King 2.5s Worth it In the Desert?

I just picked up a 3rd gen taco and plan to use it for primarily for Baja and desert trips. I don't rock crawl but do make 4 Baja trips a year and I'm looking to upgrade the suspension to be able to drive at a brisker pace without bottoming or bouncing as much. LT would be great but it's not in the budget this year. I've found a lot of reviews on the bolt-in King 2.5 COs but they mostly seem to talk about ride on the street or how much lift blah blah. Basically I want to keep the truck as low as I can (running 265/75 R16 KO2s) with as much travel as possible.

If anyone can offer feedback on the desert performance one can expect and any of the questions below I'd appreciate it.

1. I'm keeping the truck as light as possible, what spring rate do you recommend and what, if any, re-valving did you need to do to make the truck work in Baja?
2. With only 7-8" of front travel, how much bump travel works best?
3. Is anyone running an aftermarket bump stop with these COs? If so, what improvement has it made?

 

The only thing I can provide any assistance on at all is bumps. Wheelers superbumps are far superior to our stock ones, and won't break the bank. Unless you're looking to drop more coin on something REALLY nice, those will work great.

 

Interested in the superbumps for the front. Especially in their rebound characteristics.

Will probably go with king bumps on the rear.

 

600# will be fine.

Most Kings these days take in account washboard roads and bumps by adding a flutter stack on the OEM bolt ons.

CDCs may be really worth your investment based on your statements.

2.5s are more than enough but unbolting your swaybar on runs to Baja will be a significant difference.

If you are interested in pricing, i can also help you there.

PM me with any questions.

Jon


Edit: yes, coming from Icon to King, Id say they are worth it.

 

Seriously?? I bought Icons because I thought they were top shelf. After not being impressed with them I kinda gave up on having a smooth riding "mid-travel" setup.

 

Still better than OEM but valving is everything.

For me, i blew the rears in under 10k but the 650s that come standard were too much. If I added a bumper in the front and some more weight in the rear like I have now, it would've been better.

 

IMO you should just save up for a long travel setup



I started with mid travel and ended up with long travel, I could of saved a lot of money if I skipped mid travel.

 

Yeah, that's kind of my thought too. Helps a bit budget wise that I can do my own fab work for the bed cage (will probably go flatbed at the same time) and gusset work. Are you running a bypass up front?

 

Yes

 

I have the Fox 2.5, and while I believe it is a great step from original; I still feel like it needs way more work.

 

What type of offroading are you into ?

 

How so?