Jeremy556
New member
I'm on my 3rd or 4th set at 80k miles. Stock shocks have a fixed upper mount and a bushing at the lower mount.
fox or new bilstein coilover options I need to clarify before I pull the trigger?
- Thread starter flounder1
- Start date
gm350reratliff
New member
I'm on my 3rd or 4th set at 80k miles. Stock shocks have a fixed upper mount and a bushing at the lower mount.
I'm hoping I'll have a little better luck with mine. At least they are rebuild-able.
Jeremy556
New member
Keep them lubed and away from road salt to last longer. The bearings are cheap COM10T (I get them from summit racing), and they are easy to change out, just kind of a PITA to pull the coilovers out.
sandcrawler
Senior Member
what are you lubing the top & bottom bearings with? ICON says "no lubrication required", naturally.
they are supposed to be Teflon-lined. then again, the knock against ICON's UCAs used to be that the uniball was Teflon-lined COM10T—before they upgraded them to stainless steel. anything else you've been doing to protect your ICON gear? i wish i'd installed a set of rubber shock boots on my rears when i put them in. i have the shin guards, but still... oh well, i don't feel like fussing with them now. maybe come spring/summer next year.
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Jeremy556
New member
So far, they seem to last a lot longer using lithium grease to lube regularly. Top bearings last quite a bit longer than lowers, but I just replace them both at the same time.what are you lubing the top & bottom bearings with? ICON says "no lubrication required", naturally.
anything else you've been doing to protect your ICON gear? i wish i'd installed a set of rubber shock boots on my rears when i put them in. i have the shin guards, but still... oh well, i don't feel like fussing with them now. maybe come spring/summer next year.
I killed 1 set of rear shocks in like 10k miles because I didn't have any guards. I got Icon's guards for the second set, but they still got pitted above where the guard protects. I now have some generic shock boots I got off Amazon on my 3rd set.
sandcrawler
Senior Member
maybe the "solution" is to source a stainless, PTFE-lined spherical bearing and replace with those next time.
can't hurt, or be too much more expensive considering how often you've swapped them.i have some minor pitting on the rear shock rods, but doubt it's anything a little elbow grease and a grey ScotchBrite can't remedy. good call on the shock boots. i wish i'd had my thinking cap on more squarely when i was putting my parts list together; didn't occur to me until i had it all apart and was staring at the delta between the shin guard and the bottom of the shock body.
sandcrawler
Senior Member
also [MENTION=78273]Jeremy556[/MENTION]: are you running the 2.0" rears, or the 2.5"?
Jeremy556
New member
I've got 2.0 rears. Stainless might help, especially in an area with road salt, but just the location of the bottom bearing pretty much guarantees it going to be constantly covered in crap.
COM10-ET are the stainless version and should work. Can't find them for sale anywhere, and the mfg mentions these are not normally stocked, so don't know the price...
COM10-ET are the stainless version and should work. Can't find them for sale anywhere, and the mfg mentions these are not normally stocked, so don't know the price...
marshal
New member
Again, I'm aware. But this forum is flooded with people who buy ICON Because it's 'better'
sandcrawler
Senior Member
i think it's more fair to say that more guys here have ICON suspensions because, since it was first introduced, there's been more 5Gs here on T4R.org than other forums and ICON was the first premium aftermarket suspension available. then Overland Warehouse went out of business, so the Radflo enthusiasm dimmed a bit. then, only relatively recently, King and Fox started to show the 5G some love, so you're starting to see more of those brands represented too. hence, the increasing frequency of the "digressive -vs- progressive" debate. my 2¢ anyway.
Jeremy556
New member
Worried about what?
Mostly high desert and alpine, daily off road use, so mine are probably working a bit harder than some others.
Alex_808
New member
Live in Hawaii, Will be driving mostly on street but sometimes on sand.. I just want to make sure this kit will last... my yearly mileage would be something like 8 to 10,000
i think you won biggest ******* years ago already. relax.
Engineer
New member
Keep in mind that the "performance" shocks such as King, RadFlo, Icon, Fox etc are rebuildable for a reason. I would be willing to bet that many who buy these don't really think that through, likely the same who complain about suspension noises after they have done a lift, UCA with uniballs and its 20 degrees out w/ proper lubrication. For that many miles a year I would stay away from the above mentioned brands unless you are doing those miles in terrain like the Baja 1000
1engineer
Moderator
Exactly. What most also do not know is Bilstein is a huge global company that could buy and sell Icon, Fox, Toytec with just one month of their revenue. They spend more on R&D than the other guys total revenue.
Mooney
New member
I guess the same could be said about Japan's KYB, largest shock manufacture in the world, producing a million shocks a week?.
Does it make them better?
Producing products for the masses certainly gives you financial strength, but doesn't necessarily mean your interested in the relatively small portion of specialty market. ICON, Radflo, FOX, King etc dedicate their R&D toward the performance market, filling a higher expectation and charging dearly for their unique products.
Doesn't Bilstein own the high-end disposable product at a reasonable price?
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1engineer
Moderator
I would buy that if they only made cheap low end shocks. While they do make lower quality shocks for the masses the also make high end shocks for all type of racing. They also make shocks for specific commercial applications. My point is a shock like the 5100 is a decent quality shock for not much money that works in a bunch of different applications. It also will last a long time with no maintenance. Basically what you would expect from a large quality OEM. The boutique shock companies make a good quality shock for specific applications that require maintenance and at a higher cost. I think some of the guys new to off roading don't understand that.
