Icon, OME, Fox or Kings?

Looking to upgrade the suspension. Seems like everyone loves King's but I'm leaning towards Icon. I do mostly overlanding, camping, washboard trails, and usually have to drive a lot of miles on the highway to get to where I want to go. I've got some weight already on it (front and rear bumers, CVT tent, bed rack, roof rack, winch, ect). What is the best suspension setup? So far this is what I've determined I want, but would love to hear from the tacoma world.

Icon Ext Travel 2.5 VS RR CDCV Coilover 700lb
Icon BILLET UCA
Icon RXT REAR 2.5 OMEGA
Deaver Leaf springs

 

Icon warranty and customer service is pitiful. King is more expensive than FOX yet is an inferior product. I say FOX.

 

Anything but Icons. That said, my OME BP-51s will be this week.

 

I could be wrong here but I was steered away from bypass shocks for the rear on an over landing rig because of the weight variance from camping gear in the bed. If you’re gonna be spending that much money go with the fox shocks custom tuned from accutune

 

Would love to hear how the OME turn out for you. Those have been on my mind for quite some time!

 

Incorrect.

That's actually a prefect reasons to run bypass shocks... even more tunability than the "clicker shocks" as the bypass shocks afforded you POSITION sensitive. You can set up your bypass shocks on the softer side even (comfort) with out worrying about bottoming out because you still have the stiffer region which will control bottoming out. This is in contrast to the clicker shocks with only allow for velocity sensitivity. So no matter where the shocks is in the stroke (ride height or close to bottoming out) it doesn't matter, it's going to be as soft or stiff as you set it. Also you said "If you’re gonna be spending that much money" ,you are aware that bypass shocks are more expensive and the fox smooth body RR shocks are cheaper and inferior performance wise.
I actually can't think of any vehicle application (cars, trucks, dirt, track, mtn bikes, snow mobiles) where bypass shocks (i.e position sensitivity) wouldn't work out to be better. The only conceivable reason to not run them is, cost .

I think the person who told you about that "weight & bypass shocks" thing has never even opened up a shock and or is unfamiliar with how shocks work in general. The other possibility is that you misunderstood and are passing on false information. In all fairness you did open up by saying "I could be wrong".

 

I ran icons on my 80 series and hated them. Myriad of reasons...first and foremost they’re digressive. Second, they leaked. There were other issues but the digressive set up was really a deal breaker.

Switched to Dobinsons and have been much happier. We have beat the shit out of them and have had no issues.

We have Kings on the 4Runner and aside from having some rear shock issues (which king promptly addressed) we’ve been happy.

 

Yes. If you don't want to waste time re-valving and tuning shocks , the Icons digressive nature might make you upset. I revalved mine with 0.018" shims for the higher speed stuff and like them much more now , but they are still a digressive shock. The seals are ok on the coil overs but the remote resi ring seals for the rear VS shocks can leak (at the clamp where they mount to the main shocks body). I guess that's the price to pay for having a "ghetto bypass" shock. I have never seen anyone else mount bypass tubes and remote resi hoses to a shocks body like this (where that ring can swivel around the shock body)


* Edit , I will give Icon credit for trying to be creative and run slightly complex things. Their digressive pistons also have a "flutter stack" valving stack with a break over zone between the largest shim then the second largest. Also the bump zone they build into their VS shocks is kind cool? I wonder if they built that bump zone into the rear shocks by accident, simply because they had to clear that remote resi hose line from the factory upper shock pocket? I know some people had to grind the mount or use special 90* fittings for the 2.0" series shocks because of the upper mount.

 

not gonna argue much over this point but it was accutune who told me that. I was more than willing to shell out the cash for a better product, but accutune said that if you change the weight in the bed constantly you will effectively be out of the bypass “range” making it a non bypass style shock. I was told that varying the bed weight by 40lbs or so is enough to bypass the bypass. The real answer here is call accutune and explain how you use your vehicle, your budget, and what your goals are. Fox is the superior product in regards to king/icon/fox

 

Definitely go with fox and accu-tune
Very glad I listened to them and took their advice..

 

If money isn't the big limiter, I would add Bilstein 8100 to the comparison

 

Great info here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Filthymotorsports/videos

 

Hummm, it seems they also failed to mention that the job of the shock absorber is not to set ride height. You should invest in some better rear leaf springs or an adjustable spring setup (air bags / multi rate leaf pack?) which will accommodate for the wide fluctuations in your bed weight. So when you are fully loaded up it's so close to bottoming out that you are in the "bumps zone". I still don't see why that is bad because you should be doing all you can to keep that axle from hitting your bump pads with all that weight. I would still say bypass shocks are better even in that case.



Actually the more I think about it, I would have recommended that you go "over sprung" + bypass shocks. you will sit high in the rear for normal driving and you can run the tubes softer. When fully loaded you will be in the normal range and can use the bypass shocks as intended. They bypass shocks can also help with rebound control for the stiffer springs. having little to no up travel seems like recipe for disaster which no shocks can easily fix. you would have to drive very carefully I guess.

 

i wouldn't even consider icon, now it comes down to do you want blue or silver suspension

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKXj0jBenIk

 

you are correct on the rear leafs setting ride height, but because the OP has a CVT the assumption is sometimes they camp and sometimes they don’t. Personally my bed weight can vary by 400 lbs when loaded with my camping gear VS not loaded, which inevitably changes the ride height of my rear springs. If they take their CVT and rack off in the winter there goes another 200+ lbs. Add in airbags and you lose articulation. Im not saying that omega or bypass shocks are bad. They just don’t seem to be the right choice if the OP has as wide a varying bed weight as I do

 

Bilstein.

 

Then the only solution for this problem is running a link setup and a duel rate coil over with your 2 spring choices selected (and spring stop collar set) wisely. All the articulation, travel and adjustability you need.

 

I'll throw some gas on this bitch

Radflo.

 

Had 2.5 Radflo on my GX470, really liked them, How come I dont see people looking at RadFlo?