Dobinsons IMS 2-3" Lift Details and Review

[JZiggy]

After nearly 5 years of stubbornly refusing to mess with lifting my 4Runner I finally decided to give in. I'm already regeared and running the tire size I want (265/75R16) and am comfortable with the ofroad capability with dual TrueTracs and a bit of armor. I wanted to improve the ride quality, get a bit more clearance, and try something different. The latter reason is why I went with Dobinsons... there's just not a lot of feedback in the 3rd gen world but the Landcruiser, 4th gen, and 5th gen guys seem to love their products -- though they typically spend more money modding their rigs than we do!!

Stuff I bought for the lift:
Front springs: C59-276 (2" lift, light/med load)
Rear springs: C59-131 (2" lift linear, light/medium)
IMS adjustable height front shock: IMS59-50222
IMS rear shocks: IMS59-50225
JBA upper control arms

I was able to snag this stuff just before Dobinsons raised their prices. Mike at Exit Offroad was a great technical sales rep to work with and helped me work out warehouse pickup to save yet a few more bucks.

I'll write up the details in a few posts here so that there's enough space for pictures. I found personally when trolling for info on prior lifts there was never enough complete information (what did you use? did it all work ok? how do you like it? do you still like it??)

Parts en route

Front and rear shocks

JBA UCAs (purchased direct from JBA, also a nice company to work with)

Shoutout to [MENTION=609620]cheezPoof_4x[/MENTION] for having the first real 3rd gen Dobinsons lift review I could find on the forum. This helped me make the decision to go ahead with it.

 

[JZiggy]

Before lift information

Let's start with some before information so folks can see where I started. I was running 99 talls front & rear and Bilstein 4600s which I installed in late 2016. I also had AirLift bags in the rear coils. The ride with the setup has always been good and did fine offroad as well. No serious complaints about this prior setup. However, even with DuraBumps the suspension never did a good job at soaking up big bumps and would "crash" when going over speedbumps fast or dipping into a pit on the trail. I chalk some of this up to a lack of uptravel and the shocks not really having the damping capacity for heavy impacts.

Some before lift ride height shots:

Fender-to-hub measurements were 20" in front and 21.5" in rear. I do have a 10mm OME trim packer on the rear driver's spring to correct the lean. Measurements taken with a full tank and spare tire in place and no gear in the back.

Front control arm is basically level with CVs having essentially no angle

Rear panhard sits nearly level

 

[JZiggy]

Let me begin with this... A HUGE shoutout is due to [MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] for his help in installing and dialing in this lift. I'm consistently blown away by the amazing folks I meet in the 4Runner community. Nothing quite like making friends over wrenches and beer!

Ride height update after adjustments as of 5/27:
Front fender-to-hub = 22"
Rear fender-to-hub = 23.75"

I chose the Dobinsons IMS shocks over their standard twin-tubes for this lift. The cost was 2x but I wanted to prioritize long term ride quality and liked the adjustability of the front coils. The IMS shocks are basically a premium monotube shock with a really nice build quality. These shocks easily weigh twice that of the Bilsteins I removed. Big bore, heavy walls, and a big shaft -- can't be a bad thing, right??

Rear shock shaft detail:

My target lift was to get 2" in front and rear and retain the ~1.5" rear rake. I planned to retain the airbags as well to allow me to pump them up when loading up the rear or using the hitch carrier. This allowed me to forgo heavy load or progressive rear springs. I also don't have any significant armor weight so I chose light duty springs to prioritize ride softness.

Rear spring comparison:

The front struts have adjustable seats. The recommendation was to start with the stock preload setting of 164mm = 6 7/16". This is measured from the bottom notch of the spring seat to the shock eye. I started with this setting with the intent of backing it down if needed. I also used a new pair of KYB front tophats.

Let's start with some pictures of how to lift turned out from day 1.

I made sure to drive around about 100 miles or so and hit some bumps to help thing settle before taking these shots and measuring lift heights. I realize that more settling is expected over the first 500-1000 miles.

The lift netted 3" in the front and about 2" in the rear. Kind of amazing to see how tall the truck seemed at first after this!
[MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] and I later tore back into the front end to drop the front setting a little bit. We utilized the method of compressing the springs on-vehicle. The adjustment nuts had significant load on them so we opted to remove to readjust rather than do it while installed. I chose a setting of 159mm = 6 1/4" which was actually closer to the preload length on the Bilsteins I removed. This dropped the front by about an inch which seems perfect.

