For those who have ICON stage suspension lift kits

[MrGainzz]

Can you guys tell me which stage is the best bang for the buck and why?
So I’m “preparing” for the failure of Xreas suspension on my Ltd as they are notorious for leaking issues when they reach certain miles .

The 4runner is my daily driver and I don’t plan to do extreme off roading,but I’d love to have a reputable brand installed on my truck since I’m firm believer of you get what you pay for.
Also,would you say higher stages would be better overall in terms of reliability,ride quality and durability? I appreciate your input ahead!

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[BrianSD_42]

You get what you pay for. If it were me, given those choices, I would probably go stage 2 and no higher. And stage 2 seems like a good upgrade for only $500 more.

Lastly .... Call them???????

 

[MrGainzz]

You get what you pay for. If it were me, given those choices, I would probably go stage 2 and no higher. And stage 2 seems like a good upgrade for only $500 more.

Lastly .... Call them???????

Appreciate it,Brian!I just thought people on this forum could provide better feedbacks than from the company.


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[shrub1]

If you search you'll find the answers to your questions that have been covered a bunch of times.
In the end most people do what they want despite the advice given.

 

[Okki]

You probably already know what you want and what you can afford.

I replaced my XREAS well before any failure or leakage with an ICON Stage 6. Remote reservoirs, no adjustment valve.

I also drove 8 hours to have it installed 4 states away.

Nobody here knows your budget, your needs, or your wants. So a broad question like you posed is not likely to bring you a satisfying answer.

I love my stage 6. Not sure I'd do it again, but very happy with my choice.

Thanks and have a great day!
Okki

 

[gm350reratliff]

You probably already know what you want and what you can afford.

Thanks and have a great day!
Okki

This^^

Go with what you want in your budget. I run the stage one Icons (no resi) and they've been great. Going to send them in for a rebuild soon and hopefully get another 100k miles out of them.

 

[PeoplecallmeIan]

You've posted an Icon lift for a solid axle vehicle. That being said. just go with a stage 2 if you aren't doing any extreme off roading. Honestly you should probably just go with an Old man emu or bilstein set up.

 

[MrGainzz]

You've posted an Icon lift for a solid axle vehicle. That being said. just go with a stage 2 if you aren't doing any extreme off roading. Honestly you should probably just go with an Old man emu or bilstein set up.

Thank you Ian! Are old man emu and bilstens rebuildable?


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[stphnman20]

Yea if you're not doing anything crazy, get Stage 2. I have them.

 

[MrGainzz]

Yea if you're not doing anything crazy, get Stage 2. I have them.

Appreciate it man! How long have you had them so far? Any issues?


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[MrGainzz]

You probably already know what you want and what you can afford.



I replaced my XREAS well before any failure or leakage with an ICON Stage 6. Remote reservoirs, no adjustment valve.



I also drove 8 hours to have it installed 4 states away.



Nobody here knows your budget, your needs, or your wants. So a broad question like you posed is not likely to bring you a satisfying answer.



I love my stage 6. Not sure I'd do it again, but very happy with my choice.



Thanks and have a great day!

Okki

Thank you for your input ,Okki! I honestly don’t know which stage to choose since I’m still a newbie and I have no knowledge about those suspension lift kits. King,Icon stage and Fox is what I’ve been seeing on most sites and they seem to have great reviews.


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[wfo9]

This is most likely what you want.

58647 (QTY.1) | 10-UP 4RUNNER EXT TRAVEL 2.5 SERIES IR COILOVER KIT

58451DJ (QTY.1) | 03-UP 4RUNNER TUBULAR DELTA JOINT UCA KIT

52700 (QTY.1) | 07-UP FJ/03-UP 4RUNNER REAR 2" SPRING KIT

56505 (QTY.2) | 03-UP 4 RUNNER 1-3" REAR 2.0 ALUMINUM SERIES IR SHOCK

They sell that as a stage 2 kit. But you can run any rear spring and any UCA you want if you just want to order individually. I would not mess with the remote res for your use case.

 

[MrGainzz]

This is most likely what you want.



58647 (QTY.1) | 10-UP 4RUNNER EXT TRAVEL 2.5 SERIES IR COILOVER KIT



58451DJ (QTY.1) | 03-UP 4RUNNER TUBULAR DELTA JOINT UCA KIT



52700 (QTY.1) | 07-UP FJ/03-UP 4RUNNER REAR 2" SPRING KIT



56505 (QTY.2) | 03-UP 4 RUNNER 1-3" REAR 2.0 ALUMINUM SERIES IR SHOCK



They sell that as a stage 2 kit. But you can run any rear spring and any UCA you want if you just want to order individually. I would not mess with the remote res for your use case.

Appreciate it! So are you saying those parts in the pics I posted are kinda unnecessary for a non hard core off roader and the 4 parts you posted are all I need?


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[wfo9]

Appreciate it! So are you saying those parts in the pics I posted are kinda unnecessary for a non hard core off roader and the 4 parts you posted are all I need?


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Yes, all those extra links and reservoirs are just bling unless you do some more hard core stuff (specifically at speed). The basic stuff will work just as well on trails.

Besides the shocks and springs the only really useful component to replace is the UCAs (to support a little more travel and to get a good alignment with a lift)

The rear LCAs are fine, but they do bend easy if you hit them. So those are good to replace if you offroad enough to bend them. They is no performance difference though... just strength of the link...

 

[PeoplecallmeIan]

I'm selling my icon lift if you're interested. All 4 pieces listed above minus the UCA's.

 

[DesertCanyons]

The best ICON Stage kit is ...

