King Suspension - SF Bay area test drive

[patpend2000]

I recently installed the Bilstien shock on my '15 and I'm not a fan of the digressive curve. I'm looking at the King's and I'm hoping to take a test ride before purchasing them. Is there anyone in the SF Bay Area (Redwood City and surrounding) has Kings installed and willing to let me go for a test ride

Thanks
Kelly

 

[onelittlestar]

Nowhere near you, but my .02 anyways...If you're going to be paying retail for a set of KINGS, get them with adjusters at minimum up front and have them set up (valved) by Ben at Filthy Motorsports or Accutune for your intended purpose, it is 100% worth the additional cost.
Having run KINGS on the 200, I actually prefer digressive valving like Bilstein uses, though the spring rate they spec is too high imo without extra weight like a bumper/winch up front. It might be worth the effort to swap to a lower spring rate before throwing another $4k at it

 

[Norcal470]

DM sent

 

[Reckless]

Nowhere near you, but my .02 anyways...If you're going to be paying retail for a set of KINGS, get them with adjusters at minimum up front and have them set up (valved) by Ben at Filthy Motorsports or Accutune for your intended purpose, it is 100% worth the additional cost.
Having run KINGS on the 200, I actually prefer digressive valving like Bilstein uses, though the spring rate they spec is too high imo without extra weight like a bumper/winch up front. It might be worth the effort to swap to a lower spring rate before throwing another $4k at it

How would you compare Blisteins/Kings to the icons in terms of comfort? When I originally bought my icons 5 years ago I regretted not buying Kings from Ben at Filthy and having them custom valved, I think he quoted $7k vs $2k icon 2.5s cdvs ran me on black friday. Handling of the icons is superb and I can't imagine any other coil over setup being better.

 

[onelittlestar]

How would you compare Blisteins/Kings to the icons in terms of comfort? When I originally bought my icons 5 years ago I regretted not buying Kings from Ben at Filthy and having them custom valved, I think he quoted $7k vs $2k icon 2.5s cdvs ran me on black friday. Handling of the icons is superb and I can't imagine any other coil over setup being better.

I can't answer that honestly, I have not run a fresh set of KINGS or Bilstein on the 200 platform, so it would be an unfair assessment.
Ben doesn't charge that much over retail to re-valve them, neither does Accutune. If comfort is your main goal/priority, I'd look to Accutune and have them build you a set of FOX.

ICON would not have been my pick, wasn't even on the radar, I just randomly stumbled across them for 35% of retail...figured what the hell, I'll give em a run, but my expectations are low.

 

[TeCKis300]

I recently installed the Bilstien shock on my '15 and I'm not a fan of the digressive curve. I'm looking at the King's and I'm hoping to take a test ride before purchasing them. Is there anyone in the SF Bay Area (Redwood City and surrounding) has Kings installed and willing to let me go for a test ride

Thanks
Kelly

What's the rest of your setup in terms of springs and tires? From my experience installing these on a GX, the digressive curve does firm up low speed damping a tad, but it's still ultra comfortable with stock spring rates and cushy tires.

 

[patpend2000]

What's the rest of your setup in terms of springs and tires? From my experience installing these on a GX, the digressive curve does firm up low speed damping a tad, but it's still ultra comfortable with stock spring rates and cushy tires.

Stock other than a set of TRD Pro wheels/Tires off a TRD Tundra. Around town the ride is very stiff and bumpy, at freeway speed feels great

 

[daneo]

I keep typing up a post and then deleting it. I’ll put on my flame suit and see if I can manage to post this one.

I was also in the pursuit of ultimate comfort and dreamed of my rig floating over washboard roads and ignoring speed bumps as I sipped a latte. I did research on the different valving strategies that you mention: digressive, progressive. Did test rides in Icon equipped vehicles, King equipped vehicles. Learned about the natural frequency of a spring mass system, the roll center, anti-squat, etc etc. eventually I decided that the BP-51 bypass shocks were what I needed for pinky-up comfort. I put them on and they were… different from the stock suspension. On the highway, the body control was amazing and you could feel the dampers working. But speed bumps at low speed would launch any spare change or sunglasses into the headliner. So I went back to the drawing board. Oh yes, what I really need are custom valved adjustable shocks perfectly tuned to my vehicle, my payload, my tires’ unsprung mass. And then my backside would be perfectly happy no matter the terrain. So I gave my precise parameters to Accutune and asked them to make their valving as soft as they could for ultimate Cadillac cloud comfort. So I installed them and they were… different. A little less hard-working on the highway and a little more forgiving on speed bumps. I drove each of those setups for months, years, hoping maybe they’d loosen up or the coils would “settle” and nirvana would be mine. But they kept riding the same. I always kept my BPs and DSCs at the softest setting and still wished for softer. Eventually I returned to the stock dampers with squishy rubber lower mounts and valving suitable for a lightly loaded vehicle not in pursuit of Baja gold.

