icon 2.0 vs 2.5rr shocks (1 Viewer)

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@bajaphile @Qball

I reread my post and i think it is a little confusing. I'm actually pretty unhappy with my Kings. Ride is pretty rough. I'd like someone to drive it and compare what they're running. Probably just need new valving, but not wanting to pull them yet.

Good to know you're liking them.


Interesting....first of all, what spring are you running and what's your static weight? Springs make HUGE difference on the ride. Sounds like you could have too stiff of spring and harder valving won't help.

How long ago did you get your King's? The older valving is pretty harsh unless you have a lot of weight and/or a little softer springs. It's the combo of spring weight and shock valving need to be dialed for your intended use. They are a custom shop so you can have them valve it to buttery smooth but you will lose large bump performance, it's your choice but you need to let them know. This is why you shouldn't just order King's off a website, call them and go through the process so they can dial in the valving for you. Don't buy ANY high dollar shocks without talking to the manufacturer directly about valving, then again some don't offer customer valving but I don't see the point paying that kind of money for something may not work for you.

This is the reason the Icon/slinky kit is very good because they are matched for a common weight range and use case. I would highly recommend the spring and shock kits vs buy separately as that may not get you much net performance gain at all.

Since this is an Icon thread PM me and we can take King's conversation offline.
 
Since this is an Icon thread PM me and we can take King's conversation offline.

Not necessarily an Icon thread...intended to be more of a smoothbody vs 2.5 rr shock thread, just not sure who else other than icon has both offerings for the 80. I guess OME can be thrown in the discussion with the BP-51s, but i don't think they are going to be long enough anyways for my application. Dobinson has both, but just not much out there on their MRRs on the 80 that I've seen.
 
:moon:
Personally no. @smittycrusher was running his non-resi smooth body 2.0 icon when we ran the complete HITR trail last July, in 107 degrees and we pushed hard for hours on end each day. Neither his 2.0 or my 2.5 rr cdcv faded. Both were up to the task. Keep shopping, you can have the same system with slightly different valving for less $

As @Willy beamin said, I have the 4”-6” Icon 2.0s. I have been happy with them. I am sure the 2.5s are much better, but I don’t NEED resi’s. With that said, I will probably get the 2.5s at some point. I don’t DD my 80 and it goes on 2-3 trips a year to the desert. I like to do 40-50mph in the wide open sections and I also like to do technical trails. The 2.0s work just fine for that.

I did have some fade after a very long day in Moab with a mix of technical and faster stuff. It was a looooong day and the only time I have had the fade. I don’t think that the shock was designed for continuous days like that...but those days are few and far between for me.

Here is a short clip of how I like to drive in the open dirt:



Here is longer video of these shocks on Hole In The Rock Trail last summer (the trip that Willy Beamin referenced). The 2.0s were up to the task.

 
Interesting....first of all, what spring are you running and what's your static weight? Springs make HUGE difference on the ride. Sounds like you could have too stiff of spring and harder valving won't help.

How long ago did you get your King's? The older valving is pretty harsh unless you have a lot of weight and/or a little softer springs. It's the combo of spring weight and shock valving need to be dialed for your intended use. They are a custom shop so you can have them valve it to buttery smooth but you will lose large bump performance, it's your choice but you need to let them know. This is why you shouldn't just order King's off a website, call them and go through the process so they can dial in the valving for you. Don't buy ANY high dollar shocks without talking to the manufacturer directly about valving, then again some don't offer customer valving but I don't see the point paying that kind of money for something may not work for you.

This is the reason the Icon/slinky kit is very good because they are matched for a common weight range and use case. I would highly recommend the spring and shock kits vs buy separately as that may not get you much net performance gain at all.

Since this is an Icon thread PM me and we can take King's conversation offline.

I didn't just order off a website.

Running slinky intermediates and provided their spring rate, weight of the vehicle and my intentions. They had all of the information they needed to valve the shock correctly.

Didn't want to run Icons. Just out of preference.
 
0
I didn't just order off a website.

Running slinky intermediates and provided their spring rate, weight of the vehicle and my intentions. They had all of the information they needed to valve the shock correctly.

Didn't want to run Icons. Just out of preference.


What’s your rigs weight per axle? Slinky intermediate springs still have extra weight in mind. If you want caddy or Lexus soft ride then tell Kong’s that, their style and interpretation will be on the stiffer side because that’s what they do.
 
@bajaphile @Qball

I reread my post and i think it is a little confusing. I'm actually pretty unhappy with my Kings. Ride is pretty rough. I'd like someone to drive it and compare what they're running. Probably just need new valving, but not wanting to pull them yet.

Good to know you're liking them.

You must have earlier valving, I tried it and it was a little harsh. I have the newer valving profile and it is quite awesome. I’m at 6100lbs with me in it and OME heavy spring, she rides darn smooth and has a euro car feel to it. Smooth and firm and I always look for big bumps to hit, on the trail I’m looking for stuff to run over. On the bigger bumps it’s night and day better at motion control, I don’t blow through my travel constantly anymore. In fact I hardly ever rub anymore and the suspension feels almost bottomless.....don’t have that much travel.

