HiluxSurf SSR-G
Senior Member
what happened to the King shocks? last time i read about them was you were planning to have them revalved.
Dobinsons IMS 2-3" Lift Details and Review
- Thread starter JZiggy
- Start date
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KDSS might limit the length of the rear shock you can use, not sure at this time. The only way to know is to get one and test it. Should not be a big deal as the LC200 has good lift options with KDSS.
Dunno if the 120 platform suspension components will work on the new platform.
KDSS might limit the length of the rear shock you can use, not sure at this time. The only way to know is to get one and test it. Should not be a big deal as the LC200 has good lift options with KDSS.
Dunno if the 120 platform suspension components will work on the new platform.
Here in the 3rd gen section (96-02) none of us have KDSS. I’m willing to bet some of us don’t even have working ABS right now lol
jross20
New member
Oh sorry, I thought I posted about that but maybe I didn't... Yeah so I sent them up to king, I explained to them exactly what they felt like and what I was looking for. I got them back and honestly to me it feels like there's maybe a 5 to 10% difference. Pretty much didn't help at all. And of course you know you only get one freebie...
Seeing as how the dobinsons are half the price just about half the price, to me if they end up writing better that's completely worth it even if maybe say technically the Kings can handle more... I'll probably never push them to the max anyway.
jross20
New member
Oh wow I missed that.
"IMS59-50705: rear shocks for the N215 and N285 4Runner
Extended length -- 23.23"
Compressed length -- 13.98" "
Okay so that would actually be just about as much shock travel as the Land cruiser shocks I think. Basically the best possible. I'll have to reach out to dobinsons to see if they might be willing to do an exchange and also if they might be willing to build that 705 with Val entine to give it a plus ride
If they will be willing to do that, I think that would be the perfect dobinsons shock for 3rd gens.
Might be worth trying without a revalve just to see how close they are in terms of ride quality
jross20
New member
Well seeing as how the rear shocks are complete pain to change... And specifically for me I can't really do it myself with my neck problem. (I can only do a few things under the truck without hurting my neck, messed it up a few years ago)
Basically I'm really hoping for a one and done situation vs spending a lot of time and money. I haven't been satisfied with just about any of the available 3rd gen shocks, and based on the conversation I had with a guy named David from dobinsons, he seemed to understand what I wanted and had suggested a custom valving. Since we had that conversation I think he's got a pretty good idea of what I want, so I just asked him if that same valving, what I'm looking for, could be applied to the other one.
I'm sure for me, the 4th gen One stock would be way too stiff... I mean hell just about every shock made for 3rd gens I've tried I think is too stiff lol
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
Well the jury is still out on this, IMO. I bought the Dobinson's IMS set last summer, and the ride was very harsh. After much back and forth with them, they told me to send the shocks back for revalving. I received the fronts back, and the ride is 1000 times better. But they still have not revavled my rear shocks, they are waiting for parts from Australia (going on 4 months now). David is the man to talk to, but I would not count on a "one and done".
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jross20
New member
Yeah I did ask David about that situation; he said that it was not a problem anymore... But he then said that there was some other kind of valving that they could do that he claimed might work for what I described that I wanted. This is what we did for the pair that I ordered, although that was before I realized how incredibly short they were. Practically stock length. And seeing as how I put in a decent bit of effort to get a lot of flex in the back for my build I thought that it didn't make sense to keep a stock length shock...
So now we are talking about revolving a 4th gen 4runner IMS shock such that it would ride plush on a 3rd gen. I don't recall the measurements but I have them somewhere... They actually would be pretty fantastic for our trucks IMHO. Really long travel but the shock is still under 14 in compressed. Like... 9.25" of shock travel vs the 3rd gen IMS being something like 7.25" or 7.5". I think stock is 7.15" roughly?
JZiggy
Senior Member
Now that you have both ends revalved how do you judge the ride quality?
