Thanks for that review.

The Fox 2.0 vs2.5 is presumably why you had issues with the shaft. My Icon 2.0IFP lasted 13,000 miles. I had them to 250F. The shaft was well protected by the boot though so no shaft issues. That is okay, they were meant as a first step anyway. I will probably rebuild them and keep them for the heck of it.

I'm running 2.5 Radflo and I did need to get them rebuilt for pitting, even with the Icon shin & shaft guards. They hadn't lost oil yet because of pitting damage, one of them lost oil when the Icon guard was deformed back towards the shaft and punctured the shock body. But during rebuild it was obvious I was going to need the shafts replaced. Radflo now offers pre-installed rubber boots (for a small $) and I haven't had a pitting problem since.

I'm now running the Rago shock skid to protect the bottom shock mount. I'm just trying to warn people about the few skid designs that us bent sheet metal to provide "shaft protection". They won't protect the whole shaft, you'll still get pitting, you still need a boot. And the sheet metal "protection" can actually deform pretty easily leading to shock body damage. The only skid design I've seen that has thick, gusseted and welded shaft protection is the Rago. They still don't protect the whole shaft and so I'm also running rubber boots.

Its kinda sad that these high end shocks dont come with any sort of boot or protection but the cheaper bilstein or eibach shocks come with a boot. Is there a reason for this?

Boots protect from pitting but trap moisture and fine debris that can lead to their own problems and failures. In a perfect world you'd velco your shock boots on before heading off road and then take them off when you come out. Too much effort for me. I wheel in the southwest so moisture is less of an issue and pitting has already proven to be a problem, so I run boots.

Don't attach the boots to the shock body. Shaft is protected and moisture drains.

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Shock Skids (non-King Shock) |

Anyone try those? Seems to remedy the shock bolt problem but no "shin" to protect the shaft - less of an issue for me with my booted IMS shocks.

Don’t seem like they protect the shock itself much other than the mount.


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The boot covers the shaft on my shocks - no issues with that so far - I almost think the "shin" part is kinda a liability - bending it into the shock would be no bueno haha.

Interesting read. I have Kings on back order and I already bough the sheet metal shin guards. Maybe I'll TIG weld some supports to beef up the shin guard a bit so the top piece doesn't bend in and mess up the shock body.

What boots are people running for rear king shocks? I ordered resis and adjusters.