Dobinson suspension

G'day Ross,
Sorry i took so long to reply to your query but i was waiting for someone else to have a go. Looks like no one else so here goes with me.

In preparation for a trip to the Cape in August last year (2002) i decided to go to Dobinsons in Rocky for their opinion on my springs and shockies.

I left it in their hands after telling them where i was going.

When i returned to pick up my HJ75 ute that afternoon they had done the following (as agreed to by me earlier) :-

Reset the springs.
Increased the rear leaves to nine including the two smaller ones on the bottom.
Increased the front leaves to eight.
Fitted Monroe gas shocks all round.
Fitted Gabriel Steering damper. (They put it on back the front as i found out at Seisia during a vehicle check. It had a 20Cent size dent in it from hitting the adjacent steering rod it was connected to.)
Fitted new greasable spring shackles and Nolathane bushes all round.

The cost including labour was approximately $1'700.

The labour cost was higher because they had to weld and drill out one of the rear spring centre bolt holes on the diff plate. ( this was caused by not tightening the spring u-bolts sufficiently to stop movement. The movement had created an oblong hole in the diff plate).

I had to get the left engine mount welded back on to the chassis at Seisia on the Cape trip, but i don't know if the more rigid suspension caused this to happen.

Everything went ok on the trip and also a subsequent trip to Bathurst Bay this year.

I Hope this can help you in some way.

Cheers Bros.

Thanks for the reply .I was actually hoping to hear from someone who had fitted new springs.It doesnt make much difference now as they are sitting on my garage floor waiting to be fitted.Thanks for taking the time to write your reply