Entry level vs. top tier suspension kits

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You asked who said “they” were having failures. UZJ listed an XO specific one, and I recalled failures posted here. Significantly more than the BP-51 failures I’ve noticed, which is relevant.

So yes, anecdotal, but also one of the best ways we have to gather information about these systems before dropping the money on them.
What are you running? I’m definitely going to tryout another setup when I have to send mine in for rebuild but that won’t be for another year. I wear thinking Kings or Fox but the Kings are pretty dang expensive as a second set.
 
I agree that Clay is being sponsored and would not bad mouth them to keep the sponsorship. I guess Equip, CBI,Redarc,Tundras, 4runners and Land Cruisers they use for Overlanding should be put into question as well. They didn’t have to use ICON as a Sponsor. You don’t think he could have been sponsored by OME, FOX,Ironman, etc.? More so now that XO has become more popular. Shoot, i bet they could get hooked by KING. If they have thought ICON was nothing but problems, I would have to believe they would have ditched them for a better company. Maybe they used ICON products because they actually like them 🤷🏻 The same reason they use Toyota’s and other top of the line products. If you see Clays build outs, he goes all out. Maybe, the Patriot campers he likes are actually trash but sense Patriot sponsors him, he’s all good with it. 😎You will hear more bad reviews then good ones about any product. ICONs and Kings are high maintenance equipment. If you don’t take care of them, you will shorten the lifespan. I’m not fanboy of any product, but if it hasn’t failed me and provides the best of what I want, I’m a fan. Until then, I disagree that ICON is a lessor product. If you’ve nerved owned a Stage 6 3.0, you might be missing out. The ICON 2.5 might be the mistake 200 owners go with if they actually off-road past creeping and crawling. The 3.0 is incredible if you like to catch even a tiny bit of air. 🙋🏻‍♂️ Tundra owners appear to agree. Check out a couple videos in this link. Icon Vehicle Dynamics 3.0 Series Remote Reservoir CDCV Coilover - https://www.tundras.com/threads/icon-vehicle-dynamics-3-0-series-remote-reservoir-cdcv-coilover.21879/
Clay stopped building vehicles with their 100 series cruiser. They became brand ambassadors as they became more popular. Most everything they do is out of reach for the general population.

Do I watch their content? Sometimes. Do I care that he wears Exofficio underwear. No.
 
Clay stopped building vehicles with their 100 series cruiser. They became brand ambassadors as they became more popular. Most everything they do is out of reach for the general population.

Do I watch their content? Sometimes. Do I care that he wears Exofficio underwear. No.
What if the underwear provides exceptional comfort and stabilization when racing down dirt roads? Sign me up, I may need a pair 🤣
 
I used Icon years back on a multiple Super Duty's and on a FJ Cruiser, I had a shaft failure on the FJC and infinite blown seals on the SD's. That was enough for me to be burnt for life. Sure things could have improved since then, I surely hope that they have, but I don't buy their product nor do I recommend it because of those first hand experiences. And yes, I got them at a discounted price at the time which is why I went with their kit over other options. Discount or not, I wouldn't buy their products going forward. It's great that some run them and like them, there will be fanboys and haters for every product out there, don't let that sour your support if you're happy with what you have.
 
I used Icon years back on a multiple Super Duty's and on a FJ Cruiser, I had a shaft failure on the FJC and infinite blown seals on the SD's. That was enough for me to be burnt for life. Sure things could have improved since then, I surely hope that they have, but I don't buy their product nor do I recommend it because of those first hand experiences. And yes, I got them at a discounted price at the time which is why I went with their kit over other options. Discount or not, I wouldn't buy their products going forward. It's great that some run them and like them, there will be fanboys and haters for every product out there, don't let that sour your support if you're happy with what you have.
I wouldn’t blame you. Once burned, it’s really hard to regain that trust. If I can get 50-60k out of them before rebuilds, I’m a happy camper. It’s not uncommon for companies to go through growing pains and figure out what they’ve been doin’ wrong before making a great product. Based on ICONs growth in Riverside,CA they seem to be doing really well. Shoot, the 200 has had its own problems. We accept the pros over the cons and ICON is know different. If something goes wrong with them, I will absolutely report it on our forum but until then, all good. I think mudders are really missing out on the newer 3.0 stage 6 setups if they are hung up on past issues. I remember when I bought a 2012 Bentley supersport and heard from plenty of haters who never owned one, keep saying how poor the reliability is and the awful maintenance experience. My wife owned the car for fours years 70k miles as a daily and it was rock solid and the service was stellar. Same with my previous AMG 63s’s. Maybe I’m just lucky, time will tell with the ICONs
 
