King Shocks and other coilover options? ARB? Fox?

[AgRN16]

Great post and thank you!
Any reason you did not go with the Dobinsons billet UCA's? Why the Camburg?
Did you preset the Dobinsons coilovers for 2.6" of lift prior to install (I believe they are 1"-3" adjustable).
No panhard rod? Was it not necessary?
Thanks again and glad you are stoked.

I'm not sure why Doetsch went with Camburg UCAs. It was installed i believe around last September or October, it may be that at that time Dobinsons still hadn't developed them yet.

Yes it does have the panhard rods replaced. They went with Dobinsons Rear Adjustable Panhard rod PR59-1421 in the rear.

As to the height, I think it has more to do with the overall weight of the vehicle with existing mods. I could be wrong about that though.

 

[LCOceans]

I will soon have the Dobinsons billet UCAs, the draw back to them is you have to press out your old upper ball joints and press them into the new arms. If I would have known that prior to purchase I would have gotten different UCAs. I'm not fan of anything Uniball, heim or that uses poly bushings vice rubber on a daily driver though as it adds harshness and sources for noise and most of the offerings available use one or more of the aforementioned in their UCAs.

Nothing really wrong with the Dobinsons UCAs but currently nobody makes an upper ball joint yet (Toyota decided to change to new never before used size for this platform) and nobody that I could find could tell me of anything pre existing that would work as of yet?

Toyota doesn't sell the upper ball joint, you have to by the entire arm with the ball joint for which it doesn't come with the ball joint dust boot and retaining ring for some odd reason and the maintenance literature states those items aren't re-useable?? I was hoping to at least get my hands on some upper ball joints so I could install them in the new UCAs prior to beginning the lift install. Instead I bought a shop press so I can press out and back in myself to limit the down time during install.

The Dobby UCAs do come with the required press adapters to safely press out and in though so that is a plus.

Everyone I spoke to said if you want the rear axle centered properly and to stay within factory alignment an adjustable panhard is a must for anything beyond 1" of rear lift, was told at less than 1" it will still be in spec but will not be centered at any lift above stock. They also mentioned to steer clear of on vehicle adjustable panhards as they have a tendency to come loose.

I'll be measuring all the pinion angles in stock configuration when I get ready to install my setup to determine if rear upper and lower four link bars are needed or not? I'm sure the pinion angles will change but I wanna see where it lands before I determine if those are necessary or not? There is the potential to be eating U-joints if the angles are too high or not inversely matching one another on the drive shafts and have the possibility of running the pinion bearing dry destroying the pumpkin as well. You can physically feel the vibration while driving from having the u-joint angles not matching sort like a unbalance tire feels and get worse the faster you go.

I wish someone made front adjustable sway bar end links, that is the only void I see in all manufacturers offerings. Any amount of lift is going to preload the front sway bar limiting articulation with SDM inactive and stiffening up the cornering, probably making the ride slightly more harsh on road or at speeds above SDM disconnect capabilities, although it may produce better cornering on the road similar to adding a larger sway bar.

King has front and rear sway bar end links but they aren't adjustable (front or rear) and aren't any longer (front) just beefier and they use either uniball or heim joints so that can lead to suspension clunks either from new or as it ages and the price for those is ridiculous for what your getting IMO.

As for the Dobinsons billet UCA's and pressing out the ball joint - I don't really understand exactly but can imagine. You are taking out the existing ball joint in the OEM UCA's and reusing it in the new Dobby UCA's I think. At least this is what I was told by my local installer. He said a major pain in the A** to do but he has the machine to do it. I have heard a lot of discussion about these UCA's. I know I will need them, but what brand? I read some brands need lots of maintenance and lubrication and others it seems do not. Icon have some special ball joint technology? Are the Dobby's good once you deal with the ball joint? Compared to Icon? Total chaos? Any others better?

Some say for 1-3" lift you will need rear sway bar links, and others saying you do not need them. I think Dobinsons has them. As does Icon. I wish there was a definitive source for this information. Maybe much is just individual preference and how hard you plan to off-road.

 

[t3lcfe]

As for the Dobinsons billet UCA's and pressing out the ball joint - I don't really understand exactly but can imagine. You are taking out the existing ball joint in the OEM UCA's and reusing it in the new Dobby UCA's I think. At least this is what I was told by my local installer. He said a major pain in the A** to do but he has the machine to do it. I have heard a lot of discussion about these UCA's. I know I will need them, but what brand? I read some brands need lots of maintenance and lubrication and others it seems do not. Icon have some special ball joint technology? Are the Dobby's good once you deal with the ball joint? Compared to Icon? Total chaos? Any others better?

Some say for 1-3" lift you will need rear sway bar links, and others saying you do not need them. I think Dobinsons has them. As does Icon. I wish there was a definitive source for this information. Maybe much is just individual preference and how hard you plan to off-road.

