Interested in potentially making the switch to Icon

Hello Tacoma World.

I figured I would post here because this is specific to Icon. There is plenty of information that I have sifted through but I'm hoping for a little more.

My current setup looks great, but it isn't a very smooth ride. I think An Icon upgrade would be the way to go, and isn't as expensive as fox/king.

I currently have eibach 620 coils with 5100's set at .85 up front and head strong off road progressive AAL in the back. Light racing UCA's.

I'm potentially looking for a complete conversion minus UCA's. Any idea what stage is best? 1-3?

Who are the authorized vendors of Icon and who has the best deal? I'm looking to spend about $3000 MAX.

How do Icon suspension kits effect CV angles? Ride quality? Off road capability?

My truck is a daily driver with occasional off road use. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I want to be able to do a suspension upgrade and not have to worry about rebuilding shocks and pretty much anything else. I want a smooth ride and no clunks!!! Why do so many after market suspensions cause a clunk???

Is Icon Vehicle Dynamics right for me?

 

I love my Icon setup. I have the 2.5 non resi extended travel coilovers up front (light racing uca), and 2.0 non resi in the back with the 3 leaf 1.5 aal. Back isn't super smooth, but to be expected w stock leaves w aal. I do think it rides much much better than stock. I had 5100s on my 1st gen, and this setups rides much better.
Shop around for best deal, with black friday coming up you may find a good one somewhere. The CV angles are all affected the same based on the amount of lift adjusted to. Ride quality is great on and off road. I get no clunk with my setup. If you already have LR uca and a progressive aal, the Icon stage 1 will give you the coilovers and rear 2.0 shocks for around $15-1600. The higher stages give you the prog aal and uca, both of which you already have. If you want to spend more can get the coilovers and/or rear shocks with reservoir. Not totally necessary for an occasional off roader, but still awesome.

 

How much of a lift do you have? Right now I have about 3 inches of lift. It looks great but like I said the ride is pretty bad. Do the resis add driving comfort? How rough is your ride with the progressive AAL? Is there an option to get the front and rear resi shocks?

 

I only have the ICON rear shocks and love them, so I can't speak on any of the front stuff. But as far as not wanting to deal with rebuilding and such, you have a lot more chance of having to rebuild with actual Coilovers than with an Eibach/5100 combo. I have heard and seen people that do zero wheeling have to rebuild stuff in under a year. Could be a fluke but in all honesty you will need to at some point rebuild the ICON's FOX or KINGS.

 

Im around 2" lift, but could go more, dont need to with current tires. Resi adds more fluid therefore less fading due to heat when going through the fast stuff. The aal is ok. I will eventually go with a replacement leaf. There is an option to go front and rear resis. The resi is geared towards keeping the shocks cooler when going fast with lots of shock motion. You can get adjustable rebound/compression with the resi, but that is getting more expensive. If you arent doing fast offroad runs, the resis may be overkill. With your 3k budget, you could get non resi front and rear, and a replacement rear leaf (OME, All-pro, lots of options), possibly even upgrade front or rear to the resi and stay under 3k. Talk to one of the vendors and they are usually really helpful with figuring out what is best for your needs, Wheelers, SDHQ, Downsouth, Toytec, Headstrong. I've dealt with Wheelers, and Headstrong and have had really good service/experience with both. The others also have good reputations.

 

KINGS.
From what I understand, customer service and product satisfaction.

 

I agree, the flip side is when you do rebuild a kit is about $20, the oil is maybe $30 and you can do it yourself, just need to find someone with a nitrogen tank. I'm a year out with my used Icons that I rebuilt myself, have done some offroading and have no issues. If you wear out a bilstein its done, need to buy a new one, if you wear out a rebulidable can redo it yourself.

 

Correct if you are a handy type person, if not you gotta have some back ups waiting until you ship it there and back.

 

Definitely. Good point.

 

That's the number one reason why I did not go actual fully adjustable Coilover's I barely have screwdrivers and the know how.

 

Yes, I'd like to add that i am not very mechanically inclined, which also means that any extra time my truck needs in the shop is extra money that i dont want to be spending. So it might look like icon is out of the question.

 

Not trying to talk you out of it Paul, just pointing out reasons I did not go with ant of those up front

 

I know Rick, and you make a very good point.

 

One thing, if you already have 5100/eibach, when you do have to rebuild, which is usually every couple of years, you could always keep the 5100 setup, take out icon/fox/king swap in the 5100 while you send the coilovers to be rebuilt then swap back in. I know I prolly sound like an Icon salesperson but just trying to throw out all options. Everything unchained has said is true, just giving a counterpoint.

 

Thats not a bad idea. However, my plan would be to sell the 5100/eibach set up. Swapping them out would mean more time in the shop and a new alignment everytime they would need to be rebuilt. My idea is to upgrade to a suspension that will last me more than a couple years without having to work it at. I probably should have stayed stock but thats the mistake we all made with out trucks

 

Like I said, I am a year out on rebuilt Icons, I offroad semi-regularly and pay no attention to speed bumps and the like. I've had no issues and enjoy the better ride every day. However you should do what you think is the best fit for you.

 

Trust me I believe that the ride quality is great. I just don't like the idea of having to rebuild. I'll have to explore other options. Thanks everyone for the input

 

I run icons on my truck and i love them. 2.5rr up front, uniball ucas, no sway bar and icon lca skids, with 700# coils. 2.5rr rear with dakar leaf pack less 1 overload. My truck rides great on and off road, just a little stiff. But i think they are priced very similar to kings and probably more than fox. Try wheelers offroad, in oregon, ask for Dan.

 

I just installed Icon shocks plus their AAL. They ride extremely nice! The way I drive, I figure I will get at least 40 -50,000 out of them before a rebuild (Icon recommends 40,000 for street use.) I can definitely live with that.

 

@DCSBFTMFW you know a lot about suspension can you add anything to any of this???