Icon or King, weight, adjustable. Who is the best to order from? Etc

[Stewfish]

Icon vs King vs?

I'm researching adjustable shocks and came across this thread where he States Kings rarely get 2" lift so go to the 3.0 to have a soft spring but tall enough to get 2" vs a stiffer spring. Then the ride is better overall. He mentions all this for the (600lb) springs.

ICON vs KING (My Experience)

Disclaimer: My intention is to share my experience, and what worked best for my application and use. I am and will never claim to hate on a specific shock brand, and say one is better then the other overall and instead provide details of how they all performed in my testing and where they excel...

forum.ih8mud.com

If I add a 150lb -200lb bumper/winch would that be the 600lb springs he mentions?

I guess my goal is to have a smooth ride for my wife's daily driver and adjustable for off-road when I need. Body roll/Cadillac/OEM float is okay, but I'm thinking I can tighten it up if I need to.

I'm planning for metal tech bumpers. I was going to get SPC UCAs for adjustability. The most I have learned is from that post. I wanted specifics for our rigs tho

Sent from phone

 

[SouthTxGX]

The thread you’re referencing is for the 200 series LC which is heavier than our gx460s. I believe the fj cruiser/4Runner/gx460 king coilovers come with 550 pound springs. Usually, people with bumpers and other added weight opt for the 700 pound springs.

As far as king vs icon vs (insert brand here), it’s going to boil down to how the vehicle is used and what characteristics you want. With the icons I had it was smoother the faster I went. It wasn’t super stiff when going slow, but you could feel the terrain. I’ve heard the it’s the opposite with kings, but I have no experience with them. The good thing about kings is that they can be valved however you want if custom ordered. While I have seen posts about people having issues with kings, it’s far less than the number of issues I’ve seen with icon. I personally had a couple of issues with their stuff out of the box. One issue they sent parts out immediately and the other issue I ended up fixing on my own.

 

[subspd]

You will want at least a 650lb spring.

 

[Tex68w]

I personally can't wholeheartedly recommend Icon as I've had far too many issues with their stuff in the past. That's not to say that they haven't gotten better in recent years as I don't know, but they won't be getting anymore of my money. King's are nice but they require more upkeep and maintenance and are usually on a custom order basis which is nice in regards to having them valved exactly how you want them. There are tons of other options as well.

 

[Jstawgn]

Suspension is very subjective. What works for someone might not work with other. Vehicle setup, driving conditions, load being carried can make a particular suspension that work in other and just become purely trash in others.

The tread you mention above seems to be from tuner in Middle East where they do a lot of high speed dune running. What kind of use do you expect for your vehicle? Are you planning to jump your vehicle?

GX460 are setup from factory with much stiffer front spring compared to the 470. They dial in a lot more understeer characteristics compared to GX470 with KDSS. 600 lbs on GX460 are a lot softer than OEM 780

Suspension Database - Toyota Prado How To's, Technical Information & Reviews

I have compiled a database of manufacturer supplied after market specifications on struts, springs and shocks for the Prado 120 into a single thread. Approximate and measured standard Prado 120 & 150 data is included for comparison purposes. Feel free to post any additional manufacturer...

www.pradopoint.com.au

 

[Stewfish]

I'm really leaning towards fox 2.5 with dual adjustable knobs for low speed and high speed adjustments vs custom valving and medium speed adjusters. I've heard good things about them in a 4runner and the guy regretted his Kings after getting the foxs.

Now if I can find them with 700lb springs without waiting months.

 

[Stewfish]

Suspension is very subjective. What works for someone might not work with other. Vehicle setup, driving conditions, load being carried can make a particular suspension that work in other and just become purely trash in others.

The tread you mention above seems to be from tuner in Middle East where they do a lot of high speed dune running. What kind of use do you expect for your vehicle? Are you planning to jump your vehicle?

GX460 are setup from factory with much stiffer front spring compared to the 470. They dial in a lot more understeer characteristics compared to GX470 with KDSS. 600 lbs on GX460 are a lot softer than OEM 780

Suspension Database - Toyota Prado How To's, Technical Information & Reviews

I have compiled a database of manufacturer supplied after market specifications on struts, springs and shocks for the Prado 120 into a single thread. Approximate and measured standard Prado 120 & 150 data is included for comparison purposes. Feel free to post any additional manufacturer...

www.pradopoint.com.au

That's why I mention at the end hoping to get specifics for our rigs.

