I think that shocks are a BIG factor in ride quality. Springs are there to compress and extend, but it is the shocks that control the movement of the spring. Almost every new car nowadays that come out has some new fancy feature on their shocks to improve ride and handling. I don't hear too miuch about breakthrough technology on springs (exception being the airmatic suspension on MB and other luxury brands).
In other words, a shock can make or break a ride. When i had my 3rd gen 4runner, i added Bilsteins shocks and it made the ride significantly worst than stock shocks. Shocks play a big role in handling, bounciness, stiffness, and floatiness of a car...remember, shocks control the spring movement. Of course, the best ride comes from a perfect interaction between spring AND shock. This is why, after the experimentation with my 3rd gen, i am hesitant to mess around with stock suspension on cars. Engineers spend hours and days and weeks on designing the stock suspension...they know about compromises and what is needed on the car. I doubt that any of these aftermarket vendors spend that much time on their suspension kits. So, you now have to mix & match components by trial and error...at your cost. For example, i remember reading about how cheap the OME shocks were when i was researching lift kits for my 4runner many moons ago. Some of these vendors concentrate on the lift look and cheapen the shocks. Either they suck right out of the box or that they degrade quickly (OME) with use.
Remember also to ask people how they like certain shocks AFTER at least a few MONTHS of use. Almost universally (me included), the first few days (honeymoon period) after buying a shock, the ride is magically better than stock. However, the best reviews on a shock are after a period of time...then the real characteristic of the ride comes out.
Why are you not happy with Icon shocks?? Too stiff?? Too soft??
Good luck.
