Noob with Dobinson spring question

[FlyAngler]

Sorry man how do those airbags work? Do you manually inflate it when you do something heavy and deflate it afterwards?

Yes. I use the built in Trailhunter compressor and inflate them using a Schrader valve tucked into the compartment in the right side of the bed. You can get a dedicated compressor, but I didn't see the need for obvious reasons. Super easy and quick. It was my first intro to airbags too!

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[Pappy]

My truck is a TRD-OR. My load is heavier than yours with a canopy- camper, and heavy rear bumper. Plus all the gear i carry.

I started with Dobinson 819. They didn't work. I wanted some lift. So, I installed the 823 springs, and still wasn't happy. Next step, a 1/2" spacer. I can live with that for now.

But there is an auxiliary gas tank in my future, along with 823 springs.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

24 Trailhunter here, if you are ok with how it rides empty, but not loaded, I would start with the air lift air bags. It gives you fine control over how high you want the truck to ride, and you can adjust it based on your load. It also doesn't give you the dumptruck feel when you are unloaded. The mounting is easy bolt on, to boot. From there, if you find you are loaded most of the time, then the springs are probably the next step. I just ordered the BP51 with 440 lb load from ARB, but it will be a couple of weeks before i get that on. I only went with the upgraded springs because I normally carry 1200 lbs in the vehicle including the tongue weight of an off road trailer.

https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/57386

This is the answer.

 

[DutchOven]

Seems like my options are

1. Dobinson 819 on rear
2. ARB 3320 on rear
3. Airbags on rear

I think i'm leaning toward the Dobsons rn. The ARBs look like they are slightly more heavyweight than the dobinsons; that might be a good thing and it might not, its really hard to know for sure what the "right" choice is, but at least right now i dont think im adding more constant load to the truck anytime soon

 

[Rising Sun]

I tried an unconventional route. My 25 TH had lost some rear height after adding White Knuckle Sliders and a Decked system in the bed with constant load items inside. I installed a pair of rear coil springs from a new Toyota Tundra Crew Cab 4x4 Limited that my friend had just removed. The idea being that the Tundra had a little bit more weight and payload capacity. The springs fit perfect, gave me two inches of lift and less squirm and roll in the rear. For me it's been great.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

I tried an unconventional route. My 25 TH had lost some rear height after adding White Knuckle Sliders and a Decked system in the bed with constant load items inside. I installed a pair of rear coil springs from a new Toyota Tundra Crew Cab 4x4 Limited that my friend had just removed. The idea being that the Tundra had a little bit more weight and payload capacity. The springs fit perfect, gave me two inches of lift and less squirm and roll in the rear. For me it's been great.

Did you replace your rear shocks with BP51's like @rchrds did ? Or did you just stretch out the OEM shocks ?

 

[Rising Sun]

I know the angle is different but this picture below in my garage is of the rear suspension sag on my TH before the Tundra spring upgrade. In my post above you can see much more gap in the rear wheel well.

The pic below in the sand is how it rides today.

 

[DutchOven]

I know the angle is different but this picture below in my garage is of the rear suspension sag on my TH before the Tundra spring upgrade. In my post above you can see much more gap in the rear wheel well.

The pic below in the sand is how it rides today.

How much weight is that?

 

[Rising Sun]

Did you replace your rear shocks with BP51's like @rchrds did ? Or did you just stretch out the OEM shocks ?

I kept the stock shocks. They have adequate travel for the new coils.

 

[Rising Sun]

How much weight is that?

6 foot decked system weighs 206 lbs. I probably have over 100 lbs. of gear in the drawer and the sliders weigh more than stock. Let's say 350-400 lbs. static increase.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

I kept the stock shocks. They have adequate travel for the new coils.

Would love for @ARB 4x4 to chime in here and let us know how many inches of lift over stock height the OEM rear Trailhunter shocks are designed for or if they should be upgraded to longer shocks when lifting the rear.

 

[mtbocoee]

My Trailhunter LB sagged at least 1 1/4" of new in the rear after loaded with gear for vacation. This was enough that I think I bottomed out a time or two on the Canyonlands White Rim trail. I installed Dobinsons 822s in the front and 821v in the rear. That resulted in a center of hub to fender height of 24-24.5" in the front and roughly 25.75" in the rear with about 300 lbs in the rear.

