King lift? 2021 trd sport long bed

I plan on lifting my truck for additional ground clearance while hunting, fishing and camping. No hard core off roading, mainly bumpy trail roads.

it seems the king lift kit is pretty solid in terms of quality and durability. I’m in the camp to do it right the first time and want something dependable that won’t break my truck. Any suggestions, experience would be appreciated.

my budget is about $5k. Not including rims and tires.

 

$5k should be enough to get all 2.5" remote res all 4 corners and a nice set of UCA's and leaf packs.
However, order soon because last time I checked Kings have 8 months long lead time

 

I just saw that... FML. Any other comparable lifts? Lol.

 

Fox seems to have slightly shorter lead time (more expensive than comparable King)
Bilstein last time I checked on headstrong offroad still out of stock
ADS appears to be ready to ship.

I'd rather just wait out the lead time because like you said, you want it done once and done well. Getting something that's not exactly what you initially wanted will always haunt you with the thoughts of "should haves"

 

I personally like my Dobinsons MRA kit

@Crikeymike

 

I run Kings on my DD w/mild off-road for pretty much four years, and as much as exciting it was supposed to be, I'm not too happy. Mostly because I was not aware of costs and maintenance associated with ownership of racing suspension.
My Pass Side front shock developed a leak within first six months, King's warranty is only 3 months. Yes, they can be rebuilt, and mine were already twice (both fronts), and getting ready to have all 4 rebuilt soon...
If you can do all of it yourself, great. If there's a local place that can rebuild your shocks when they leak/fail/are due, then good. If you have to send thwm out for service, then it's not only more money, also lost time ( and depending on what needs to be replaced, it can cost anywhere from $500-900 +sh)
I'm not saying don't get Kings just because I had some bad luck, I just want you to be aware that ownership of racing suspension, especially on daily driver, is not as straightforward as it seems.

 

My kings 2.5 with adjusters, UCA, and icon RTX leaf was like $3800. Take your time and shop around.

 

Do they offer a forum discount?

 

They offer a shipping discount if you buy the whole kit. Sometimes they offer free shock assembly at $180 off. PM @Crikeymike with any questions.

 

Yeah, I have a discount code in my signature

 

I've heard that from a lot of people lately too. 32 week lead time, that's pretty far out man!!

 

This is excellent advice, king and comparable set up will blow you away in terms of performance and ride quality, you’ll find yourself driving faster and harder than before, however you must be prepared to rebuild them which can be a pain in the ass for a DD. If you are ok with that then this set up will be glorious on the trails. It really depends on how much you wheel and if the performance is worth the headache. A good setup for a daily would be Bilstein 6112 and 5160 combo. They offer excellent damping capabilities for off-roading because of the 6112’s large diameter body and the rear 5160’s reservoir. They are much cheaper that full blown race shocks and will last longer. When they are used up you just slap new ones on. I’ve had mine for two years but am waiting on some 8100 series because I wanted an upgrade. Just some food for thought.

 

I thought race shocks, with bigger diameter and remote res, can hold up more abuse than internal shocks or stock shocks and thus last longer...maybe that's just all marketing and I bought it

 

pretty sure every suspension is on some type of backorder for the next decade or so

 

While you will be able to push them harder than stock shocks they will require a rebuild eventually, the harder you use them the lower that interval gets. 6112 are kind of a hybrid, actually they were developed on the second gen Trd pro. They are traditional emulsion shocks with a larger diameter body and reservoir on the rear so they can handle a great deal more abuse than the stock set up while still being less expensive than the options from fox and king. Of course those options will perform better and are able to be pushed harder. I blew 5100s after only 40k miles of off-road abuse so it may be true that the race shock last longer under heavy abuse, however 40k-50k is a common rebuild interval for the race shocks.

 

Based on the intended use you describe, king shocks are probably overkill. Anyway, how are intending to lift the rear? Block, aal, or full leaf pack?

 

I was actually looking 6112/5160, but they were out of stock everywhere (without any possible dates). So after looking at TW 3g forum, and seeing how great kings were, and how happy everyone was, I bit a bullet and ordered Kings. It is a great set up, but overkill for my needs.

 

So while we are on the topic of reliability for a daily driver. Are these 2.5 remote reservoir shocks reliable for everyday usage or are they going to leak and creak in 20k miles? Do any of these types of shocks from say fox or kings offer factory like reliability and longevity?

If I could get 80k to 100k miles out of them before rebuild that seems fine. I might rethink my lift if I can only expect 30-50k miles before having to send them off for a rebuild.

 

Dobby's don't have a maintenance interval, yet are fully rebuildable.

Dobinsons MRR 3-Way Adjustable Remote Reservoir Shock Absorbers are equipped with 3 adjustable dials to adjust the amount of low speed compression damping, high speed compression damping and rebound damping... The shock absorbers are designed as an OEM replacement shock absorber and do not require any specific maintenance... These shock absorbers are 100% rebuildable...

Here's the troubleshooting guide:

 

It's a bit of a crap shoot, how long aftermarket shocks will last. It certainly depends on how you use them, what environment you are in, and how you maintain them... but no, you're not likely to get 80k to 100k out of them. From my casual reading, it seems like ADS have the best reputation for longevity, but even then, 60k tends to be the upper end of those.

I've also seen factory shocks fail almost immediately. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.