The Dobinsons Suspension Thread

[FreestyleCab]

Gearbox spacer update:

The spacers I put in have all but gotten rid of the shudder. When I do a hard take off in first gear, the gearstick does 1 or 2 wobbles and I feel just the slightest shudder for a fraction of a second, but thats it.

Doing a more sedate take off has no shudder at all.

I'm very happy with the cheap spacer fix...I will probably not look at getting a slipjoint in the tailshaft now, unless the shudder somehow comes back.


Will post pics soon

[Choady]

FSC - Hows the squeak (if any) in the new rear springs ? Mine has had the factory hotfix (incorporated at build), and even though I cant hear the squeak when driving with windows up, it drives me nuts everytime Im in the tray, getting in or out, or driving with the window down. Bit embarrasing really........

What warranty comes with the Dobinsons ? Glad its sorted you all out. Your truck looks shit hot.

Whats everyones thoughts between the medium and constant load kits ? I will only be travelling fully loaded 3-4 times a year and want something thats not rough as guts and doesn't overly restrict articulation when not fully loaded. Will also be getting a camper trailer in next year or two. Looking for a 'balanced' solution I suppose.

[Greedy]

Whats everyones thoughts between the medium and constant load kits ? I will only be travelling fully loaded 3-4 times a year and want something thats not rough as guts and doesn't overly restrict articulation when not fully loaded. Will also be getting a camper trailer in next year or two. Looking for a 'balanced' solution I suppose.

Choady, I went the medium springs in the rear. They are quite stiff for daily driving with no load but handle the extra weight of the camper (and luggage) very well. The ride (with no load) isn't bad by any means. I could only imagine how hard the ride would be with constant load springs and no load. Spine jarring stuff I would have thought. Our camper weighs in at about 1500kg loaded btw. I have constant load springs in the front due to barwork etc and love it's surefootedness.

[Choady]

Thanks Greedy - how bout squeaks and warranty ?

I think I'd be the same - constant in front with bar (winch in the future). Just tossing up what to throw in the back. Hows articulation in the front with constants ?

[Greedy]

I don't have any problems with squeaks. I didn't have them with standard springs either. I haven't had an issue with articulation either other than hitting the bump stops on downward travel over decent bumps. This is mainly due to my impatience and heavy right foot though. I've forgotten what warranty comes with them but a quick call to Martin in Sydney reveals a 2 year warranty.

[Choady]

Thanks Greedy.

Any other expriences with squeaks or other problems would be much appreciated.

[FreestyleCab]

Pictures of gearbox spacers





Note the additional bolt through an existing hole and captive nut on the chassis cross member in the pic below




6mm is the maximum thickness I could get away with. The bolts are integrated into the flexible mount and cannot be replaced with longer ones. They are a bees dick off being full thread through the nuts.



There is also a 'antiroll' mount (dont know the correct terminology for it) on the passenger side of the transfer case. I also packed this up with a small 6mm packer just to even it out. I didn't take a picture of it...... from memory it was about 40mm x40mm in size.

[FreestyleCab]

Shudder Update:

I have found that the shudder in my ute gets worse as the ambient temperature gets hotter.
This morning on the way to work (sun still not up yet) I had no shudder. After the car sat in the sun all day, my trip home had some more pronounced shudder (even on the gentle take offs).

Very strange, maybe as the rubber in the centre bearing warms up it softens and allows for more movement.... I may still have to do the slipjoint in the tail shaft.
I am going to be carrying a 500kg load in the tub this weekend, so I will do some experiments by gradually loading the ute up and testdriving to see what drop in rear ride height eliminates the shudder.
I'm thinking the constant load rear springs with no load onboard may be too much lift for my 2 piece tailshaft manual triton. It will be interesting to see how subiman goes with the comfort springs....ride height and shudder wise.

My ute seems to be the exception to the rule, in the fact that all the shudder elimination measures have not totally worked.

[FreestyleCab]

LOAD TEST:

I loaded up the Triton with 18 20kg bags of cement. I stacked these against the tailgate to have the maximum effect on the suspension.
With the 360kg load onboard the rear ride height only dropped by 20mm. These constant load springs can really carry some weight!
The shudder was gone.....it seems all I need is a slight change in the drive shaft angles to get rid of the rest of the shudder.....or add a slipjoint.

[Wallace]

Here is a comparison shot of my tri and subis without dobis.......... he has the kit but has to find the time to install


Brett give the rear a chance to settle a little bit more, mine took about six weeks to find its finall resting place....for want of a better word

Wallace

[Wallace]

Shite I cut the front off Subi's Tri....back to the drawing board for the pictures.........

[subi_man]

Good to catch up and I see you've had success with the pics mate - your Triton is a top truck, having never seen one in black before I really like it. Hope to get my Dobis in ASAP and have a ride height like yours

[daryn]

Wallace, Pic is fine, you probably just need to resize the image for others to see, I actually see the whole Pic. What I can't work out is how Subi's in white looks dirty and yours in black looks so clean. Did you clean yours up after the shot was taken .