The picture below was take with the OEM wheels and tires in the back as well for a total weight of 400-500 lbs. These springs have only seen 1000 miles and none of it fully loaded for cross country travel so they may settle further.

 

[DutchOven]

My Trailhunter LB sagged at least 1 1/4" of new in the rear after loaded with gear for vacation. This was enough that I think I bottomed out a time or two on the Canyonlands White Rim trail. I installed Dobinsons 822s in the front and 821v in the rear. That resulted in a center of hub to fender height of 24-24.5" in the front and roughly 25.75" in the rear with about 300 lbs in the rear.

The picture below was take with the OEM wheels and tires in the back as well for a total weight of 400-500 lbs. These springs have only seen 1000 miles and none of it fully loaded for cross country travel so they may settle further.

So your standard load is +300lb? How would you say the day-to-day ride has changed with that setup?

 

[mtbocoee]

I estimate that it is close to 300 lb over stock with the Alucab canopy, Maxtrax, Hi Lift jack, bed molle panels, 3 gal Rotopax, OEM bed mat, Mountain Hatch tailgate table, and some recovery gear, etc. that resides in the back. I never measured the rear height when the truck was new but I did measure a short bed on the dealer lot at 24". At that point I was down to 22.75" or less.

I can't say that I saw a big difference in ride quality especially on road after the spring install. It may be a bit stiffer which I expected. My objective was to retain the height when I am fully loaded with gear plus have an additional 5-8 gallons of gas, plus water and cooler near the tailgate.

Bcphoto3 has the same springs, though he installed the heavier rear to accommodate pulling a trailer plus added a steel bumper and winch in the front. I thought I would go heavier in the front since I may add a bumper and winch as well. Just cash flowing as I go since this baby guzzles cash like it does gas.

I will know more this September when I am off road in Big Bend, Organ Pipe, Vermillion Cliffs, Escalante, Capital Reef, and Canyonlands. Not all of that will be particularly rough but Canyonlands is typically rated 4-5.

 

[Toyotimothy]

So heres my scenario; i have a trailhunter. I use it as my daily. I have a smartcap and some standard gear in the back that probably adds up to say 280lb permanent load.

This is probably fine, the ride does sometimes feel overly squishy but i honestly dont know if its related or not, but when i go camping and load up the back with cooler, water, wood etc etc if really squats a lot. Ive read a little bit and it seems like what might benefit me is a pair of Dobinsons. In particular, im looking for something that can help with the weight (maybe not entirely solve it, but helps), while not impacting my daily too much, so im thinking of adding Dobinsons C59-819V to the back.

I would like to hear from folks in a similar scenario as mine that did this, if they like the setup or if they would do it differently. Also just general advice around the 819 vs others for my setup, and also whether i need something in the front as well. Its mostly my back that squats obviously, but i see from others a lot of folks also replace the front, and im not actually too sure why tbh.

Thanks guys.

I apologize ahead of time because I am lazy and did not read through everyone else’s responses or posts. I put Dobinsons - Rear Coil
Springs Pair (C59-869V) on my 24TRD Off-road primarily for lift. However, I now have a full size spare tire/rim 95.25 lbs, jack and mount 46 lbs equals about 141.25 lbs constant load and I also have trailhunter skid plates the complete set which total 59 pounds plus Westcott designs rock sliders, which total 106 pounds approximately, not sure how much of that contributes to weigh in the rear, but I’ve not noticed any sag when carrying anything else. Currently I’m sitting at 24 inches from center of wheel hub to bottom of fender flares in the rear with stock strut. Just put on 6100s in the rear yesterday and still sitting at the same height.
Can’t speak for the C59-819V
But Dobinson’s says 25” (30 mm) with roughly 440–660 lb constant load for a trailHunter with that spring.C59-819V
I’d say they’re pretty accurate and the particular spring you’re looking at probably won’t give much. Your constant load is not near the limit for that particular spring so anything above that probably won’t affect it as far as squat goes. That’s been my experience anyways with the springs I have. In other words I’d expect 1-1.5” of lift with the C59-819V

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