king vs. icon vs. fox racing coilovers

@tcBob how bout adding ADS to the lineup?

 

dangit...i need to change my vote now. If you dont' mind, please change mine from ICON to ADS. THANKS!!!

 

Don't forget Sway A Way and Walker Evans

 

Pretty

 

I try to as often as possible.

 

Weird, I could have sworn this was King/Fox/icon debate, not EVERY single shock known to Tacomas debate

 

To
'Forget about them' LOL. But yea, to stay away as well

 

This will be a fairly long post.

I have a 2004 4x4 regular cab. It's not a toy and I use it as a daily driver for now. At least for another couple of years. I intend on keeping it until it rots away or the EPA tries to outlaw it since I got it from my dad. Therefore it has sentimental value. I don't rock crawl or do any real "wheeling" although once in a while when out "exploring" I might get in deeper than I want to but as yet have never gotten into anything I can't crawl down or up. I've been VERY surprised where this Taco will go considering it has no posi or lockers and just the 2.7. Anywhere it won't go I don't need or want to go. Put it that way.

I just ordered a set of J59's through Wheeler's. After spending a LOT of time on this forum I figured they would fit my application and from what I have read they are very high quality and the biggest factor was they didn't have a lot of lift. I'd rather have none. I do drive on a lot of dirt roads and do climb some very steep, rocky (small rocks and ledges) hills from time to time and want to use the truck for camping and DD activities. Where I live the roads are pretty rough in many places and the speed limit is 80mph and even at that you'll get run over from time to time.

I'm sick of the stock suspension jumping to the right or left up front when I hit a man-hole cover going around a turn at 20 mph and I'm really sick of getting my teeth knocked out when I run over anything larger than an almond. A vehicle with this short of a wheelbase at 80mph over rough roads isn't comfortable with the factory suspension. I run at 85 sometimes when going to work. Yes it's got all factory suspension with 137,000 on the clock and it has been used to haul very substantial amounts of weight over the last 11 years although not very often.

I'm trying to figure out which shocks to buy for the rear end right now that will work well with the Deaver's and originally wanted to go with ICON but I had also originally planned to wait until next summer to do this suspension replacement. I decided I just can't take it anymore and I'm tired of bouncing, wandering around at 75 or 80 mph every time I hit a rough patch of pavement. I'm even more worried about hitting a patch of rough ice even at 20mph or less. I have no doubt the rear end will come around twice as fast as it does on a washboard dirt road but at least on a dirt road I don't have to worry about a semi being right behind me. At this point in time I can't really afford to get the ICON or FOX or King all at once and may have to suffer for a few more months. I had considered just putting Billies or OME's on it and then replacing them with the nicer stuff next year but that seems like a waste of cash to me.

My question is which shocks would work the best with the Deavers considering my intended application since I don't haul heavy stuff and if I did it probably wouldn't be very far and if it was it would be maybe once in a blue moon which I could install airbags for down the road. Wheeler's told me the OME Nitros are really more for hauling heavy stuff which is what I thought was the case.. What I want is the tires to stay on the pavement or ice, over washboard dirt roads (what a nightmare that is now) and slow trails as well as at 80 mph (I know. I really need an AWD Porsche but Wyoming is no place for a Porsche and I can't afford one) over some pretty rough pavement at times. I highly doubt this truck will ever see more than 500 to 1000 lbs in it on road or off and when it does it will be VERY rare. I don't see any deep water crossings in it's future either unless I'm F#$%^d into it somehow and I don't see that happening. The suspension will also see a good sandblasting every winter since WY uses a 7% mixture of salt and sand on the roads with much more salt added in certain "problem" areas and there are a LOT of problem areas.

