I'm getting a lift

[AussieGQ]

Hi guys, I'm wanting to get a lift in the GQ in the next week or so. I was really after a 4" kit but I think its a little out of my budget.

I have made a few phone calls and I'm down to choosing between 2 kits.

The first is a RidePro 3 inch setup using Dobinsons shocks and king springs. This comes with caster bushes, steering damper and is $1665 including fitting.

The second is an EFS Soft 4 3.5-4inch kit. This comes with bushed brake lines, no panhard rods and is $1900 including fitting.


Any opinions on the above kits?

Thanks

[Micka]

The only advice I will give you is to call John Zorden on 0418 780 611 and ask him to sell you a suspension package.

He will be much better priced and has bucket loads of info/experience with all types of suspension. You can tailor-make your own package and fine tune it to suit.

[blkmav]

EFS

[hdn177]

i wouldnt touch efs with $5000 dobinson all the way

[AussieGQ]

Thanks for the replies so far

Micka, where is John Zorden?

[Micka]

Thanks for the replies so far

Micka, where is John Zorden?

He lives at Keperra in Brisbane, but you can arrange to pick stuff up from him at the Valley or Zillmere, too.

I have bought 2 suspension packages from him and I cannot recommend him highly enough. Between myself and a couple of mates, we have sent about 15 others to him and all have been exceptionally happy.

If you ring him...set aside an hour or two. He is the kind of guy that answers a question with 3 or 4 different options so that you have all the info you will ever need.

[bogged]

Micka, where is John Zorden?

John is on this board.

Have a search theres a few dozenteen threads on this in the archives, and you will get + and - on all suspension setups.

Most important is to get matched springs and shocks. Suspension should be the last thing done with tires. do your winch, bar work, batteries etc, then weigh the truck, then arrange suspension, otherwise, when you fit winch and bar, you will have to start again.

I'd go again with OME Gear, very happy with it. If you can afford, go Koni and Dobinson - BRILLIANT.

If you cant afford good gear, then just wait. You will be happier in the long run. Its too expensive to keep changing, been there done that etc.

[AussieGQ]

After speaking to David at Fourbys for about the tenth time today, I have decided to go with the RidePro kit.

I made a mistake above. The RidePro kit comes with Dobinson springs and the ridepro shocks.
They have this kit in there 80 series and are happy with it so I will take their word and give it a go.

Thanks your time.

[bogged]

They have this kit in there 80 series and are happy with it so I will take their word and give it a go..

not many will say they arent happy with the gear they sell...

good luck with it all... what height u goin with

[AussieGQ]

not many will say they arent happy with the gear they sell...

Your right, However I said I would pay for the more expensive gear but I was told I didnt have to.

good luck with it all... what height u goin with

I'm going 3 inch.

I'm also getting a set of 33x12.5 MTZ and new rims from the same guys.

[Micka]

After speaking to David at Fourbys for about the tenth time today, I have decided to go with the RidePro kit.


Thanks your time.

Seriously...give John a call. Even just to get a quote on the price. You know what you want, so just call for a comparison.

Will Fourby's let you change the shocks or springs in a weeks time if you are not happy with them? And at no extra cost?

When I did the 4" lift on my Defender, the best price I could get including fitting was $1650. I bought the components from John Zorden for just under half of that price and fitted it myself.

Kinda makes a 30cent phone call seem worthwhile

[Cossie]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on Dobinson springs....been there, done that

check the spring rates of the springs you have been offered and compare them to the others, OME etc.

[AussieGQ]

After speaking to David at Fourbys for about the tenth time today, I have decided to go with the RidePro kit.


Thanks your time.

Seriously...give John a call. Even just to get a quote on the price. You know what you want, so just call for a comparison.

Will Fourby's let you change the shocks or springs in a weeks time if you are not happy with them? And at no extra cost?

When I did the 4" lift on my Defender, the best price I could get including fitting was $1650. I bought the components from John Zorden for just under half of that price and fitted it myself.

Kinda makes a 30cent phone call seem worthwhile

I did try giving John a call, but he didn't answer his phone. Might be still on Holidays?

