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Old 04-10-2020, 01:04 PM #31
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I installed my IMS set last Saturday, but with quarantine I've only been able to put on about 50 miles of city driving so far. I can say that Dobinson IMS are much more controlled on-road compared to the TRD Pro set they've replaced. To me, that means that there is MUCH less body roll in turns, and I don't find myself having to let off the throttle just to feel like I'm not going to tip over. I've also noticed that brake dive and acceleration squat are gone as well. I know this for sure because I wasn't looking for it, but when I tapped the brakes for the first time, it felt like it bit very hard. I realized later that that was a result of the dive being eliminated so I felt the brakes immediately. And it also does feel like it accelerates quicker, which is a result of no more squat; again, you feel the acceleration instantly.

You'd think this performance would result in a harsh ride, but it actually feels as compliant as the TRD Pro suspension, but more confident and controlled. I'll admit the first 20ish miles did feel a bit harsher than expected, but after the alignment and a few more miles, it feels very nice and continues to feel better every time I drive it.

The next step is get if off the pavement to really see what it can do. Hopefully a follow-up review is in the near COVID-free future. Til then, I am confidently pleased with the IMS setup, because it's an upgrade over TRD Pro suspension, and does not break the bank.
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Old 04-10-2020, 02:20 PM #32
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Originally Posted by CementTruck View Post
I installed my IMS set last Saturday, but with quarantine I've only been able to put on about 50 miles of city driving so far. I can say that Dobinson IMS are much more controlled on-road compared to the TRD Pro set they've replaced. To me, that means that there is MUCH less body roll in turns, and I don't find myself having to let off the throttle just to feel like I'm not going to tip over. I've also noticed that brake dive and acceleration squat are gone as well. I know this for sure because I wasn't looking for it, but when I tapped the brakes for the first time, it felt like it bit very hard. I realized later that that was a result of the dive being eliminated so I felt the brakes immediately. And it also does feel like it accelerates quicker, which is a result of no more squat; again, you feel the acceleration instantly.

You'd think this performance would result in a harsh ride, but it actually feels as compliant as the TRD Pro suspension, but more confident and controlled. I'll admit the first 20ish miles did feel a bit harsher than expected, but after the alignment and a few more miles, it feels very nice and continues to feel better every time I drive it.

The next step is get if off the pavement to really see what it can do. Hopefully a follow-up review is in the near COVID-free future. Til then, I am confidently pleased with the IMS setup, because it's an upgrade over TRD Pro suspension, and does not break the bank.
That's great man, sounds like it's working out well for you.

Having the right alignment is key too to having it ride and drive nicely down the road.

Everyone tells me the same thing too, elimination of brake dive and acceleration squat makes a massive improvement in these vehicles, and it's the main thing people realize right away - just how loose these are in stock form.
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Old 04-12-2020, 02:01 PM #33
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Come on guys. I need to hear more feedback. These are very appealing to me. Looking to replace my 5100’s and go to 2.5” front height for 285s. Leaning toward long travel and control arms. Hope to improve on road handling, gain clearance and get better low speed rock crawling type performance. 5100’s on stock springs have just been ok. Rough ride, but still lots of nose dive and body roll.
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Old 04-12-2020, 05:43 PM #34
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Come on guys. I need to hear more feedback. These are very appealing to me. Looking to replace my 5100’s and go to 2.5” front height for 285s. Leaning toward long travel and control arms. Hope to improve on road handling, gain clearance and get better low speed rock crawling type performance. 5100’s on stock springs have just been ok. Rough ride, but still lots of nose dive and body roll.
With the Stay at Home order here in Colorado, I haven't been putting on a ton of miles, so I've been keeping feedback to a minimum.

Overall first impressions though, very happy I spent the cash! Nose dive is gone, I don't notice any body roll with the added height (not a slow driver always :X), a firmer yet very comfortable ride, and eats up a washboard gravel road great!

The rear end was a little stiff at first but seems to be breaking in nicely. I have put about 150 miles on and need to get it aligned (on factory tires / not overly concerned about the short term wear on them). I was holding out to let the front settle/see if I wanted to adjust before an alignment, plus I decided to pull the trigger on some UCA's and will be installing those in the next day or two.

I'm currently sitting about 2.75" and 3" up front, and about 2.5"/3" in back (passenger side currently higher, hopefully will level out). Went with C302's and C725's (15mm longer on pass. side to help with KDSS lean), standard length shocks. I've got KDSS. If the front if it doesn't level out I might bump the low side up a hair, but going to wait until at least 1000 miles to make any changes. Alignment will hopefully happen next week, who knows with all the stuff going on.

