Dobinsons 2016-2023 Taco Suspension Options

All day long I personally run Dirt King tubular with only minimum slop from the polyurethane. There's a great uca thread here

 

Just got my notice. Coilovers with 314's arriving today. SPC sent me a brand new set of UCA"s and new brake lines supposed to be here tomorrow. Total I'll be running 7" lift I hope the lines are long enough. I'll keep you guys updated to see how they come out.

 

I got everything in. I took some pictures and measurements for everyone before installing to compare the Dobinsons to the 2023 OEM TRD Sport. I looked all over and could not find accurate measurements. So here we go.. (it was 3AM by this point so forgive the spelling errors, lol!)

 

Any ideas on max shock length with the L59-110-R leaf springs and how it compares to OEM? They look to be about the same thickness so I would think minimum length would be the same but is that true?

 

26.9" at full extension are the longest that Dobinsons make for them. But those longer ones also have a longer compressed length, so bump stops have to be added.

This length is the best all-around to go with, as they don't require bump stops or brake lines:
14.2″ compressed length, 24.2″ extended length

 

But do you know what full droop on the springs themselves is?

 

That's not a measurement that I have.

It would depend on how heavy the wheel and tire are too, as they "pull" the axle down further when they weigh more.

 

No worries. Just curious if they actually enable more suspension travel than OEM or only give lift. If they do allow more travel I realize something like a shock relocate would be necessary to utilize all of it.

 

25,000 Mile Update with MRRs:

This is my 3rd set of Dobinsons suspension. First were the nitrogen twin tubes, blew those out after a few months. Dobinsons sent new ones out. Those blew out after 12 months. I upgraded to MRRs in Nov 2022 at 37.7k miles on the truck and as of July 2025 I’m at 62k miles.

They were great for the first year but then became unbelievably noisy. Probably should have taken them apart and done minor rebuilds every 12 months.

I don’t have a sway bar and I run the LSC and HSC fully open with minimum rebound and I float around like a boat, which I personally enjoy but my wife says is horrible and makes her feel sick if I drive fast.

The lower shock mount bushing on the front driver side has been crushed and twisted. The UCAs are full of water and rust. The adjusters don’t turn. They’re obnoxiously loud. The front driver shock clicks and is probably blown out, meaning this is the 3rd time the front driver shock has been blown.

Overall, I don’t think these are low maintenance shocks worth the money you pay for them. Maybe I’m an idiot and it’s my fault, but my friend has had the same experience with his V8 4R with MRRs too.

I’ll be looking for replacement suspension soon since I just moved from Colorado to SoCal. Would be nice to find something that is quiet and lasts longer than 2.5 years without needing rebuilds every 12-24 months. Maybe that doesn’t exist, maybe I need to take better care and attention, or maybe I’m being an idiot.

Here are a few photos as the truck has progressed over the years.

 

For reference OEM 3rd gen springs are under 10in of travel.

 

Blown out shocks generally make me think the compressed length is too long for the setup. Are you running any sort of spacers? What bump stops?

 

No spacers. DuroBump front and rear, think 3” front 4.25” rear?

EDIT: Also have 352 coils on stock front end (steel skids but no bumper) which have been a pain in the ass because I have the seat height jacked to even get 2” of lift

 

After 5 years and 40,000 miles later, I just went with the 354 coils and a bushing replacement for my MRRs. No problems other than that, but I don't drive off-road every weekend. It might have something to do with a difficulty of terrain you're on.

 

Which bushing and why the coil change?

When I wheel I beat the shit out of my truck.

But honestly, I’m kinda done with the rock crawl stuff. I just like camping now. If I wanna build a crawler I’ll do that. Maybe switching to something as simple as 6112/5160 is ideal for me now. Hmm…

 

I replaced the bottom bushings, and the top hat bushings. I went with the 354 coils because I was maxed out at the spring perch for the 352 coils and I wanted more lift. I actually had the quarter inch top spacers on top of the top hats, so I wanted to remove them as well. My truck has the Slimline winch bumper and a group 31 battery out front, so it's a little on the heavy side.

 

Bonus picture of the truck and the 5-year-old dobbies with the new TRD upper control arms

I swapped from Dirt King because they had those poly bushings with too much flex oh yeah, new coil tower gussets