What's the Best Lift Kit for My 3rd Gen? You've asked, I attempt to answer...

Hey Guys,

No one necessarily asked for this, but after a long time searching I wanted to share my findings.

*FULL DISCLOSURE* I live in Arizona and venture offroad almost every weekend without fail, on trails with varying degrees of difficulty. The stock truck is awesome, and it can do a lot more than what people give it credit for stock. However, I wanted to fit bigger wheels and tires, have a bit better handling off road and capability for faster stretches in the desert. And I wanted the look too lol. This is the "demographic" I'm speaking to, for lack of a better term.

For 99% of people on here, this seems to be the best value and kit that has everything you need and nothing you don't. I call it the Icon Stage 4+ Kit.

Icon 2.5 RR Coils Up Front
Icon 2.0 RR Shocks Out Back
Icon Tubular UCA with Delta Joint*
Icon RXT Leaf Pack*
*Denotes "non-standard" options added to the Stage 4 kit.

There are several reasons I feel this is the ideal kit for 99% of people. Most of which comes from a "buy what you need, nothing more, nothing less" mentality. I am open to questions or discussion if it arises, but let's keep it civil. I am not attacking any specific brand or saying you wasted money. Just calling it like I see it.

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For most people, above a stage 4 is for the bling factor and no practical use. Again, not speaking for everyone but most people do not need CDV valves or larger rear shocks or hydraulic bump stops etc etc

Often they may have a misconstrued view of how much CDC valves actually change the ride. Your not going from ROCK SOLID to SOFT and FLOATY with those dials. They are made for fine tuning, most people won't even notice those adjustments beyond placebo.

Below that, you are really spending money for the look only; or the value of the kit- per the dollar spent- is just not there. If that's the case, save the money go Bilstein and OME and call it a day.

As far as other brands, obviously Fox and King have been around a long time. From my experiences and research, you are spending more for that name and again the "bling factor". Not saying ICON is the absolute best, or the end all be all. Nor am I saying that ICON is better or worse than KING or FOX. But when you are looking at 99% of people who are looking for a kit, they fill that specific niche better than the others.

One more thing, I know that KING, for example, makes some killer high-end suspension and they have a renowned name for their quality.

However, when you are buying an OEM replacement kit from them, you are getting the same or very similar quality to other kits. You probably won't notice a difference. Unless you need to see that silver and blue in your wheel well.

Think of it this way, if your looking at a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, you are getting a top tier incredible car with all the latest tech that the industry has to offer. Coupled with a fit and finish that is second to none.

But when you buy the C300, it's not an S-Class. Quite frankly there are a lot of other cars that do what it does. Tpyically for cheaper and actually offer more features for your money. Most of the allure comes from it's perceived value rather than actual value.
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Sorry for this long winded post, if you've made it this far I appreciate the support and I hope you gained something from this.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

 

I highly doubt 99% of people “need” what you described in your post.

Just throwing that out there.

 

I would say maybe 10% NEED that kit. Most do fine with OME or Bilstein 5100's or 6112's and Light Racing or JBA UCA's

 

Touche, let's pretend I'm talking about the people who are looking for a "serious" lift. And weed out the ones who are content at stock height or with a simple bilstein lift or who all in all don't need this type of system.

 

Can we all agree not to latch on to specific wording and look at the post as a bigger picture type thing?

"Below that, your really spending money for the look only; or the value of the kit- per the dollar spent- is just not there. If that's the case, save the money go Bilstein and OME and call it a day."

I love how I even specified who I'm speaking too and people still get hung up on words. But I wanted this to be a discussion, so thank you for the input.

 

yea, most are once or twice a month. if its every weekend and for longer periods of time sure Icon Stage X, OME BP51's or Kings are the way to go. However once you go not-cheap, the amount goes nuts, close to 8k with rims and tires (doesn't include cmc chopping align etc...)

 

I wouldn’t necessarily say that Bilstein/OME setups are for looks only. It’s definitely a step up from stock.

 

I’m surprised, you live in Arizona and you didn’t even mention ADS, which some people would say are surperior to ICON, Fox and maybe even Kings?

Being serious, if I wanted a “high end” lift, it would be ADS or Kings. I’ve read of way too many issues with ICON to reallly even consider spending that much on them. I know there’s a lot of people that have ICONs and Love them, I just think Kings or ADS would be a much better option, when talking about a high end lift.

 

I would gladly pay more for a manufacturer with greater integrity with regard to warranty issues. From what I have seen in my time here, ICON is very poor with that.

 

Honestly, if you have a TRD OR like I do. I can't imagine spending the money on that kit unless I just wanted the lift for looks. From a practicality standpoint, you are looking at essentially the same real world performance as the stock shocks setup. Of course fitting a bigger tire is a bonus, but I'd argue stock sizing in an aggressive tread would probably be sufficient for most too.

I only recently moved to AZ and found out all about ADS. But just practically speaking they are not in the conversation because of a lack of marketing dollars. Whether that's good or bad I'm not speaking on. I can tell you, not once have I heard that companies name thrown around unless talking to serious serious offroaders or larger truck owners. And to me the Kings are like Mercedes. Unless your buying the upper level kits, it seems overpriced. Clearly people still buy CLA250's and that's kinda what the OEM replacements are, the money makers for the company. In my understanding, not an expert.

 

A negative review is always left, a positive one is rarely heard.

 

Yes, this is true across all brands ... and ICON stands out very poorly.

 

Yup see a lot of terrible Customer Service issues with ICON. Never hear anything negative about FOX, KING.

 

What is the icon shock setting for "mall curb"?

 

I just wish I had a dollar for every your (you're) in every TW post. I could retire and buy an island somewhere.

 

I don't know I only have the rear 2.0 Shocks with their 3 Leaf Progressive AAL

 

I went with Fox.

I wanted the extended travel, and they use better materials than Icon and Kings.
They've been around a long time. And out of the three seem to stand up to the Central Ontario, Canadian winters the best. So the decision was simple.

 

When I read it again, it's amazing how they jump out at ya!

I count $5 though, I'll throw in another $5 if you want to share!

 

OP works for Icon. Icon has many such cases of failure. Bad!

 

LOL, I posted this on Facebook got good feedback and was told "hey you should post this on Tacoma World" by a couple people. You think I'm ICON?