Dobinsons 5th Gen T4R Suspension options - from Exit Offroad
- Thread starter Crikeymike
- Start date
MAST4R
New member
C59-238 lift
After flip-flopping I ended up installing the pair of C59-238 front coils.
First of all, Mike is exceptional, the very rare case of a person in the aftermarket industry who provides more than self-interested advice.
I hope to provide a decent, comprehensive review after some more off-pavement driving.
For now, lift heights:
Vehicle: 2018 TRD ORP no kdss. Coils installed at 15,000 miles. 250 total permanent weight from skids and sliders. They did not seem to have any impact on the front stock coils. Maybe 1/8" if that.
Advertised lift 0.75-1.00 on the website and 1.00-1.25 here.
Lift gain 30 miles after install: 1.75 at front fenders. It was crazy right off the lift, as you would expect.
Lift gain after 24hr and 60 miles: 1.50, more at front skid plate. Alignment 1.
Lift gain after 48hr and 80-90 miles: 1 1/3 at front fenders, 1.50+ at front skid plate. It stayed like this until after we did some offroading.
Lift after 3 weeks and 1,200 miles of which 138 off pavement: 1.25 at front fenders, 1.50- at front skid. Alignment 2.
At this point, I do not expect any further settling.
Summary: 1.25 lift to front fenders, almost 1.50 to front edge of front skid plate, which is RCI steel in my case.
EDIT: I am now up to 1640 total miles from 1200 and 207 off-pavement from 138. Lift at fenders is now down to 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 to front skid plates, much more inline with expectations. I thought it was done settling at 1.25 but it is not. Tires at 33 psi at all times.
After flip-flopping I ended up installing the pair of C59-238 front coils.
First of all, Mike is exceptional, the very rare case of a person in the aftermarket industry who provides more than self-interested advice.
I hope to provide a decent, comprehensive review after some more off-pavement driving.
For now, lift heights:
Vehicle: 2018 TRD ORP no kdss. Coils installed at 15,000 miles. 250 total permanent weight from skids and sliders. They did not seem to have any impact on the front stock coils. Maybe 1/8" if that.
Advertised lift 0.75-1.00 on the website and 1.00-1.25 here.
Lift gain 30 miles after install: 1.75 at front fenders. It was crazy right off the lift, as you would expect.
Lift gain after 24hr and 60 miles: 1.50, more at front skid plate. Alignment 1.
Lift gain after 48hr and 80-90 miles: 1 1/3 at front fenders, 1.50+ at front skid plate. It stayed like this until after we did some offroading.
Lift after 3 weeks and 1,200 miles of which 138 off pavement: 1.25 at front fenders, 1.50- at front skid. Alignment 2.
At this point, I do not expect any further settling.
Summary: 1.25 lift to front fenders, almost 1.50 to front edge of front skid plate, which is RCI steel in my case.
EDIT: I am now up to 1640 total miles from 1200 and 207 off-pavement from 138. Lift at fenders is now down to 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 to front skid plates, much more inline with expectations. I thought it was done settling at 1.25 but it is not. Tires at 33 psi at all times.
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Crikeymike
Senior Member
Depends on what you order and where you live. We ship within 24 hours on in-stock items.
And all deliveries require signature, thanks to the rising trend in "porch pirates", so nothing would be left at your door.
Did you get new struts or just put them onto your OEM ones?
MAST4R
New member
Yes, I will explain in my review in due time, but the only change I made was the 238 coils.
I asked my Toyota mastertech and he said not to worry about the stock shocks and the 1" lift from coils. I am at 1.25 but I think I will be fine. The Ironman and Dobinsons sites also say that up to 2" is acceptable though that seems way too much to me.
I don't like that I lost so much from the rake, I am a "rake person." I might add 0.5" spacers in the rear to compensate as I don't want stiffer rates in the back. I have not decided yet. The current rake is fine for our day trips, as I never have more than 200lb in the cargo area. But on bigger trips...
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Looking for a 2"-2.5" lift on a 4Runner SR5 w/third row with just full RCI Skid plates and sliders, no other armor installed.
I'm looking at these:
C59-725 - Stock rear end, 2.0" lift with 3rd row, 2.25" without, offset height coils for KDSS leveling (similar to C59-325). 430/415mm, 17mm wire, 228LB
I have a couple of questions though.
1. If I'm experiencing the driver's side lean, but do not have KDSS, can I use these to correct the lean?
2. "Stock Rear" I'm assuming that means no metal bumper or anything that's in the rear that permanently adds weight?
3. "228 LB" - What does this weight number mean?
Thanks for your time!
I'm looking at these:
C59-725 - Stock rear end, 2.0" lift with 3rd row, 2.25" without, offset height coils for KDSS leveling (similar to C59-325). 430/415mm, 17mm wire, 228LB
I have a couple of questions though.