New ride height pics:

Suspension:

Some notes on the JBA UCAs. This is a nice kit and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a high caster UCA. Side note JBA is having trouble sourcing their new-style pleated boots so I asked them to send me a kit with the old ones so I could proceed. I'll swap these out a later date when JBA supplies them.

We used a 2-jaw puller to press out the factory balljoints. It was not a picnic and required alternatively heating the upper knuckle with a torch and spraying Kroil on it. Eventually they came out and the UCA adapters could be pressed in, also with a 2-jaw puller. We had to take some care to get the adapters to go in straight as they wanted to cock sideways and then gall against the ID. Prepping the ID with sandpaper and applying a bit of grease helped a lot. I utilized the set of thick washers on either side of the bushings and did not need to use any of the thinner shims the kit came with.

 

[JZiggy]

Ride quality info


Having driven the 4Runner around for a few hundred miles (awaiting an alignment) my first impressions are that the ride quality with this setup is excellent. It's really an improvement from the old suspension.

With the stiffer springs it's a bit more firm but at the same time very planted and controlled. Body roll is reduced (sway bars still attached, awaiting longer endlinks, and also going to do PCK later). No complaints from picky passengers who give overall positive reviews except for the inconvenience of having to climb higher to get in now

Over bumps the suspension is amazing, especially hard bumps. No more crashing at all. The IMS shocks completely soak up the bumps. I have taken folks over speed bumps & humps fast and the body seems to barely move at all. This may be the most differentiating characteristic of the new suspension.

6/4/21 Update: got some time to bump around on some fire roads and some unmaintained trails. The new suspension makes a huge difference in bouncing over ruts and obstacles. I can really bomb down the trail now without the suspension crashing into the bumpstops and feeling excessively harsh. Very controlled and much more comfortable! A couple of poser shots for fun

 

[JZiggy]

Lift corrections and countermeasures - In progress

Due to a boo-boo on my part when loosening the LCA bolts I managed to wipe out two of the cam alignment tabs on the frame. This is what happens if you turn the inner nut with a bazillion pounds of force rather than loosing the bolt like normal people.

This error also boogered the two adjustment cams on that side. My compatriot [MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] hooked me up with replacements and we were able to bend the tabs back with care... and a torch, punched, and a lot of hammering. I'm glad we could correct it this way without having to cut anything off and reweld.

Aaaaaand it all turned out OK. Alignment guy said no issues with the cams and the alignment was actually not far off beforehand. He set the caster to the factory midpoint rather than going to high caster but it drives just fine so I'm not worried about it.

Before & After

I added a 1" spacer to raise the parking brake cable bracket to reduce stress on the cable.

Rear Endlinks

**6/4 I'm actually going to shorten up these endlinks and install Sonoran Steel's bushing relocator bracket which raises the swaybar bushings 1" from the factory location.

Got the rear endlinks fixed up now. I only need about 1" extension and didn't want to drop more $ for some special aftermarket ones or buy some crummy Moog ones from a different application. The shaft of the link is exactly 10mm diameter which makes it easy to thread.

Couple nylock jam nuts and a 70mm M10-1.5 coupling nut. Adjust to get 1" extra length

Before the lift I measured the distance from the swaybar end to the LCA center which was 3". I opted to hit this measurement for the correction.

Front endlinks: After studying the front swaybar angles and checking with Steve at Sonoran Steel I'm satisfied that no endlink adjustments are needed for the front.

Panhard bar correction

Got the Eimkeith PCK and had my local blacksmith weld it in. I ended up using the center hole on the frame side which put me just slightly above level which is perfect -- will still be level with a bit of weight in the back.

My only beef is that the center hole has a step on the inside... I had to make some 12ga shims to correct. All good now.

 

[JZiggy]

Reserved #5 (oughta be enough)

 

[3bears]

nice. Im looking at a similar set up for later this summer. Today just putting on some old stuff to get me through old meaning less than 40k stuff that came off for my last lift as whats on now is shot. Had talls and kybs and went to to a 3 inch.
Im gonna go with the dobsion 2 inch this time, so nice to read your thread

 

[RoRod]

LOL JZiggy, I beat you to the punch by about a week and 2 days! I had this exact kit installed down to the old style JBA's! Only difference is I had the front coils ordered in red to match the UCA's (rears in Dobinsons Teal). The shop that installed seemed lost with these coilovers, installing them initially to a measured lift of 4"! I went back 2 days later after experiencing steering vibration at around 60 miles an hour. They complained of having to remove the coils to adjust down.
As to the ride, Im really liking it. Im experiencing the same as you in regards to speed bumps- just flying through them! Ive got some MT Classic lll's in back of the runner awaiting some Falken Wildpeaks 265/75/16 to wrap them in.
Congrats on your lift and your gorgeous rig!

