king vs. icon vs. fox racing coilovers

Hm.. I'll take a ride in my friend's truck with 700's and decide.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

I have never rode with icons, but Im curious if icons ride similar to what a king with 700 springs would feel like at slow speeds?

Coot

 

Should feel stiffer. From what I understand, the speeds are speaking about shafts speeds. Therefore, drive slower, shafts travels slower, harder rebound/damping characteristics. That's speaking of standard out of the box digressive valving. Drive faster, faster shafts speeds, softer charteristics.

 

I was originally thinking about going with icon, because I'm 95% on road. But I DO NOT want a bumpy ride even on the road. I Hate the stock ride on the road even. Its terribly rough to me. It feels like running into the bumps and pot holes instead of running over them. Even just on my gravel driveway. Some of it is my tires, but I want a very smooth plush ride. I don't plan to drive aggressive through the desert. Just cruising backroads, and old loggin roads and dirt/gravel roads. As well as a lot of chip and seal paved roads that have been patched and patched and patched and full of pot holes and bumps. And I don't wanna be thrown all over the place at moderate speed. I don't wanna have to drive fast to be smooth, but I don't wanna drive super slow like I do now. Last trip on some old rocky washboarded logging roads was just terrible. My buddy in his jeep Cherokee was drivin normal, and had to keep stopping and waiting for me, I could not drive any faster, It was terrible. and riding around with him all weekend was smooth as could be, on old worn out suspension. Seemed to float over everything, while mine just jarred everything and rattled your teeth out. soooo,, now I'm thinking about King.

 

Call DSM and tell them that. They can valve a set of coil overs to match what you want. Sounds like Fox or King is what you want though

 

COULD NOT AGREE MORE. DSM is where I have gotten most of my suspension from. They are great to work with and I dare you to find cheaper prices than them with free shipping! Only thing about Fox is in the past they used to rust pretty fast compared to the others. I don't know if they have a better coating on their stuff now. I have Kings and they do exactly what you are looking for, making everything plush from 5 mph to 50 mph. They are beautiful to have on the highway.

Coot

 

Did your Kings ride "plush", as you describe them, right out of the box, or did it take a while to break in?
I have a Brand new pair of Kings w/ 250 miles of mixed driving on them.
I would not describe them as plush at all, they are very rough and i can feel every bump in the road right now.

I live 2.5 miles down a small very rough county road with every type of defect imaginable which is why i chose King in the first place.
I paired them with Camburg UCAs and an energy suspension bushing replacement kit. The Kings are set at about 2.5" lift and have extended droop.

Did you have a similar experience when yours were new?

 

Ok so wow.

1) yes your coils need to break in
2) If your valving isn't spot on for the terrain you're on, you're gonna have a rough ride
3) Those bushings you just replaced were rubber. They absorbed vibrations. You just put hockey pucks in between your frame and body.
4) Preload=rough ride. 'Nuff said.

 

Did you request a specific spring rate?

 

No, i purchased the Kings for 1st gen tacomas from Wheelers offroad.

 

Damn im surprised you are getting that with your coils. Mine for the most part felt pretty smooth from the get go. I say this though as mine is a second gen. I checked on wheelers, did you get the standard spring rate or the 700 HD springs? I will say this though, my kings ride even nicer the faster you go. If you got a part number or anything of what you got from wheelers might help too.

Coot

 

They are standard rate springs, not 700lb HD springs.
Extended droop for use with aftermarket upper control arms only. Wheelers Part# 25001-151-ext

 

Well you got me on this one...have you tried calling up wheelers and telling them what you have found? They have a suspension guy there named Dan who is pretty knowledgeable in suspension. The thing is, with my truck being a second gen, the 650 weight springs for mine work pretty well. I have no idea what spring rates they have available for the first gen ones and also if the first gen is noticeably lighter. I would bet if you added some weight with something like a plate bumper, Im sure that would soften them up. Sorry to hear that you are dealing with stiff suspension though. Does it feel rougher than stock suspension?

Coot

 

I cant speak to stock suspension ride comparison. The 1st thing i did when i bought the truck 3 years ago was replace the 180,000 mile oem shocks with Rancho 9000XL quick lift struts.
The King are riding about the same, maybe 10-15% smoother than my old shit box Ranchos.

 

I remember my old 4runner had some ranchos on it back in the day. I think they were kind of squishy. Anyway depending on your speeds the Kings wont be magically smooth over everything, but it should feel nice when going about 20ish mph over stuff. I would try giving wheelers a call and see what they say, although I think they are closed on the weekends.

Coot

 

I bought BFG KO2 285/75R16, but obviously need a slight lift to fit these tires.

I've been trying to educate myself on suspension.. and have been eye balling this set up.
http://www.offroadshocks.com/tacoma-king-shocks-and-total-chaos-uca-complete-kit-front-and-rear.html.

However, I've talked to a friend that told me Fox has adjustable coilovers. which I think would be pretty sweet, i.e.: lift it higher for my highway so I can get my mall crawler happiness in.. but then adjust it when I'm ready to do some trail blazing.

I've found these.. but are these going to fit?

Tacoma Fox Reservoir Coilovers With Adjuster Front 0-3 Inch Lift Code: 880-06-418

with
Tacoma Pre-Runner 2WD Fox Reservoir With Adjuster Rear 3.5-5 Inch Lift
Code: 985-26-118-PR

I see the 2WD and get confused. haha..

HELP!?!? also I found total chaos uppers on Amazon for a cheaper price.

and what AALs should I get?

 

Fox, King, Icon, ADS, and others are all adjustable. You wont be adjusting as much as you think. Unless you have a good alignment tech next door. Lets not forget about the new OME bp51. Just food for thought. I chose Icon and have no regrets.

 

lol I'll look into the OME bp51. but yeah I just spent an hour back reading this thread... and it seems the Kings are adjustable too lol... (sigh). there's still so much I feel like I don't know.. I'm trying to keep my budget under $3500. I think I'm going to go with this setup (http://www.offroadshocks.com/PROD.html?Product_Code=25001-119_121-96504), and build from there as I learn more. f*ck this is a lot to take in.

 

To add the adjuster knob, its about an extra $300 per set. Don't forget, the shocks won't lift the rear. You still need an add-a-leaf, or new leaf spring pack, or blocks to get rear lift.

Edit** or shackle flip for rear lift