Dobinsons vs Ultimate Suspension ???

[sellwood]

Hi all,

Am tossing up between getting a 2" Dobinson or Ultimate lift kit. I know theres a few threads with lots of info but was hoping a few people with the different kits wouldnt mind putting in their 2cents worth here, positives and negatives...

cheers Jared

[QueenslandeR]

I've got the 2" ultimate in mine and its going great so far. No negatives as yet.

[Joe]

I have the Dobinson's kit and have found it to be really good. I can't compare it with Ultimate because I have not driven one with Ultimate suspension, but as far as Dobinson's over standard.....great, especially off road. The only complaint is squeaky rear springs, but I was getting that with standard anyway. If Ultimate had have been sight sponsors when I got mine I would of gone with them I think.

[daryn]

Hi Sellwood, welcome to the site, to be honest with ya, you seem to know that there are few threads here where both are mentioned, I am sure if you do some reading amongst those threads which would be quicker than me righting another story you will get ya answers.

You are more than welcome to read my buildup thread and what I have wrote in the Ultimate Suspension thread which also includes pics.

Fow whatever reason you will probably get more dobbie replies as they are more popular here, but they are more DIY, maybe you could also talk to both companies and see what you think by doing that, also the web directory sticky has the links to the recommended pages too.

Update your location too, that will help know where ya from and can help with recomendations.

[al coholic]

Shit..........lets hope Daryn doesnt see this thread

I also have Dobi's in my truck and they seem to be a fairly decent upgrade for the price you pay. The rear springs especially have done everything i wanted them too, I carry a heap of gear for work through the week, nearly 450kgs, and i wanted the rear springs to maintain ride height while loaded but still have some flex and travel when 4x4ing which they seem to do a reasonable job of aswell.

There were a few small quality issues that my mechanics had trouble with such as the thread on the u-bolts that had to be re-threaded to allow the nuts to go on and also a nut that cracked in half while they were doing it up. Relatively small items in the grand scheme of things, but shouldnt happen none the less. I e-mailed the sydney distributor about the prob but never heard anything back. After talking to Daryn and Ag9111 about thier suspension and dealings with Ultimate, they certainly seem to have better service, both during and after sales.

Both offer pretty similar product for similar price, if i were doing it again now, i would go ultimate as they are a forum sponsor

Good luck with it all.

[al coholic]

See...........I knew he would be onto this one quick smart. I was just too slow

[ag9111]

See...........I knew he would be onto this one quick smart. I was just too slow

And he wasn't even on tippety tappety Talk

Had the Dobinsons on my ML and the rear squeaked. Have the ultimate in the garage to fit to the MN when i get the bullbar on in the next couple of days. Will see how they go

[MUD LARK]

G'Day selwood,
I just had tough dogs leaf springs (heavy) / u-bolts with urethane bushes, coils (heavy) with 30mm Snake-racing spacers, fitted just over a week ago and I must say, it's a great improvement to the old stock suspensions!! As well as with TD's big bore shocks, I am more than happy with TD's suspensions.
I did removed the extended shackles as it was bouncing a lot to my liking and now seems to be a perfect transitions in all aspect of driving conditions!!

Cheers,
Mud Lark

[Cowboy Dave]

as a non owner of either but a keen observer of this forum, I'd say I've seen a few niggles here and there on the Dobinsons, including from memory some sagging front springs of late, but I've yet to see any complaints from anywhere about the Ultimate guys.

Also the Ultimate guys go out of their way to provide pointers here and there on the forum when people get themselves into a bit of grief. If they'll do that for non customers I imagine their service for paying customers must be top notch. Plenty of converts like Daryn about the place too.

[Steane]

I'm driving from Melbourne to Sydney at the end of July to have the Ultimate guys fit a 2" lift kit. Brendan has been a champ to deal with and patiently answered all of my questions. He's happy to talk to you on the phone until you've got your head around it all. Not a "yes mate...no mate...for sure mate..." sort.

[daryn]

See...........I knew he would be onto this one quick smart. I was just too slow

Red ones are always faster...

[snowman]

i too have the Dobinsons 2" and agree that it is chalk and cheese over standard. i had mine done right around the time of the new national guideline (VSI50?) suspension kerfuffle and went with Dobinsons becasue Ken (Ultimate) was going to use a spacer on the front. This was because he could drop it an inch without the spacer incase the VSI50 (?) got off the ground and i was over the 2" including larger tyres. i was not keen on the spacer idea though.

Most guys at that time had Dobbies and were happy with them although subsequently a few have dropped. Ultimate provide a guarantee (i think) that theirs will not droop over time.

Martin (from Dobinsons) was very helpful but once i purchased the equipment i sent him an email which went unanswered. I used a local guy to install and i would not go back there to save my dying mother......