I agree that Clay is being sponsored and would not bad mouth them to keep the sponsorship. I guess Equip, CBI,Redarc,Tundras, 4runners and Land Cruisers they use for Overlanding should be put into question as well. They didn’t have to use ICON as a Sponsor. You don’t think he could have been sponsored by OME, FOX,Ironman, etc.? More so now that XO has become more popular. Shoot, i bet they could get hooked by KING. If they have thought ICON was nothing but problems, I would have to believe they would have ditched them for a better company. Maybe they used ICON products because they actually like them 🤷🏻 The same reason they use Toyota’s and other top of the line products. If you see Clays build outs, he goes all out. Maybe, the Patriot campers he likes are actually trash but sense Patriot sponsors him, he’s all good with it. 😎You will hear more bad reviews then good ones about any product. ICONs and Kings are high maintenance equipment. If you don’t take care of them, you will shorten the lifespan. I’m not fanboy of any product, but if it hasn’t failed me and provides the best of what I want, I’m a fan. Until then, I disagree that ICON is a lessor product. If you’ve nerved owned a Stage 6 3.0, you might be missing out. The ICON 2.5 might be the mistake 200 owners go with if they actually off-road past creeping and crawling. The 3.0 is incredible if you like to catch even a tiny bit of air. 🙋🏻‍♂️ Tundra owners appear to agree. Check out a couple videos in this link. Icon Vehicle Dynamics 3.0 Series Remote Reservoir CDCV Coilover - https://www.tundras.com/threads/icon-vehicle-dynamics-3-0-series-remote-reservoir-cdcv-coilover.21879/
I agree that their builds are sick and over the top! I'm not bad mouthing them or what they do. I enjoy watching the content they put out, but assuming that what I read is true about their sponsorships I take it with a grain of salt.

I kind of agree with you about the part that they picked the brands because they are good. Sure they are probably good, but I could buy a solid daily for the cost of a stage 6 setup. Is it that good? I personally don't think so (I have taken a short ride in a 200 on some stage of Icon). Patriot campers probably sponsored up with them to become known in the states for how good their products are don't you think? This is where I think they probably did try to get OME and got turned down or didn't meet the requirements they wanted. They used to run OME on everything before they got huge. OME doesn't need to give them all those free products to grow their brand, they are more than well known state side as the go-to suspension.

If people got the money to blow more power to them on spending it, but why do we see issues on here from ICON suspension and not OME or others in the same way? If I'm correct the other week with the member having a snap of BP-51 was the first failure anyone has shared for BPs? Maybe you're right that it is the fact that the 2.5 can't really handle a loaded 200.
 
I agree that their builds are sick and over the top! I'm not bad mouthing them or what they do. I enjoy watching the content they put out, but assuming that what I read is true about their sponsorships I take it with a grain of salt.

I kind of agree with you about the part that they picked the brands because they are good. Sure they are probably good, but I could buy a solid daily for the cost of a stage 6 setup. Is it that good? I personally don't think so (I have taken a short ride in a 200 on some stage of Icon). Patriot campers probably sponsored up with them to become known in the states for how good their products are don't you think? This is where I think they probably did try to get OME and got turned down or didn't meet the requirements they wanted. They used to run OME on everything before they got huge. OME doesn't need to give them all those free products to grow their brand, they are more than well known state side as the go-to suspension.

