Who actually NEEDS Kings / Use Cases?

it’s okay. We people with ADS, Fox, Radflo will still point fingers and laugh at you for choosing an inferior shock.

You can still join us when we laugh at the Icon people though.

 

That doesn’t make much sense to. My understanding is that the kings need an aftermarket UCA because the coil spring has a longer diameter and if you chose the extended length version, you will need a UCA with more clearance or risk it contacting the coil spring at full droop.

 

basically was going to say this

rebuilding being an awesome feature, replacing a budget set up when you could have just done it right the first time

also look to see who you have locally to rebuild your shocks, for me (east coast) Kings are way more serviceable than any other shock brand

 

Sounds like we're in the same boat. I can afford the kings, I just don't like the thought of spending that much on suspension if I'm not going to fully utilize them.

But hell, I'm also the person who spent stupid money on DB cover because I wanted "the best"

 

I've got RSG off road near my house and know they do a ton of work for tacos, I would assume they can rebuild kings but should definitely check!

How often do shocks really need to be rebuilt though? First truck, not first motorized money pit but my valving has always felt fine upwards of 60-70k miles on them. But they were road cars that very rarely (if ever) saw the full travel of the suspension. Whereas I'm continually wheeling this thing every weekend.

 

Don’t forget to budget for a good set of custom leaf springs.

 

they have a schedule.

https://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/...ock rebuild is,and street every 50,000 miles.

 

I have Kong’s and my truck is primarily used for rock crawling. Of all the extended travel coilovers, Kong’s are the longest, which translates to squeezing the most travel out of the front. They ride great on road, and they can take the abuse for the occasion i want to hit stuff with speed off-road.


Edit: I’ve had Bilstein 5100 and ome setups before as well and they’re not as good.

 

My understanding is that Kings are for off road racing and that the only “regular” folks who use them for the intended purpose are guys with prerunner type builds.

Dont get me wrong if i had money to blow i would buy them because theyre built great and can handle tons of abuse.

I also dont want to send me shocks in for a rebuild, think ive settled on OME or dobinson.

 

I’ll also add if you do decide on kings, buy from @AccuTune Offroad. Off the shelf Kong's are valved for everything from a 4 cylinder regular cab second gen, to a V6 DCLB third gen. Accutune will tune your shocks for free, specific to your truck, before sending them to you.

 

Oh hell yeah, that's awesome. This was actually something I was wondering about. With so many options for spring rates, loads carries, etc was anyone actually valving things appropriately? Seems like these folks are

 

They’re the best when it comes to that stuff so definitely use them if that’s the route you take.

 

Well I'll be honest here. I built my truck mostly for backroads and washboard service roads but mostly on road. Wanted something easily adjustable so went with Kings and they work great. My final decision was the fact that they get great reviews and I love the Blue bling. Yes they are spendy, even the Kings on my Minime truck. Did I need them, probably not but wanted them.

 

Having the shocks rebuilt when the time comes, can definitely be tedious. However you wont need to throw away your shocks and buy new stuff. Sure the King/Fox brands certainly do make high quality race shocks, but doesnt mean you need to be a racer to enjoy them. Some of the customers we work with hardly ever go off-road, or if they do, its very moderate. With our tune, the trucks ride really nice on the highway and make daily driving more comfortable. Another nice thing about tunable shocks... WHEN you start to add more accessories with weight, or you start to off-road more, you will have the ability to change valving or spring rates to compensate for the new changes. Most other cheap shocks not allow those types of changes. Usually with this hobby, most will continue to upgrade or go off-roading more.... so the investment of quality suspension early on will be worth it. Feel free to message us with any questions!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_LfmthYGkc

 

I have Kings and am certainly glad I went with them. Been in some pretty crazy spots and they handled it like a champ.

 

For what you want I would look at Dobinsons kits, Fox 2.0 or Eibachs new coilover kit. All will save you thousands over Kings, perform well on the road and off-road.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/eibach-pro-truck-coilover-2-0-stage-2.673107/

 

considering most of those are within $500 of Kings I don’t see how buying those would “save thousands”...also when they wear out they have to be completely replaced.

buy nice, or buy twice.

 

stock OR suspension isn't digressive, it's linear. Icons and Bilstein 5100/6100s are digressive. Stock OR suspension has a lot of dip/dive, but a cushy ride. Most people I know with OME ended up swapping out, unless you are constantly off road with a lot of gear. Apparently they ride like ass on the street. I was going to get bilstein 6100s but ended up with Icons because of the rebuildabilty and that I do most of my driving on the street.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digressive-vs-linear-vs-progressive-pistons-shock-valving/

 

like everything you can get a basic setup or a more performance oriented setup. they are worth it if you use them even in light sense. If you just drive around on pavement then its more of a "show" piece.

If you have any remote sense and can swing it go for a good setup of the top brands fox, radflo, king etc. If you are on a budge then billie's or OME will get you there but any extended off road business they will show their colors compared to a better setup. They are performance suspension for a reason. No wrong setup here but there is always a better performing setup with proper tuning and configuration. Most people here have upgraded or changed as they progressed in their setups.