King or ICON ?

What do you want to know about Fox shocks? Anything in particular?

 

I've got Icon coilovers (extended travel) in front and 2.5" Icon remote resi shocks with Dakar springs in the rear. I don't understand the bouncy ICON comments here, as my ride is excellent on-road and just outstanding off-road. I have Fox on another vehicle, and must say I like the Icon digressive valving better. I would put Icons on my next Tacoma.

 

Do you buy into the (generally speaking) larger diameter/volume shocks ride best theory? The Factory line are 2.0 with 5/8" shafts, the Performance coil-overs are 2.5 with 7/8" shafts.

Fox talks about the offroad attributes of both but not much in the way of on road ride other than to say both retain factory street ride. A few people running Fox shocks say the 2.0 ride is a significant improvement over OE. What are you running and what are thoughts on the Factory vs Performance product lines.

Thanks in advance.

 

Okay so here is the run down on 2.0 vs. 2.5 and shaft sizes as well as ride quality. For the fronts, without question, go with a coil over that has a 7/8" shaft. As I feel that 5/8 is just not enough diameter shaft. Pick your poison 2.0 or 2.5. Personally myself I went with a 2.0 with a remote reservoir, do I regret the decision I made? Actually no. Despite the hard wheeling I have done in the last and will continue to do in the future, a 2.0 with a remote reservoir runs the same heat dissipation characteristics similar to that of a 2.5 shock without a reservoir. I have Sway Away in the front so I cannot comment much about if a Fox front coil over would be good for you but based on my experience with Fox product I would say they will do damn fine on your ride. Given the fact that you will be running predominantly on the road, go with a 2.0 shock. Its all you will ever need for the front. On the rear there is some leeway. Stick with 2.0's as well but you can go down to a 5/8" diameter shaft no problem. Its what I run in the back, it will be plenty given how light the rear is.

Regardless, I think you will learn to love the way it rides after replacing your shocks. The handling characteristics will be much improved over stock on the road.

I hope this answers your question. If you have any others feel free to personal message me or ask me on here. Oh and BTW, I DO run Fox in the rear.

One more thing. I understand that if you want 7/8 shaft from Fox you HAVE to settle for 2.5 shocks no other way around it. If you are open to other options you may be able to find a 2.0 coil over with a 7/8" shaft. I could help you search if that's the route you want to go. I personally know for sure that Fox doesn't offer a 2.0 w/ 7/8 shaft because I spoke to them about it about a year and a half or two ago about it.

 

I've read a number of very good things about the ICON shocks for road use in spite of their digressive valving.

Would you put the ICON Stage 1 (2.5 front and 2.0 rear shocks) rather than the ICON Stage 2 (2.5 shocks) and the necessary UCA that you currently have on your next Tacoma? Did you go with the 2.5 rear shocks and extended travel (front and rear?) because of the lift from the Dakar leaf springs? Thanks!

Stage 1 System Contents:
58630 - ICON 2.5 Standard Travel Adjustable Coil-over Shock Kit
56503 - ICON 2.0 Aluminum Series Rear Monotube Shocks

 

Or if your just lifting the front and doing absolutely no wheeling. Get these, had them on my 2010 for years with zero issues.


http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ToytecBilstein-5100-coilovers_p_363.html

 

The rear 2.5 shocks are standard travel. I went with 2.5 in the rear after running 2.0 for a couple of years. The 2.0 were Ok but the 2.5 provide better damping moving fast with heavy loads.

I have about 170k miles on the Icon coilovers, and have had them rebuilt once about 30k miles ago which was when I moved to 2.5 rear shocks as well. Very happy with the Icon setup. I plan to go with an all 2.5 setup front and rear on the next Tacoma.

I have the upper overload removed from the Dakar packs to reduce the lift and level the truck out with about 2 in of lift.

 

Kings.

as for the 5100/OME suggestions; not everyone wants to take the cheapest route. regardless if he's using it or not. maybe he can afford it.

 

One thing to keep in mind as you split hairs between King, Icon and Fox coilovers is that all are VASTLY better than regular shocks or 5100s. Can't go wrong here.

 

He's right. I live in Northern California away from.the water and my shock bodies still have some very mild surface rust built up on them. If you want shock bodies that will not rust you could and should look into ADS for sure. They are another company that makes top notch shocks for our trucks. If I had to do it all over again I would strongly consider ADS as a potential because of build quality alone.