If people got the money to blow more power to them on spending it, but why do we see issues on here from ICON suspension and not OME or others in the same way? If I'm correct the other week with the member having a snap of BP-51 was the first failure anyone has shared for BPs? Maybe you're right that it is the fact that the 2.5 can't really handle a loaded 200.
I have zero doubt they were happy to show off the camper without having to pay for it. But, it is a pretty sweet off-road camper. I have no doubt however, they were running OME as a cost factor to start out. It’s a pretty inexpensive product but it’s not comfortable on long on/offroad trips. They’ve done crazy adventures to understand what works and what doesn’t. Been there, done that and the family was not happy, including my back. OME is sold widely because of its cost and it’s very reliable without question. However it’s terrible at higher speed on dirt with bumps, honestly it’s not great at slow speed either. I can’t say anything about the BP51 product they have, as I’m sure it’s light years better. The negative I’ve found with ICON is slow speed bumps. However, you just have to adjust the dial to soften them up on dirt but you can’t do that every time you go over speed bumps and that is a bit jarring since i have them set for corners and highway travel. If I were doing a lot of slow trails, I would have probably gone with Kings, BP51 or Fox.
 
My Ironman FCP's on our GX are great at speed as well but suffer some on slow hard edged hits, it's impossible for anything to be perfect in all areas and conditions. Without infinite adjustability on both high speed and low speed rebound and compression there will always be room for improvement on any setup.
 
What are you running? I’m definitely going to tryout another setup when I have to send mine in for rebuild but that won’t be for another year. I wear thinking Kings or Fox but the Kings are pretty dang expensive as a second set.
I run king 2.5s and am very, very happy with them. But since it is also relevant, while the numbers of these kits being sold is rising rapidly, compared to icon let alone OME there is a fraction of them in the wild. I don’t remember seeing a failure, but again there aren’t many out there.
One major reason I went king vs OME is the greater piston area. That, more front spring options, and king’s solid reputation was enough to convince me to take the risk vs the OME
Edit: agreed on cost for a second set. Plus they were up to like 4 months lead time as of November.
I need a cooling effect!
Ironically exofficio is a very cool underwear...

If I'm correct the other week with the member having a snap of BP-51 was the first failure anyone has shared for BPs? Maybe you're right that it is the fact that the 2.5 can't really handle a loaded 200.
Other than some squeaky bushings that was the first BP-51 failure I remember seeing.
 
I run king 2.5s and am very, very happy with them. But since it is also relevant, while the numbers of these kits being sold is rising rapidly, compared to icon let alone OME there is a fraction of them in the wild. I don’t remember seeing a failure, but again there aren’t many out there.

Ironically exofficio is a very cool underwear...


Other than some squeaky bushings that was the first BP-51 failure I remember seeing.
What’s the exact King setup you have? Honestly, they are certainly the best looking. How many miles do you have them? Did you get the pre-built set for the 200 or have them specifically tuned? If I could do it all over, I’d probably get Kings as well. They look so good
 
What’s the exact King setup you have? Honestly, they are certainly the best looking. How many miles do you have them? Did you get the pre-built set for the 200 or have them specifically tuned? If I could do it all over, I’d probably get Kings as well. They look so good
Standard length King 2.5s, no comp adjusters. standard 600# front springs, 2720s in back, I worked with Ben at filthy on custom valving. My goals were to keep it as low as possible, and my build is pretty light.
 
I've seen several folks on the forum have issues with theirs. @laserturbo91 had a rear snap at the top. I've seen at least one other like that in the forum. I've not run Icons so it certainly could be a bad batch.
The threaded stud actually pulled out of the rear shock body. @gomez268 also had same issues with both of his rears, I believe. I can say that @gomez268 and I both bought from the same vendor during the same Black Friday sale, so most likely they were from the same batch. What stung for me was that they were installed days before the drive from Maryland to Colorado and broke once I got there, one or two trails in.
 

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