[AussieGQ]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on Dobinson springs....been there, done that

check the spring rates of the springs you have been offered and compare them to the others, OME etc.

Dobinson springs cant be too bad if fourtyhundred other people on this forum are happy with them.

[Cossie]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on Dobinson springs....been there, done that

check the spring rates of the springs you have been offered and compare them to the others, OME etc.

Dobinson springs cant be too bad if fourtyhundred other people on this forum are happy with them.

Alright, I'll save you the hard work...

I had 4" lift dobinsons on my GQ, these are the spring rates:

C45-100T 55.9 n/mm - 319 P.S.I. (front)
C45-113T 51.6 n/mm - 295 P.S.I. (rear)

I changed to OME 4" lift springs, spring rates:

FRONT COIL RATE : 250 LBS REAR COIL RATE: 290 LBS


Dobinsons front coil was almost 30% stiffer than OME, yet when swapped the front ride height was the same (OME a tiny bit higher if anything.)

These springs made mine crash over any bumpy roads and shock the whole car.

GQ's are known to be a bit lacking in front flex, you do not want to hamper this further with uselessly stiff springs.

Mine also sat lower on the back than the front - any halfwit can tell you this is very wrong and makes for very poor handling, even before loading the car up.

I changed to OME springs and the car raked perfectly and drives 100 times better.

So I stand by my judgement of Dobinsons, and repeat, check the spring rates carefully before purchasing and also ask the store what they will do about it if you decide they are unsuitable once fitted.

[AussieGQ]

I understand what your saying and I dont disagree, however there's lots of other people happy with the Dobinsons.
I'll give them a go and see what they are like. If a problem arises I'll make them sort it.

[Micka]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on Dobinson springs....been there, done that

check the spring rates of the springs you have been offered and compare them to the others, OME etc.

Dobinson springs cant be too bad if fourtyhundred other people on this forum are happy with them.

Alright, I'll save you the hard work...

I had 4" lift dobinsons on my GQ, these are the spring rates:

C45-100T 55.9 n/mm - 319 P.S.I. (front)
C45-113T 51.6 n/mm - 295 P.S.I. (rear)

I changed to OME 4" lift springs, spring rates:

FRONT COIL RATE : 250 LBS REAR COIL RATE: 290 LBS


Dobinsons front coil was almost 30% stiffer than OME, yet when swapped the front ride height was the same (OME a tiny bit higher if anything.)

These springs made mine crash over any bumpy roads and shock the whole car.

GQ's are known to be a bit lacking in front flex, you do not want to hamper this further with uselessly stiff springs.

Mine also sat lower on the back than the front - any halfwit can tell you this is very wrong and makes for very poor handling, even before loading the car up.

I changed to OME springs and the car raked perfectly and drives 100 times better.

So I stand by my judgement of Dobinsons, and repeat, check the spring rates carefully before purchasing and also ask the store what they will do about it if you decide they are unsuitable once fitted.

I bet you can also find out that those spring rates are not the only ones that Dobinson make.

There are at least 3 different spring rates for a Defender...so a GQ would have at least that.

[Troll00]

My piece of advice is get it all certified by DOT or you pay the price I did up the beach new years eve and was fined $225 by the police for not having if approved by Dept of Transport. I have 4"dobinsons heavy duty and tough dogs adjustable shocks by the way and they work well for me.

[nottie]

hahaha you got done up the beach Wombat!
Now ya see why i got ride of the big lifts and then the whole truck and now im happy as a pig in s@$t with the paj and the buggy so alls good.
Question though wombat how did they decide she was to high or was it somethn else they got ya on?


Oh and im with micka Give john another call hell sort ya out and yes if not happy he will at his cost play around with shocks and things till its right but that never happens with a patrol or cruiser

[Cossie]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on Dobinson springs....been there, done that

check the spring rates of the springs you have been offered and compare them to the others, OME etc.

Dobinson springs cant be too bad if fourtyhundred other people on this forum are happy with them.

