Better ride quality with preloaded and stock springs?

Have these icon 2.5 VS coilovers. My springs look a bit rusty and my ride is horrible so planning on doing a rebuild.

My shocks are preloaded to about 2" to 2.5" (adjusted for leveling and driver side lean) with the coils provided from icon.

I only drive on the road, rarely off road, no added weight.

Im wondering if its better to get coils adjusted for the 2.5" lift and dont preload, or is it better to preload and get stock height springs.

Also if you have any recommendations on springs for my application i would great appreciate! thank you for reading

 

What you're really looking for is unloaded spring height and stiffness in in/lb. That will put you in common base units and allow you to compare

 

Your poor on pavement ride quality is probably not due to the springs. Icons come with digressive valving. Digressive valving is designed for the big hits in off-road situations. But that same valving has a harsh ride on pavement where the big hits are few and far between.

If you are going to rebuild your Icons anyway, consider changing to a progressive style valving.

And FWIW, stock OEM coil springs will not work on those shock bodies because of the way the coils are cut.

 

Agreed^^^ look at you tires first, how old are they? There is usually a date code on tire right after the DOT impression on the side wall. Most manufacturers will use a week- year code as an example 1511 is the 15th week of 2011. Better tires have a more flexible side wall at that is your first shock absorber. You could also try putting some sand bags in the bed of the truck to compress the springs a little.