WARNING!! DO NOT BUY ICON EXTENDED TRAVEL COILOVERS FOR YOUR 2016 TACOMA!!

Cab mount chop. Easy and simple thing needed on tacos since 05. Lots of write ups on it if you do some searching

 

Sorry, I meant that he shouldn't be running extended travel coilovers with stock UCAs. The uca is the limiting factor stock so he wouldn't gain anything. Not to mention quite a few manufacture's say not to do it to avoid the coilover spring from contacting the UCA.

 

$35k on a taco. That's wild. Love my truck but definitely would not have paid full MSRP.

 

I purchased an Icon kit from Demellos during their Black Friday special and have yet to receive it. In the meantime I have been emailing back and forth with a man by the name of Scott at Icon. He responds within 2-3 hours of my questions and sometimes even faster than that. That's amazing customer service as far as I am concerned especially around a time when they are most certainly the busiest. Below are a few questions he helped provide answers for. Maybe they will help someone. He helped assure me I would be fine. I can't wait to get it installed.

I asked him about the differences between the 2015 and 2016 products on their website.

"The coilovers are the same but the difference is in the truck. Your 2016 Tacoma comes stock from the factory 1” taller than the previous generation. Since the suspension geometry is the same, this reduces the amount of available lift over stock height from 3” down to 2”. You can add more lift than the 2”, but it reduces ride quality and wheel travel and therefore is not recommended."

This was a response to my question about using 700# springs in lieu of the stock springs on their kits.

"A heavier spring rate may get you some more lift but will degrade the overall ride quality and performance because of the higher than necessary spring rate. What we are going to offer in the very near future are some bolt on bump stop spacers to drop them lower. This limits up travel some, but will allow you to add more preload to the coil spring to get more lift without binding the coil springs."

 

Maybe these guys just want their trucks to ride like their wives mini vans?? I love the way my icons ride, and in no way would it be considered a harsh ride..

 

Why does my post about not being a DB have so many likes????!!!!

 

Scott at Icon was great when he was helping me when they shipped my suspension with 650 springs instead of 700.

So according to Toytec and Icon, the 2 Gen and 3rd Gen have the same suspension geometry but Toyota ships the 3rd gen with an extra 1" preload or "lift"? But the stock ground clearance of the 2nd gen and 3rd gen is the same?

 

Yes 3rd gens have a heavier rated spring which gives it about an extra inch. But I think they measure ground clearance to rear diff? Which would make it the same. Someone feel free to chime in and correct me

 

Makes sense.

 

That is what Toytec and Icon are saying.

 

so to avoid this issue, I need 650 lbs springs added correct? I just got off the phone with someone from icon and he stated that the 2016 is NOT heavier and that if I added heavier spings it would ride like crap until I added a bumper. I want to pull the trigger on a stage 2 kit today but just want to make sure I get the right spring.

 

Here's my understanding. The 2016 Tacoma already has more preload on the stock suspension. That means that the stock setup gives about the equivalent of an inch of lift to the front end over the old 2nd gen setup. That also means that an Icon shock that is designed to lift a 2nd gen truck 3" will only lift a 3rd gen truck about 2" easily. This is why people are only getting 1.5"-2" of lift height out of the old 2nd gen lift kits that the lazy manufacturers have decided to leave on the market for the 3rd gen.

If this is the case the easiest fix I could think of would be to request a spring length, ie the physical length of the spring, to be one inch longer. I'm not sure what the stock length spring is for ICON but whatever it is ask for one inch longer That should get you to where you want to be in relation to the 2nd gen lift numbers. That of course would remove an inch of down travel though from the shock which could cause problems so I'd consult whoever you are buying the shocks from, not just Icon, to confirm that. BTW I say don't talk to just Icon because a part of their philosophy has been to keep quiet about certain information so you may have better luck with the companies dealing the shocks over the manufacturer for information.

As for 650 lbs spring riding like shit they shouldn't unless you put a ton of preload on them. I know people who run 650's stock on DCLB trucks because the 600 is too soft for that truck in their humble opinion. To be honest the heavier spring SHOULD allow you to put a little more preload on the coil but a longer spring would be a better bet.

 

solid advise. thank you. I was just going to order online but I think il call up 4 wheel parts and see what they suggest. thanks man.

 

so just got off the phone and the dude said that increasing the coil length only adjust the spring rate of the spring, and that the ride hidth would be the same you just woulnt have to crank them down as far to get there but the ride quality would ultimately be the same. so idk, he actually suguested this kit, bilstein-front-blisteins 6112-rear blistens 5160 he said they put it on a 16 recently and it looked really good. it would save a small amount of money but its only advertised to raise a 2015 Tacoma 2.5 so im assuming all we could get is 1 to 1.5 out of this thing. heres a link to the kit. any suggestions would help. bilstein-0-2-5-front-6112-rear-0-15-5160-lift-kit-for-2005-2015-toyota-tacoma

 

Who said that coil length is just spring rate? If that were the case there would only be one spring size in existence lol. You can order longer and shorter springs for sure in different spring rates. The objective is for you not to have to crank them down so hard! The less preloading the less coil binding the better off you are for ride. At least that's my basic understanding.

Where are you ordering from... I'm sure they probably know what they are talking about but the devil is in the details right?

The 6112 won't get you 3". It gets about 2.5" on the 2015 so I'm guessing it gets about 1.5" on the 2016 once everything has settled. It's a good shock for a good price. You will lose the coil over advantages, like being able to adjust the height while the shock is on the truck and easy rebuilds, but you will gain some money back. If you do a lot of daily driving and hit the mountains only once in a while that would be a good shock for you. I mean, it's basically the TRD Pro shocks, so it can handle Offroading no problem but it's just not a true coilover for the reasons I mentioned...

 

I was just going to order from the cheapest online website. they last guy I spoke with that mentioned the spring rate thing was from 4 wheel parts. I just spoke with someone from down south motorsports that said that he has put king oem coilovers on 2016s with 600 lbs springs and got 2 inches out of them and said icons have a 650 spring so he thinks if we just left it alone it would work out. I agree with what your saying about the blisteins. I think if im gana spend the money the stage 2 kit is going to be the best bet. if I get the same result as the OP il order longer springs and return the old ones. I don't mind a somewhat stiff ride my last truck came with spacers and I thought it was buttery smooth until I got in the stock 16.

 

These guys don't even deserve Rough Country lifts, they are too high quality. At best they deserve Rancho.

 

In my experience 4 wheel parts doesn't have a clue what to do for a lift on a Tacoma. That's local to me though so your experience may be different.

If they are willing to replace the springs if plan A doesn't work out that's a good idea. Just a reminder to make sure you're kit comes with aftermarket UCA's or you buy them seperately. If you achieve more than 2" of lift you will want aftermarket UCA's to get a good alignment.