Alright, I'll save you the hard work...

I had 4" lift dobinsons on my GQ, these are the spring rates:

C45-100T 55.9 n/mm - 319 P.S.I. (front)
C45-113T 51.6 n/mm - 295 P.S.I. (rear)

I changed to OME 4" lift springs, spring rates:

FRONT COIL RATE : 250 LBS REAR COIL RATE: 290 LBS


Dobinsons front coil was almost 30% stiffer than OME, yet when swapped the front ride height was the same (OME a tiny bit higher if anything.)

These springs made mine crash over any bumpy roads and shock the whole car.

GQ's are known to be a bit lacking in front flex, you do not want to hamper this further with uselessly stiff springs.

Mine also sat lower on the back than the front - any halfwit can tell you this is very wrong and makes for very poor handling, even before loading the car up.

I changed to OME springs and the car raked perfectly and drives 100 times better.

So I stand by my judgement of Dobinsons, and repeat, check the spring rates carefully before purchasing and also ask the store what they will do about it if you decide they are unsuitable once fitted.

I bet you can also find out that those spring rates are not the only ones that Dobinson make.

There are at least 3 different spring rates for a Defender...so a GQ would have at least that.

I bet anyone who can use google can...

http://www.dobinsonsprings.com/site/html/catalogues.htm

[Frankenyota]

Hey Troll00 i got pulled over by the cops up the beach for my hilux being too high.
He told me it looked like i had a 5" lift, which wasn't a bad guess. Aprox 4"But he let me off with a warning.

So if the get a 4" lift maybe get it engineered so the cops wont hassle ya or fine ya.

Matt

[AussieGQ]

Does John also do fitting of the suspension?

[Micka]

Does John also do fitting of the suspension?

Sure does. And if you help him it will be cheaper.

Why not get a body lift done at the same time?

[AussieGQ]

Does John also do fitting of the suspension?

Sure does. And if you help him it will be cheaper.

Why not get a body lift done at the same time?

I'm in no need of a body lift. Not just yet anyway

I'll give John another try tomorrow and see what he says.

I have it booked in already for Thursday to get everything done, but if John can save me a few hundred $ I might get him to do the work.

[RockyF75]

I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet, but if you want 4" lift, but can only afford 3" atm. WAIT


I wanted 3" but chose 2" for similar reason's.... now I want 3"

[AussieGQ]

Yeah I was thinking about waiting, but I need new wheels and tyres now. I'm getting 33s and I really dont think I would be happy with them with the factory sagged suspension.

If I was to step up to a 4 inch lift, I would need adjustable panhard rods, drop boxes, brake lines etc etc which would add close to another $1000 to the total price.
I really dont think this is good value for money for just an extra inch. Maybe for an extra 2 or 3 inches its worth it.


Another reason for the RidePro shocks and Dobinson spring kit is I was told its a good compromise between off road ability and a highway tow vehicle. I do a fair bit of highway driving towing my boat so I dont want the truck to drive like a boat on the road

[bogged]

Another reason for the RidePro shocks and Dobinson spring kit is I was told its a good compromise between off road ability and a highway tow vehicle. I do a fair bit of highway driving towing my boat so I dont want the truck to drive like a boat on the road

once again, any place can make you up a "good compromise" setup if you tell them what you are doing.

I think John's user here is JOHNZ .. PM him.

[AussieGQ]

I got in contact with John this morning and had a chat to him.

He recommended the Dobinson springs and EFS shocks. He said I could go the Dobinson shocks also but they are a little stiffer.

Decisions decisions...

[Micka]

There are 3 options with EFS shocks which offer 3 different rides, depending on what you want.

Dobinson do make a very good shock. I currently have Dobinsons in my Fender with Lovells coils. These shocks have been faultless and I have done a massive amount of towing with them. And by towing I mean all the gear needed for camping, a diesel 5kva gennie, tools, spares, an 820kg trailer and a fat arse moon buggy with all the comp gear needed.

Previous to that I used EFS on my other 4b and they were excellent, too.

[AussieGQ]

Thats good to hear.