I have an issue where my steering wont 'return to centre' from a heavy lock and have spoken to Ultimate to take it there for some specialist advice. I am getting excessive outside edge wear on my fronts even though the alignment has been checked as spot on by an independent aligner. I am not sure why this is happening to my car as other Dobinson users don't report this problem.

I remember Ultimate used some Chinese stuff (can't remember exactly what it was - maybe the steel in springs ?) and Dobinsons were aussie steel with European made shocks. That, with the fact most guys here had dobinsons at the time, is why i made the choice for Dobinsons.

If i was making the same decision today i would probably go Ultimate. There is not much price difference at all but to have the supplier and installer as the same guy helps. That was a problem in my case. i bought the kit and got a guy to fit it and he was on the back foot cause he did not get a 'markup' of the gear.

In any case the Dobinsons (and i am sure the Ultimate package) are sooooo much better than standard and i would hate to go back to OE again.

hope this helps a bit.

[4wd26]

I am getting excessive outside edge wear on my fronts even though the alignment has been checked as spot on by an independent aligner. I am not sure why this is happening to my car as other Dobinson users don't report this problem.

hope this helps a bit.

What height dobbies you using snow?
I've got to be on the ball regarding the alignment otherwise I too get excessive outside edge wear, and this is really important as my tyres are now asametric, I cannot rectify easily.

Anyway, I've got dobbies front springs (tallest lift) and standard rear leafs with Aussie super spring inserts.
I run Bilstein shocks front and rear. Never driven with the standard springs/ shocks.

I had some ridepro springs in the front- found these a little harsh but these got replaced due to not providing enough lift.

[ultimate]

Thanks for the comments guys. We always try to support the forum members and our customers as much as possible.

Just to clear up a couple of things snowman so it's not miss read by any body-

i had mine done right around the time of the new national guideline (VSI50?) suspension kerfuffle and went with Dobinsons becasue Ken (Ultimate) was going to use a spacer on the front. This was because he could drop it an inch without the spacer incase the VSI50 (?) got off the ground and i was over the 2" including larger tyres. i was not keen on the spacer idea though.

The spacer Ken would have been talking about are the collets we use to relocate our coil seats. We don't recommend the use of coil or strut spacers due the negative effects they have on the vehicle. The collets simply relocate the coil seat higher to provide additional lift without changing the properties of the spring or affecting any driveline components. They are a safe and effective way for us to adjust the height of the front end. A perfect example of this is when we build suspension kits for armoured 200series land cruisers. We can supply the same strut and coil with the adjustable coil seat. If the application requires the raised height, they use the spacer. If they want standard height they simply remove the spacer. So at first it may sound similar to the other spacers; but it really is a great design that is now being copied around the world.

I remember Ultimate used some Chinese stuff (can't remember exactly what it was - maybe the steel in springs ?)

Our coil springs are manufactured by Lovell’s Springs to our exact specifications, using only Australian Spring Steel. Even our leaf springs use only Australian SUP9 Steel (the highest grade steel for leaf springs). Some of our shock absorber components do come from China but the quality is not compromised. We take great pride in being an Australian company and ensure that any components which are outsourced are manufactured to our specifications and quality standards.

[4wd26]

Thanks for the comments guys. We always try to support the forum members and our customers as much as possible.
The spacer Ken would have been talking about are the collets we use to relocate our coil seats. We don't recommend the use of coil or strut spacers due the negative effects they have on the vehicle. The collets simply relocate the coil seat higher to provide additional lift without changing the properties of the spring or affecting any driveline components. They are a safe and effective way for us to adjust the height of the front end. A perfect example of this is when we build suspension kits for armoured 200series land cruisers. We can supply the same strut and coil with the adjustable coil seat. If the application requires the raised height, they use the spacer. If they want standard height they simply remove the spacer. So at first it may sound similar to the other spacers; but it really is a great design that is now being copied around the world.

Are you saying you had this system before Bilstein? Thats cool.....

[ultimate]

Adjustable coil seats have been around for a while in different forms. We designed our struts with the collets a couple of years ago and that exact design is poping up all over the place now. I guess you can say it's not an invention; just an evolution of an exisiting concept.

[jop]

Lovells kit comes with them as well

[sellwood]

Cheers for all the replys, am going to continue looking around for as much info as I can get. I think Im leaning towards the ultimate but dobinsons seems the easiest option for me. A dilemma I have is that being situated in Darwin there isnt a designated supplier and fitter of ultimate which tends to steer me away incase somthing goes wrong. I would rather be able to take it back into the dealer to get it sorted, whereas getting the kit sent here and installed by whoever, its not there problem when it has a problem and then I would have a bit of buggering around to do(not saying ultimate is going to stuff up). Dobi's however can be supplied and fitted by a local suspension mob which I could return to incase of follow up work etc...