 

[JZiggy]

LOL JZiggy, I beat you to the punch by about a week and 2 days! I had this exact kit installed down to the old style JBA's! Only difference is I had the front coils ordered in red to match the UCA's (rears in Dobinsons Teal). The shop that installed seemed lost with these coilovers, installing them initially to a measured lift of 4"! I went back 2 days later after experiencing steering vibration at around 60 miles an hour. They complained of having to remove the coils to adjust down.
As to the ride, Im really liking it. Im experiencing the same as you in regards to speed bumps- just flying through them! Ive got some MT Classic lll's in back of the runner awaiting some Falken Wildpeaks 265/75/16 to wrap them in.
Congrats on your lift and your gorgeous rig!

Wow that's awesome, thanks for sharing! Can you post up some pics of your rig? How much overall lift do you get with your setup?

 

[RoRod]

So prior I measured all corners at 20.5" to hub. Post initial install was at 24.5" Im not sure how but thats what I got. It seemed to be "bro leaning" BIG TIME in front. I havent measured the front since but all vibration is gone and its about level now (what I wanted). I tried uploading pics but it failed. Ill keep trying, till I get something up. I go back for a diff drop in 2 weeks. Do you plan or recommend the Panhard bar?

 

[5 Speed Dave]

Thanks for all the details & pics, JZiggy! Great job! I have been considering a Dobinson’s lift since Christmas. About ready to do it.

 

[JZiggy]

So prior I measured all corners at 20.5" to hub. Post initial install was at 24.5" Im not sure how but thats what I got. It seemed to be "bro leaning" BIG TIME in front. I havent measured the front since but all vibration is gone and its about level now (what I wanted). I tried uploading pics but it failed. Ill keep trying, till I get something up. I go back for a diff drop in 2 weeks. Do you plan or recommend the Panhard bar?

The panhard needs to be near level to do its job, so I am planning to put the PCK on maybe next week.

 

[JZiggy]

[MENTION=148378]Crikeymike[/MENTION] Thought you might want to be aware of this discussion, Mike. Also thanks for all the help getting these Dobinsons parts and the technical advise.

 

[WeakSauz]

What is that bracket welded to your panhard bar, near the driver's side with all of the coiled up spring-like material? My 2000 doesnt have that.


Awesome detail on the lift! Dobinsons is top notch- looking awesome.

 

[JZiggy]

What is that bracket welded to your panhard bar, near the driver's side with all of the coiled up spring-like material? My 2000 doesnt have that.


Awesome detail on the lift! Dobinsons is top notch- looking awesome.

Since my truck is non-ABS it has an LSPV to adjust the rear brakes. As that spring stretches (rear end goes up) it reduced brake pressure to the rear.

I will double check the height after installing the PCK.

 

[Devbot]

A shame to hear they raised their prices, they're 210v were already expensive enough buying them. About double the price as the rest.

 

[fourfive]

we were able to bend the tabs back with care... and a torch, punched, and a lot of hammering. I'm glad we could correct it this way without having to cut anything off and reweld.

C-clamps & channel locks also saw some action.

For anyone else that finds themselves in this situation, heating up the cam tab to reshape it back to its original position seemed pretty crucial because we could barely get it to budge before. [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] lighting it up while I held his beer.

C-clamp came in handy to maintain stability while the tab was getting hammered and bent back into shape.

Cam tab fixed & happy.

 

[Devbot]

I was just thinking about this today, and you might have an answer since you were clearly just working on them...
We all know that when removing the LCA bolts they contact the steering rack unless it's swung out of the way or disconnected entirely. But is there any reason one couldn't simply reinstall them from the inside out instead to prevent this in the future?

 

[fourfive]

Doesn't look like it because you would still have to clear the nut side of the cam sleeve and that end would stick out further contacting the itre boot. Would also run the risk of tearing up the itre boot making alignment adjustments.

 

[RoRod]

So the fronts sitting at about 23 1/4" fender to hub. So they dropper it about an inch in front. Shes getting wheels and tires as we speak. done within the hour. I tried posting pics but the files too big. Ill try and re-size later.