Need help choosing suspension Part 2

What set of Dobinsons did you have? I’m looking at the MRRs if I were to go with them.

 

IMS

 

First hand experience with Icons..I do not recommend them.

I won't even wear the free t shirt they sent me.

 

We know your budget, so what are your goals? Daily driver, adding bumpers, sliders, overland setup, towing, tire size? Ride quality important?

Lots of options out there. If Fox shocks are an option, we can get you a really nice complete kit, custom tuned and will fit 33s without a cab mount chop for under $4.3k

 

How was your shock rebuilder able to confirm the issue was from AccuTune and not a manufacture defect or error during assembly?

 

Thanks for the input, it's definitely off the table for me now. What were some of the things you didn't like about them?

 

If you guys have king shocks that don't have a lead time until next year I've been looking into those as well. I'm planning on this being my daily driver but I'd like to have capable enough suspension to do high-speed off-road driving as well as technical slow terrain, but I'd like them to be plush/ comfortable on the pavement.

 

Bigger question is how did you miss it if it was the manufacturer. Let’s just ignore the fact that the shocks only had 300 miles on them.

End of the day you punted instead of doing the right thing, that’s a big F for customer service.

 

Long story short...I broke them. Aired down and running the BLM road to our ranch and they couldn't handle the cycling. Their customer service was non-responsive…their tactic seemed to be to try to wear me down with bad communication, repeated requests for photos and receipts followed by long periods of no communication…rinse and repeat. They are also digressive, which I thought would not be an issue, but after running them I felt they would be more appropriate on a sports car. A lot of the feedback I've hear from Icon fans is that they make the truck drive better on-road. I wasn't looking for that..plus I got leaks on 3 of 4 seals.


Keep in mind for us to get our mail, go shopping, etc, we have to run over 20 miles of shitty BLM roads...one way. In a week it is not uncommon for us to put up to 250 miles of severely washboarded and rutted dirt roads on one of our vehicles. I blew the stock OR bilsteins repeatedly, then the Icons. I run Kings on my 3/4T diesel and they have also performed flawlessly.

If you can't get the Kings, I'd look at Fox and Dobinsons. After I blew the Icons, I went with Dobinsons because every thing else was severely backordered. Put 18K hard miles on the Dobinsons MRRs before I sold the truck and never had an issue. I've heard good things about ADS, but I have no direct experience with them so I can't really recommend them. I also put Dobinsons on our 80 series LC and they've done just as well. Ran Fox on my wife's 4runner until we sold it and had no issues. Just make sure you realize that these shocks need regular servicing.

 

That sucks, sorry to hear that they were so crappy, but thanks for the warning. I've got OME's on my 80 series and they're alright, a little stiff but I don't take it wheeling since time has been rusting the frame but not to the point where I can't drive it anymore. I've been looking at Dobinson MRRs and haven't seen any negatives, my only hesitation is finding a shop nearby that could service them. How would you describe the ride on/ off-road?

If Accutane's got the king or fox set in stock and for a decent price I'll need to sit and think about what I really need from my suspension with all of these options.

 

I ran 650# springs. Running at 35 to 45 mph on severely rutted and wash boarded dirt roads (aired down) and they smoothed everything out. Handled whoops and dips well. Never had an issue with them heating up excessively.

When compressed, they felt progressive and smooth. When rebounding, the stroke was also progressive and restrained. They dampened aggressive body motions.

When you run the stock OR shocks at speed on a corrugated road for an extended period of time a couple of things happen: they compress and rebound fairly uncontrolled..they also heat up very quickly. I’ve seen stock OR shocks - as well as stock JK and JL rubicon shocks - overheat, and melt seals out here.

 

Good knowing to look at Fox suspension kits. I was on the fence for getting an icon stage 6 with the matching tubular Delta joint UCA.

 

I ended up going with Kings, I was able to get a good deal through filthy motorsports which is a local shop near me. I should be getting them installed in January.

A big factor for me was having the shop I’m buying from nearby incase there are any issues. If filthy motorsports wasn’t nearby or didn’t tune the shocks for my needs then I probably would’ve gotten Fox.

 

I'm going now with the Fox 2.5 front and rear coilovers with the remote resi and the DSC adjusters along with Icon Tubular UCA and an add a leaf for the back since I'm not putting any weight in the nearby future.

 

What are the options for DIY shock rebuilding if you live far away from a competent, reliable shop?

Can, say, the FOX 2.5 series w/ DSCs be rebuilt by a competent DIY'er equipped with basic automotive tools, plus maybe a good manual spring compressor tool?

 

Just did a fox 2.5 elite series with accutune’s uca’s and deavers. I normally am a king guy but heard good thing on the fox performance series.
Accutune has taken good care of me and would hope if any issues arise that they would continue to do so. I just installed lift this last weekend and got alignment done so not to many miles on yet
Good luck with your choice enjoy.

 

I've spent a few days this week at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale riding in several new TRD Pro vehicles (4Runner, Tacoma, Tundra) and the Ram TRX on a dirt track getting a good feel for the different suspension setups. The TRD Pro Tacoma shocks bottomed out out way too easy and I wasn't impressed at all. The Bilstein's on the Ram TRX were absolute butter even when the truck was jumped. Completely different vehicles, but very interesting nonetheless.

I took the opportunity to talk with some reps at the Fox Suspension booth at Barrett Jackson this week and they stated the Fox Elite's for the Tacoma's are tuned specifically for the Tacoma's. I pushed and inquired about re-valving them with a company like @AccuTune Offroad raising my concerns about them being too stiff out of the box. They claimed unless I was going to crank them too their max height or add a bunch of weight like bumpers, sliders, camper, ect they wouldn't be too stiff and a re-valve wasn't necessary.

Ugh, another wrench in my suspension decision.

I can understand the pros and benefits of revalving for a specific application, but I'm really tempted to run them as is out of the box. I'm going to see if they'll offer any type of deal tomorrow on the 2.5 Elites front and rear. I've already narrowed in on J66 or N98 deaver springs and accutune or camburg uniball uca's. My truck doesn't have much weight added.

 

The shocks you speak of are tuned for a Tacoma, but what model Tacoma? At the end of the day, it's still a base tune that may work just fine for one person, but not for another.
If you were to buy these shocks from us, the tuning is free. We also offer 25% on labor for future service work like rebuilds, and ship for free. We offer a lot, certainly not just focused on selling you a product on the shelf. Speaking of shelfs... we do have these in stock and can tune and ship in about a week .

 

I’m running a the accutune offroad stage 5A with the Fox 2.5’s with a few additional Camburg goodies.
On road it’s pretty good, offroad it’s almost like magic compared to stock.

 

So I went with the FOX 2.5 with remote reservoirs with the DCS for the front and rear. ICON add a leaf. ICON Tubular Delta Joint. Method MR703. Falken Wildpeaks. Speed calibrated with HyperTech. And ECU tuned by TK421 Tuning.

Also replaced the front grille from stock.

So far been super happy with it and having that adjustability is worth it.