80 series Slinky/ICON Long Travel Suspension officially coming to the U.S.A. (10 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

and this...

landcruiser 2016-05-24 002.JPG
 
I posted this on Redlines forum page, but I guess there are some following this thread that are not following the group buy thread on the Redline forum. So here's some install photos of the Stage 1 75mm heavy Slinkys and Icon 2.0 shocks on my 80.

As most of you know a few weeks ago I was able to get my hands on some Autocraft Slinky Long Travel suspension. It was just in time for Cruise Moab, literally. I drove to Moab with my OME suspension and met Darren from Autocraft and Justin from Redline Land Cruisers at Grandpas Garage in Moab and we did the install just in time to make tech inspection. Thanks Darren and Justin, as well as Woody for the help with this batch of photos.

I will be writing an article for TCT magazine to give a review of the suspension but it will be less focused on the actual install, and rather the performance and comparison of the suspension to my old OME stuff etc. So here's a few pics from the install. Overall, it's a very straight forward installation. My installation didn't require a few steps such as some kind of caster correction and extended brake lines. I already had those, as well as adjustable track bars (panhards). This resulted in just a swap of the coils, shocks and swaybar spacers and bumpstops.

Remember to loosen the track bars and control arms, once it's up on jackstands, just enough to allow free movement of the suspension. Retighten them once the truck is back on the ground on it's own weight.

Getting before measurements.




Old stuff. OME J coil + 2" coil spacer




Here's all the new stuff. After taking before measurements and knowing with the goal was for new ride height and load capacity we chose the set of Slinkys that would best meet the goals. I ended up using 75mm Heavy rate Slinkys on all 4 corners.




OME L shocks compared to the new Autocraft spec ICON 2.0 shock.


Front coil comparison. Front OME J coil on the left, Slinky 75mm heavy on the right. Note: I lost a good 2+" of ride height with the new setup, but gained about 6" of travel. Lots more droop available with the Slinkys.

Both set of front coils






Fitting the front shocks


A couple notes, the shocks come with a pair of nuts for each end of the shock. One larger nut and a jam nut. Tighten then enough that there are two threads left exposed after the jam nut is on.




other side
 
rear end coming apart


rear shock comparison. Rear shocks include a shock boot as well as a stone guard.


Sway bar removed and trackbar loose


installed


reattach sway bar


new longer rear bumpstops


with the weight off the jackstands, retighten the track bar


notice the lower stone guard for the rear shocks.


with weight back on the front, the top few winds of the front coils will settle like this. Normal.


final ride height with 35" tires. Fully loaded and pulling my loaded trailer.
 
This is from this past weekend.
Ok, I've been working on getting some more images and video but I've been short on time since I lost my job last week. But I did take the family out for a short drive on Sunday to a area where there are some good whoop sections. This particular one is pretty tame but it's what I have for now. I plan to hit another road I know of that is very rocky so you can see the suspension handle the rapid uneven terrain.
But here's a short clip of a couple passes through some mild whoops. Disregard the commentary from my kids and my wife behind the camera :p

Again, this is the Stage 1 kit with 75mm Heavy coils and the 2.0 Icon shocks


Here's a few pics. Got a little air but was too slow on the shutter to catch it.


My wife imitating Moses


 
what size tire does that let you run with the extra travel? is a 35 pretty much it? can you toss the spacers back in and maybe do a 1 inch body lift to get 37s? reason is i already have my tires and stuff but i was just in a wreck, my rear lift is fubar and i need to redo my setup on a new truck. now is the time to make a switch but i will not be buying new tires. if i need to go back with Js in the rear i can (and it will be cheaper) but if it is worth the upgrade why not do it all now.
 
what size tire does that let you run with the extra travel? is a 35 pretty much it? can you toss the spacers back in and maybe do a 1 inch body lift to get 37s? reason is i already have my tires and stuff but i was just in a wreck, my rear lift is fubar and i need to redo my setup on a new truck. now is the time to make a switch but i will not be buying new tires. if i need to go back with Js in the rear i can (and it will be cheaper) but if it is worth the upgrade why not do it all now.
Darren and I talked about this briefly in Moab and my 35's fit great, but he said 37's will also work with a bit longer bumpstop. He said about 1.5" longer bumpstops should work with 37's and this set up.
 
ok cool, i might just sell my front Js and then the medium lift on my new 80 and go with this. looks like it rides much better than the ome setup.
 
