Raised Kings - comfortable ride? alternatives?

Gazoola

Gazoola

Forum Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
31
Location
Perth WA, Australia
Car Year
2011
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
Auto
My stock '99 Forester seems to float over corrugated road compared to a standard passenger vehicle, and am concerned that my plan to put in raised King springs (KSFR-32, KSRR-33) along with new rear KYB struts may make the ride too harsh.

I was in a Patrol once that felt like sitting on a block of wood with wheels, which was after a 'suspension' upgrade (wrong spec I'm sure).

How have others found their Forester with King raised springs (KSFR-32, KSRR-33) and the recommended KYB strut (334191/2)? Comfy? Are they a good match?

Are there such a thing as adjustable shocks for the Forester to adjust the ride as needed - ie loaded or unloaded?

I see some springs have a ft/lb rating, but this isn't mentioned in the King catalogue and wonder how the numbers compare with the stock spring. Anyone know?
 
I've got king springs in my 06 forester. They're great. I don't find them harsh, but I still have the standard struts too, so whether that makes a difference I'm not sure.

Regards,

Joel
 
I've had new struts and raised springs put in about a month and a half ago...

Is the ride tighter than OEM? Yes... but that's what you get with heavy duty springs. Is the ride harsh enough to annoy you? NO! I quite like the sure footed feeling it gives the car. Even raised about 50mm (1in lift block is in also), I don't feel the body roll excessively around bends, which is what I wanted.

I personally think it is a great upgrade. Specially to take the car off-road, loaded to the rafters. I still use the car everyday - drive about 100km a day - and the springs/struts combination doesn't bother me...

If ride quality is a must for you and you don't load the car up too much, you should get std springs and lift blocks (1 or 2 inches)...

Cheers,
Pedro.
 
I read that Taza has the Dobinsons too and he likes them.
The Kings seem by far the most popular, and with overseas buying them too. So are they that good or is it market momentum and sheep mentality?

It seems that those with raised Kings perceive a firmer ride.

D_Generate - So are you saying that you didn't notice any change in the ride except for being higher up?

Has anyone used the Dobinsons and the King and compared the difference?
 
Gazoola said:
IThe Kings seem by far the most popular, and with overseas buying them too. So are they that good or is it market momentum and sheep mentality?
Click to expand...
That may be something in what you're saying there.
The reason I chose the King Springs when I put them in my Forry, was that they were used by others & they were happy with them. And I must say that after having them in for a while now, yes I am happy with them too.

Gazoola said:
It seems that those with raised Kings perceive a firmer ride.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have to say that they do give you a firmer ride, but nothing thats too harsh nor uncomfortable for the use as an every day driver.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
No I dont find mine harsh at all, just firmer. I have standard KYB struts but I wish I hadnt put in SF struts in the rear...SG struts will give you more clearance so more options on tyre choice. Plus I'm sure you also get an extra cm or 2.
 
d_generate said:
I find it as good as before but it handles pretty flat, virtually no body roll compared to how it was even though it's higher off the ground.
Click to expand...

Given the popularity of the Kings, what made you go for the Dobinsons?
 
I likes to be different.........and after a search I found they have a really good name on other cars + they are a pretty green instead of common old yellow :biggrin:


Ignore the wrong date, taken a few months ago
CIMG4036.jpg
 
d_generate said:
I find it as good as before but it handles pretty flat, virtually no body roll compared to how it was even though it's higher off the ground.
Click to expand...

Mines the same with my Dobinsons. I have just reciently added a front strut brace too with helped heaps with the oversteer.

Gazoola said:
Given the popularity of the Kings, what made you go for the Dobinsons?
Click to expand...

Since I have them too i'll post. D_Generate actually recommended them to me. I went them because they were ment to give a better ride than Kings yet still raised and heavy duty. Plus they are blue/green which is nice and different to the yellow EVERYONE has :raspberry: on most 4x4's and almost most subaurs.

d_generate said:
I likes to be different.........and after a search I found they have a really good name on other cars + they are a pretty green instead of common old yellow :biggrin:


Ignore the wrong date, taken a few months ago
CIMG4036.jpg
Click to expand...

Mine look exactly the same except you can see more spring as I have 1" strut lift blocks ontop of mine :biggrin:

They don't sag much even when loaded up. Heres my foz with them while loaded upto the roof, on the roof and a trailer :raspberry: It only sagged about 30mm and since the dobinsons are 5mm higher at the rear than the front only about 25mm (1") which i can live with when loaded up.

dsc01044y.jpg


Heres a closeup when I repainted my rims.

dsc00735pu.jpg


Taza
 
Taza, that last pic must be an oldie with 693's tyres on it, or have you changed from the Yokohama's?
BTW - I've had the D694's on for about 75k km and they still have about 5k left on the front and about 10-15k on the rear, but they are getting harder and quite slippery in the wet after 7 yrs so I'll be changing to D697's shortly.

