Fox vs icon vs king coilovers

I currently have a 2012 Tacoma w/ a 6” bds lift. Looking at some coilovers and what I’ve found are fox 2.5 remote reservoir, icon 2.5 no reservoir and king remote reservoir (unsure of the diameter being 2.5 or not). I’m wondering what coilovers you guys like, or what ones you’ve tried and didn’t like.

 

When I was doing my research it appears kings followed very closely by Fox with icon training behind them both. The performance of fox and kings are pretty identical. What gave the king the hands hands up was the better fit and finish. I personally like the look of the fox but went kings because they were local.

 

For my application icons are the cheapest then fox and then king. I imagine price reflects quality in this scenario but I was unsure. The icons from what I’ve found researching have a different coil spring which causes it to be stiffer I believe? I currently have the fox coilovers on my Tacoma. I believe one is in desperate need of being rebuilt but I don’t have the down time available to rebuild them, so I’m just buying new. Just trying to decide whether to buy the same ones or change it up.

 

i just went from Fox to King yesterday and that is definitely not my experience so far. these are very very different just doing about 100mi making my way home from the shop. the Foxes were far less compliant and the Kings were keeping my tires, especially my rears, on the road so much more than the Foxes that it changed the handling and steering on my truck.

just an initial 100mi but an entirely different experience. went from TRD Pro Fox (2.5 IBP) to King Stg3 3.0 IBP.

 

So you’re opinion regarding the above statement of the Kings and fox being similar is more like the kings being noticeably better?

 

better is subjective. i can't really say it better than i did. i have about 100mi on them.

 

Understandable! I’m also concerned with corrosion resistance. I bought my Tacoma as is with the fox coil overs installed. They have seen salt in NY for about 2-3 years and powder coat has started flaking and corrosion/rust has started to take affect.

 

i can't comment on how that would hold up, haven't seen any complaints about Kings and corrosion, although I've seen plenty of those regarding ADS.

 

You're a road racer though. Your sensitivity is very different than the average truck driver.

I'm thinking it doesn't count the same as the wanna-be desert racers, mud boggers, rock crawlers and KOA campers? Right?

 

that may be the case but that is absolutely not an excuse for their highest end Tacoma shocks to not do it all.

example:
my truck is setup tight with lots of handling response. i throttle steer to control the weight balance. so if the Foxes don't keep my rear tires in contact as much as the Kings, then that is a big chunk of handling control not available to the driver. this applies to any situation especially above something like 30mph wherever you drive.

 

Don't get me wrong. As an ex SCCA participant, I appreciate handling........ a lot.



I was more tongue-in-cheek with that post. A lot of folks around here spend lot's-'o-bucks for gear then never really utilize it to it's full capabilities.

I'm glad you do, and can tell the difference in components.

 

A lot of the comments on ride quality are subjective to the vehicles weight/tire choice/spring choice/driver preference/shock VALVING. However, its always nice to get feedback before making a big purchase.

If you're keeping that 6" BDS lift kit, you are limited on shock choices. That is a drop down bracket that requires an extra long shock to be put in there.

If you're worried about corrosion on the shocks, I would highly recommend going with Fox. They have a stainless steel piston rods that will resist corrosion much better than King. If those shafts get damaged, it will take out the seals and they will start leaking and causing other issues. We get quite a few King Shocks sent in for rebuilds and have to replace piston rods at the same time. Coil springs are all very similar, so the corrosion on those will all be similar. There are coil spring boots you can throw on there.

We have a ton of great articles online that will definitely help with some of your questions.
https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/#toyota-tacoma--4runner

 

haha after i reread your post i saw it was tongue in cheek, and i get it.

believe it or not i thought about trying some autocross in this thing. end of the day i kinda wonder how mine stacks up to theirs.

and i'm sure you can appreciate this is an exciting time after putting in new quality components about to start finding out what they can do and how i can improve from it.

 

I currently have the fox coilovers for my lift that bds offers. I have no complaints just checking other options as it’s time to either rebuild/replace mine. I can’t really have the down time of having them rebuilt so I’m just replacing as a whole

 

Fox uses a top out bumper and King doesn't, that was the decider for me to go fox. If the shocks are tuned properly they all pretty much do the same thing

 

The pros are more like 2” no? The stock pros aren’t comparable to the kings 2.5.

 

How do you drive. If you drive on the road much or on typical dirt roads you will benefit from digressive shocks. If you drive on deeply rutted/whoops in off-road rallies you will benifit from progressive shocks. Mall crawling, just chose the color you prefer.

 

Because I never have. Idk what parts would be needed. And I daily drive the truck