If you have steel bumpers, trekboxx, roof top tent, armor, then the aftermarket shocks may become more comfortable than the stock dampers trying their best, but wallowing like a ship on rough seas. I rode in a vehicle on Dobinsons MRRs with the aforementioned weight, and that matchup proved to be the most comfortable next to a stockish weight and stockish suspension.

All this to say that Kings have an application, but it’s not ultimate road comfort.

 

[linuxgod]

I keep typing up a post and then deleting it. I’ll put on my flame suit and see if I can manage to post this one.

I was also in the pursuit of ultimate comfort and dreamed of my rig floating over washboard roads and ignoring speed bumps as I sipped a latte. I did research on the different valving strategies that you mention: digressive, progressive. Did test rides in Icon equipped vehicles, King equipped vehicles. Learned about the natural frequency of a spring mass system, the roll center, anti-squat, etc etc. eventually I decided that the BP-51 bypass shocks were what I needed for pinky-up comfort. I put them on and they were… different from the stock suspension. On the highway, the body control was amazing and you could feel the dampers working. But speed bumps at low speed would launch any spare change or sunglasses into the headliner. So I went back to the drawing board. Oh yes, what I really need are custom valved adjustable shocks perfectly tuned to my vehicle, my payload, my tires’ unsprung mass. And then my backside would be perfectly happy no matter the terrain. So I gave my precise parameters to Accutune and asked them to make their valving as soft as they could for ultimate Cadillac cloud comfort. So I installed them and they were… different. A little less hard-working on the highway and a little more forgiving on speed bumps. I drove each of those setups for months, years, hoping maybe they’d loosen up or the coils would “settle” and nirvana would be mine. But they kept riding the same. I always kept my BPs and DSCs at the softest setting and still wished for softer. Eventually I returned to the stock dampers with squishy rubber lower mounts and valving suitable for a lightly loaded vehicle not in pursuit of Baja gold.

If you have steel bumpers, trekboxx, roof top tent, armor, then the aftermarket shocks may become more comfortable than the stock dampers trying their best, but wallowing like a ship on rough seas. I rode in a vehicle on Dobinsons MRRs with the aforementioned weight, and that matchup proved to be the most comfortable next to a stockish weight and stockish suspension.

All this to say that Kings have an application, but it’s not ultimate road comfort.

I have BP51s and with compression set low (2) and rebound set moderate (6) AND with 35” tires and more weight than stock they are pretty comfortable around town and amazing once I hit 35-40mph, if not a bit soft on the highway. If you have BP51s I highly recommend cranking the compression down as there was a HUGE difference between C2/R6 and C3/R7

 

[UPR LC]

I recently installed the Bilstien shock on my '15 and I'm not a fan of the digressive curve. I'm looking at the King's and I'm hoping to take a test ride before purchasing them. Is there anyone in the SF Bay Area (Redwood City and surrounding) has Kings installed and willing to let me go for a test ride

Thanks
Kelly

No Kings but I am nearby in RWC, I'll keep an eye out for you around town!

I have been really happy with my Old Man Emu setup on the cruiser. Less maintenance than Kings.

 

[TeCKis300]

Stock other than a set of TRD Pro wheels/Tires off a TRD Tundra. Around town the ride is very stiff and bumpy, at freeway speed feels great

Thanks for the detail. What tires are you running and pressure? Maybe some tailoring there could help.

Not to say that the digressive damping curve doesn't result in a bit more firmness at low speed but that also brings some more low speed sportiness/control that some prefer.

 

[Norcal470]

Adding King 2.5 to my 2017 noticeably stiffened the ride around town. Changing from 18" to 17" wheels, and to tires with a larger sidewall seemed to bring the ride back to something closer to factory.