80 series Slinky/ICON Long Travel Suspension officially coming to the U.S.A. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter GW Nugget
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
icon USA has 2.0 an 2.5 with resvoir autcraft has 2.0 an resvoir also redline said they can do with out ccv also. The difference is the rod an houseing im not sure about internals or what assmbly was used icon USA said autocraft au resevres the rights to there shocks , which i respect an they can keep at the price i was quoted 3100 but i wil take them springs. Icon USA said for addtinal 100 they can make shock for me based off 80 seris 2.5 with resvoir. auto crafts shocks are made in USA i was wondering if they payed the extra 100 or send them to austrailia an ship them back. Thats why i called i didn't want to be sending shocks to au an imagine if they went serived right which i have had happen 2xs here in phoenix an Cali. icon is the best if you ask me tires an shocks are your life line in this game. i can go with out the rest like under wear an a under t or even socks but im not sporting flip flops i will pay not over pay. we need that nich that fit comfort an a LIGHT hit on the wallet. we need them springs an price fix and detailed info. the springss are in Australia an made somewhere if made here maybe cheaper for darren. Icon USA should sale darrens autocraft stuff to all its venders an give him royalty's but who am to say that darrens private deal an not are business
The stage 4 slinky kit is considerably more than the top of the line 4WU kit. Also, the base line stage one kit has options that would need to be purchased, i.e. Caster correction, panhard, which makes the pricing on the two methods of long travel comparable.
Yes the 4WU requires welding, it also allows significantly more movement of the front axel.
Yes the 4WU requires welding, it also allows significantly more movement of the front axel.
Pretty much where I was going with that question.
Last time I checked the 4wu kit was by no means comprehensive or complete. A lot of things need to be added to make it whole. On top of that you need to get everything aligned near perfect and welded in. Its considerably more work and at least as much if not quite a bit more money than any kit you can purchase. If the Slinky coils are more than you want to spend ( and there's nothing wrong with that ) there are a lot of other options either recently on the market, or coming this year.
When viewed from a dollars spent per the actual increase in front axle articulation perspective, a three link, even the 4WU kit, can't be touched by the products that are the focus of this thread. Spend $100 to go 1/4 of the way or spend $150 to go all the way is how I see this.
I spoke with Redline a few days ago. He made it sound like one of the problems he had was that he was selling just springs or just shocks form kits and it was breaking up the kits. Making it harder to keep kits stacked. I thought he said he was not going to be offer just springs for sale any more. It was developed as a complete kit and i think they want to sell it as a complete kit. Personally i dont like that but it is there business to run as they like.
I already have extended brake lines, swaybar drop, caster correction and 2" springs i am happy with. I just ordered some Radflo shocks. I really like the idea of the Slinky springs and would not mind upgrading my springs to a set of 50mm or 75mm Slinkys. But i dont need or want the kit. We will see how things play out. For now if my Radflos are good my set up should be really nice for my need so i am not in a hurry for slinky springs.
I had never considered this perspective. Interesting, something to think about.
1973Guppie
Supporting Vendor
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2003
- Threads
- 952
- Messages
- 10,227
- Location
- "the whale's vagina", CA
- Website
- www.noahsarkstlc.com
there are so many more options coming online nowadays for springs, dobinsons, icon, redline, trail taylor. I plan to run what I have for a year, let the dust settle and then switch up what I have. Most likely a few more vedors will step in and pricing will stabalize somewhat......
thank you thank you on the ride hieght. if they sale kits only they know they will loose moeny sale bulk an you shal recieve. im eyeing emu next month i might be in market jus dropped 2000 on axles whats another 38 3900 its just moeny for slinkys!!! il pass too
panhards aren't required, just suggested. people have been running larger lifts without panhard mods for decades. caster bushings or plates can be had for $120 -$150. on stage one, you could get brake lines and swaybar/bumpstop extensions for that, but you're still missing coilovers.
now, let's talk about the rear....4wu kit is for the front. you still need everything for the rear. on the stage 4 kit, if you do all the work, you would be comparable. the poster was asking about stage one, where 4wu would end up being considerably more expensive.
yes, flex is better and for someone looking for harder rock crawling, this might be a better fit, but for the general wheeler a bolt on 80 kit will still flex well and the slinky just might be the way to go.
I'm going with King OEM Performance Kit shocks and Slinky coils (50mm Intermediate) using Redline's install kit, on my 80 with 33" KO2s. Truck is used as my DD and for wheeling in the Sierra's, and will be a keepsake for my grandchildren so they can enjoy wheeling in what will be an ancient classic when they grow up, so longevity of the suspension is important, and why I went with the Kings.
Looking forward to anyone's thoughts/concerns/ideas and will update the forum when I get it put together (waiting for the latest batch of springs from Redline) and out for a spin.
Looking forward to anyone's thoughts/concerns/ideas and will update the forum when I get it put together (waiting for the latest batch of springs from Redline) and out for a spin.
