king vs. icon vs. fox racing coilovers

Here's a thought In a braking situation do you:

Progressively press harder on the brakes until jamming it in to a full stop at the very end
or
Press the brake down firmly and slowly let off to come to a smoother stop

but what do I know.

 

Except it isn't fan boy to be discussing someone's nonsense. I have every intention of moving to a King setup at a later date, Icon doesn't make a shock that satisfies the needs I have.

 

Seems to be the case.

Thats why I'm using DSM's site- they are where I got some other tidbits from, and I'm using their "build your own MT kit" page to see what options are out there. This research is just crazy, so much filtering to do, so much forum ninja skills needed haha.

Are you 1st gen or 2nd? How do you like them (Fox)-- no F' that, too many reviews that say "love" "like" "great"-- how does it actually feel? And I ask gen because the more research I do, the more I find characteristics being different depending on gen.

- that sucks to hear (blowing shocks), I started to give Fox a solid look as a King alternative seeing that King's offerings for the 1st gen seemed a little limited (bolt-on ready to go- not going to call them for a custom setup).

- What were the characteristic differences with Fox and Icon? For instance rocky area "X" was causing the dash to rattle with Icon at "Y" speed, but smooth for Fox, but then curvy on-ramp "B" at "Y" speed felt like a car on rails with Icon, but sloppy and rolling over with Fox etc etc.

Sh*t is racking my brain, I want to buy once, and right. There are other factors to fear in this searching as there is a vacuum for good reviews for 1st gen setups (or so old the the COs have been redesigned since then) so I'm looking at other platforms (FJs, Tundras, 2nd gens etc) but brand X and Y might not do any good 1st gen specific valving, so even though they work great on the other platforms, they may ride like crap on the 1st gen. I feel Kings are what I'm looking for, with Fox a close second (and has more options), and Icon is what I'm trying to avoid (feel wise). But that that swings the other way keeping in mind Icon might have paid a lot more time dailing in the 1st gen coilover while Fox and King basically didn't have time and just threw out whatever they felt might be a good ballpark for valving. jberry might have his Kings riding great, but thats with a lot of feedback and customizing, I'm going to be getting whatever is 'off the shelf'.

 

Seriously everytime I've asked a suspension question, even via PM to the so called experts, the answers have been basted and slow broiled in opinion with a sprinkling of fanboy. I get that Fox, Icon, and King own the market and that they make great products. However every conversation eventually turned to something along the line of "don't buy that, it'll be shit when you are doing whoops in the desert at 65 mph.." and then I was always like "there are no deserts here... or whoops...". Then the reply would come and it would be "still, buy "X" brand and make sure you buy the most expensive version possible because if you don't it will explode from the heat..."

 

3rd gen actually, I have not ran into any issues and my truck is driving great. I have the basic 2.0 in front and basic is rear. Corners fantastic and I really notice little difference from the stock set up, little stiffer. I did have Kings on my 2nd gen prior and for some reason, I didn't care for them on it, also rusted out rather fast on one side and it became a issue to have it replaced so I went with a different brand for the Tacoma.

 

TW suspension conversations are saturated in hurt feelings. Is that accurate enough for you .

Really you aren't going to go wrong with any of the major or minor brands as long as you buy what you need. If Icon doesn't work for you I'd just leave it there. Around here Icon does just fine. The biggest reason I didn't go with them was because of their proprietary policies around information and parts on rebuilds.

 

Ive ran Fox and King and run with trucks that run Icons. I wanted the bigger company of Fox or King, so I covered my eyes, spun around 10 times and then pointed and I was pointing at picture on the wall that had more blue than black in it, so I went with Kings

 

To be honest I found the Icon smoother onroad then the Fox, as others have said, but offroad I couldn't go one way or the other. Also they had different spring rates so I honestly couldn't pass a strong judgement even on the street ride. I think both setups have been setup well right from factory for the Tacoma. They both were a great improvement over the 5100 based kit I ran before. I tried a few trucks with Boss kits and I was disappointed compared to the other brands. I even rode with one guy who had Walker Evans that seemed nice though he did have some coil binding because of a mismatch in weight that wasn't the fault of the manufacturer.

However I have a 2nd gen so who knows lol. I only know one guy up here with a first gen and, well, it's barely a first gen with the mods he is running. Canada eats Taco frames. You just don't see 15 year old Toyota trucks up here.

King is great, so is Fox, and Icon to me is hard to comment against but they are a PITA here to get rebuilt here but I'd feel better about that if I lived in LA.

 

HOW DARE YOU NOT PICK A SIDE!!?!?!?!?!

 

I'm surprised no one has brought up Icons somewhat shady past owner yet. I mean if you wanted to attack someone with comments that aren't relevant but sound really edgy that's the way to go.

 

Lol when they were DR? Thats like the stupidest thing to bring up since dude is not even affiliated with Icon nor was he.

 

Remember that one time a truck didn't win the Baja 1000 and was running Foxes? BECAUSE THEY SUCK.

 

i run icons up front, fox's in the rear. Come.Fkn.At me.

 

That's my point. I rate the quality of the current arguments on the same level, or at least getting near to that.

 

You're too easy. Minivan. Do you even lift?

 

Oh, I'm in full agreement here. Id say the last few years I've basically commented 'Pick your color' probably 100 times to different people that ask. Now I'm just bored and have a solid hour to chill while the baby sleeps lol

 

Surprised I haven't seen anyone bring up the fact the Icon LT coil overs are progressively valved..