Comments from 80 Series owners on Lovells/Dobinsons suspension. Also Ironman.

Hi Scoey
I run Lovells springs and Biltstein shocks (with about a 2 inch lift) in my 80 series and have found this combination fantastic for the type of driving that I tend to do (lots of k's on corrugated roads, and a bit of slower stuff that gets a bit of flex happening). I dont know about the Dobinson Shocks...(or Ironman)
Drew

I am running Ironman on my 100 series and all is great. Have had them on now for 3 months and they are exactly the same height as fitted.
I am mainly on the black top and towing and have been very happy. Good prioce as well.
Do a search on Ironman. User called crazy would be a good contact to talk about Ironman.
(http://www.exploroz.com/Members/ViewRig.asp?RigKey=39730.125)
A

Scoey, I have XHD Raised Lovells springs and Ultra Ride Shocks. The lovells springs are so much bigger (and heavier) than the toyota springs its not funny. They lifted my rig higher than 2 inches but since I now leave all the drawers and stuff in the back it sits nice and level and rides suprisingly well. I definately wouldn't recommend the XHD ones unless you had a fair bit of weight in the rear all the time. The ride is still quiet acceptable when empty but would definately be more comfortable with just the HD springs. Even though I have a 100S the springs are for an 80S I don't have the model of spring off hand but in the Lovell brochure it comes under the 80S. I'm not overly impressed with the Ultra Ride shocks...shouldn't have spent a bit more and gone with the Lovell ones.

Firstly, decide what you need them for...there are linear springs that are more suited to weight carrying and there are progressive springs aimed more for comfort. Put a load on progressive and they drop height till the heavier coils are supporting....where as the linear will not go down as much. Lovell are a great brand, ome are made by king, which is another brand worth looking at. Iron man is also a king spring, not sure of their shox....most shox are again made by the same place with different sticker...there is monroe, who do ome, and there is rancho who do ironman i believe....tjm shox ive heard r not that good in the quality stakes...Billies are lovely but pricey....whatever you get, look at warrenty...ome is 24 months replacement warrenty on shox...hard to beat that.They are also longer travel than all the others...
Andrew hdftvx

Thanks for all the advice! Lots of quality info for me to consider!

Cheers
Scoey!