Low range has them king shocks. I've been checking them out too. Less inexpensive an they have bumps stops hydraulic an steering dampener. Spoke with Darren. If you have 2 battery's which an bumper you need heavy duty in front an 1 is longer for driver side. The rear there 4 choice of coils depending on load . I couldn't get a spec sheet or load chart or weight info. I been calling redline here an there an no answers an left a message . Redline is supposed to be Getting a shipment soon.
Box Rocket
SILVER Star
I feel like anyone that is considering the options between the Slinky stuff and a 3-link needs to consider their intended use for their truck. A 3-link will likely net more flex as a result of the custom setup. But, as has been mentioned there can be a heavy cost in having it done properly and can even be quite costly even if you can do that fab work yourself. Beyond the cost, it will be a suspension better suited for rock crawling than daily driving or go-fast desert driving. Can a 3-link do those other things, sure, but at a different level of control. Looking only at cost I think is not the primary concern since it really isn't an apples to apples comparison for what you get for the cost.
Slinky kits can be expensive especially when looking at the stage 4 kit, but what are you getting from that high cost? You're getting an extremely well engineered kit that is 100% bolt on that won't require lots of custom work and will maintain excellent daily drivability and very good offroad performance in all condition. IMO, its the best performing suspension available as a bolt on system. Will it flex as much as a 3-link? Maybe not but it will still provide impressive flex and outperform most other bolt on options in the rocks. Personally I think if your goal is to build a rock crawler, it shouldn't be an 80 in the first place. But I realize that that is the type of wheeling some prefer and the 80 still does it quite well, so I understand those who choose to build 80s for that purpose.
For daily use a suspension that can maintain factory (or close to factory) suspension setup is going to be best. For the go-fast desert stuff, a reasonable amount of travel is good, but high performance shocks will be what gets you through the desert faster and in the most comfort with the least amount of abuse to the vehicle. This is why the shocks are the most expensive part of the Slinky kits. They are the piece that makes the most difference IMO. It's clear that Darren put a large amount of focus and effort into the construction and performance of the shocks in his kits. I think he knows that when someone spends their hard earned money on his kits they hope and expect to see a return on that investment in the performance of the suspension. The shock performance is what you're going to notice most.
it really boils down to what the intended purpose of the truck is. There is a custom approach to any goal that can have good results whether it's crawling, daily use, desert driving, racing or whatever. The ideal approach for any one of those goals will mean a compromise in the other areas of one degree or another. Do you want to go down the road of a custom setup (nothing wrong with that), that could require more effort to fix if it's not working quite right? Or is a bolt-on approach with a suspension that has the fewest amount of compromises in all areas a better choice? At least that's one guys opinion. For me, my truck needs to work well in all of those conditions (except for racing) and the Slinky kit is the best solution available to do that.
Slinky kits can be expensive especially when looking at the stage 4 kit, but what are you getting from that high cost? You're getting an extremely well engineered kit that is 100% bolt on that won't require lots of custom work and will maintain excellent daily drivability and very good offroad performance in all condition. IMO, its the best performing suspension available as a bolt on system. Will it flex as much as a 3-link? Maybe not but it will still provide impressive flex and outperform most other bolt on options in the rocks. Personally I think if your goal is to build a rock crawler, it shouldn't be an 80 in the first place. But I realize that that is the type of wheeling some prefer and the 80 still does it quite well, so I understand those who choose to build 80s for that purpose.
For daily use a suspension that can maintain factory (or close to factory) suspension setup is going to be best. For the go-fast desert stuff, a reasonable amount of travel is good, but high performance shocks will be what gets you through the desert faster and in the most comfort with the least amount of abuse to the vehicle. This is why the shocks are the most expensive part of the Slinky kits. They are the piece that makes the most difference IMO. It's clear that Darren put a large amount of focus and effort into the construction and performance of the shocks in his kits. I think he knows that when someone spends their hard earned money on his kits they hope and expect to see a return on that investment in the performance of the suspension. The shock performance is what you're going to notice most.
it really boils down to what the intended purpose of the truck is. There is a custom approach to any goal that can have good results whether it's crawling, daily use, desert driving, racing or whatever. The ideal approach for any one of those goals will mean a compromise in the other areas of one degree or another. Do you want to go down the road of a custom setup (nothing wrong with that), that could require more effort to fix if it's not working quite right? Or is a bolt-on approach with a suspension that has the fewest amount of compromises in all areas a better choice? At least that's one guys opinion. For me, my truck needs to work well in all of those conditions (except for racing) and the Slinky kit is the best solution available to do that.
They did. At least the government and the military, just not the rest of you schmucks
Government and military converted to metric? That's news to me, must have been after my 17 years military and government time. Lol.
They did. At least the government and the military, just not the rest of you schmucks
Huh? Us gov metric? They use both an they like sae. Theres more sae then metric depends on what your servicing. I prefer the metric it is the world standard but sae is fine , in school sae is the requirement metric is a plus. A lot of stuff is even mixed.