I do plan do start a full build thread and do a detailed writeup (I put on close to 30K a year) once I get a few thousand miles on the suspension and a couple trips offroad.

I haven't had 5100's on a 4R, but did on my 09' Silverado. They were much firmer and not in a good way compared to these. If I had to buy again I'd order this same setup.
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Old 04-12-2020, 05:55 PM #35
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With the Stay at Home order here in Colorado, I haven't been putting on a ton of miles, so I've been keeping feedback to a minimum.

Overall first impressions though, very happy I spent the cash! Nose dive is gone, I don't notice any body roll with the added height (not a slow driver always :X), a firmer yet very comfortable ride, and eats up a washboard gravel road great!

The rear end was a little stiff at first but seems to be breaking in nicely. I have put about 150 miles on and need to get it aligned (on factory tires / not overly concerned about the short term wear on them). I was holding out to let the front settle/see if I wanted to adjust before an alignment, plus I decided to pull the trigger on some UCA's and will be installing those in the next day or two.

I'm currently sitting about 2.75" and 3" up front, and about 2.5"/3" in back (passenger side currently higher, hopefully will level out). Went with C302's and C725's (15mm longer on pass. side to help with KDSS lean), standard length shocks. I've got KDSS. If the front if it doesn't level out I might bump the low side up a hair, but going to wait until at least 1000 miles to make any changes. Alignment will hopefully happen next week, who knows with all the stuff going on.

I do plan do start a full build thread and do a detailed writeup (I put on close to 30K a year) once I get a few thousand miles on the suspension and a couple trips offroad.

I haven't had 5100's on a 4R, but did on my 09' Silverado. They were much firmer and not in a good way compared to these. If I had to buy again I'd order this same setup.
What UCA's did you go with?
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Old 04-12-2020, 05:59 PM #36
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What UCA's did you go with?
Ended up going with some Freedom Offroads - found for $280 shipped/new and couldn't pass - especially when I went a bit outside my overall lift budget .

SPC's look really nice but I'm very happy with the quality of these pre-install, I'll send over a few pictures!
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Old 04-30-2020, 09:20 PM #37
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Old 04-30-2020, 09:56 PM #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sf jakey View Post
Come on guys. I need to hear more feedback. These are very appealing to me. Looking to replace my 5100’s and go to 2.5” front height for 285s. Leaning toward long travel and control arms. Hope to improve on road handling, gain clearance and get better low speed rock crawling type performance. 5100’s on stock springs have just been ok. Rough ride, but still lots of nose dive and body roll.
Quick update. Did some solid wheeling last weekend. These things are great! I'm very happy with the purchase. Just eat up all the bumps.

I want to get a few more trips in and then I'll write up a nice review on them.
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Old 04-30-2020, 10:31 PM #39
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Was thinking about pairing a set of IMS rears (regular valving) with 700 Twintube fronts. Should be ok? I'd like more dampening/different valving than the 705s offer. Would make sense to get the 701s but...Upgradanitis!
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Old 05-01-2020, 11:01 AM #40
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Was thinking about pairing a set of IMS rears (regular valving) with 700 Twintube fronts. Should be ok? I'd like more dampening/different valving than the 705s offer. Would make sense to get the 701s but...Upgradanitis!
Sure, you can do that if you'd like. The IMS59-50701 and GS59-701 rear shocks both share the closest valving you can put between a twin tube and a monotube, whilst the IMS have the other benefits of bigger piston, more oil, etc.
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Old 05-01-2020, 06:25 PM #41
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Sure, you can do that if you'd like. The IMS59-50701 and GS59-701 rear shocks both share the closest valving you can put between a twin tube and a monotube, whilst the IMS have the other benefits of bigger piston, more oil, etc.
Just making my wallet lighter lol
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Old 05-25-2020, 07:28 PM #42
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Just ordered these!

After a month of research (I was literally having dreams about the stuff I was reading) I settled on Dobinson. There is so much good information about Dobinson, and they're really popular in the 4x4, overland community. Mike answered my questions right away and was really helpful.

I ordered the IMS shocks as part of the kit. I really enjoy overland travel and easy/moderate trails, so I went with 1.5" lift front and rear. I wanted to keep the geometry of the vehicle close to factory spec. IMO, the stock 4runner is the most reliable version of itself.