1. If I'm experiencing the driver's side lean, but do not have KDSS, can I use these to correct the lean?
2. "Stock Rear" I'm assuming that means no metal bumper or anything that's in the rear that permanently adds weight?
3. "228 LB" - What does this weight number mean?
Thanks for your time!
[MENTION=148378]Dobinsons Mike[/MENTION]
I run the 314s up front. I plan on installing a steel front skid that replaces the front two factory skids. The factory skids together weigh 25-30 lbs and the steel one weighs around 70lb. So about a 35-40lb weight difference. Would I see any sagging with the extra weight?
I have 3" lift up front and 2" in the back and like the setup.
Thanks.
I run the 314s up front. I plan on installing a steel front skid that replaces the front two factory skids. The factory skids together weigh 25-30 lbs and the steel one weighs around 70lb. So about a 35-40lb weight difference. Would I see any sagging with the extra weight?
I have 3" lift up front and 2" in the back and like the setup.
Thanks.
Crikeymike
Senior Member
Hey man.
1. If I'm experiencing the driver's side lean, but do not have KDSS, can I use these to correct the lean?
Yeah, you can.
2. "Stock Rear" I'm assuming that means no metal bumper or anything that's in the rear that permanently adds weight?
That's right, or a little bit of weight beyond stock
3. "228 LB" - What does this weight number mean?
That's the spring rate in LBF/IN.
Crikeymike
Senior Member
Hey bud. The difference would be extremely small, probably even hard to measure.
Florunner78
New member
@Dobinsons_Mike any updates on the non-res version you mentioned in this thread? https://www.toyota-4runner.org/2717142-post19.html
Crikeymike
Senior Member
Crikeymike
Senior Member
We can special-order them as needed, but won't be stocking them. They're priced halfway between our twin tubes and resi shocks, but it's not enough of a savings for most to want to buy them.
bowhun2r
Member
My bad. Imaged a new laptop and typed Dobinsons and I didn't notice the redirect sent me to Dobinsonsprings.com. And of course my history was wiped when I did the re-imaging so thought the site had changed.
Thanks,
MAST4R
New member
C59-238 review
I am now at 1640 total miles on my C59-238 (all shocks + rear springs are stock) and 207 of these have been off-pavement. Front lift is now 1 1/8 at fenders and 1 3/8 at front skid.
The 207 off-pavement miles include a great variety of AZ desert terrain on trails ranging from one difficult to smooth dirt roads but no big rocks. I went over a 15" rock and that's about it, all others have been a foot or less. I had no issues on the 6 low-end difficult rocky trails we did in the fully stock setup so that was not a reason I wanted the C59-238s.
Here are the concerns with the stock front coils and the results from switching to Dobinsons.
1/Generally, I want 10+ inches of clearance to a solid front skid. My RCI armor dropped me from 9.6 stock to 8.75 at which point I was hitting too much: not on hard trails but on trails where speeds vary often and by a lot. Also, due to fatigue on long days. Currently, I am at 10 1/8 for a 1 3/8 gain whereas I only hoped for 0.75-1".
2/The stock front coils were fine for me in Utah and Montana but proved too soft on easy desert trails and rough desert dirt roads in AZ causing unnecessarily low speeds over the endless drainages, wash entries/exits, etc. Adding insult to injury, braking late meant diving right on top of whatever I was trying to avoid. Well, the Dobinsons C59-238 have made a tremendous difference. Speeds are normal now, not racing of course, just not unnecessarily low. Not having to brake for every dip has reduced fatigue and comfort has improved tremendously as well. I have been extremely impressed.
3/ There has been improvement in on-pavement cornering and handling though a high CoG, BoF vehicle is what it is at high interstate speeds. More importantly, the ride is very smooth, so the springs are both more capable and same (on road) or more comfortable (off road) than stock.
Conclusion: by absorbing constant undulations on desert terrain far better than the stock coils, the Dobinsons C59-238 have made a big improvement to our comfort and to my fatigue, both of which are extremely important on long days out there. The coils have also added always precious front clearance and have even been beneficial on road. At 1 1/8" lift and no craziness, I do not expect them to cause premature failure of the stock shocks.
Downside: they make you think in a wallet-opening direction: if the Dobinsons coils make this much difference, what difference would their shocks (especially MRRs) make...? These coils should have been the stock ones.
I am now at 1640 total miles on my C59-238 (all shocks + rear springs are stock) and 207 of these have been off-pavement. Front lift is now 1 1/8 at fenders and 1 3/8 at front skid.
