Icon suspension the opposite of advertized...

[Skinfaxi]

Well, based on all the feedback on here, Icons are stiffer on the street, and amazing off road, like over washboard roads. Mine are wonderful on the street, and basically uncontrollable over washboard roads. Like, my interior panels are about to fall off because it's so jarring. The truck even starts losing steering control. I re-did the entire suspension at the same time, so everything is new. Ball joints, bushings, tie-rods, etc. I triple-checked the install was correct, and everything was torqued with the truck on the ground, and it's been aligned to factory specs. Icon 2.5s up front. 2.0s out back with OME 890s. Shrockworks front bumper, I've tried adding a bunch of weight to the rear since the 890s are set for it, but the ride is still ridiculous. I have Icon's UCAs as well. Otherwise stock.

Anyone else had this experience? I'd literally be happier going back to my blown-out stock suspension.

 

[orbot]

chech out the coil and see if theres a number there and call icon or the store you bought them from, may have a stiff coil. now adding theese shocks does not mean you wont feel bumps and vibrations from the road.. if you want that then go LT with coil over and bypass and i assure you you will still feel the road under you.

 

[Skinfaxi]

chech out the coil and see if theres a number there and call icon or the store you bought them from, may have a stiff coil. now adding theese shocks does not mean you wont feel bumps and vibrations from the road.. if you want that then go LT with coil over and bypass and i assure you you will still feel the road under you.

I'll look into it. Since the Icons are digressively valved, I was fully prepared to have stiffer suspension, but even the hard hits are ridiculous, and that should be the Icons' strong area. The truck gets upset and skittish over everything.

 

[orbot]

sounds like you dont have any suspension damping at all!, try this, take off the bumper which is what a good 200-300 Lbs and drive the thing.
Did you purchase the shocks after the bumper, did you mention the bumper to the sales guy, maybe the screwed up the order some how.

 

[Skinfaxi]

sounds like you dont have any suspension damping at all!, try this, take off the bumper which is what a good 200-300 Lbs and drive the thing.

Did you purchase the shocks after the bumper, did you mention the bumper to the sales guy, maybe the screwed up the order some how.

I went with the 650# spring (at least that's what I ordered) as it should be about right for the weight (bumper is only addition at the moment.) It seems about right, as I get just a hint of nose dive under braking.

To clarify, I think the handling on smooth pavement is a great improvement over stock. It's just hard to believe that the off-road performance is supposed to be this bad. If they advertised "everybody who rides in your vehicle will complain!" then I'd be less surprised.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Additionally, these observations are on my cushy Blizzaks. I don't even want to know how it rides on my M/Ts.

 

[GSPRunner]

Everyone I know with Icons loves them. How much preload up front do you have?

 

[snivilous]

REVALVE THEM. If your lift is right then don't touch the spring. Changing your springs to get a better ride is backwards, you bought a fancy shock so use what it's capable of. Call Icon and tell them your specs and they should advise you on what to valve it to.

No one seems to revalve around here, that's the only way to properly dial in your suspension :doh:

 

[Skinfaxi]

Everyone I know with Icons loves them. How much preload up front do you have?

Haven't adjusted them, so what they ship with, which is something like 1.75" of thread showing.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Sounds like you've fallen victim to the idiots on this and other forums that rave about how soft and comfortable their new aftermarket suspension is. Unless they were riding on blown shocks and struts, that's not the case.

I was also in this boat the first time I lifted my 4Runner and nearly drove off of a forest service road when I hit a series of washboards.

When I upgraded to my first set of ICONs I was able to fly past that same section going 45mph, which was twice as fast as my Toytec stuff would allow. However, for daily driving they were stiff as hell, and I wanted more.

My next (current) set of ICONs have been the bee's knees. Having the Compression Dampening Control Valves front and rear, I can soften things up and allow for a comfortable (not as comfortable as factory) ride around town, and the ability to raise / lower the stiffness to perform how I want them to offroad. They have also been awesome due to the many different weights my 4Runner operates in. If it's just me in there I can soften things up in the back. If I have my roof top tent, dogs, and 100+lb cooler, I can stiffen things up.

 

[MountainBiker]

Just so you know, the amount of preload is irrelevant to ride quality, it is just a way to set the ride height to the desired level. Regardless of preload, the spring rate stays the same, and the amount of actual spring compression will be the same regardless of preload amount There are two exceptions to the above statements:
1. if you have so little preload that you are always hitting the bump stops
2. if you have so much preload that you top out the suspension often

I have the 650 lb/in springs on my Icons, full set of Savage skid plates, Lil Skips gas tank skid, sliders and stock bumper. WAY too stiff of a spring for my setup! horrible articulation since they are so stiff, and of course that stiffness makes for a harsh response to big and small bumps. I have some 550 lb/in springs waiting for me to get around to installing them.