But I digress - One thing about the Dobinson's that is good is the option of 30mm and 25mm raise.
Which I was going to try to achieve in a similar fashion with 1" strut spacer on the back and 1/2" on the front., but if I went with the Dobinson, then I would go 1" all around.
 
taza said:
I went them because they were ment to give a better ride than Kings yet still raised and heavy duty. Taza
Click to expand...
How does the better ride work?...The Dobinson's are supposed to be thicker so that would mean stiffer springs, unless they have a progressive element about them.

I''ve emailed Dobinsons and King to try to determine the lb/ft specs.

taza said:
the dobinsons are 5mm higher at the rear than the front only about 25mm.
Taza
Click to expand...
I took a look at your foz after the new springs were installed back in June. Here is your pic
https://img836.imageshack.us/img836/63/dsc00370d.jpg
Even though you've got the 30cm lift in the rear it looks like the front is still higher - Did they put them in the right way? ;)
Maybe it's the shape of the wheel arches or that the original front shocks are being pulled up by the new springs. What do you think...?
Have you got any recent photo's of it unladen?
 
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I've got no idea why they are softer because they are not progressive and I thought the spring compressors were going to break when I put them in the front, took all my limited strength and a big vice to wind them down far enough to fit under the hats but they just seem to give a really nice ride over any surface especially considering I'm not exactly running high profile tyres.......Yeah more blue than green I guess.
 
I got in touch with Kings and Dobinsons today for some specs on their spring rates.

KINGS (raised)
Are apparently about 25% stiffer than originals (front 148lb, rear 140lb)
front (KSFR-32) 185lb
rear (KSRR-33) 175lb

Guarantee - if sags more than 10mm then free replacement..


Dobinsons - Much stiffer on the specs, and was told that they are linear rate.
front (25mm raise C55-044) 250lb
rear (30mm raise C55-045) 215lb

Gaz
 
Gazoola said:
I got in touch with Kings and Dobinsons today for some specs on their spring rates.

KINGS (raised)
Are apparently about 25% stiffer than originals (front 148lb, rear 140lb)
front (KSFR-32) 185lb
rear (KSRR-33) 175lb

Guarantee - if sags more than 10mm then free replacement..


Dobinsons - Much stiffer on the specs, and was told that they are linear rate.
front (25mm raise C55-044) 250lb
rear (30mm raise C55-045) 215lb

Gaz
Click to expand...

Really? I thought the Kings were more stiff. Anyway. With the Dobinsons the ride seems to be better due to the thickness at the bottom and top of the springs. Or so im told.

I stand by my decision anyway, both great springs.

That pic with my wheel thats a 2nd spare tyre that sits in the shed most of the time. I don't use it ever unless I really have to. It still has the 693 Dueler on it which is 10 years old and came with my Forester off the show room floor.

The other reason it looks like the rear end is sitting abit lower in the 1st pic is the back was loaded up/1/4 of the boot full of tools, plus luggage.

And if you want really still Kings then you better look at spending heaps of money and modifying your stuts to the max to handle it.

Taza
 
taza said:
Really? I thought the Kings were more stiff. Taza
Click to expand...
I actually thought they would be closer in spring rate, but just going by the specs, the Dobinsons should be firmer, even if we allowed +- 5%.

taza said:
And if you want really still Kings then you better look at spending heaps of money and modifying your stuts to the max to handle it.
Taza
Click to expand...
I thought the Kings and the KYB's were just a straight match as per the Kings catalogue? What mods are needed?
Has anyone else had to mod their Forester after installing Kings?
 
Gazoola said:
I actually thought they would be closer in spring rate, but just going by the specs, the Dobinsons should be firmer, even if we allowed +- 5%.

I thought the Kings and the KYB's were just a straight match as per the Kings catalogue? What mods are needed?
Has anyone else had to mod their Forester after installing Kings?
Click to expand...

Im talking about if you get custom made Kings, which I think Kevin on here has in his Foz. They are something like 350lbs and don't sag at all. His sturts needed modifying though to be able to handle the pressure when the car was loaded up. Standard Kings or Dobinsons will be fine with standard KYB's though and are heaps better than stock. You wont need to do any mods other than install them.
 
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