1-2.5in Dobinsons IMS Complete Lift Kit / 10-14 FJ Cruiser

Dobinsons

1-2.5in Dobinsons IMS Complete Lift Kit / 10-14 FJ Cruiser

Why We Love It:

Dobinsons provides a phenomenal value in their suspension products from top to bottom. Their range of options allows for fine tuning of the vehicles performance and comfort. Plus, the reliability of Dobnisons products is unmatched!

This kit is a phenomenal mid-level suspension kit for the money. With internal monotubes and adjustability, the ride quality and lift height can be fine tuned to meet your specific needs and goals. Plus, the ride quality is exceptional!

**Please Note: Certain coils may be out of stock in certain colors. If there are any stock issues with the coil color selected, we will reach out with more information. Please feel free to inquire about certain coils in certain colors at any time.**

From Dobinsons:

Complete suspension kit for 4x4 Off Road Use, fine tuned to match the vehicle
Fully re-buildable and re-valvable
vZero shock fade in all terrains with full load
Superior Designed Nitro Gas Monotube Shocks, thicker walls, longer travel
Corrosion resistant (EDP Surface Protection)
Direct, bolt-on replacement for easy fitment
50mm hi-flow CNC 6061 Billet alloy piston
Heavy duty single piece lower leg
Japanese NOK Multi-Lip seals, Fuchs German shock absorber oil, Natural Rubber Bushings for reduced noise vibration and flexibility
High Quality Australian-made coil springs, heat treated, fully scragged, powder coated
Includes 2 Front IMS Struts, 2 Rear IMS Shocks, 4 Coil Springs.
***2.5" or more of lift, new UCA's are recommended***
****Coil seat for IMS59-50220 should be set at 226mm(8.83") for 3 inchesof lift, for 2 inches of lift the coil seat should be set at 213mm(8.38") from the strut bushing eye. Picture black and white on the listing is to reference how to measure. Please check our instructions section or reach out if you have any questions. If done incorrectly you can damage the shocks, springs and vehicle.*****

KDSS Vehicles may not use long travel or lift more than 2" due to KDSS system complications.

Dobinsons offers this complete suspension system for the 2006 to 2009 Toyota FJ Cruiser with a 4.0L V6, with various lift height and coil load options to suit whatever accessory weight you have added to your vehicle, and your desired lift height. Contact Dobinsons directly if you have questions before ordering.

Most customers add 3" of lift to the front and around 2" to the rear, to help level out the vehicle from front to back.

Designed, developed and tested in Australia by Dobinsons Spring & Suspension, in-house suspension design engineers, our 4×4 shock absorbers and coil springs are designed and tested to perform in the harshest conditions right across the world. As we export to over 40 countries worldwide from their Australian head office, the importance of quality is at the forefront in the complete design and manufacturing process. This ensures every shock and coil spring can withstand the blistering heat and corrugations of the Australian outback right through to the subzero temperatures of a Russian winter. Our Twin Tube Nitrogen Gas charged shock absorbers are made from the world’s highest quality external and internal parts sourced worldwide. They provide a significant increase in performance over the standard shock absorbers. Our twin tube shock absorbers feature larger bodies, larger bores and increased valving performance to dramatically improve vehicle handling and control and reduces shock fade. We proudly manufacture the highest quality replacement coil springs for many different applications, complying to ISO9001:2008 international quality standards from our state of the art manufacturing facility in Central Queensland, Australia. All Dobinsons™ coil springs are load tested and scragged 100% to eliminate subsequent spring sag. We also perform spring fatigue and hardness testing using in-house state of the art testing equipment.

***2.5" or more of lift, new UCA's are recommended***

NOTE: For a lift of 3" in the rear, new extended brake lines and minimum of 2" bump stop extensions are required to be used with our long travel rear shocks. At full extension, the stock brake lines could get damaged, and with stock bump stops in place, the shocks will bottom out before the bump stop fully engages, which will quickly destroy the shocks.

A very common question when deciding on your suspension is which spring is going to work best. Ultimately, it depends on the height you want, what extra weight you have, if any, and how you want the vehicle to ride.

Factory Ride Heights

Before you can calculate how much lift you need, it is very important to understand how lift heights are measured and how the factory Toyota suspension sits.

Lift heights from all major manufactures are going to be measured from a new, unmodified 4x4 vehicle unless otherwise noted.

Suspension for trucks will be measured off of a Crew Cab, Short Bed configuration.

Vehicles that had an option for a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine will have the heights measured on the V6 version unless otherwise noted. For newer vehicles with optional hybrid powertrains, any differences in weight will be noted on the lift kit.

**Note: For 4th Gen 4Runners (03-09) that had the optional V8 engine, coils will be noted with a V6 lift height and a V8 lift height.

This information is vital if you have a 4x2, a smaller engine, an access cab or long bed truck, as these will change the weight of the springs you need. In general:

4x2 vehicles gain about an inch more lift in the front than a 4x4 would with the same coil spring. If you installed the same spring on both, it will feel stiffer on a 4x2 than a 4x4 due to the lower weight.