If you think you need a revalve, from what I understand, Icon will do your first revalve for free. Not sure if it is 100% free, but worth calling them to find out.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Just so you know, the amount of preload is irrelevant to ride quality, it is just a way to set the ride height to the desired level. Regardless of preload, the spring rate stays the same, and the amount of actual spring compression will be the same regardless of preload amount There are two exceptions to the above statements:
1. if you have so little preload that you are always hitting the bump stops
2. if you have so much preload that you top out the suspension often

I have the 650 lb/in springs on my Icons, full set of Savage skid plates, Lil Skips gas tank skid, sliders and stock bumper. WAY too stiff of a spring for my setup! horrible articulation since they are so stiff, and of course that stiffness makes for a harsh response to big and small bumps. I have some 550 lb/in springs waiting for me to get around to installing them.

If you think you need a revalve, from what I understand, Icon will do your first revalve for free. Not sure if it is 100% free, but worth calling them to find out.

I'll give them a call Monday. I tried some washboards at 38-40 mph today, and that's a good way to wreck the truck on this setup. I needed about 45 degrees of steering wheel correction to keep the thing going straight. There are apparently so many people who have this setup without custom valving, but I can't fathom how you could say anything positive about its behavior on anything but pavement.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Spent some more time driving. Ended up pulling the front sway bar, which gave a bit more compliance from the front end, but more importantly helped reveal that 75% of what I'm feeling is coming from the rear. It seems like the Icon 2.0 isn't that great of a shock, which doesn't surprise me, and/or the OME 890 is just too stiff, even for the weight I've added. I may swap my 99 tall springs back on just to feel it out.

 

[D Farms]

you are airing down right? if you arent, youre wasting our time here. go down to 15 psi and tell us how it is.

 

[KentuckyRunner]

Spent some more time driving. Ended up pulling the front sway bar, which gave a bit more compliance from the front end, but more importantly helped reveal that 75% of what I'm feeling is coming from the rear. It seems like the Icon 2.0 isn't that great of a shock, which doesn't surprise me, and/or the OME 890 is just too stiff, even for the weight I've added. I may swap my 99 tall springs back on just to feel it out.

I run 890's in the rear with Tundra 5100s, and it rides great. Maybe a tad too soft on road, and seems to handle anything at any speed off-road. I think you may have a rear shock problem, not the 890's being stiff.

 

[Skinfaxi]

I run 890's in the rear with Tundra 5100s, and it rides great. Maybe a tad too soft on road, and seems to handle anything at any speed off-road. I think you may have a rear shock problem, not the 890's being stiff.

Well I had to cut the stock shocks off, so I can't go back and try them or else I would. On anything more than an expansion joint, whatever is in the rear cargo area will be sent airborne. It's incredibly annoying.

Even on the highway, they seem to jiggle a little bit. As in, from a single impact, I can feel a wobble that lasts for about a second. Not my idea of how a performance shock/spring should behave, but I don't have any other experience with these.

 

[orbot]

You dpnt really need to air down to feel the suspension, i say someone screwedvyour parts
Ive had icons and the were awesome both street and off road, remember this they will get softer the more damping they get and on the street they will be a bit stiffer due to the lack of damping
Bad valving or wrong coils!
What tire pressure are you running btw?

 

[Skinfaxi]

You dpnt really need to air down to feel the suspension, i say someone screwedvyour parts
Ive had icons and the were awesome both street and off road, remember this they will get softer the more damping they get and on the street they will be a bit stiffer due to the lack of damping
Bad valving or wrong coils!
What tire pressure are you running btw?

32 on my blizzaks. Aired them down to 14 for a few minutes yesterday, but they aren't really made for it. I might swap the summer set back on and try them aired down.

 

[orbot]

Call both icon and the place you bought them from also id advice you to do some research as well with the number on the parts

 

[KentuckyRunner]

Well I had to cut the stock shocks off, so I can't go back and try them or else I would. On anything more than an expansion joint, whatever is in the rear cargo area will be sent airborne. It's incredibly annoying.

Even on the highway, they seem to jiggle a little bit. As in, from a single impact, I can feel a wobble that lasts for about a second. Not my idea of how a performance shock/spring should behave, but I don't have any other experience with these.

Do you have a 3" panhard drop bracket installed? You NEED one if you don't have it. Without it, mine rode OK, but the slightest bumps seemed to make the rear end wiggle side to so going down the road, really seemed to upset the whole truck. The panhard drop made a world of improvement. Not saying it will solve your problem, but it will improve rear suspension road manners 100%. I still think a call to Icon is in order.