162435
New member
I've exchanged a few PM's with jZiggy regarding my Dobinsons IMS setup.
After my initial IMS shock & spring purchase at the end of last year, I purchased two more sets of springs from Dobinsons before landing on the setup I have now.
As such, I have 4 sets/pairs of springs available at a substantial discount. They are already cleaned, shrink wrapped, and re-boxed.
Dobinsons springs for sale
Andreas
After my initial IMS shock & spring purchase at the end of last year, I purchased two more sets of springs from Dobinsons before landing on the setup I have now.
As such, I have 4 sets/pairs of springs available at a substantial discount. They are already cleaned, shrink wrapped, and re-boxed.
Dobinsons springs for sale
Andreas
JZiggy
Senior Member
So some updates on this lift after a year+ of running it. After some months I questioned if the ride was too harsh for daily, despite the great performance in soaking up big bumps and being really stable on and off road. I spoke with David at Dobinsons and learned that after they released the IMS products they later revised the shock valving to soften it up. My shocks had the old valving so I sent them in to Dobinsons and they revalved them free of cost -- great customer service on the part of Dobinsons.
The softened IMS shocks ride a lot better both on and off road. It's still not a plush ride but that's OK. Driving around town I don't feel all the little bumps on the road. I believe the new valving accommodates the small displacement input with a lower damping factor. My wife immediately noticed the difference and agreed that she likes the ride quality much more. I also had the chance to bomb around offroad a few times and it is definitely improved in that scenario. It's certainly not a harsh ride but still firm. What I have also noticed is that when running with extra weight (cargo and passengers) it rides even better, and the strong response from the shocks helps keep it under control -- certainly no floating feeling and never any crashing over big bumps. It soaks up whoops even better now. Sometimes I'll hit a speed hump at 45 mph+ and watch my passenger(s) brace for impact, only to be amazed at the lack thereof
The softened IMS shocks ride a lot better both on and off road. It's still not a plush ride but that's OK. Driving around town I don't feel all the little bumps on the road. I believe the new valving accommodates the small displacement input with a lower damping factor. My wife immediately noticed the difference and agreed that she likes the ride quality much more. I also had the chance to bomb around offroad a few times and it is definitely improved in that scenario. It's certainly not a harsh ride but still firm. What I have also noticed is that when running with extra weight (cargo and passengers) it rides even better, and the strong response from the shocks helps keep it under control -- certainly no floating feeling and never any crashing over big bumps. It soaks up whoops even better now. Sometimes I'll hit a speed hump at 45 mph+ and watch my passenger(s) brace for impact, only to be amazed at the lack thereof
I'm curious what your current shock/spring setup is nowI've exchanged a few PM's with jZiggy regarding my Dobinsons IMS setup.
After my initial IMS shock & spring purchase at the end of last year, I purchased two more sets of springs from Dobinsons before landing on the setup I have now.
As such, I have 4 sets/pairs of springs available at a substantial discount. They are already cleaned, shrink wrapped, and re-boxed.
Dobinsons springs for sale
Andreas
GhostRing
Member
I wanted to throw my IMS experience so far into the mix...
I purchased them a few months ago, PN IMS59-50222, so I am assuming they have the most current valving.
I have my front (Tundra TRD coils) adjusted to what would have been the lowest groove on a 5-way 5100.
No extra weight (yet) up front, but they're used in conjunction with SPC arms and Whitelined lowers.
The ride is pleasantly firmed up on road and particularly supportive at speed off road, but I am finding it a bit on the "resistant"
side on medium-speed trails (5-20mph) I have assumed my combo is likely best suited to some extra weight up front,
so I am not going to fault the current valving. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to trying a few different coils to see what
changes. I just wish it was slightly easier to switch things out - I'm currently using the vehicle itself as a spring compressor.
My biggest issue however, is a loud CRICK! type of sound that occasionally comes from somewhere up front that I can't
quite zero in on. I thought it might be too-loose top hat bushings, but I used Dob's guidance for bushing squish and no change.