Any recommendations?

 

[Jstawgn]

That's why I mention at the end hoping to get specifics for our rigs.

Any recommendations?

What is your intended use? How much is your budget.
How many people would ride in the vehicle?
How much additional load?

What is going to be permanently mounted to the vehicle? Bullbar? Slider? Full skid plate? Winch? Rear bar? Spare tire carrier? 2nd battery? Drawer system? Fridge? Roof rack? Roof top tent?

Best is to get everything ready, corner weight the vehicle and then order the suspension to match. And then order from filthy motorsports or accutune off road. They seems to have good knowledge for custom valve suspension.

Most people does not need high end custom suspension. A simple suspension is good enough. Adjustable are highly recommended to be able to fine tune a bit.

I run simple toughdog adjustable foam cell. Unfortunately they seem to disappear from US.market. It's far from the best suspension as its fairly basic. But it's pretty durable and easily adjusted to different terrain and load.

High end racing suspension require racing maintenance and also noisier due to rod end instead of rubber mushing.

 

[Stewfish]

What is your intended use? How much is your budget.
How many people would ride in the vehicle?
How much additional load?

What is going to be permanently mounted to the vehicle? Bullbar? Slider? Full skid plate? Winch? Rear bar? Spare tire carrier? 2nd battery? Drawer system? Fridge? Roof rack? Roof top tent?

Best is to get everything ready, corner weight the vehicle and then order the suspension to match. And then order from filthy motorsports or accutune off road. They seems to have good knowledge for custom valve suspension.

Most people does not need high end custom suspension. A simple suspension is good enough. Adjustable are highly recommended to be able to fine tune a bit.

I run simple toughdog adjustable foam cell. Unfortunately they seem to disappear from US.market. It's far from the best suspension as its fairly basic. But it's pretty durable and easily adjusted to different terrain and load.

High end racing suspension require racing maintenance and also noisier due to rod end instead of rubber mushing.

Already mentioned my bumper, wife and I, back loaded with cooler gear, clothes tools, off-road not a lot of major rock crawling on weekends to week long trips. Not rocket science, I need springs recommendations for the coil overs for the added weight of the bumper that's it. Part #s would be great if you know what you are talking about

 

[Tex68w]

Based off of what you're planning I'd say that King's would be a giant waste of money and will only net you cool guy points. A bumper adds 100+ lbs so I would suggest 700lb springs for whatever you end up with. FIlthy Motorsports should be able to answer all of your questions.

 

[Jstawgn]

Already mentioned my bumper, wife and I, back loaded with cooler gear, clothes tools, off-road not a lot of major rock crawling on weekends to week long trips. Not rocket science, I need springs recommendations for the coil overs for the added weight of the bumper that's it. Part #s would be great if you know what you are talking about

Stock OEM GX460 front spring are already 760 Lbs/in.
Don't have direct experience with GX460.
Treaty oak off road is dobinson dealer and also Slinky GXOR branded suspension that use special valve tubing and by Darren McRae. He is the expert in building these chassis in Australia.
Adjustable is nice but set wrong it would perform worse than fixed suspension.

Filthy Motorsports still recommended for King.
Accutune still recommended for FOX. Fox got a lot more advance technology if you really want the best. Their live valve are one step closer to active suspension.

 

[SouthTxGX]

Based off of what you're planning I'd say that King's would be a giant waste of money and will only net you cool guy points. A bumper adds 100+ lbs so I would suggest 700lb springs for whatever you end up with. FIlthy Motorsports should be able to answer all of your questions.

While I do want to try out kings so I can compare them to the icon setup I previously had and I love going fast offroad, I have to admit they’re really overkill for most people and a much simpler setup will do the job. There are a ton of great options from many companies now days.

 

[Mena661]

Treaty Oak Offroad is pretty good with making recommendations based on your needs. They set me up with my basic Dobinsons kit.

 

[Stewfish]

Went with fox dual adjuster knob shocks and extended travel fronts for a longer spring. New springs are $90 if I want a stiffer springs down the road. But they say it should be perfect. With gravel roads at our new place and then off road adventures I just want my wife to be happy with the lift and bumper. This way she gets the most adjustment possible. THANKS guys.

 

[OCGX]

I am running Fox 2.5 DSC's with the ~95lb CBI bumper plus a winch. I definitely need stiffer springs.