What ever brand I put on the back I want to match with the front when I replace the struts and shocks which seems logical to me. I also want a suspension set up that will last without leaking or falling apart and still do it's job but I want it to work. I certainly can't say money is no object because it is but I'll wait a little longer to do it right. Also and last but definitely not least. I DON'T want to lift it. The Deaver's are already at 1.5" which I suppose I can live with and don't need but I don't want to go any higher than I have to up front. Being a regular cab and considering what I use it for I have no need to lift it since it has all the clearance I need and I have NO desire to start having CV troubles. I don't even want to get anywhere NEAR having that problem. Toyota engineered this truck to sit at a certain height for good reason and I'd like to keep it that way. If I used it as a "toy" as many do on this forum and had other vehicles to drive it would be a different story.

I would appreciate any and all input before I start spending big bucks on more suspension goodies. Of course, I will also ask Wheeler's the exact same questions before I decide. I also think that having a real good suspension on it will keep the rest of the truck from "rattling apart" as the years and miles on it pile up. I'll probably spend a LOT more time in the dirt with it once I get a suspension under it that actually works. I'll still go pretty slow though. This truck will never be used for hauling ass across a desert or rock crawling unless the end of the world gets here while I'm still alive. It gets enough abuse and vibration just running at 75+mph on our crappy interstates and U.S. highways..

 

For shocks and struts you can't go wrong with Bilsteins. They are a little firmer than stock. I've installed them on European cars to my own Toyotas and Dodges. Great product and very reasonable.

 

Have you ridden in a truck with kings before?

 

I had OME coils with 5100's originally and switching to Kings was worth every penny.

I ruined them by trying to increase the preload to get more ride height at first. Once I put them back to the correct preload, they ride smooth as butter. Stiffer than stock but somehow still as smooth as my wife's Lexus when driving on the freeway, which I do a lot of.

Off road? Awesome. Smooth at high speed up fire roads and even small whoops. Then for crawling gave me much better articulation.

I sprang for the compression adjusters and definitely don't regret that, just hop out and spin em a few clicks depending on what's in store.

No regerts.

 

No I haven't. A few glasses of wine and the title of the thread goes out the window. I have Icon on my truck and I'm impressed with the characteristics of them. Firm without being jarring. I have never experienced Fox or King.

 

To be honest I think anyone would have difficulty telling the difference between the exact same specification Fox, ADS or King shock if they were all using the same springs and running the same pressures.

Icon is the odd duck due to the somewhat unique digressive dampening. While I'm sure Icons work fine I'd prefer to stick with the brands that don't use proprietary data and materials to limit the amount of re builders that are willing to touch their stuff.

 

Hence why I used the word "if" .

Really the differences are smaller than the average person would notice until you get into jumping, racing, and high speed desert applications. I know your experience is literally thousands of times more relevant then mine on this so I'm not trying to disprove or prove any shock is better. If anything I was simply stating that any of the shocks listed by trusted manufacturers will work for 90% of people out there who are playing around on the weekends and not pushing there suspension system to the edge. By adjusting pressures and changing springs, I've seen a very good ride out of every 2.5" shock I've had a chance to ride on as long as it's setup well for whoever is using it. That's more important IMHO than the brand and their proprietary design for most people.

 

I think what I am going to do for now is get the OME Nitro Chargers for the rear and OME's with 880's or 881's up front. I've got other financial irons in the fire right now but need to do something about this factory suspension which REALLY sucks almost to the point of being dangerous IMO which is why the sudden rush. I can't really see dropping $2000+ on shocks right now and when I do get them I'm going for the top of the line from whatever brand I buy. Besides, once I get King or FOX or ICON next summer I'll have some spare suspension laying around to put on there for the day the expensive stuff needs rebuilt although since I don't race it might be quite some time before I ever wear them out. I like what I have read about ICONS and the Kings seem to be quite robust as well as having really top notch performance. I know the Deaver's will work far better with something like Kings, FOX, ICON and most probably a few others but if I put the OME on now I can have another year to think about which of the others I want. I have no doubt the OME's and Deaver's will be at least 1000% better than what is on there now plus I'll actually be able to voice an opinion from experience when it comes to OME compared to whatever I get next summer from actual experience like some on this forum.

 

That sounds about like the ride I want eventually. Everything I've read about ICON's as far as ride is concerned echoes what I want. If I was racing or really doing the hard core off-roading then king would most probably be what I would get.