Icon, Fox, or King?

T

Tejas

New member
I'm looking at changing out the spacer lift for some external reservoir coilovers and UCA's. I had Icons and Total Choas arms on my FJC and they weren't bad but I have no idea how they compare to the Fox and King offerings. Based off of other vehicles I've owned in the past I haven't had the best of luck with Fox but it has been a solid 5 years since I've run any of their offerings. More than half of the Baja 1000 field runs Kings and a few Raptor buddies are quite pleased with theirs but both are far different animals when compared to the 4R, any word on the Toyota options?

I'm looking for better bump reduction and rebound both on and off road and a smoother ride never hurt anyone. Any suggestions or user reviews or comparisons of the lot? I'm looking to buy after Christmas so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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They are all very similar, biggest difference is valving - linear (King, Fox) vs digressive (Icon). If you are interested in tuning, King and Fox have much more publicly available information. For most people, just pick whatever color you like.

What makes you think you need remote reservoirs? Don't think I would call any aftermarket suspension a "smoother ride" than stock, under most conditions.
 
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I've had them on the last three vehicles and they stay cooler for starters but I just prefer the look more or less.

Thanks for the input, I wasn't aware that the Icon werent linear.
 
Cheers! said:
Before reading this link:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/209619-fox-2-5-dsc-install-questions.html

I would say Fox for sure. I have been very happy with Fox on Mountain Bikes and also dirt bikes.

However... the above link scares me in terms of how Fox is supporting their customers and if they ever even did proper R&D with a 4runner.
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Danny is sure having issues, total bummer for sure, regrettably no idea whats going on with his setup, no one else has had the issues he is having. Me, I have not had any issues and I have had mine for just over 18 months. I also had to talk to Fox when I installed my coilovers with KDSS, again they were very helpful.

I definitely had a tough decision between King or Fox. I certainly won't preach about what someone else should buy as my experience is limited.

If you are going to spend upwards of $2500+ on shocks you should at least educate. The best piece of advise that I received (from here) was this:
The Coilover Bible

Good luck, have fun :)
 
I'm waiting for the BP-51's from OME once they have something for the kdss models. Adjustable separate rebound and compression plus bypass technology . So initial bumps are softer and more compliant .
 
King all the way. Fox is the best of the three IMO, but kings customer service is light years better.

Icon can't really be compared to the race shock kings, as it really is a inferior product.
 
Try ADS with down south motorsports. The ADS has the ride of some of the best shocks out there, and they do not corrode and look like crap like so many others. Price is about the same as all the others.
 
icon for me. I forbid to buy coilovers where you have to take them off to make adjustments. I believe The Kings you have to remove the coilover to make height adjustments.

Just two days ago I rotated the adjustment ring on my Icon Coilovers two full rotations to lift the front slightly more. This literally took 5 minutes for both sides.
 
Cheers! said:
Before reading this link:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/209619-fox-2-5-dsc-install-questions.html

I would say Fox for sure. I have been very happy with Fox on Mountain Bikes and also dirt bikes.

However... the above link scares me in terms of how Fox is supporting their customers and if they ever even did proper R&D with a 4runner.
Click to expand...

Not related to the truck stufff... but I have had really bad luck with fox products. Can't even count how many shocks have failed me.... They are very hit or miss....
 
chmura said:
icon for me. I forbid to buy coilovers where you have to take them off to make adjustments. I believe The Kings you have to remove the coilover to make height adjustments.

Just two days ago I rotated the adjustment ring on my Icon Coilovers two full rotations to lift the front slightly more. This literally took 5 minutes for both sides.
Click to expand...

That's simply not true.
 
marshal said:
That's simply not true.
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I asked a question on a King shock thread and people told me you can't adjust Kings with them installed in the vehicle.

No way I'm going to spend hours making a simple adjustment on the Kings when it takes 5 minutes with my icons.
 
chmura said:
I asked a question on a King shock thread and people told me you can't adjust Kings with them installed in the vehicle.

No way I'm going to spend hours making a simple adjustment on the Kings when it takes 5 minutes with my icons.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't adjust the springs on any threaded body shock while it's sitting on the vehicles weight. However, if you have to - you can do it on a king or a fox or whatever you want. The risk is galling the threads of the shock body.

If you jacked the truck off the ground and drooped the suspension all the way out, you can easily adjust if that way without risk of damage. Drooping the suspension all the way out isn't any different than removing the shock itself. The coils are totally relieved of tension at that point.

Sounds like whoever you listened to in that thread didn't understand physics.
 
Icons and race shocks

marshal said:
King all the way. Fox is the best of the three IMO, but kings customer service is light years better.

Icon can't really be compared to the race shock kings, as it really is a inferior product.
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Why do you believe Icons are an inferior product?

