King Springs vs Dobinson front coils - any comments?

[aussieneil]

Hi all,

Just back from another 4000km trip in the Dolphin camper. All running like a dream!

Just one thing niggles me now. Under some conditions, more often than I'd like, the front springs bottom out. A hate to think the forces acting on the wishbone, subframe and ball joints when this happens.

I've previously fitted heavy duty shock absorbers, and the vehicle sits at the correct height, indicating that the springs have not sagged.

On eBay, sellers are offering Dobinson and King Springs heavy-duty standard-height springs for $175 including delivery, which seems pretty good to me. Any comments from anyone who has experience with either of these brands? I only want to do this job once!

Cheers,

Neil

[bed767]

I've fitted KingSprings to  my front end of my  cfs,running a 308 and found them to do the desired job!

[mezzmo]

We put the kings on the bash beddie this year (slightly higher than standard due to mostly off road driving) and they were brilliant, no bottoming at all.

[MaTTe]

I've got the king springs also and never had any issue with them bottoming despite the weight of the 350 and all the rest

[Dano]

yep, King springs here too, SB Chev  and lowered.... no probs, going to use them in the LWB when time permits...

[aussieneil]

Thanks all.

Funnily enough, after a bit of research on 4WD forums and looking at company profiles I decided to go for the Dobinsons. And it wasn't for the cool green colour!

I'm sure both products are equally good. My decision in the end was knowing that I was supporting a regional Aussie company who makes all their own products. It seems King subcontracts some of their production, very possibly from Dobinsons.

I'll tackle the job a bit later this week.

Does anyone know if there is a better design of rubber bump stop available for the front suspension? The flat rubber standard item seems an afterthought - surely a half-ball or conical design that was a lot taller would be better? It would then act as a secondary progressive spring rather than an almost useless excuse for a bump stop.

Cheers!

[BusyKiwi]

Just remember there are two different size springs for the CF, the swb and the lwb ones. They are same height but lwb are slightly thicker

[aussieneil]

Just remember there are two different size springs for the CF, the swb and the lwb ones. They are same height but lwb are slightly thicker

Interesting! I could probably have simply sourced a pair of original LWB springs to cure the bottoming issue, but I guess the new ones will be at least as stiff. Neither King nor Robinson seemed to offer a choice, but I guess they took the higher spec and then added some additional stiffness.

Cheers!

[Sammy]

interesting to know, sounds like to me for a V8 conversion i'll be opting for the LWB springs

[VanWolf]

I'd be interested to know how you go with a V8 conversion.
Only a couple of months away from that stage myself.

Mike