80 series Slinky/ICON Long Travel Suspension officially coming to the U.S.A. (6 Viewers)

[AutoCraft Aus]

for 37s, I ran 1 1/4" front bump spacers under the chassis bump stops, and on the diff housing for the progressives and I ran2 1/4" rear bump spacers under he chassis stops for up travel clearance.

a 1" bodylift would also work instead of bumpstop spacers.

I also moved the front axle forward.

I used longer lower rear arms to move the axle back [we have 3/8 and 5/8 longer ones Heavy Duty with rubber bushes] so the 37 would miss the door flare area and I trimmed a tad out of the back.

I used a 17 x8 with 4" backspace for best fit.

All with slinky long travel 3" lift.

If your tyres dont rub, it means you can go larger

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

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

By removing the huge spacers that spaced the bumps down, and some extra droop

 

[Box Rocket]

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

valid question. Here's the way I understand it. Quoting my post from the Group Buy thread. And of course Darren's answer is true too.

Auto-Craft Suspension Kits

 

[GW Nugget]

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

I have found through a lot of measuring... it generally doubles out to the tire. This goes for front and rear. Just to be specific, I added .75" to my rear bump stops & it came out to a 1.5" difference at the tire.

 

[Summiteer]

plus you measure droop at the tire not at the shock so the farther the tire extends from the shock the more droop you will see.

 

[silverhorse]

guys I'm sure this has been covered but I don't see it. How much caster correction comes the 75mm kit? Thanks..

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

2 degree and washer mod.

But some new material bushes we are trialing right now with corrected arms too.

3 deg caster reading at 3" lift, new material bushes that allow 19 degree flex angle on the bush, and offset rear bush to move diff forward a tad if required.

 

[GW Nugget]

Wow, well there you go.
Do I see an outside skin around the whole arm plus the aft axle bushing relocated up?
This would help with the the tie rod bind issues, but what about the control arm to axle bracket bind problems when dropping down with the longer shocks?
I'm in the process of trying to narrow my arms... making the arms wider will make the problem worse.

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

did you see the bit about the 19 degree bush flex in these ?

They are designed to give 3 deg caster reading at 3" lift, so bush has to be relocated to rotate diff to do this

 

[1997GREENTT]

I have been doing a lot of searching, but not really an answer. These Slinky Long Travel kits being sold by Redline, are they the same as the Kits being sold by Icon Vehicle Dynamics. Looks like Icon makes the shocks for both, but wasn't sure about the springs and any other differences.

 

[HDJdreams]

I have been doing a lot of searching, but not really an answer. These Slinky Long Travel kits being sold by Redline, are they the same as the Kits being sold by Icon Vehicle Dynamics. Looks like Icon makes the shocks for both, but wasn't sure about the springs and any other differences.

Definitely two different kits with very different springs. Icon's springs are designed to be relatively soft in ride range, then get extra stiff before they bottom out. Slinkys ride at a much stiffer rate, and have a part with a very low rate that is normally fully compressed or dead but allows for longer travel without unseating. Both use the same basic shock body, different tuning, Slinky use a shock that is an inch or two longer, but require longer bumpstops.

Icon is designed for maximum travel with stock bumpstops, Slinky is designed for maximum travel with new bumpstops and is designed to work on heavier rigs.

In theory, Icon kit is biased towards speed handling and Slinky towards flex. With well matched premium shocks, they sound like both do well slow and fast. (Met both vendors in person this Spring in Moab, unfortunately no chance to ride along.)

The Icon kit is $3400 plus brake lines, the Slinky is $4700 with brake lines. This is for the kits with the top of line 2.5" adjustable shocks.

 

[baldilocks]

These prices are ridiculous. If you want flex, there is a tried and true 3 link kit made and sold by a well respected vender that has all the kinks worked out and does not require a rocket scientist to install. The last time I priced this kit it cost $3500 with their best choice in coil overs.
Can the slinky springs and and icon shocks be purchased separate from a complete kit for those of us who don't need the other bits? If so for how much?

 

[GW Nugget]

2 degree and washer mod.

But some new material bushes we are trialing right now with corrected arms too.

3 deg caster reading at 3" lift, new material bushes that allow 19 degree flex angle on the bush, and offset rear bush to move diff forward a tad if required.

19° deflection sounds great., but what is stock?
Stock bushings flex best but don't hold up.
So the real question is... is the 19° poly bushings flex as good as stock but last longer?
Also, will you post pics of a stock arm next to this modified arm & on a 80?
It also looks like the aft of the arm is straiter than stock.

 

[baldilocks]

19° deflection sounds great., but what is stock?
Stock bushings flex best but don't hold up.
So the real question is... is the 19° poly bushings flex as good as stock but last longer?
Also, will you post pics of a stock arm next to this modified arm & on a 80?
It also looks like the aft of the arm is straiter than stock.

OEM Contol arm bushings don't hold up? This is the first I've heard of this.

