Time for suspension....and to beat a dead horse...
- Thread starter stephan07
- Start date
Jetboy
New member
not sure if people saw these a few days ago, or saw this crash during the best in the desert series:
king actually showed the whole process of rebuilding that same shock, and it was actually not a big deal. That's mindblowing that that shock was rebuilt and back on a vehicle.
Forum appropriate image... With a REALLY low quality photoshop. Slow day at work. Really great photography in the original. Hat's off to whoever caught that image.
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LawnDart
Senior Member
I wish I had piggy-back 3.5s in the rear. Sigh...
I do however now officially have custom 3.0s on the back, that are going on tomorrow!
haha. But in all seriousness I think what people fail to realize is that Kings and Fox's can be custom valved. For example; yes Kings are valved for high speed which means around down unless you're going BJ Baldwin you're not jumping shit in a city. So they'll be stiff on potholes and such. However when you really work them over rough terrain the valving is setup to allow for a much smoother ride.
I had my shocks valved with a 15 percent bigger bump zone, which as a result means the shocks don't push back as fast on slower impacts, so smoother on road while giving the same performance as before on-road.
I don't know why people assume that your shocks are going to somehow be perfect out of the box when each vehicle's weight and balance is going to be different.
LawnDart
Senior Member
This was the crash. Just nuts.
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Seriously could not be happier. It isn't ideal if you want to tune, as Lawndart pointed out Kings are best for that. But for the adjustment range they give you out of the box there is a very, very significant difference across the range.
Fit and finish is excellent, warranty is exceptional, and it runs with the best in terms of out-of-the-box performance. Check it out if you are looking for a new setup.
Inv4drZm
Senior Member
And Icons. :thumb:
I NEED MOAR VALVING! Brutal...:second:
LawnDart
Senior Member
I had icons, I wouldn't waste the money on those ever again.
DesertCanyons
New member
That's insane. Looks like he hit a dirt wall. I can't be sure but it looks like he rolled the truck several times shortly after the wheel came off.
Thanks for posting.
DesertCanyons
New member
ICON Stage Kits
Yes, you're right. I bought a Stage 7 tubular ICON kit with a Delta Joint in the UCA.
I was going to piece together a kit from all of my favorite suppliers. But the biggest savings I found on any one part was on the rear axle link arms and the track bar from CalFab in Sacramento. That guy didn't return my emails or phone calls so I crossed him off my list. The UCA could have been other than ICON, but I narrowed it down to JBA, Rokeman, Dirt King or the ICON. And I was reading a lot about squeaking and wear with Uniball joints. So it was easier to go with the ICON Delta Joint, which I believe is a sealed ball joint with a zerk fitting for greasing. All of the UCAs were close in price.
I looked at King shocks and ICON shocks with remote reservoirs and damping adjustment control. Both brands were within about $100, ICON being slightly more. I found it hard to get any info on the King Website and Filthy Motorsports videos were painfully long and broadly based. ICON is within an hour of my home. They're in Riverside. King is in Orange or San Diego County. Both in So Cal.
With the discounts on ICON last month it was less expensive to go with ICON. I added shock shin guards, new rims, Gorilla lug nuts and a few other things. The ICON 17x8.5" Rebound rims look good and they're rated for more load.
Yes, you're right. I bought a Stage 7 tubular ICON kit with a Delta Joint in the UCA.
I was going to piece together a kit from all of my favorite suppliers. But the biggest savings I found on any one part was on the rear axle link arms and the track bar from CalFab in Sacramento. That guy didn't return my emails or phone calls so I crossed him off my list. The UCA could have been other than ICON, but I narrowed it down to JBA, Rokeman, Dirt King or the ICON. And I was reading a lot about squeaking and wear with Uniball joints. So it was easier to go with the ICON Delta Joint, which I believe is a sealed ball joint with a zerk fitting for greasing. All of the UCAs were close in price.
I looked at King shocks and ICON shocks with remote reservoirs and damping adjustment control. Both brands were within about $100, ICON being slightly more. I found it hard to get any info on the King Website and Filthy Motorsports videos were painfully long and broadly based. ICON is within an hour of my home. They're in Riverside. King is in Orange or San Diego County. Both in So Cal.
With the discounts on ICON last month it was less expensive to go with ICON. I added shock shin guards, new rims, Gorilla lug nuts and a few other things. The ICON 17x8.5" Rebound rims look good and they're rated for more load.