Man…a lot of “talks” and “discussions” here. Some come to “super complicate” things now without “real life” test/use ;(

My “2-cent real life experience” from my current selected suspension setup and had been used with my LC: super smooth, super happy and never look back anything else worth every cents smiles everyday I drive “her”

 

[Bad1975]

As for the Dobinsons billet UCA's and pressing out the ball joint - I don't really understand exactly but can imagine. You are taking out the existing ball joint in the OEM UCA's and reusing it in the new Dobby UCA's I think. At least this is what I was told by my local installer. He said a major pain in the A** to do but he has the machine to do it. I have heard a lot of discussion about these UCA's. I know I will need them, but what brand? I read some brands need lots of maintenance and lubrication and others it seems do not. Icon have some special ball joint technology? Are the Dobby's good once you deal with the ball joint? Compared to Icon? Total chaos? Any others better?

Some say for 1-3" lift you will need rear sway bar links, and others saying you do not need them. I think Dobinsons has them. As does Icon. I wish there was a definitive source for this information. Maybe much is just individual preference and how hard you plan to off-road.

Pressing a ball joint in and out isn't hard, agree its a pain though. The arms will be no maintenance when done just like OEM.

You do need longer End links if you want to try and maintain the same sway bar tuning as Toyota designed it.

Man…a lot of “talks” and “discussions” here. Some come to “super complicate” things now without “real life” test/use ;(

My “2-cent real life experience” from my current selected suspension setup and had been used with my LC: super smooth, super happy and never look back anything else worth every cents smiles everyday I drive “her”

I hope your not talking about me, you couldn't be more wrong if so. I've likely been offroading longer than you've been alive and I've installed and used seven different suspension systems for offroad and two for road and track and none of them were cheap junk so I may know a thing or two.

 

[LCOceans]

Pressing a ball joint in and out isn't hard, agree its a pain though. The arms will be no maintenance when done just like OEM.

You do need longer End links if you want to try and maintain the same sway bar tuning as Toyota designed it.


I hope your not talking about me, you couldn't be more wrong if so. I've likely been offroading longer than you've been alive and I've installed and used seven different suspension systems for offroad and two for road and track and none of them were cheap junk so I may know a thing or two.

Thanks.
And he is probably talking about me. I am clueless and probably making a larger deal of this than I should. Point made and heard. No worries.

 

[Bad1975]

Found some possible suitable front adjustable end links from Eibach, waiting on a response as to there suitability for offroad use. UEL-12-115HD (Adjustable from 115mm-140mm) Stock fronts are approx. 95mm long and are using M12 Bolt through the bottom and M12 stud through the top. Would prefer ball joints end construction but couldn't find anything with a suitable range. $153.00 but will need bolts, spacers and nuts so all in about $200.00

The Eibach part should be suitable for lift ranges of 1.5"-3" while keeping the front sway bar neutral at new ride height.

 

[Bad1975]

Heard back from Eibach, not very helpful response to the questions I asked.

But I think I’ll give them a go.

Also been talking to a legend in Land Cruiser community and there will be a new lift coming soon, just saw pics today after they finished install but can’t share details yet.

I’d probably have went with what’s coming had I not already purchased all the Dobinsons kit.

 

[AgRN16]

Heard back from Eibach, not very helpful response to the questions I asked.

But I think I’ll give them a go.

Also been talking to a legend in Land Cruiser community and there will be a new lift coming soon, just saw pics today after they finished install but can’t share details yet.

I’d probably have went with what’s coming had I not already purchased all the Dobinsons kit.

Ide be very surprised if your not very pleased with the dobinsons suspension

 

[Bad1975]

Ide be very surprised if your not very pleased with the dobinsons suspension

No doubts about that, I have the full IMS on my 40 series and its perfect.

 

[LCOceans]

Heard back from Eibach, not very helpful response to the questions I asked.

But I think I’ll give them a go.

Also been talking to a legend in Land Cruiser community and there will be a new lift coming soon, just saw pics today after they finished install but can’t share details yet.

I’d probably have went with what’s coming had I not already purchased all the Dobinsons kit.

Thanks for the heads up on this.

 

[KND208]

Also been talking to a legend in Land Cruiser community and there will be a new lift coming soon, just saw pics today after they finished install but can’t share details yet.

I’d probably have went with what’s coming had I not already purchased all the Dobinsons kit.

What kind of time frame ya talking? Wife's new LC comes in a couple of weeks and I'm shopping between the Dobinsons, Radflo, and Eibach's that are allegedly supposed to to be out at the end of the month

 

[Bad1975]

Not sure yet protype was fitted yesterday for testing. If all goes well details will be released within two weeks.

 

[MAC25LC]

New to the LC, but I know on the newer Tundra, you needed to replace the CV Axles do to the angle if going over 2’’, would this be the same on the LC, also they recommend extended brake lines.

 

[Bad1975]

Diff drop kit is required over 2” to correct CV angles, not sure on brake lines, but I’ll find out here shortly when I do the install.

 

[AgRN16]

New to the LC, but I know on the newer Tundra, you needed to replace the CV Axles do to the angle if going over 2’’, would this be the same on the LC, also they recommend extended brake lines.

On ours we are at 2.6 inches of lift. The front diff is dropped, and there are Adjustable panhard rods in the rear. I don't know if anything was required with the break lines.