80 series Slinky/ICON Long Travel Suspension officially coming to the U.S.A.
- Thread starter GW Nugget
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Intermediates are front 160/260 & rear 160/270
HD rear is 160/320
HD rear is 160/320
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Wow, I thought I'd never see the spring rates and there they are. Thanks GW Nugget!
how heavy is your rig? where is the weight? i strongly suggest you drive someone's rig that's setup like yours and has the suspension you want first. i wish i had. depending on how your weight is setup, you may have to do the expensive shocks. i did the stage one on my 7k rig with a lot of roof weight and it was sketchy. i've had two people tell me that i needed to do the stage 4 (which i also can not afford, so the slinky is on the garage floor now). it makes sense...a non adjustable shock is going to be set up for a common rig, my rig is not common. it seems like those that are stupid heavy and loving it are on stage four. i'm back on my buckboard shocks and springs, but at least i feel a bit safer at 90mph
@dec505 i wouldn't recommend it.
my truck is heavy, most of weight is on the rear, 3 jerry cans, rear bumper, custom sleeping platform and drawers, etc, right now I am running J's heavy springs and gas shocks. It's a camping rig, I am not driving whoops at 60 mph or running the baja 1k. The freeway ride is firm but comfortable and supports all the weight.
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Try using the Slinky coils with old shocks.how heavy is your rig? where is the weight? i strongly suggest you drive someone's rig that's setup like yours and has the suspension you want first. i wish i had. depending on how your weight is setup, you may have to do the expensive shocks. i did the stage one on my 7k rig with a lot of roof weight and it was sketchy. i've had two people tell me that i needed to do the stage 4 (which i also can not afford, so the slinky is on the garage floor now). it makes sense...a non adjustable shock is going to be set up for a common rig, my rig is not common. it seems like those that are stupid heavy and loving it are on stage four. i'm back on my buckboard shocks and springs, but at least i feel a bit safer at 90mph
@dec505 i wouldn't recommend it.
I'm still running my rear Ls with my Slinkies & it's works just fine, but at 7K you should of got the HD rears.
7k? I would run the slinkies if they sold just the springs, but they don't and purchasing these things seems ridiculously hard. I plan to eventually go with the tourflex springs from trail tailor. My understanding is alot of these springs are made by the same mfg and sold under different names. I figure for $600 or so if I can try some better springs it should help the overall suspension while not breaking the bank.
It’s possible to buy just the coils. All parts will be available separately. Just need to get a hold of Kevin at Endless Horizon Outfitters. Obviously the preference is to sell complete kits but individual parts will be available from what Darren and Kevin have told me.
Lots of springs are made by the same manufacturer but that says absolutely nothing about them being the same thing. People think the same thing about roof top tents and it’s false. The Slinkies use a unique mfg process that the manufacturer doesn’t even use on their own version of dual rate coils. Not all springs are the same.
As for mixing shocks... understand not everyone wants to drop the cash for the top tier Slinky kits and feel like they will be fine with the xyz shocks they have. It can work but is going to have a number of performance shortcomings. A lot will depend on how you use the truck. Heavy trucks will amplify the shortcomings of more basic shocks.
If you want the travel available from the Slinkys, you won’t get it with other shocks unless you go custom length or different shock mounting or both. The Slinky shocks are built to Darren’s specs for length and valving to maximize available flex and performance. L shocks are too short. In my opinion after years of running OME suspension the L shocks are too short for the OME kits too.
We have mentioned before that the product testing trip we did in the spring had a handful of trucks either with L shocks or RS9000s. By about 1:00 in the afternoon each day of that trip the non-Slinky equipped trucks had lost almost all shock dampening and the trucks would pogostick down the roads. We were traveling at good speeds but I wouldn’t say it was “fast”. The shock oil in the other shocks was just getting too hot and couldn’t handle the longer stretches at speeds as well. The solution is better shocks or slower speeds and/or shorter distances.
i do supposedly have the heavies. i'll try them with the ome shocks and see how that feels. the slinkys are definitely a smoother ride than my old slees. i may as well at least try it, but it will have to wait after i get my cortisone shot in my shoulder. i can't run it with the shocks i have and i can't see plunking down for shocks that would make my suspension worth more than my rig cost, especially when there's no guarantee i'll be happy (which i've been with my fox shocks and the current slinky setup)
@1973Guppie springs are made by minimal manufacturers....as are shocks. it's the specs they are made to that makes the difference and that's what's proprietary to a "manufacturer"/company
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Understand completely. I am sure there are differences. What those are I don't know specifically. It seems a grey area in both the RTT and the spring world. IMO, in the RTT area the direct chinese tents suit my needs fine. I have owned 2 of them and they have worked and were alot less than buying from a vendor, about half the cost IIRC. For me that makes more sense, but I know I am a cheap SOB. I also ended up selling both tents for what I had into them, which was important to me to not lose money. I understand that of course you will defend the branded tents all day long as you sell them and have a vested interest. It really just depends what what your budget constraints and needs are. I have yet to inspect other vendors tents such as tepui in person so can't give opinions on quality.