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LawnDart, thank you for all of your help and knowledge you share with all of us. I'll be going with Kings without a doubt early next year. I had a question on the 15% bigger bump zone. Would that be the same kind of request I would have to be make on the OEM swap outs that King makes? I know you have a custom setup, which I love, but I don't need (but really want). Just wasn't sure if I should ask for the same sort of thing.
Again thank you for all of your help!
Again thank you for all of your help!
LawnDart
Senior Member
I would not request any alteration to your valving if you're just putting them on for the first time. Spend at least a year or two with them before you make alterations.
After Baja I knew how I wanted to have them re-valved. Again my setup is different than yours in both weight and general config. So no one shock setup works for both.
Ok awesome, thanks!
I will be adding more weight once the Pelfrey booty is a released, and I'll be adding a winch, and potentially a bumper also Pelfrey, if not their hidden winch mount. I love their look and it's convenient that they are a short drive down the 5 fwy for me.
Do you plan on doing Baja again?
I will be adding more weight once the Pelfrey booty is a released, and I'll be adding a winch, and potentially a bumper also Pelfrey, if not their hidden winch mount. I love their look and it's convenient that they are a short drive down the 5 fwy for me.
Do you plan on doing Baja again?
LawnDart
Senior Member
I still wouldn't change any valving until you have a feel for HOW the shocks respond in a variety of situations.
I plan on doing baja again but next year's ToM I'll be driving a friend's raptor.
wfo9
New member
Just a word of caution. Don't compare LT with factory suspension. They are worlds apart in terms of dampening requirements... Bypasses or internal bypass are the only type of shock that offer true travel specific valving zones. The rest are just progressive, linear, or digressive valving (which has nothing to do with travel zone) It only relates to shaft speed. To up the bump zone on a non bypass you are ramping up the progressive rate as it relates to shaft speed (which is using bypass terminology in the wrong way).
I highly recommend that you understand valving before purchase. Race shocks don't work well for factory setups. I've experimented with many and there is a reason and use case for both. Spending 1k for tuning+ spring swaps+ labor for is not what most people should sign up for. A racer would consider that daily maintenance and cheap... 5th gen owners should be able to put it on and forget about it for quite some time (depending on conditions).... KDSS will be a big factor too. I've been amazed at how different the same setup feels with or without KDSS at speed. ICON spends a lot of time on a suspension Dyno.. that is what makes them a good choice for the avg bear. If you are going LT or bypsses... by all means King.
I highly recommend that you understand valving before purchase. Race shocks don't work well for factory setups. I've experimented with many and there is a reason and use case for both. Spending 1k for tuning+ spring swaps+ labor for is not what most people should sign up for. A racer would consider that daily maintenance and cheap... 5th gen owners should be able to put it on and forget about it for quite some time (depending on conditions).... KDSS will be a big factor too. I've been amazed at how different the same setup feels with or without KDSS at speed. ICON spends a lot of time on a suspension Dyno.. that is what makes them a good choice for the avg bear. If you are going LT or bypsses... by all means King.
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Nickk6
New member
I went with Icon due to them being local also and thinking if I have issues, it would be nice to deal with someone close by. Well first issue was my trailing arms were installed incorrectly by a "certified" installer. When I tried contacting Outlaw Offroad(installer, if in so-cal, stay away from these idiots) and Icon regarding the problem, they both said the setup was fine. Luckily a member on here sent me the install process which clearly showed Outlaw Offroad and Icon didn't know shit about setting up the trailing arms. Basically mine were not pre-set, the length was over an inch too long setting my rear axle back nearly to the fender liner. I understand it was a measly fix, but when the manufacturer is giving you wrong info about their own product and the installer mistake ends up costing you time and money.....next time around I'd go King just based on this incident.
DesertCanyons
New member
Installing trailing arms
This is why I'll be installing my own lift. The closest people who could do it for me, and be competent, is Domello Off Road in Riverside, an hour away. Plus I need to know how to work on this suspension.
You would have had the same issues with King Shocks and any other brand of trailing arms. King doesn't make trailing arms, AFAIK.
This is why I'll be installing my own lift. The closest people who could do it for me, and be competent, is Domello Off Road in Riverside, an hour away. Plus I need to know how to work on this suspension.
Nickk6
New member
Not necessarily true, I explained to both companies multiple times about my concern and no one looked into it, Outlaw Offroad even had the car in their hands and just said its fine... I would have preferred Demello do the install, but it was about a 6 week wait at the time I picked my lift up from them.
I use t to work on my own cars (still have a 2 post lift in my warehouse), I just don't have time and doing another suspension install wasn't going to teach me anything...I could tell they did it wrong just looking at it.
Agent_Outside
New member
Nowhere, it’s not Black Friday anymore.....