 

[bryson]

19° deflection sounds great., but what is stock?
Stock bushings flex best but don't hold up.
So the real question is... is the 19° poly bushings flex as good as stock but last longer?
Also, will you post pics of a stock arm next to this modified arm & on a 80?
It also looks like the aft of the arm is straiter than stock.

That has got to be a whole new arm and not a modified factory arm. It just has a similar cross-sectional shape.

 

[GW Nugget]

Your completely correct. I reverse searched these... found this. They are hollow inside.
http://www.steeringandsuspensionwar...ift-correction-arms-trc1016.html#.V2RNgZ9lDqA

 

[Razorbackcruiser]

Here's my problem. I'm running a 4" lift right now. 4" ironman coils and OME L's. I don't "hate" the setup but I know it could be better. I don't need all the other stuff that comes in the "kit". I've already corrected that other stuff. I see where you'll be selling the coils individually but don't see where I can buy the correctly valved shocks individually. So, my question is, Are you gonna sell the coils and shocks separately, or at the least in a "kit" that doesn't include that other stuff that I don't need?

Many thanks for any help.

 

[Box Rocket]

Definitely two different kits with very different springs. Icon's springs are designed to be relatively soft in ride range, then get extra stiff before they bottom out. Slinkys ride at a much stiffer rate, and have a part with a very low rate that is normally fully compressed or dead but allows for longer travel without unseating. Both use the same basic shock body, different tuning, Slinky use a shock that is an inch or two longer, but require longer bumpstops.

Icon is designed for maximum travel with stock bumpstops, Slinky is designed for maximum travel with new bumpstops and is designed to work on heavier rigs.

In theory, Icon kit is biased towards speed handling and Slinky towards flex. With well matched premium shocks, they sound like both do well slow and fast. (Met both vendors in person this Spring in Moab, unfortunately no chance to ride along.)

The Icon kit is $3400 plus brake lines, the Slinky is $4700 with brake lines. This is for the kits with the top of line 2.5" adjustable shocks.

Having a couple of months under my belt with the Slinkys I wouldn't say the are only biased toward flex. I'm very impressed with their speed handling! I can't imagine that the Icon kit would have much of an advantage over the Slinkys at higher speeds. My priority now is to find the right aftermarket brake pads, because the OEM ones I've been using are just getting too hot because my corner entry speeds are much higher now than they were when I had my OME suspension.

Saying that the Slinkys ride at a "much stiffer rate" might lead some to think they have a harsh ride. Definitely not the case in my experience. There is a difference in spring rates between the two kits, but that is because they are designed for different style trucks. If you're familiar with Australian 4WD Touring (what we've come to call overlanding here in the US), you know that most of those trucks are built to carry a lot of gear and are very heavy. I would say that there is a large number of people who are modding 80s here in the US in similar ways, with heavy bumpers, winches, drawer systems, roof racks, RTT's etc. The Slinkys are designed for these types of trucks. The Slinky coils have shown to have excellent load capacity, while still having a great ride when my truck is unloaded. On top of that, Darren has worked some serious magic IMO with the tuning of the shocks used in the Slinky kits. I think the tag line "Ultimate Tourer" for the Slinky kits is pretty accurate.

I don't doubt that the Icon kits are nice and have great performance too. For me the lighter spring rate and lower load capacity would not have been the best choice. For lightly modded trucks without a lot of extra weight they are probably a great option.

 

[dogfishlake]

Having a couple of months under my belt with the Slinkys I wouldn't say the are only biased toward flex. I'm very impressed with their speed handling! I can't imagine that the Icon kit would have much of an advantage over the Slinkys at higher speeds. My priority now is to find the right aftermarket brake pads, because the OEM ones I've been using are just getting too hot because my corner entry speeds are much higher now than they were when I had my OME suspension.

Saying that the Slinkys ride at a "much stiffer rate" might lead some to think they have a harsh ride. Definitely not the case in my experience. There is a difference in spring rates between the two kits, but that is because they are designed for different style trucks. If you're familiar with Australian 4WD Touring (what we've come to call overlanding here in the US), you know that most of those trucks are built to carry a lot of gear and are very heavy. I would say that there is a large number of people who are modding 80s here in the US in similar ways, with heavy bumpers, winches, drawer systems, roof racks, RTT's etc. The Slinkys are designed for these types of trucks. The Slinky coils have shown to have excellent load capacity, while still having a great ride when my truck is unloaded. On top of that, Darren has worked some serious magic IMO with the tuning of the shocks used in the Slinky kits. I think the tag line "Ultimate Tourer" for the Slinky kits is pretty accurate.

I don't doubt that the Icon kits are nice and have great performance too. For me the lighter spring rate and lower load capacity would not have been the best choice. For lightly modded trucks without a lot of extra weight they are probably a great option.

I keep looking for a cheaper way around this (don't get me wrong, i think @AutoCraft Aus has earned every penny of their asking price)
but I keep coming back to the slinky kit being the way to go. Thanks for the reviews

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

Adam,

You need some of our carbon pads we do for our #ultimatetourer brake upgrades

And stock bushing is nowhere near 19 degree's.

More pics to come on the arms then, when I get a chance.