Icon suspensions failure (9 Viewers)

[linuxgod]

Thanks for correcting me on the drilling part. I’ve got just over 200 miles left for the trip. My bigger concern was a ripped cv boot. Halfway home I decided to put some Flex Seal on it to help bandaid it lol.

You definitely took a beating this year.

Fortunately a CV re-boot job isn't terribly expensive - dealer did my passengers side in a couple hours for ~$300 last summer just before the 2019 LCDC. Not sure how long mine had been torn. So long as there's no scarring on the bearings or the race from dirt infiltration or a complete lack of grease it should be easy to just clean it out and then repack it with the grease supplied in the kit. Worst case a genuine Toyota reman CV is about $750 IIRC.

 

[04UZJ100]

I used to love Icons, but I don’t recommend them right now, and talk as many people as I can over to anything else (well, not Ironman or Dobinson either)

Icon switched to a different seal manufacture a coupe years ago, and this is a very common issue now. So common that lots of shops stopped installing them that I talk to beucase they don’t want to deal with them.

Icon was Donahue Racing back in the day, but Donahue got busted for child porn (not kidding) and the business got bought up by a large corporation that renamed it Icon.

Should of known that after a few years, it would do what most large companies do to their subsidies. Hit hard with advertising, once you’ve got the base, cheapen you’re the product, increase profits as long as you can before they catch on.

It upsets me because I have a set of 32” Icons that have 9 years and 100k? on them, and no issues. On other Icons I’ve had, that I’ve blown on the Rubicon, Dust, or Hammers, it was because they were on a bouncer (not a once lived production vehicle) and that is to be expected. I have called Icon many times for spare parts. The guys would leave the parts at a disclosed location outside so we could pick them up after hours.

That was customer service that just didn’t happen over at King. Which is why I support Icon over all the rest. But then, the Corp that owns Icon go a mess up a good thing.

I hope they go back to the more expensive seals and that way I can recommend them again.

With those big three out of the question - who do you recommend? OME? Bilstein? KING?

I was surprised with amount of failures XOverland had with their Icon stuff on brand new trucks.

 

[kennyao30]

I was surprised with amount of failures XOverland had with their Icon stuff on brand new trucks.

I wasn't aware that the Xoverland guys had failures. What happened to their ICON suspension?

 

[04UZJ100]

I wasn't aware that the Xoverland guys had failures. What happened to their ICON suspension?

As I recall shock failure on their 5th gen 4Runner, 100 series, and 200 series cruiser.

 

[kennyao30]

As I recall shock failure on their 5th gen 4Runner, 100 series, and 200 series cruiser.

Thats not good, and not a great track record for consumers that follow them looking to buy suspension.

 

[laserturbo91]

You definitely took a beating this year.

Fortunately a CV re-boot job isn't terribly expensive - dealer did my passengers side in a couple hours for ~$300 last summer just before the 2019 LCDC. Not sure how long mine had been torn. So long as there's no scarring on the bearings or the race from dirt infiltration or a complete lack of grease it should be easy to just clean it out and then repack it with the grease supplied in the kit. Worst case a genuine Toyota reman CV is about $750 IIRC.

Sure did take a beating! Got back to Maryland late last night. Ordered an axle and nut on Wednesday from Toyota and on my way to pick it up now. Including tax, it was just under $400. I’ll throw the axle in myself and repair the old axle as a spare.

Let’s just hope for a speedy turn around with the Icon situation.

 

[silverhorse]

I would not run ICON products.. they are too many failures I have seen and read about.. OME, KING, Bilstein way better IMO...

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

With those big three out of the question - who do you recommend? OME? Bilstein? KING?

I was surprised with amount of failures XOverland had with their Icon stuff on brand new trucks.

All of them depending on budget/happiness.

I believe some product differences are really splitting hairs, after you get past the ones that should be avoided.

So when someone wants a lift, I lay out how much it costs to get there. Then how much more it costs to jump to the “next level” and (usually) how little difference there is.

Will a OME/Bilstein give you a lift and carry weight better? I think so. Will the extra X thousands of dollars for a BPs or King’s do it better? Better is for the driver to decide, because of cost.

Will a 200 go more places with those more expensive options? I don’t believe so. Will it make the driver happier? Maybe.

It’s kinda like 33” to 37” tires. I don’t see how a 200 with a 37” will go anywhere that a 200 with 33s couldn’t go.

But cars are an emotional purchase so it’s okay to do what makes you happy.

I hope that makes sense, on why I don’t have a “best option” because I don’t think any product out there is the best for everyone.

 

[bloc]

Those are great points, but when a particular system seems to repeatedly have failures that the other brands don’t, I think a fair argument can be made that they just shouldn’t be installed anymore. Or at least until they can demonstrate that they got the issue sorted out. A shock coming apart on twisty trails like in Colorado can lead to springs coming out and all kinds of serious problems. Driving home with only three shocks after laying out that kind of money on suspension is unacceptable IMO.

 

[laserturbo91]

Driving home with only three shocks after laying out that kind of money on suspension is unacceptable IMO.

I guess I did get the kit for 25% off during a Black Friday sale so only having three out of four shocks makes sense

 

[bloc]

I guess I did get the kit for 25% off during a Black Friday sale so only having three out of four shocks makes sense

Hah! Great point..