As for the spring world it looks like dobinsons, trail tailor and slinky all have "slinky" type springs. So what specifically is the difference between all 3 of them? Please give more information on this "unique manufacturing process"? If this has been discussed prior I apologize. Just curious what makes the slinky springs so much better than other vendors slinky type of springs. Seems that they also sell tapered coil type of springs as well. Shocks I understand that the quality is widely different than the L shocks. Lastly, what is your vested interest in the slinky suspension specifically? I think this is a relevant question when looking at opinions of different mfg's on the web. I always like to know why a person is promoting a specific vendor and if they have been "gifted" or have some other vested interest in the end product. Non biased opinions are always IMO the best ones.
I apologize ahead of time if I am coming across rudely but I think the above are fair questions for those looking to spend their hard earned money wisely.
I think the differences are obvious: red, yellow, blue, black, or silver.
Sorry for the slow response. Been racing/chasing and driving home from Baja with very spotty service.
Totally get the reason for the questions. No problem being transparent.
There are a handful of companies/products I do a bit of work with. Darren and Slinky is one of them. I wouldn’t exactly call it vested interest but I had been running the kit and they needed some help from someone with knowledge of them. I don’t have all the answers but I do what I can. Darren is a busy guy. So is Kevin at EHO. So is Justin at Redline and they aren’t able to always be on the forums and answer questions quickly. That’s where they asked for my help.
However this all side work for me and I am not reliant on it for my livelihood so of all the products I do work with I can pick and choose the ones I’m willing to work with. I’ve been clear with all of them that I’m happy to review, test etc but I will always be honest about how I really feel about it. If they aren’t open to some critical or negative feedback then I don’t bother with them. I’ve refused offers from several companies for that reason.
Since you mentioned Trail Tailor, I did some testing and review of their rear control arms. Jason was very open to getting whatever feedback I could give him and put no pressure on me to only promote them in a positive way online or in public. That’s a great example of the types of things I will bet involved in. BTW, Jason’s control arms are really nice!
As for differences in the production of Slinky coils. Darren explained a lot of the differences to me but he’s careful about sharing “trade secrets” as he should be, since this is a competitive space in the market. So I don’t feel comfortable going into the details but if Darren feels like he’d like to I’m sure he will.
Bottom line is the proof is in the pudding as they say. Talk to other people running Slinky kits about their experience. It’s great that @nuclearlemon has shared her experiences (although it’s been an exception rather than the norm from everything I’ve seen). Everyone I’ve had interactions with that have ridden in Slinky equipped trucks understands quickly why people that have it like it so much. If we’re ever on a trail together somewhere I’m happy to let you go for a ride with me to see what you think.
got the slinkies changed back on with the ome shocks. it's been a long time since i've been comfortable at speed, but i drove to moab with none of the rocking or concrete bucking that i was experiencing with the slinky shocks. i have not had time to adjust the suspension to match the lower height of the slinky (my pinion is pointed at an angle that makes me hope i don't toast the bearing) and the sway bar is half held on and it's still 100x better than with the slinky icon shocks. i am comparing the slinky springs to a very old (8 year old) slee 4" non progressive springs, both with and without the slinky shocks. supposedly, slee makes a progressive spring now. whether or not that's true and how they ride i can't comment, nor can i comment on any one else's progressive springs.
i can say that no way would i recommend the slinky stage one if you have a heavy rig (fat bastard is just over 7k). their stage one shocks can not handle the weight. say what you will about the ome shocks not working with slinky springs, they work a heck of a lot better than slinkys shocks. maybe i don't get the ideal performance out of the springs, but i get far better performance than i would if they were sitting in the corner of my garage pissing me off. i know adam loves his, but he also has stage 4. so does woody, so does justin. i respect them, but the salesmen get the best of the best to sell the product. those of us that have to pay get what we can afford.
if you have a heavy rig and are set on slinkys, either plunk down the cost of your car for stage 4, or find different shocks that can handle the weight.
i can say that no way would i recommend the slinky stage one if you have a heavy rig (fat bastard is just over 7k). their stage one shocks can not handle the weight. say what you will about the ome shocks not working with slinky springs, they work a heck of a lot better than slinkys shocks. maybe i don't get the ideal performance out of the springs, but i get far better performance than i would if they were sitting in the corner of my garage pissing me off. i know adam loves his, but he also has stage 4. so does woody, so does justin. i respect them, but the salesmen get the best of the best to sell the product. those of us that have to pay get what we can afford.
if you have a heavy rig and are set on slinkys, either plunk down the cost of your car for stage 4, or find different shocks that can handle the weight.
thx for the review, do you feel like there was a large benefit moving from linear springs to progressive springs? (with ome shocks)
How the f are you doing 165kph in an 80?
Does the 80 have a speed limiter?
Thanks for the update Ige. My truck is pretty heavy but not as heavy as yours. I’m a hair shy of 7k lbs. I had the Stage1 shocks for a year with no complaints. I was running both swaybars. I never had the strange behavior you experienced. what you have found is good info that has been mentioned before but good to point out again. The Stage4 is definitely a better choice for a really heavy truck. From your experience and mine, maybe 7k lbs is the threshold.
@nuclearlemon, holy crappoloa, I just noticed your speed! I would never take my truck that fast.......
If your speedo is accurate you are on 35's and stock gears from my experience
No, but even downhill with the wind at your back it takes three miles to get to the end of the speedo-(4.88's and 35's) [Edit: Just noticed the early 80's speedo is different from the later!]
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