The 207 off-pavement miles include a great variety of AZ desert terrain on trails ranging from one difficult to smooth dirt roads but no big rocks. I went over a 15" rock and that's about it, all others have been a foot or less. I had no issues on the 6 low-end difficult rocky trails we did in the fully stock setup so that was not a reason I wanted the C59-238s.
Here are the concerns with the stock front coils and the results from switching to Dobinsons.
1/Generally, I want 10+ inches of clearance to a solid front skid. My RCI armor dropped me from 9.6 stock to 8.75 at which point I was hitting too much: not on hard trails but on trails where speeds vary often and by a lot. Also, due to fatigue on long days. Currently, I am at 10 1/8 for a 1 3/8 gain whereas I only hoped for 0.75-1".
2/The stock front coils were fine for me in Utah and Montana but proved too soft on easy desert trails and rough desert dirt roads in AZ causing unnecessarily low speeds over the endless drainages, wash entries/exits, etc. Adding insult to injury, braking late meant diving right on top of whatever I was trying to avoid. Well, the Dobinsons C59-238 have made a tremendous difference. Speeds are normal now, not racing of course, just not unnecessarily low. Not having to brake for every dip has reduced fatigue and comfort has improved tremendously as well. I have been extremely impressed.
3/ There has been improvement in on-pavement cornering and handling though a high CoG, BoF vehicle is what it is at high interstate speeds. More importantly, the ride is very smooth, so the springs are both more capable and same (on road) or more comfortable (off road) than stock.
Conclusion: by absorbing constant undulations on desert terrain far better than the stock coils, the Dobinsons C59-238 have made a big improvement to our comfort and to my fatigue, both of which are extremely important on long days out there. The coils have also added always precious front clearance and have even been beneficial on road. At 1 1/8" lift and no craziness, I do not expect them to cause premature failure of the stock shocks.
Downside: they make you think in a wallet-opening direction: if the Dobinsons coils make this much difference, what difference would their shocks (especially MRRs) make...? These coils should have been the stock ones.
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91324
New member
Dobinsons 5th Gen T4R Suspension options - lots of choices
Soooo, I was going to do 302/325 to get a raised and leveled 2.5” on my 18 SR5P that has 3rd row seating (150 lbs) but now I’m wondering if I should or not.
I currently have 5100s all around. A few folks on the FB groups said 5100s and Dobinsons don’t mix well because the springs are designed to carry weight and the 5100s are a softer valve shock so performance will suffer and my 5100s will break down and leak more quickly. Is that true? My 5100s don’t even have 1500 miles on them. Don’t want to take a loss on those so soon.
Thoughts? How many of you are running 5100s with Dobinsons and have you run into these types of issues?
@Dobinsons_Mike - would you recommend I go with the 300/325 or the 302/325? If I went with the 300 over the 302 in the front, then my rear would sit higher up than the front, correct? The 300s show 2” and the 302s show 2.5”. The 325s for the rear show 2” to 2.25”. I also see the 505s for the rear which show 1.25” to 1.5”. I have no idea what way to go..? [emoji20]
I don’t plan on having any heavy modifications to the front or the rear. I wanted a leveled 2.5” with as little rake as possible (150 lb third row seats). Any advice you could offer would be appreciated, sir.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Soooo, I was going to do 302/325 to get a raised and leveled 2.5” on my 18 SR5P that has 3rd row seating (150 lbs) but now I’m wondering if I should or not.
I currently have 5100s all around. A few folks on the FB groups said 5100s and Dobinsons don’t mix well because the springs are designed to carry weight and the 5100s are a softer valve shock so performance will suffer and my 5100s will break down and leak more quickly. Is that true? My 5100s don’t even have 1500 miles on them. Don’t want to take a loss on those so soon.
Thoughts? How many of you are running 5100s with Dobinsons and have you run into these types of issues?
@Dobinsons_Mike - would you recommend I go with the 300/325 or the 302/325? If I went with the 300 over the 302 in the front, then my rear would sit higher up than the front, correct? The 300s show 2” and the 302s show 2.5”. The 325s for the rear show 2” to 2.25”. I also see the 505s for the rear which show 1.25” to 1.5”. I have no idea what way to go..? [emoji20]
I don’t plan on having any heavy modifications to the front or the rear. I wanted a leveled 2.5” with as little rake as possible (150 lb third row seats). Any advice you could offer would be appreciated, sir.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thanks for the write-up and review on these as generally not many people go this route.
It's the route I plan to take but I'm torn between just doing the front coils or doing front coils + struts + rear shocks.
Front coils only would be least expensive, but then I'd either have to do the install myself, which I kind of hate doing spring swaps on struts, or pay someone else to install them, which may end up costing as much as assembled coils/struts + rear shocks directly from Dobinson anyway!
And also, as you mentioned, the "what if" of just doing the better shocks/struts up front and seeing how much difference it makes.
