FJ Cruiser with ICON's smoked me on a fireroad..... Why????

I need some advise in order to make my suspension purchase a more educated one.

I went to a trail called Hollyjim in Socal. I was driving on the dirt road, which is a wide dirt road with some water damage and rock. I was driving my TRD OR totally stock. In the rear mirror I see an FJ approaching quickly, I slowed down to let the FJ pass. The FJ passed me consederably pretty fast, you can tell that the FJ was absorbing the rocks and ruts like nothing. On the other hand, my Tacoma was bouncing like crazy, althoght I was going way slower than him and going any faster would've been unsafe.


Once we got to the parking area, I went to see the FJ and it had ICON coilovers, rear shocks, ICON upper control arms and 17" wheels with 285s. The FJ did not look too aggressive, just a perfect stance.

My question is, can the ICONS items make such a big difference in the driving that will allow you to apparently drive so much better, smooth and fast in rough terrain?

I was considering OME for my truck soon, but if ICONs or any other type of C/Os is the only way to absorb rough terrain like that, then I might change my mind.

 

yes

 

x2

 

I'll vouch for the ICON's.. I've got the extended travel CDC coil overs up front with the 2.5" shocks out back, which makes the ride great on road, while easily soaking up the bumps off road. Just this weekend I went on a little desert excursion, and averaged about 40mph on the dirt road, with an extremely comfortable ride on a rather bumpy, and rutted road. Yes the ICON's are considerably more expensive than other options out there, but in my opinion, you definitely get what you pay for..

 

Was the FJ Aired down? This makes a huge difference on rough dirt roads. smooths things out considerably.

 

If you really want to race it - get max speed over the terrain, it's hard to recommend against Icon.

But really, any good off-road shock/spring lift combo (replace the rear leaf pack - don't do a block or add-a-leaf) will have higher spring rate, more damping, and more spring travel before hitting the bumpstops than your TRD factory ride.

So yeah, on fairly open, pretty rough desert roads I can drive my OME equipped Tacoma considerably faster than I could have back when it was stock.

PS: If you're gonna do that, be sure and pick "LT" rather than "P" off-road tires.

 

http://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-9...coma-build-your-own-mid-travel-package-1.html

 

^^ while I agree with you, would airing down the tires make that big of a difference between only the wheels articulating wildly vs the whole vehicle bouncing with every bump?

This question is coming from a lack of knowledge and isn't intended to be a "hey, you're wrong" kinda thing...

 

The benefits of digressive valving and a purpose built suspension.
The harder u push em, the more they soak up

I assume the added weight over the rear end of the FJ helped keep the rear end planted better to

 

This too.

 

X2, if you didn't air down that would make a big difference.

 

Bigger tires helps too soak up ruts and rocks especially when aired down. Also at 15mph my trucks bounces all over the place. At 30-45 it gets super smooth

 

It makes a much bigger difference than you think. I have plenty of experience with the matter.

 

good to know!

 

I am sold on ICON's for life. I took my brand new Tacoma DCLB 4x4 to the desert and ran it hard then put on my ICON coil overs and did the same trail. The difference was night and day, with the ICON's far outperforming the stock suspension. My brother has the virtually the same make model as my truck and he always comments how smooth my ICON's are over stock suspension. They're pricey but you get what you pay for. You also mentioned the 285's, don't forget these add extra cushion for the pushin and are a must if you want to compare apples to oranges. Good luck

 

What does travel matter on whoops? He's not maxing out anywhere on a fire road, I think what Brock said was spot on, the faster you go with a digression shock, the smoother the rides going to be. Suspensions made to do work!

As long as you're not getting air over the washboard stuff I think mt would be just fine for what the OP wants

Maybe I missed your point though, if I did, you have my humblest apologies

 

Yeah, driving faster can help smooth things out if you do it right and airing down your tires makes the ride much smoother.

You may have the Offroad edition Tacoma but all the editions are mostly street built and it really isn't that great of a suspension setup for offroading. Too many people just street drive their Tacomas and do very little offroading for Toyota to justify spending the money to put a real offroading suspension setup on one and the factory height is just too low to allow for much travel anyway.

 

Wouldn't removing the swaybar help smooth out the ride also?

 

Higher end aftermarket > stock