It's likely user error somewhere - as I have changed many things up front at the same time, but still a bit frustrating as it never
made any noise even with leaking 5100s, missing CV boots, and completely roached bushings all around.
Could the TRD coil potentially be a weird fit? I only speculate that as my coil seat to bolt center height is 152mm - far from 213mm
and maybe it's creating some less-than-ideal cycling or coil clearance issues.
I have a set of 4th Gen rear 50701 IMS shocks waiting to meet my 890s once I get off my @ss to fab some outboard mounts.
Dobinsons stated they are the freshest batch that should be a good match - even for a 3rd Gen, and that the 50705 would
be phased out leaving the 701 as the remaining option. I'm happy to share my experience with them if y'all are interested...
I purchased them a few months ago, PN IMS59-50222, so I am assuming they have the most current valving.
I have my front (Tundra TRD coils) adjusted to what would have been the lowest groove on a 5-way 5100.
No extra weight (yet) up front, but they're used in conjunction with SPC arms and Whitelined lowers.
The ride is pleasantly firmed up on road and particularly supportive at speed off road, but I am finding it a bit on the "resistant"
side on medium-speed trails (5-20mph) I have assumed my combo is likely best suited to some extra weight up front,
so I am not going to fault the current valving. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to trying a few different coils to see what
changes. I just wish it was slightly easier to switch things out - I'm currently using the vehicle itself as a spring compressor.
My biggest issue however, is a loud CRICK! type of sound that occasionally comes from somewhere up front that I can't
quite zero in on. I thought it might be too-loose top hat bushings, but I used Dob's guidance for bushing squish and no change.
It's likely user error somewhere - as I have changed many things up front at the same time, but still a bit frustrating as it never
made any noise even with leaking 5100s, missing CV boots, and completely roached bushings all around.
Could the TRD coil potentially be a weird fit? I only speculate that as my coil seat to bolt center height is 152mm - far from 213mm
and maybe it's creating some less-than-ideal cycling or coil clearance issues.
I have a set of 4th Gen rear 50701 IMS shocks waiting to meet my 890s once I get off my @ss to fab some outboard mounts.
Dobinsons stated they are the freshest batch that should be a good match - even for a 3rd Gen, and that the 50705 would
be phased out leaving the 701 as the remaining option. I'm happy to share my experience with them if y'all are interested...
I would suspect that it's the tundra coils not playing well with the tophat or the bottom spring mount. It also sounds like softer rated coil springs would benefit your ride quality. With no extra weight up front I would think the dobinson c59-276 springs would be a good fit for you. https://exitoffroad.com/product/dobinsons-c59-276/ You might see if [MENTION=710615]162435[/MENTION] will sell you them FS: (4) sets of Dobinsons springs for 3rd gen 4R, Maryland
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
I'm very happy with the revalved shocks, it's a joy to drive the truck (and for comparison, the ride was so bad with the original set of Dobinson's that I was beginning to dread driving it).
I can't imagine anyone being happy with the early set they marketed. I know ride quality is subjective, but if it were me, I'd do a recall of all those early units and update them to the new version. But they didn't ask me for my opinion
.
rickashay
New member
I'm very happy with the revalved shocks, it's a joy to drive the truck (and for comparison, the ride was so bad with the original set of Dobinson's that I was beginning to dread driving it).
I can't imagine anyone being happy with the early set they marketed. I know ride quality is subjective, but if it were me, I'd do a recall of all those early units and update them to the new version. But they didn't ask me for my opinion
This is great feedback. Been thinking of trying the IMS fronts paired with a 4th Gen MRR rear.
HiluxSurf SSR-G
Senior Member
about the front IMS shocks for the 3rd gen, is there enough adjustment thread if in case you want to lower the ride height if in case one has a "longer-than-stock" length of coil springs?