4 cylinder engines typically gain about an inch more lift in the front verses a 6 Cylinder engine. Again, coils will feel stiffer on a 4cyl vehicle.

A smaller cab, like an access cab, will not affect the front weight - it will affect the rear. An access cab will gain about .5 of lift more than a double cab.

A long bed will typically decrease the rear lift height by .5in. Rear leaf springs will also feel softer with a long bed due to the extra weight.

Finally, Toyota Trucks and SUVs come from the factory with suspension rake, which means that the rear sits higher than the front. The purpose of the rake is to allow the suspension room to compress for loading up the rear of the vehicle with cargo or passengers.

The amount of rake varies, but generally;

Toyota SUVs sit about 1 inch higher in the rear from the factory

Toyota Trucks sit about 2 inches higher in the rear from the factory

Choosing Your Lift Height

Now, let's talk heights. We'll get to weights in a moment. The mentioned heights are going off of the assumptions mentioned above - measured from an unmodified, 4x4 V6, Double Cab Short Bed truck or an unmodified 4x4 V6 4Runner.

**Note: Older vehicles may have sagging suspension. Do not include that in your lift height calculations. Your springs will be new and un-saggy :)

Leveled

The most common choice is to level the vehicle. Based off what we now know about the stock suspension, to completely level the vehicle we would need to..

Lift the front of an SUV 1 inch higher than the rear. Ex: 2inch front lift, 1inch rear lift (shown below)

Lift the front of a truck 2 inches higher than the rear. Ex: 3in front lift, 1in rear lift (shown below)

We highly recommend to leave a little bit of rake in the suspension for adding occasional cargo. To maintain a slight bit of rake, you would want to...

Lift the front of an SUV .5 inches higher than the rear. Ex: 2.5in front lift, 2in rear (shown below)

Lift the front of a truck 1 inch higher than the rear. Ex: 3in front lift, 2in rear lift

Maintain Factory Rake

The other common option for lift heights is to maintain the factory rake. This is easily done by matching the front and rear lift heights. An example is shown below.

Choosing the Right Spring Rates

A huge factor in maintaining a good ride quality is to have the correct spring rate for your vehicle.

The weight that is most important to take into account is weight that is constant on the vehicle. If you take into account weight that is only sometimes in the vehicle, you will have a stiff ride when that weight is not in the vehicle. For situations like that, we recommend maintaining some factory rake over a higher spring rate.

Accessories in the middle of the vehicle (like rock sliders and roof racks) are distributed between the front and rear suspension and have very little affect on the springs. These can largely be ignored. Passengers can also be excluded.

Finally, if you are planning ahead for future additions to your vehicle, a higher spring rate without that extra weight will provide extra lift and a stiff ride in the meantime. You can always switch out the coils later as needed.

Different manufacturers have different terminology for coil weights and different intervals. For example, Dobinsons makes coils for about 100 extra lbs, 200 extra lbs, and 3-400 extra lbs. Old Man Emu has a Standard Duty (Stock weight) a medium duty (about 200 extra lbs) and a heavy duty (about 400 extra lbs).

If you are in between 2 specified spring rates - for example you're at 300lbs of extra weight - we reccomend going with the lower number, in this case 200lbs, if you prefer a softer ride and the higher number, in this case 400lbs, if you prefer a firmer ride.

The items in the front that most affect what spring rate you will need are a front bumper and winch. In general these items add..

About 50-70lbs for a LoPro Style front bumper that only replaces the center section of your front bumper

About 100-150lbs for a full size front bumper (Check your manufactures website for exact weight)

About 80-100lbs for a winch.

You will typically want a coil for..

No extra weight with just a LoPro bumper and no winch. It is not enough weight to justify a heavier coil
About 150 extra lbs for a LoPro bumper and a winch
About 150 extra lbs of accessory weight for a full front bumper and no winch.
About 220-250 extra lbs for a full front bumper and winch.

In the rear, most additional weight is going to come from a rear bumper, swingouts, tire carriers, drawer systems, bed racks and tents on trucks, bed camper shells, and any hard mounted gear (for example a Hi-lift jack or jerry cans).

Weights for these items vary quite a bit based on your bumper, any included bumper swingouts, the size of your tire, and your brand of drawer system.

The manufacturers of these items should have weight specs published to get a general number. Don't stress- a general number is completely fine to work with. Your vehicle is not going to ride terribly if you're 50lbs off.

Towing

Unless you will be towing daily, we do not recommend using your springs to compensate for sag when towing. Stiffer coils will kill the ride quality when you are not towing. Helper air bags are a cheap, easy to install way to keep the truck from sagging while towing and not degrade your ride quality.

We hope this article was helpful! If you have any questions about setting up suspension for your vehicle, give us a shout and we'd be happy to help. We have plenty of parts for any application!