ICON Lift Kit: Stage 1 vs Stage 2

I'm looking into getting a 3 in. lift for my 08 Sport. I'm deciding between the ICON Stage 1 vs Stage 2 kit. I probably go offroad a handful of times during the year so they wont get heavy use. Anyone have any experience with these ? Is it worth spending the extra 500 for stage 2 ? Also, neither of these come with UCAs, will either of these lifts have issues with stock UCAs?

 

Get ICON coilovers, Light racing ucas, Icon rear shocks and dakar leaf pack.

 

What he said. Stage 1 + dakar leafs and UCA of your choice. The AAL is a band-aid at best and the resi rears are not necessary for your described use. I wish I had followed this formula myself. Leaf springs are a pain in the ass working solo, do it once.

 

Thanks guys I really appreciate the help. This is my first lift and I'm just making sure I cover all my bases and would rather learn from others mistakes

 

This is my setup
Love it

 

Where did you buy your stuff at ? I'm looking at Autoanything.com... They seem to have good prices, but if you know of a place with better prices let me know

 

Check out headstrong off-road, great prices and costumer service

 

Also wheelers offroad

 

The icons stage 2 I won a bid on eBay through Demello off road
The aal was good for while
My Dakar's I bought from @ToyTec Lifts
And then I upgraded the rear icons to extended icons
Bought those from @Wheeler's Off-Road, Inc
UCAs from Low Range off road

Edit: I guess my original was a stage 1 with the aal not stage 2

 

This is exactly what I'm thinking about doing. Do you need the extended travel rear shocks to pair well with the Dakars?

 

whats the benefit from going with a full leaf pack instead of a AAL if you aren't driving around loaded down all the time?

 

Maybe more droop our of rear suspension, but you're limited by shocks anyways at that point. So really no big benefit for the price difference IMO. I used an AAL on my '15 leaf pack and when that get's tired down the road, then I'll go with a leaf pack.

 

The stock taco leafs are garbage. My shocks are 0-3" of lift (i think) and they do fine with the dakars, but i also have a canopy,rtt, 2 awnings, a fridge and a recovery box in my truck full time so I sit quit a bit lower than someone with an empty bed. I also have one of the overload springs taken out so there goes another 1/4". I really like the dakars so far, they ride really nice wether Im fully loaded with camping weight or am cruising around town with no weight at all. They flex pretty good. My only complaint is that they squeak a little but its not really that big of a deal.

 

The best way Ive heard guys describe an AAL is that you are only putting a bandaide on it.

 

Like I said in my other post, if someones stock leafs are newish and doing fine, there's no reason to replace them yet and an AAL will be adequate. Once they start to sag, then it'll be time to replace them. I plan on getting many years out of mine before I replace them with a full pack.

It varies on the application though. You have a lot of extra weight, so dakars are justifiable. Myself and the guy above rarely have loads, so an AAL is fine. Just depends on each person and their specific needs/budget

 

If you have the money, go with the Dakar rear pack. If that's not in the cards right now, the AAL option will be just fine for at least a few years (unless you do a lot of heavy hauling). I have the updated OEM springs with the Icon AAL on my truck and it's doing fine still at 75k miles.

By the sounds of it, you don't plan on doing a lot of off roading, so the non-reservoir shocks should meet your needs just fine. If you do get the res shocks, it's mainly a bling thing, and I don't fault you for wanting them. If you want the look of the res shocks, get those now and the new rear leafs later, because it's easier/cheaper to upgrade to new rear springs in the future than it is to upgrade to reservoir shocks.

 

Any one have any experience with the toytec 3 leaf progressive AAL ?

 

^^^ What he asked. Also, how do you tell if the stock rear packs need replacing?

 

Thinking about Toytec 3" lift with bilstein coilovers and 2" AAL . I have 5100 now at 1.75 ,5100 in rear and 1 1/2 AAL . One front shock and one rear leaking . They are around 7 years old .