Dobinsons Lift Installed

Hi all. Thanks to this forum the truck is coming along... Big day today with the Dobinsons lift going in. 1.8" up front and 1.2"in the rear. Only been 30 miles but super happy with the ride and the alignment appears to be pretty good.

I did elect to do the optional Dobinsons diff drop, which to be frank, probably doesn't make a difference.. but the CV angles appear to be pretty good.

Sharing some early pics! Cheers!

 

Looks really good! This is the basic dobinsons kit, correct? I've been thinking about a new suspension for mine, this is high up on the list.

I know you haven't had it long, but how does the ride compared to stock?

 

Yes that's correct, not the IMS line but rather the base GS Series shocks.

Regarding the ride, the thirty miles home were great. Still supple enough to soak up bumps, nose dive greatly diminished, body roll less prominent. Most importantly for me, and I think has a lot to do with the alignment as well, no vibrations and no odd felt Road dynamics up to 80MPH (Darty or inconsistent feel etc.) Smooth as silk.

 

Which front coils & rear springs did you use?

 

gs59-700 front shocks
C59-300 front springs
Gs59-701 rear shocks
C59-599 rear springs

 

Congrats with your new lift, the more you drive it, the more you're going to love it.

 

Thanks brother!

 

Did you get new UCAs or were you able to get those caster numbers on the stock ones?

 

Stock UCA's.

 

Did you install this, or have a shop do the install?

From the photos, it doesn't seem the diff drop was really necessary.

 

Shop did it. I agree. I would've saved the 50 bucks for the kit if I did it again but given it's in I'll just leave it.

 

Thanks. I was just curious if the springs & struts came assembled. If a shop did it, it wouldn't matter.

As far as the diff drop, it only comes into play when installing some aftermarket skid plates.

 

I was highly involved in the ordering process and can confirm they did not come assembled. Dobinsons does offer that but I think assembled sets add weeks to the lead time.

Regarding skid plate, yeah, I agree. I know people struggle with the TRD pro skids with diff drops as well but my "basic" OEM one didn't appear to go on with struggle - or at least it wasn't noted by the team. I'll crawl under today when I retorque wheels and see if I notice any bolts stripped or mangled.

 

My lift: Front 2.7/3" - rear 1.7" - Tires Bfg KO 2's 285/70/17 on Pro rims. No aftermarket UCA's, no diff drop - No rubbing on full lock not even on some difficult trails in Moab, no noises, drives perfect on/off-road.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/moab-ut-with-dobinson’s-lift-and-bfg-ko2-285-70-17.20940/

 

wow, you got those caster numbers on stocks UCAs? Sounds like i need to find a better alignment. I am running the same setup and the tech said he maxed out camber adjustment and I'm only at like 2.6/7.

 

Yeah, I was shocked. I would celebrate more with you.. but I literally had these wheels and tires for 8k miles WITHOUT the lift with no rub and with the lift I rub in full lock in reverse. I'm either going to leave it or push the liner back. Haven't decided yet.

 

Yes, a good alignment does the job, the shop that did my alignment is specialized. They work most for body shops doing alignments for heavy wrecked rigs. I use my 4R mostly for recreational purpose (off-road fun) mostly rock-crawling in the 4 corners area.

 

Looks good! Dobs are getting pretty popular around here!

Are you at the same height as the OP? It's usually closer to 3" where UCA's become necessary to get alignment in spec. If you're below ~2.5" they should absolutely be able to get it right with stock UCA's.

 

Interesting. I’m closer to 1.5”/1” and I also struggled to get caster over 2.7. I wonder if there is some trick to it, because I have the LCA as far forward as I could get it without throwing camber out.

 

Weird. I wish I understood this better. It seems pretty consistent that UCA's aren't necessary until you get to around 3" of lift. But, some shops seem better than others at alignment.

 

I think, your alignment is not correct. When you mentioned 2.7 I taught you where talking about Front lift! Because I wrote my front height is around 2.7-3". Caster is what need to be right.

 

My dobs came out closer to a 3 in lift, and they were only able to get mid 2’s on caster as well. Feels fine on the road. I have 265’s so I dont need to worry about rub yet. If I go to bigger tires, im thinking Ill need UCAs
Although, I should check to see if the springs have settled down any…

 

If I may ask, why do you think that? With 285's its only .6" higher, measured from the differential.

 

I guess a lot of people report rubbing with stock UCA. I’m suspecting that my alignment doesn’t push the tire far enough forward, so I’m bracing myself for that possibility.

That said, you got away without rub, and you have Pro wheels as well (correct?)

@Thatbassguy When you got your 285s, were you on stock wheels? Did you get any rub?

 

I had the Pro-Comp '05's when I went to 285's. They're -6mm offset, which caused some rubbing even with stock size tires.

The BMC, mudflaps, bumper cuts, alignment, or some combination thereof fixed the rubbing. I wish I could narrow it down, but I'm really not sure what fixed it.

 

its the added width that would be more of a concern regarding rubbing. that's one of the reasons some people go to 255/80's instead of 285/70's

 

Good point! This is another reason skinnies are so popular.

 

Seriously, I don't get it.

 

Let's see a pic stuffed, at full lock!

But, seriously. It seems that most folks aren't able to get alignment in spec with stock UCA's above ~2.5 - 3" lift.

 

KO2's do generally run small...