We're not looking to race a 4Runner so much as we're looking for longer travel, load capacity on one wheel at a time as we roll over obstacles, height increase, lift adjustment and increased resistance for loads when we add bumpers, rock sliders and roof racks. Why would a racing shock be a good application for a 4Runner?
 
Tejas said:
I'm looking at changing out the spacer lift for some external reservoir coilovers and UCA's. I had Icons and Total Choas arms on my FJC and they weren't bad but I have no idea how they compare to the Fox and King offerings. Based off of other vehicles I've owned in the past I haven't had the best of luck with Fox but it has been a solid 5 years since I've run any of their offerings. More than half of the Baja 1000 field runs Kings and a few Raptor buddies are quite pleased with theirs but both are far different animals when compared to the 4R, any word on the Toyota options?



I'm looking for better bump reduction and rebound both on and off road and a smoother ride never hurt anyone. Any suggestions or user reviews or comparisons of the lot? I'm looking to buy after Christmas so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


Just my own experience of 4 months and 5K miles but I opted for the full boat Icon Stage 7 adjustable remote reservoir, hydraulic bump stops and HD progressive springs and UCA's. So far it has been amazing on road and off for blasting down forest service roads or two tracks off the beaten path, you get what you pay for but to date I am extremely impressed with the Icons. I will see how they hold up long term and report to the group. All the brands you listed will need maintenance above and beyond stock but are worth the effort for performance! I hope this helps.
fd8c4915e19a9ac790d5154c22a8f23e.jpg
 
I've been very happy with my Icons as compared to the stock billsteins. I may have gone King in retrospect, but with the Icons I'll say there's diminishing returns after the Stage 5.

The panner bar and upper links really aren't needed, and while the adjustable valving is neat, it's better just to leave it in one position and drive on. I went wheeling with someone with the stage 7 and they got out to mess with the valving so often I wanted to just leave them behind.
 
I have Fox 2.5 remotes. At some point I will probably swap them back out for King 2" coilovers with airbag over coils. I want adjustable ride height from the cab front and rear at some point to make it ideal for daily commuting mpg and then lift for the trails. As of now King is the only option I'm aware of up front.

That said - I've been generally please with my Fox 2.5s. I bought a set for an FJ Cruiser which is almost identical to the 4runner except the lower bolt is 14mm instead of 12mm so I had to buy 4 $9 bushings. And the mount for KDSS is totally different - so I built my own. Not a big deal for me, might be more of an issue for others. I did it because I bought the set for $400. How could I pass up that price?

I can't compare to any of the others because I haven't used them. All I can say is that they are pretty comfortable all around for me. And they do an excellent job going fast in the desert. I don't do that very often and don't all that much like it, but it's nice to have when you need it.

If I were buying a new set - I'd skip the remote reservoirs. I don't think they add much value, they cost a lot, and are mostly for show IMO. Seriously - how much heat transfer are you really getting through the small flow of oil up to the reservoir? Not much. A couple cooling fins on the body would pretty easily outperform a remote reservoir if you really wanted to dissipate heat. They do look cool though.
 
DesertCanyons said:
Why do you believe Icons are an inferior product?

We're not looking to race a 4Runner so much as we're looking for longer travel, load capacity on one wheel at a time as we roll over obstacles, height increase, lift adjustment and increased resistance for loads when we add bumpers, rock sliders and roof racks. Why would a racing shock be a good application for a 4Runner?
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their build quality, materials and overall design is inferior to King and Fox, who are obviously the leaders in the market.

the race pedigree means a lot more to me than Icon's previous namesake, Donahoe - who went under because of shitty quality and customer service, before they had to reorganize themselves as Icon.

its more than preference or opinion, its just a fact of the matter that Icon's market they sell to is bro's with affliction T-shirts and white oakleys, where King and Fox market to race teams that beat the shit out of their stuff.

im not knocking icon, their stuff is better built and more durable than my low end bilsteins 5100s - but they're not race material. if having race proven durability doesnt matter to you, then don't spend the extra 200 bucks for King or Fox
 
marshal said:
You shouldn't adjust the springs on any threaded body shock while it's sitting on the vehicles weight. However, if you have to - you can do it on a king or a fox or whatever you want. The risk is galling the threads of the shock body.

If you jacked the truck off the ground and drooped the suspension all the way out, you can easily adjust if that way without risk of damage. Drooping the suspension all the way out isn't any different than removing the shock itself. The coils are totally relieved of tension at that point.

Sounds like whoever you listened to in that thread didn't understand physics.
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I never said you are suppose to adjust the threaded body while the vehicle sitting on the ground? This is not about adjusting coilover while the vehicle is on the ground or jacked up. This is about being if you can adjust King shocks period while the shock is installed in the vehicle.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/161852-king-shocks-update-4.html

Check out post 57. The owner of the Kings coilover said you cannot adjust the coilover. Looking closely at the Kings, it has an adjustment collar just like the Icons so I would think that they can be adjusted? :confused:
 
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