Also here are some "meh" flex pics from my phone. The tires aren't close to coming off the ground yet in these pics, I just ran out of dirt hill. ;)
stuffed rear 35 still about 2.5" away from full bump












again, still a minimum of 2" more until full bump and extension.


a couple from Moab






 
ok cool, i might just sell my front Js and then the medium lift on my new 80 and go with this. looks like it rides much better than the ome setup.
Night and day difference in ride quality from my experience coming from my OME setup. I think it's worth pointing out that it's not that the OME stuff is "bad" per se, it worked well for me. It more a factor of the Slinky/Icon setup it just a large step above other setups
 
Well it cost twice as much too. The one setup has been great for the money but I am getting a little tired of the harsh ride.
 
what size tire does that let you run with the extra travel? is a 35 pretty much it? can you toss the spacers back in and maybe do a 1 inch body lift to get 37s? reason is i already have my tires and stuff but i was just in a wreck, my rear lift is fubar and i need to redo my setup on a new truck. now is the time to make a switch but i will not be buying new tires. if i need to go back with Js in the rear i can (and it will be cheaper) but if it is worth the upgrade why not do it all now.
I'm running 37s... I have it set up just the same as 35s but I added a 1" body lift. Running 37s has nothing to do with what coils or shocks you have, it's all about bump stop spacing, & fender spacing via a hammer and or body lift or a combo of the three. I don't want to clutter this thread with pics so just PM me or go to my build thread to see my jurney on fitting 37s. I had a 1.5" puck up front plus 1" body lift with plenty of room to spare. I could of done a 1" puck. Then I cut so I could go back to a stock bump stop & recover some uptravel.
 
Last edited:
Great info Adam, thanks! Can someone link me to the Redline group buy? My cursory search didn't reveal it for some reason.
 
Last edited:
This is from this past weekend.
Ok, I've been working on getting some more images and video but I've been short on time since I lost my job last week. But I did take the family out for a short drive on Sunday to a area where there are some good whoop sections. This particular one is pretty tame but it's what I have for now. I plan to hit another road I know of that is very rocky so you can see the suspension handle the rapid uneven terrain.
But here's a short clip of a couple passes through some mild whoops. Disregard the commentary from my kids and my wife behind the camera :p

Again, this is the Stage 1 kit with 75mm Heavy coils and the 2.0 Icon shocks


Here's a few pics. Got a little air but was too slow on the shutter to catch it.


My wife imitating Moses



Got vid? You do.
That's awesome.
Sorry to hear about your job loss... a very talented man like you will get picked up very quickly.
Thanks for posting it up.
 
Can't wait to see those boxes on my doorstep and get it installed.
Held out just long enough for this to come to market.
 
Are any of you guys getting the rear sway bar from Darren?
 
Hadn't thought about that as of yet. May have to look into it a bit more.
 
Can I get this setup in the USA?... Are these the Icon Stage 1 shocks they list on their site? Or a shock they make specifically for you?
 
Can I get this setup in the USA?... Are these the Icon Stage 1 shocks they list on their site? Or a shock they make specifically for you?
Yes you can get them in the US through Redline Land Cruisers. Here's the thread in the vendor section.
Auto-Craft Suspension Kits
The shocks for the Autocraft kits are custom valved to Autocraft specs so they are different than the "off-the-shelf" ones from Icon.
 
OME L shocks compared to the new Autocraft spec ICON 2.0 shock.


Front coil comparison. Front OME J coil on the left, Slinky 75mm heavy on the right. Note: I lost a good 2+" of ride height with the new setup, but gained about 6" of travel. Lots more droop available with the Slinkys.

How do you gain 6" of travel with a shock that is about 2-3" longer when extended?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom