Icon, Fox, or King?

[marshal]

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?

That owner is misinformed

 

[DannyLlama]

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 not the only who is having issues, other's just haven't reported it or didn't do the install themselves to know what the shop has done. I have been in contact with 2 others, who I don't want to share their alias, have had the exact same issues.

One of them, the shop completely took out one of the radiator support brackets... I was lucky enough to have [MENTION=107654]E-ROCKER[/MENTION] fab up something on the fly in order for everything to fit back together.

They also have tight clearance between the sway bar and the springs.

It seems to be an issue with LE's and SR5's, not trails. Every trail owner will swear up and down that they are fine, well that's because their sway bar assembly is completely different than LE/SR5 mainly due to KDDS.

[MENTION=127913]Tejas[/MENTION] - If you have an LE/SR5, I would make sure you buy and install from the same shop so you can replace it if you have problems. Unless you are super handy and can have your truck out of omission for a week or two.

Unless you go with icons, they have been fitted on all make and models, you can't go wrong there.


I will say i LOVE the ride of the fox, they are super comfortable and the dual adjustments definitely make a difference, i don't care what anyone says.

 

[bimrunner]

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

Bruh, my oakleys are black and brown (2 pair dude)... Also, not affliction t-shirt but I wish I had Kings...

The Icons have been ok. I would prefer Kings, but I don't race which means my remote resis are kinda a waste too. I like slow crawing best but I do dd my rig and it is a pleasant ride tbh, but you are correct. Unfair to compare Icon to King or Fox. Both are in a different league from Icon.

 

[4Rager]

So far I have been impressed with my FOX 2.5's. On the road the road they feel a little stiffer but when combined with the KDSS, even with 3" of lift, it still feels way more stable and sporty while daily driving (however that also takes into account wider tires, and wider wheels by 1.5" on each side). When it comes to crawling and wheeling over obstacles slowly, I'd be curious to see if there's even a noticeable difference between King, FOX and Icon. Regardless of brand they will all reach full flex or droop when put in the same situation. That being said, the most noticeable aspect of my setup would be their performance over 30mph. I assume King's would be similar since they also use progressive valving, but they really "come alive" and higher speeds for lack of better term. You can really feel the truck using the travel as it responds to steering inputs and undulations in terrain. I have the dual-speed compression adjustments and from my experience I think "low-speed" is 20-50mph (because slower than 20mph, they're quite stiff) and "high-speed" is 50-70+mph.

I was frustrated at first with the lousy install instructions, but once I got everything installed properly, I have not be disappointed. The one issue I ran into was one day where it never got above 35 degrees, and for some reason the compression adjustment dial would barely spin. I could only get it to go from 1 to 3. It could have been that there was ice under the dial, but I haven't checked it since.

 

[jrandom]

I'm not the only who is having issues, other's just haven't reported it or didn't do the install themselves to know what the shop has done. I have been in contact with 2 others, who I don't want to share their alias, have had the exact same issues.

You must certainly be correct. I should have worded that better, as in no one has reported any similar issues. I spent a good 6 months trolling the interwebz before I bought mine, so yeah people definitely need to speak up else no one knows.

Still, I hope you get it all sorted out. All I can say is I am glad I am didn't deal with any of that. All I had to do was weld nuts to the frame to hold the mounts.

I love how they drive all around, long washboard roads, medium trails, canyon roads, and highway all like

 

[UF'09]

Here is my 1st hand experience with Icons, on my '11 Tacoma:

 

[Styer]

Here is my 1st hand experience with Icons, on my '11 Tacoma:

No bueno right there

 

[UF'09]

2 hours limping off the trail, 5 hours putting a stock shock back on(buddy had to drive home and get one, had limited tools), 2 hours slowly driving 45 miles home

Icon was cool about replacing it, but my truck was out of commission for 3 weeks, and I had sufficiently little faith in them that I spent the money on a spare coil-over and lugged it around on every off-roading trip I took after that.

 

[enkrypt3d]

2 hours limping off the trail, 5 hours putting a stock shock back on(buddy had to drive home and get one, had limited tools), 2 hours slowly driving 45 miles home

Icon was cool about replacing it, but my truck was out of commission for 3 weeks, and I had sufficiently little faith in them that I spent the money on a spare coil-over and lugged it around on every off-roading trip I took after that.

what were you doing that caused this at the time? Taking some sweet jumps it looks like....:becky:

 

[Brandonium]

I've been contemplating Kings or the OME-BP51's but the Fox setup is intriguing it's just hard to find information on them especially when it comes to the 4-Runner.

I'm was leaning towards the OME setup because you can adjust compression and rebound separately however there is no official kit for the 4-Runner with KDSS so it's a crap shoot when it comes to reservoir brackets.

Looks like the Fox setup requires welding to get the brackets on? Wish we had a more comprehensive guide between the Kings, Fox, BP-51 and Icons.

Kings seem to have the kit finalized where everything should bolt up as well but I am not a fan of the stock colors so it's an extra $600 to get the color you want (which is an awesome option if you have cash just laying around).

And Icon seems to have a large chunk of the 4R market but I'm not really interested in them.

 

[LawnDart]

I wasn't keen on the colors and considered them anodizing mine black and red. But even king warned us that the anodizing tends to get thrashed off road. Hence why they're mostly silver. But the colors do grow on you for sure.

I've been contemplating Kings or the OME-BP51's but the Fox setup is intriguing it's just hard to find information on them especially when it comes to the 4-Runner.

I'm was leaning towards the OME setup because you can adjust compression and rebound separately however there is no official kit for the 4-Runner with KDSS so it's a crap shoot when it comes to reservoir brackets.

Looks like the Fox setup requires welding to get the brackets on? Wish we had a more comprehensive guide between the Kings, Fox, BP-51 and Icons.

Kings seem to have the kit finalized where everything should bolt up as well but I am not a fan of the stock colors so it's an extra $600 to get the color you want (which is an awesome option if you have cash just laying around).

And Icon seems to have a large chunk of the 4R market but I'm not really interested in them.

 

[Brandonium]

So you are happy with the durability of the stock colors? They didn't mention that to me when I asked but just quoted me pricing on getting the colors changed. I think at this point I am between the Kings and the BP-51.

I wasn't keen on the colors and considered them anodizing mine black and red. But even king warned us that the anodizing tends to get thrashed off road. Hence why they're mostly silver. But the colors do grow on you for sure.

 

[LawnDart]

So you are happy with the durability of the stock colors? They didn't mention that to me when I asked but just quoted me pricing on getting the colors changed. I think at this point I am between the Kings and the BP-51.

I can't say yet. But I've seen the ones on BJ Baldwinns truck post race and they look pretty good. They're exposed and will eventually take surface wear. You can always have them redone later down the road if you can afford it both in cost and time. But even king told us the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. They're a little blingy being silver and blue but it's also kings identifiable color scheme. The foxes seem to hold up well too.

The bp51s are really good. I may even say better than the icons. It just comes down to brand you want to run. I consider the bp51s as good or better. Icon just markets the hell out of their brand. I never disliked my icons and certainly recommend them. But I think the fox and kings are better now. But your mileage may vary.

 

[PK930]

Looks like the Fox setup requires welding to get the brackets on? Wish we had a more comprehensive guide between the Kings, Fox, BP-51 and Icons.

Negative.

 

[Brandonium]

Thank you for the image and clarification. I should have been clearer when I said that as I meant for KDSS equipped vehicles. Do you know if the brackets are the same between KDSS and non-KDSS vehicles?

Negative.

 

[4Rager]

Thank you for the image and clarification. I should have been clearer when I said that as I meant for KDSS equipped vehicles. Do you know if the brackets are the same between KDSS and non-KDSS vehicles?

Correct no welding required, you just have to drill a hole for one of the bolts. However I did have to cut part of a random bracket that seemed like it's only purpose was to protect some KDSS lines. You can see in the photo below it was pushing out the upper portion of the bracket which was preventing it from mounting flush. I just used a Dremmel with a cutting wheel and it was no problem. This was on the driver's side only. Passenger mounted up no problem.

 

[Gabex35]

So you are happy with the durability of the stock colors? They didn't mention that to me when I asked but just quoted me pricing on getting the colors changed. I think at this point I am between the Kings and the BP-51.

The king Blue color will fade but will remain the best shock available IMO. Mine are a teal blue now and are about 4 years old

 

[Gabex35]

Correct no welding required, you just have to drill a hole for one of the bolts. However I did have to cut part of a random bracket that seemed like it's only purpose was to protect some KDSS lines. You can see in the photo below it was pushing out the upper portion of the bracket which was preventing it from mounting flush. I just used a Dremmel with a cutting wheel and it was no problem. This was on the driver's side only. Passenger mounted up no problem.

What does this bracket tie into? there weren't any welded nuts on the bottom frame on mine like non-KDSS.

I may look into buying this bracket and rerouting my reservoir lines to make it work. My 315's are pretty close to my reservoir in their current location. I would like the option of ditching wheel spacers if I felt like it.

 

[4Rager]

What does this bracket tie into? there weren't any welded nuts on the bottom frame on mine like non-KDSS.

I may look into buying this bracket and rerouting my reservoir lines to make it work. My 315's are pretty close to my reservoir in their current location. I would like the option of ditching wheel spacers if I felt like it.

I can't remember if one of them lined up with existing holes or if I had to drill both. They both used self-tapping bolts, so there were no nuts or existing threaded holes either way. The passenger side went on easier, since there was no KDSS stuff in the way.

 

[jrandom]

Thank you for the image and clarification. I should have been clearer when I said that as I meant for KDSS equipped vehicles. Do you know if the brackets are the same between KDSS and non-KDSS vehicles?

Same bracket it just comes with self tapping screws instead of using the sway-bar mounts. As KDSS trucks do not have thread nuts welded to the frame where the swaybar would normally mount.

I can't remember if one of them lined up with existing holes or if I had to drill both. They both used self-tapping bolts, so there were no nuts or existing threaded holes either way. The passenger side went on easier, since there was no KDSS stuff in the way.

^ This

I welded nuts to my frame as mine came before the whole self tapping screw/bolt revolution.

You do have to cut part of the KDSS guard (you can grind it right at the weld for easy replacement if needed in the future) to fit the res mount. The res mount takes over the job of protecting the KDSS lines.