I'll be gald when its all fitted and I can stop thinking.

[snowman]

What height dobbies you using snow?

2 inch. i measured it before and after then promptly lost the piece of paper. don't worry i have already given myself an uppercut.

Just to clear up a couple of things snowman so it's not miss read by any body-

wish Ken had explained that to me when i rang!!! .......anyway i was not trying to start rumours and i am glad you cleared this up.

it seems that a couple of us are getting a bit of outside edge wear from the lifts. i might start another thread on this exact issue.

See you soon Brendan - i will ring and book in soon. Hope your O/S trip went well.

[Buzzy]

I have the, wont say it but they start with D....................... dont wast your time.
Get the Ultimates

[Homer]

Cheers for all the replys, am going to continue looking around for as much info as I can get. I think Im leaning towards the ultimate but dobinsons seems the easiest option for me. A dilemma I have is that being situated in Darwin there isnt a designated supplier and fitter of ultimate which tends to steer me away incase somthing goes wrong. I would rather be able to take it back into the dealer to get it sorted, whereas getting the kit sent here and installed by whoever, its not there problem when it has a problem and then I would have a bit of buggering around to do(not saying ultimate is going to stuff up). Dobi's however can be supplied and fitted by a local suspension mob which I could return to incase of follow up work etc...

I'll be gald when its all fitted and I can stop thinking.

Mate, seriously any 2nd year apprentice can fit suspension correctly if they have the workshop/equipment and are handed a complete kit...no offence to anyone who does this for a living.

It's all about good design engineering, equipment quality and vehicle setup matching.

Go for the best gear and get someone local to do it. I'm sure Ultimate would provide some instructions if there is anything "special" required when bolting on shocks and springs...

You can always photograph it after and send to them if you want piece of mind or whatever.

It's a no brainer for me...

[daryn]

Has Brendan actually said that they do not have an installer in Darwin ?

[ultimate]

We don't have a distributor in Darwin; but we can recommend various companies we have worked with over the years. As homer said because it's only a 2" lift and is within the legal and working parameters of the vehicle; it is not too difficult to install. Most mechanics or a front end specialist will able to successfully complete the install with out any problems. If there is an issue, we are more than happy to assist how ever we can over the phone or via email. A lot of our suspension kits have been installed across the country and overseas with out any problems.

We honor the warranty on all of our products as long as the installation is carried out by a qualified mechanic in a licensed workshop. The vehicle will require a wheel alignment and has to go back to the mechanic after 1000km for a safety check and re-tighten.

[bobtriton]

I have read both suspension you ask for, as top marks on this forum, here you can find lot of information and experiences from real users. If your intenton is to lift those seem to be very liked by users.
For me a 2008 Triton has been tall enough for my work, probably a set of 35´ 255/85/16 tires could live in under an unlifted Triton or L200 without a rub, so far mine has 32' tires with plenty of travel space under there. Because it is a slim and tall truck stability is harder to achieve, It seem for me that lift suspensions make wider front track wich help for stability plus the rigth wheels that can help too, chasis seem to suport it and more. Next Mitsubishi one ton truck probably be wider to gain in space and stability.
I have just set a play of Holland koni shocks on my L200, and after very few days using it I´m very please but not amazed, I´ve been using koni on several veycles since more than ten years ago, with same results, on a bmw or under a jeep, always has been a great improve on twisted or bumpy roads, or like me in the not so good roads of Mexico. This is a great way to travel faster, Koni shocks makes my L200 feel under control wile traveling faster on curvy bumpy roads, a thing I couldn´t do before konis shocks, a plus for the hard day work. A friend of mine love them in his 325 bmw, he says it never drive it so good as when koni set, I can say the same on my Jeep Liberty 2002 with a 1.5 lift from Old Man Emu and koni shoks great to drive.
Good luck on your seaching.

[alanc]

Hi everyone, I have had a 2" "comfort" kit fitted from Ultimate, it's the best thing I have done to the car, it rides better,corners better has heaps more clearance what more could you ask. The height compared to before is as follows.
Centre of wheel to underside of plastic wheel arch;
Front was 537 now 575 + 38mm
Rear was 541 now 605 + 64mm
Centre of roof was 1745 now 1800 +55mm
Tow ball height was 580 now 650 +70mm
My car is a manual GLX-R with a two piece drive shaft, it has a very slight shudder at take off but no big thing worth worrying about, anyone thinking about it dont just do it you will like it I'm sure
As long as the kit is installed by a qualified mechanic then the installer thing does not matter.