[4wd26]

If you cannot see the entire pic, click on the image, full size is then shown.

Just have to get used to pointing the mouse at all pics and see if the cusror changes, and see if a text box says "click to view larger picture"

[Wallace]

Daryn

Did you clean yours up after the shot was taken .

No mate it was clean in the morning as I was asked to bring my tri along to a 4wd open day at a particular reseller here in Canberra on Saturday am. Believe me black duco attracts dirt like flies to a cow poo.

[Wallace]

Hey FSC the rear of my tri sits at 640mm from centre of axle so I should suggest that the rear of yours still has a little to settle....see how you go

[Greedy]

I don't have any problems with squeaks. I didn't have them with standard springs either.

Bloody typical isn't it. It seems I gave myself the kiss of death with the above comment. Rear springs started squeaking like buggery this weekend. A quick look revealed the bottom 2 leaves slightly out of alignment with the rest of the pack. A tap or 2 with the rubber mallet got them back in line and the squeak disappeared. I'm pretty sure this is going to keep happening though. Anyone got any suggestions how to keep them in line?

[daryn]

Greedy , doesn't someone have a tip for this in their signature, it is along the lines of "if you can't fix it with a hammer it must be an electrical problem" I think thats it. Are there any wires going to the springs ?

Seriously though, I think I have done the same as you. I am changing my soon anyway.

[Greedy]

Unfortunately, (although I do agree with Buzzy's sig) a hammer does fix it, only temporarily.

[Greedy]

Had a better look at these squeaky springs this arvo. The only thing out of the ordinary were the u-bolt nuts. They had loosened up dramatically since I torqued them up at install. They weren't quite finger tight but bloody close. So realigned the springs and retorqued the nuts. Hopefully, the squeak will disappear as well.

[FreestyleCab]

[*]The front is lifted so much that I have a mystery clunk somewhere in the front end. I am unsure if it is ball joint related or something in the steering. I can feel the clunk ever so slightly through the steering wheel!
[/list]

I had the front wheels off the Triton today and found the mystery clunk. The bolts in the upper control arm bushes had eased off slightly and allowed the bush to move every now and then, particularly while cornering....tightened them up and the clunk was gone.

Still experiencing the shudder in the afternoons once the center bearing has warmed up to ambient temperature.

Had a better look at these squeaky springs this arvo. The only thing out of the ordinary were the u-bolt nuts. They had loosened up dramatically since I torqued them up at install. They weren't quite finger tight but bloody close. So realigned the springs and retorqued the nuts. Hopefully, the squeak will disappear as well.

I also had to tighten the ubolts up. I notice the wedges that are put in are straight and the surface they sit on on the diff is curved slightly. I assume as the rear articulates an bends these wedges to the 'curve', some tension comes off the ubolts.

The helper leaves are also slightly out of alignment on my ute, but I cannot hear any squeaks over the noise of my highlift jack rattling away in the holder on the roof rack!

[subi_man]

Installed my kit today, with many MANY thanks to Choady who made the trip up from Sydney and also Wallace & FSC for on-going tips & advice There is a tech-article in the pipeline which may help any DIY installers who haven't done a swap before, but you really need some decent tools & equipment to easily and safely do the job.

As I hoped, the handling of the ute is totally altered At speed on corrugated roads there is no sign of the rear skipping out, and there is no wallowing or bounciness. It feels surefooted and confident all round so I'm very happy.

I noticed the slightest amount of shudder in 1st gear when starting off, nothing to worry about but it may be exacerbated by warm weather like FSC's, or if I'm towing a trailer - time will tell.

Anyway, for now here are my before and after ride heights, and some pics.

Ride Heights:
Stock suspension after 58,000km + Accessories installed:
DF= 517mm - PF= 515 - DR= 560 - PR=564mm

Dobinsons Kit installed, day 1, driven 6km:
DF= 560mm - PF= 560 - DR= 648 - PR=649mm

Before (click for full view)


After

[Choady]

It was a good day Subi - I certainly learnt a lot. I couldn't notice any significant shudder when compared with driving my Triton. We watched the gear lever closely on take off and there was only one or two wobbles of it for about a second and that was it. The spacer, caster wedges and rotating centre bearing look to have done the trick.

What I really did notice was :-

1. How cool the truck looks,
2. How well the truck handles (mines only got 5000km on it and it totally blew my suspension away in comparison for handling and ride), and
3. How cool Subi's shed is (including all the toys)

Cant wait to put some suspension in mine now that I know how......

[Wallace]

Well done, Hey Subi take a shot inside the shed on the concrete before and after today..

[Greedy]

That certainly brought the rear up again. Looks good. What a fun job huh! The article should make for a good read.