Call Kings and ask them about valving, mine is 80 specific and it’s call euro firm.
 
I did have some fade after a very long day in Moab with a mix of technical and faster stuff. It was a looooong day and the only time I have had the fade. I don’t think that the shock was designed for continuous days like that...but those days are few and far between for me.

I've been out to Moab 3 times on my icon 2.0s in the last two years and have not experienced fade, but maybe i don't push as much as others. These trips have included two kokopelli runs and some fast portions on trails (like Chicken corners, Dome Plateau, Porcupine Rim, Jax Trax, etc...), although they were shorter in duration.

I think i'm going to roll with the 2.0s and put the 2k saved towards Joey's turbo kit. Probably a better use of money at this time. It seems that prior to shock fade, ride quality seems about the same.
 
I've been out to Moab 3 times on my icon 2.0s in the last two years and have not experienced fade, but maybe i don't push as much as others. These trips have included two kokopelli runs and some fast portions on trails (like Chicken corners, Dome Plateau, Porcupine Rim, Jax Trax, etc...), although they were shorter in duration.

I think i'm going to roll with the 2.0s and put the 2k saved towards Joey's turbo kit. Probably a better use of money at this time. It seems that prior to shock fade, ride quality seems about the same.

Sounds like an excellent use of funds!
 
Are the shafts on the 2.5s larger in diameter than the 2.0s? I have the slinky spec'd 2.0s and somehow managed to bend all four shafts.
I don't really know how it happened. The truck is heavy, bumpers, winch, sliders,drawers, and heavy home made roof rack. It's never been air born, I do wheel it but nothing too extreme.
Are 2.5s an upgrade in strength or just more oil?
 
Are the shafts on the 2.5s larger in diameter than the 2.0s? I have the slinky spec'd 2.0s and somehow managed to bend all four shafts.
I don't really know how it happened. The truck is heavy, bumpers, winch, sliders,drawers, and heavy home made roof rack. It's never been air born, I do wheel it but nothing too extreme.
Are 2.5s an upgrade in strength or just more oil?
Yes the shafts on the slinky stage 4 and 5 are larger diameter than the stage 1...but something is really off if you managed to ben all 4 shafts. I have run stage 1, 4 and 5 slinky shocks and I am often airborne, power sliding through turns...basically not easy on my cruisers.
I have a set of 1 year old stage 1's that I am going to sell if you're interested.
 
FWIW, I have the Icon 2.0 Slinky spec shocks on my rig. I don't do desert racing stuff. I rock crawl, run Class 6 roads and run forestry roads up in Maine. I also daily drive my rig. For fast speed, I don't push my rig compared to some. But, in my experience the 2.0s have been awesome. That divergent valving is really amazing and I haven't experienced any fade to date. (will push harder this summer, if I do a long Maine trip)

For rock crawling, I push my rig about as hard as a guy on 35s can do. Again, the 2.0s have done really well. No issues whatsoever. The length allows for plenty of travel, the valving has been perfect and my wife even noticed that they ride better than my oldish OME setup.

For daily driving, they have been awesome again. Firm but not stiff over the road. Great body control. They work well when my rig is loaded or unloaded.

My 2 cents: If you are going to run your shocks over fast stuff for a long period of time, you need that remote res. An Internal Floating Piston shock will end up mixing nitrogen with oil, it will foam then it will fade. However, for daily driving, rock crawling and more moderate fast off road stuff (shorter duration or slower speeds), you won't get a noticeable improvement getting the 2.5rr over the 2.0.

How are the icons performing now you've got some more miles on them?
 
How are the icons performing now you've got some more miles on them?
I'm loving mine... I just drove over speed bumps at 40 mph on the way to work this morning with a smile on my face.
 
Yes the shafts on the slinky stage 4 and 5 are larger diameter than the stage 1...but something is really off if you managed to ben all 4 shafts. I have run stage 1, 4 and 5 slinky shocks and I am often airborne, power sliding through turns...basically not easy on my cruisers.
I have a set of 1 year old stage 1's that I am going to sell if you're interested.
I agree something is off, but I don't know what. It super disappointing. Even the stage 1s aren't cheap shocks.
 
The jump from the 2.0 to the 2.5 is huge price wise. If you are happy with the 2.0's performance wise, Try the 56511 and 56512.


SHOCKS
2.0 VS IR shocks 0" to 3" lift
Front 56509 15.35" - 26.17"
Rear 56510 15.6" - 25.67"

2.0 VS IR shocks 4" to 6" lift
Front 56511 16.85" - 28.17" (Rec BS 1")
Rear 56512 16.85" - 27.42" (Rec BS 1")
(Bump stop recommendation by Dylan)
 
2.0 shaft is .625" (cross-sectional area of .307 sq in)
2.5 shaft is .875" (cross-sectional area of .601 sq in, essentially double)

Would venture a guess it's not the shocks fault, something else has got be wrong. Don't be disappointed in the shocks yet without doing some digging on why they bent.

Edit: just cut apart some random take off gas strut from an Icon install, it has a .550" shaft
Edit 2: math is hard...
 
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