extra lift if they want bigger tires, or just for looks!

The issue simply seems to be springs that lift too much, and the valving of the IMS shocks may not be ideal for these trucks. I'm glad I have the twin tubes going on my truck, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about what the 778 springs actually yield.

 

Don't adjust lean with the clips, do it the correct way with a spacer. Going to firm up the ride on the side you raise with the clip.

 

That is incorrect. Moving the lower spring perch does just that, but it doesn't increase preload of the spring. The spring still determines how much lift is provided, but that space in-between the two spring perches will be the same distance, because the upper mount is not in a fixed position. Adding a spacer in-between the spring and a perch would add "pre-load" and then effect the ride quality.

 

Agree to disagree.

 

haha okay. I mean, it shouldn't be hard to understand. There is always just lots of misinterpretation with shocks like these.

 

Well seeing all these issues doesn’t bode well for my confidence but I already have all the gear so I am gonna install it and see what happens.

 

Dobinsons gave misleading information. The 1st clip was said to bed 0.6 below stock and some like their rigs to have a leveled look.

 

How can the first clip be below stock if the springs are 2 to 3 inches longer?

 

According to dobinson 1st clip is for lowering the car 0.6. Just relaying the message the rep told me. He also said they made a mistake on the information provided on the website.

 

Here’s their answer to the clip location on here:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/dob...-shocks-for-2007-tundras-ifp-monotubes.81571/

 

Yeah, it just got corrected when the US headquarters told me about it yesterday. The US office made a mistake in their documentation about what clip height is what. The physical clip height is one thing, but the coil seat that slides over it adds additional height. The correct way to measure the seat height is from the lowest notch in the coil seat down to the center of the lower bushing (see attached photo), and that's where they messed up. I had been asking them to verify this info for weeks, since people started reporting incorrect heights on coils, but only in conjunction with the IMS struts, so I assumed right away it was the incorrect coil seat height (which it turned out to be) which was adding height, but they didn't double check this again until Friday.

The silliest thing about this whole situation is that if the Tundra IMS body had been threaded like all the other IMS struts, then the coil seat height would have been set normal just like any other vehicle (Tacoma, 4Runner, 200 series, etc).

 

So lunchtime update - installed the rear IMS, only took about an hour, kept the stock leaf springs (only 8k miles on my truck), my super scientific 5 mile test drive tells my butt that it's slightly less bed bounce especially once you get going. Hard to tell really just driving around the block. But my ass test tells me they're ok. Now to find time to do the fronts and get alignment done.

@crikeymike I ordered and received my shocks a few weeks ago so they're probably installed on the second clip. Hopefully that isnt as big a deal on the shorter 610 coils?

 

Haha, let us know how your butt test goes. Try to find some sick jumps somewhere.

Yeah, no big deal on the shorter coils, unless you're specifically looking for less height. The coils would need to be compressed up, lower the clip, then release the coils (aka, the whole assembly doesn't need to be dismantled to do this, but it can be difficult depending on the strut compressor tool used).

 

Damn dude, those are some big meats!!!

 

So.... how much taller than stock is the bottom setting of the front IMS?

 

The bottom clip height with the coil seat slid in place is the same as OE.

 

I changed out the front coilovers after dobinson’s sent out a different set, not rear shocks.

Had to get another alignment too.

And what do you mean?? Dobinsons specifically stated the 2nd clip is stock height. I went to the shorter coils 778s after the 780s didn’t work, and I’m in the same boat now after 1k miles.

trying to send everything back and get a refund, but low and behold, guess what— dobinson’s isn’t responding lol

 

10-4 Thanks Mike!

 

Ok well you said shocks so I assumed you meant rear, fronts are struts. 780s were never a good idea, the IMS is for 2.5" lift, can work with 3" but limits your travel. I'm confused, if I had adjustable height I would have just bought the shortest springs (C59-610) so I could play around with the height settings. With a 2.5" or 3" spring you can only really move up one setting, what's the point in that? I think you would be really happy with the C59-610 if you can swap out for those.

 

I think the biggest issue for all of us here is that this is a new product and there isn’t thread after thread after thread of info on them and springs etc.

6112s have enough info and reviews to make their own sub forum here, dobinson IMS have like one or two threads.
If I can get mine on in the next week or so I’ll be sure to take measurements and post pics with the 610 coils

 

You will love the 610.

 

Yes I’m here for some 610 love LOL

 

21 pages of reasons to not get this kit. 10-4.

Man this is a bummer for a lot of you guys. Hope all works out in the end.

 

I think it’s more like 16 pages of reviewing the twin tube set up and a few people having issues with the new IMS.

if I am not mistaken OME has the same issue with lifts being way more than they should be.

Must be an Aussie thing for measuring lifts?

 

Correction from an earlier measurement:

Twin Tubes/ 778/ 120r springs= 2.75" lift for me, 500lbs constant bed load

(originally thought it was 2.25"...didn't measure correctly beforehand)