Finally getting Extended Travel Coilovers - Final Battle: Fox or King??

COVID + holidays = don't expect much

 

Don't know much about ADS...I bought my Kings as part of a group buy which ADS were also offered. Price delta was negligible, but I went Kings for the exact reasons your experiencing. A lot more info out there about King and Fox. I always worry about the smaller guys closing up shop or leaving me in a lurch.

 

Lol so I found an email from back in February. I apparently already asked ADS my questions.

Their response:
"Long travel is for a long travel kit that replaces both the upper and lower control arms along with steering linkage to widen the stance and add additional travel that is not possible with factory components. Our standard option adds wheel travel from the factory with out the need to replace the arms or steering components below are the 2 options for the 96-04 Tacoma in standard travel 650lbs springs are standard option but 600 and 700 are available


250-96T6L-000 Coilover Front 2.500" '96-'04 Toyota Tacoma 6 Lug Front With Remote Reservoir 14.125 20.125 650"

So basically Fox. But cheaper if you want to add a resi. I'll get ADS just because +$200 for reservoirs is pretty good and their limited marketing seems to suggest a higher focus on DIY rebuild.

 

10 months and 6 pages later, you're getting the set a lot of us (that have owned King and Fox) have told you to get

 

Yup
I can do a ton with 2 grand, so spending this much on a single suspension component is a luxury that I would never make a not-fully-informed decision on

 

Find someone local willing to let test drive/ride their truck that has kings/fox/ads. But might be hard with covid.

 

Love my Kings!

I had Fox before and they are great but didn't feel as good as the Kings.

And for ADS I have heard nothing but good things about them.

 

So I bought ADS with clickers and they sent the wrong ones, the ones without...after being told there was a 5 week lead time on the ones without lol..
Label on box = with
Product inside box = without

 

Interesting.

You're not close enough to have picked them up locally?

 

It's like a 2-hour drive one way to Tuscon from where I am. There's a shop 15 mins from me that supposedly distributes, but I figured I was safe enough ordering online, and its easier to compare prices (Headstong Offroad, great customer service btw)

 

Ha, interesting.

Those guys were horrible at communication with me.

 

Doesn't surprise me tbh. All the major vendors for Tacoma parts seem to be hit or miss. For instance, I'll never do business with URD again, but some people rave about them.

 

I'm currently in the same process of deciding what shock to get and it sounds like Fox has the better clicker if you are looking for the adjustabily on the fly. This will most likely be my choice when I have the coin for that reason. All of them can be tuned to your vehicle and will likely ride very similar after time has been spent valving them. Another pro for Fox is the stainless steel shafts, opposed to the chrome coating on Kings. I unfortunately live in an area where they spray the devils juice on the roads in the winter and believe that the stainless will hold up better. Not sure what ADS are made of.

 

Anyone have a definitive answer for how easy it is to convert a non extended into an extended? I have the non-extended Kings and was wondering if that's something I should wait to do when I rebuild them? Or if it's cheap and easy to do I could most likely do it sooner rather than later.

 

Pretty common question; there's a bushing that limits the travel and its the same for both King and Fox.

I'd wait until they need a rebuild or any other service. Think a shop would charge you between 50-100 to replace said bushing and make them extended travel.

 

What he said.
And also that bushing only gains like 0.25" from what I could gather. But hey, gains are gains.

 

Got the right ones delivered today and fairly easy install. My only quips are with their brackets and their default preload setting.

My truck is at nearly full droop with the default preload, so I'll have to go get a spanner. :/

Had to make my own bracket on the passenger side due to some existing reservations.

A final review of the poll shows this is the underdog, but I'm confident