The parts you listed in various stages do not fit the Toyota 4Runner. Clearly they are for another vehicle.
I just installed an ICON Stage 7 extended travel lift with all tubular parts. I got the ICON tubular UCA with the Delta Joint. It's more than you need for not driving off road, which I think you said you're not doing in another post. I got 3" of lift and it lead to many more expenses in related tools, supplies, parts and accessories. Accessories like RCI skid plates and a remote oil filter adapter. Unrelated to the lift but once I got started I just couldn't stop. Reading this forum will lead you to a lot of expensive upgrades.

For any lift kit, the upper rear trailing arm is not necessary. If you look at the Toyota OEM you'll see it is a narrow rod, not a tube shape. That means it was designed for tension only, not compression, and is probably more than adequate.
The adjustable reservoirs are nice in theory but I didn't change them for some fairly easy off roading last weekend.

Chose the system that fits your budget and your driving needs. Look at other systems and compare cost to benefit. Do you need a lift for larger tires? What kind of off roading are you doing now? Until you can answer these questions, don't invest in any system.

 

[MrGainzz]

The parts you listed in various stages do not fit the Toyota 4Runner. Clearly they are for another vehicle.
I just installed an ICON Stage 7 extended travel lift with all tubular parts. I got the ICON tubular UCA with the Delta Joint. It's more than you need for not driving off road, which I think you said you're not doing in another post. I got 3" of lift and it lead to many more expenses in related tools, supplies, parts and accessories. Accessories like RCI skid plates and a remote oil filter adapter. Unrelated to the lift but once I got started I just couldn't stop. Reading this forum will lead you to a lot of expensive upgrades.

For any lift kit, the upper rear trailing arm is not necessary. If you look at the Toyota OEM you'll see it is a narrow rod, not a tube shape. That means it was designed for tension only, not compression, and is probably more than adequate.
The adjustable reservoirs are nice in theory but I didn't change them for some fairly easy off roading last weekend.

Chose the system that fits your budget and your driving needs. Look at other systems and compare cost to benefit. Do you need a lift for larger tires? What kind of off roading are you doing now? Until you can answer these questions, don't invest in any system.

Thank you for your input,Dave!

The main reason I want to get a lift kit is actually for enhancing the appearance and better performance on gravels and trails as I like to explore on trails on weekends.
I don’t know if that is considered as “off roading” to gurus like you ,but I really want to “do the things right the first time”,so I won’t need to invest in more advanced kits in the future(please correct me if my mindset is incorrect).

I’ve also seen other popular brands like toytec,OME and dobinson ,but I’m not sure about their performance on pavements and highway compared with King and Icon which is what I care about the most.


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[Okki]

Thank you for your input,Dave!

The main reason I want to get a lift kit is actually for enhancing the appearance and better performance on gravels and trails as I like to explore on trails on weekends.
I don’t know if that is considered as “off roading” to gurus like you ,but I really want to “do the things right the first time”,so I won’t need to invest in more advanced kits in the future(please correct me if my mindset is incorrect).

I’ve also seen other popular brands like toytec,OME and dobinson ,but I’m not sure about their performance on pavements and highway compared with King and Icon which is what I care about the most.


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For what you are doing, better tires like the Cooper ATP (or similar) and some skid plates will go a LOOOOOoooong way. I did the FJ Summit with just slider and a wheel/tire package. the 20 inch alloys are not what you want to play off pavement with that much.

Your truck "as-is" is more capable than you or I are. so that said, Switching to a Dobinson, or OME shocks/coils will do just what you need. If you are not looking for larger tires and more articulation, thats all you need. You already have 9 inches of ground clearance. bumping it up to nearly 12 adds little to nothing if you are just going gravel ranch and forrest roads. and even the odd "trail" with some boulders or trunks will not be an issue. Skids and sliders buy you much more in that case.

Okki

 

[Throwback]

Ok, so an OME or Bilstein lift and very slightly larger tires like 285s actually gains you what performance off road? 1/2" more ground clearance under the axle?

What about the King, Icon, and Fox coilovers for slow paced four wheeling? I totally understand the desert racing type use but what about regular old wheelin'?

Maybe I'll be lucky enough for a [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] reply.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Reasons to lift or not to lift

Thank you for your input,Dave!

The main reason I want to get a lift kit is actually for enhancing the appearance and better performance on gravels and trails as I like to explore on trails on weekends.
I don’t know if that is considered as “off roading” to gurus like you ,but I really want to “do the things right the first time”,so I won’t need to invest in more advanced kits in the future(please correct me if my mindset is incorrect).

I don't think a lift enhances the appearance, except for making your truck the baddest, tallest T4R on the street. You need a performance or clearance issue to want to spend the money for a lift. And a lift does not improve highway and street driving, it makes it more difficult due to a higher center of gravity. It can decrease gas mileage too. The original equipment is the best value for street and highway driving.

And as long as you have that low hanging, Limited body trim and those running boards, your not going to have a lot of ground clearance because your approach, break over and departure angles are lower than a newer SR5, TRD Offroad or TRD Pro.

Are you hitting the skid plates on rocks on the trails you're driving? Do you need bigger tires to get the differential off the ground another inch for more clearance? If these are big issues on the roads you're driving then a lift will improve your off-road performance.

The tires make the biggest gain in ground clearance due to the low point being the differential. For bigger tires like 285/70 17 you need a lift to clear the tires. But probably not for 275/70 17.

Do you drive fairly well graded dirt and gravel roads. If so you don't need a lift for that. I drove my stock T4R Trail Edition for two years into some really tough rocky areas and only scraped the skid plates a few times. It took me about 7 days to install the Stage 7 lift and do it right, working on my garage floor by myself.