With all this COVID fuss, we've been getting away from the city and out in the wilderness quite a bit. Will post up a review as soon as I can. Very excited!
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Old 06-25-2020, 08:05 AM #43
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Warranty Issue?

I'm thinking something is wrong with my passenger IMS strut.
Rubber piece on top of the spring is coming apart.
I didn't put these together - came assembled.
Thoughts?
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Old 06-25-2020, 09:31 AM #44
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I'm thinking something is wrong with my passenger IMS strut.
Rubber piece on top of the spring is coming apart.
I didn't put these together - came assembled.
Thoughts?
It's not unusual for the rubber to flex a lot right there because of the gap/step in the coil. I doubt it's an issue, probably just on the outside edge there.
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Old 07-12-2020, 01:24 PM #45
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3,000 mile review

I installed these IMS shocks a few thousand miles ago and I feel I can finally write a proper review on them. Let me first start by saying, wow. This suspension has completely transformed this vehicle. I mean completely. The stock TRD suspension was great for driving around town with stock P rated tires. Once I added KO2 C rated tires, things started to go downhill. Off road driving, even aired down was very rough and the vehicle just felt thrashed. The ride was harsh and unforgiving. After adding full length aluminum skids and sliders the stock suspension sagged 3/4" lower than stock. I was hitting the front bumps constantly. It was time for the suspension upgrade...

I installed the following components....both F & R coils were 1.5" lift
1. Front coils C59-296
2. Front shocks IMS59-50700
3. Rear coils C59-505
4. Rear shocks IMS59-50701

After about 1 month and 3,000 miles the front settled to exactly 1.5" of lift. The rear however settled at 2" of lift which I did not expect. I have about 150 lbs over the rear axle but still landed at 0.5" of lift over spec. Oh well, doesn't bother me. I wanted to maintain the "raked" look anyways. I may adjust the front up 1/4"

Using the KDSS spacer which goes on the passenger side, the truck leveled left to right very nicely. I did not perform the KDSS calibration, I just left everything alone and it leveled out nicely. Less than 1/4" difference side to side.

2 days after installing the suspension we set off on a 2,000 mile trip from CO to WI and back. I was absolutely thrilled with high speed suspension performance. I was trying to hit every bridge expansion joint in the worst way possible- haha. High speed bumps are very controlled.

Once we got back we set off for a 300 mile northern Colorado overland journey. We had about 300 lbs over the rear axle and it handled the weight very well. We aired down for non pavement driving (30 psi on this trip). The suspension performed very well. It is controlled, not harsh, predictable, and doesn't bottom out but yet still gives an bottomless travel feeling.

After this trip I went a did a slow going, moderate rated 4x4 trail (Moody Hill in Colorado). I aired down to 20 psi and just rolled through the trail. I was extremely satisfied with the suspension performance. Again, it was controlled, yet soft and predictable. If you're aired up to 40 psi on a rocky trail like this, obviously comfort goes down the drain and the ride becomes very stiff (but not harsh like the stock TRD suspension).

All in all, I could not be happier with my purchase. I was heavily comparing this IMS kit with Icon Stage 2. In the end I settled with Dobinson because of customer service, the endless amount of information available through forums, and the price. It seemed to me (based on user reviews) if you want to get your moneys worth out of Icon, you need to speed up. The suspension really starts to perform when under higher speed. This isn't my driving style. I like rolling slowly through moderate 4x4 trails and I just didn't feel I would ever get my moneys worth out an Icon suspension.

Dobinson IMS is incredible. To sum up my experience, the suspension is stiffer (but in a good way), controlled, has a bottomless feel, and gave the truck a huge improvement over stock in every single way possible. It handles the C rated, heavier tires flawlessly. Washboard roads are still washboard roads, but the harshness as been reduced especially when aired down. There is no KDSS bar interference, nothing is pulled tight when fully flexed, and the vehicle works as designed. I got an alignment done yesterday and my caster ended up at 2.5 degrees L & R, camber 0 degrees L & R. The tech said that was best he could do on caster. I've been let down by Toyota dealerships so many times I don't know if that's true or not, but the vehicle drives perfectly straight with no wandering at all.

Sorry for the lengthy review, just wanted to get as much info out here as I could for those of you doing the research I was doing a few months ago. Also, the black shocks with teal springs looks dynamite. The shocks are BEEFY! Very impressed with build quality.
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