On Road w/performance King Shocks?? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Felstar
- Start date
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Yeah, if that’s the case, I’m agree with you to stay with the stock. I mean, they aren’t terrible by any means. In fact as a daily, it’s very comfortable and you will not find a better setup for daily routines. I’m just so used to customizing everything I own, I forget it’s not necessary for most people’s uses unless you’re into it.
Moby
GOLD Star
Yes, good point. I have some rubber vice guards for holding the shaft. Or I wrap the rod ends in a t-shirt and then carefully into the vice.
Reminds me I need to make some copper vice jaw covers. I've only been meaning to do that for the big vice for like 5 years.
Highly recommend giving this a shot yourself. And highly recommend Filthy's King rebuilt videos.
nwfl4runner
GOLD Star
I think we can all agree you won't buy a KING coilover sans coil unless you are doing your own suspension, which I think OP is clearly not. So then we get to the standard discussion of "does aftermarket suspension make your car ride like whatever your impression of a cloud is"
Short answer to your question: KINGs will perform exactly like stock on road if you valve them like stock, and if you have stock weight coils, because then they are just another coilover.
Long answer to your question: KINGs will perform exactly like you valve them with whatever coil you select. You'd be well served to consider what you are looking for in a ride and go from there, because if you don't like driving like whatever the aftermarket suspension is valved/sprung for, then it will ride like crap (too soft or too firm depending). Once you figure out the valving/spring rate, you get into discussions of ICON being digressive versus KINGs more linear/progressive, and how they handle in different environments, because that matters too.
If you're gonna spend the coin on the shocks, talk to DownSouth or Filthy and let them work with you for the right valving/spring weight that work for you. It all goes back, however, to what you are trying to achieve.
Short answer to your question: KINGs will perform exactly like stock on road if you valve them like stock, and if you have stock weight coils, because then they are just another coilover.
Long answer to your question: KINGs will perform exactly like you valve them with whatever coil you select. You'd be well served to consider what you are looking for in a ride and go from there, because if you don't like driving like whatever the aftermarket suspension is valved/sprung for, then it will ride like crap (too soft or too firm depending). Once you figure out the valving/spring rate, you get into discussions of ICON being digressive versus KINGs more linear/progressive, and how they handle in different environments, because that matters too.
If you're gonna spend the coin on the shocks, talk to DownSouth or Filthy and let them work with you for the right valving/spring weight that work for you. It all goes back, however, to what you are trying to achieve.
Looking for a similar solution to OP. Just got my 2021 LC last week and brought it over Berthoud Pass last night. Lots of body roll in corners and on one hard stop (traffic backing up on Floyd Hill), a ton of nose dive. I don't want a lift (wife's truck, she's short), but this suspension needs to be firmed up a bit. I'm not too far from Slee, so I will probably give them a call on Monday. Are shocks alone enough? I also need to upgrade the tires.
bloc
SILVER Star
Nose dive on braking significantly reduced with my kings, partly due to the 600# springs vs 500 stock, but I’m sure also partly the valving. The problem is that without increased weight up there you will end up with 2-3 inches of lift in front unless you go down to a 500 or 550# spring, and then my suspicion is you’d lose some of the dive resistance.
Stock the rear is sprung too soft as well, 2720s address that quite well and keep near stock height.
Overall I’m very happy with my kings, especially with large sharp hits like rocks off road. They do a MUCH better job of controlling that type of wheel travel. But, these things aren’t sports cars. They are tall and heavy with a lot of sidewall and suspension travel to be capable off-road.. there is only so much you can do to make them corner flat. They will never be a cayenne or x5, and aren’t trying to be.
Braking nose dive was a big annoyance for me. Don’t have that anymore with the Kings - i just opted for a leveled front and no rear lift. Give Filthy a call
Just for one data point, I have King 2.5's on a stock weight front and rear 2013 200. I have experimented with a bunch of different rear coils. I ordered through Filthy, describing my primarily on-road conditions in a very poor road condition New Orleans city environment. Our city streets have us driving between 25-50 mph almost exclusively.
The Kings change a bit as they break in. Mine got softer for sure. What I have found with my setup is that if a road is just horrible - consistent bump after bump after bump - the Kings perform great. The faster you go the better on a road like that. But at slow speeds, 25-35 mph (basically the only two speed limits we have in nola), on the type of roads I primarily drive on where there is a dip here, an isolated pothole there, major subsidence / sink holes, etc (but not hit-hit-hit) - the Kings are not handling that well. I don't get brake dive and the truck corners pretty well / level on smooth roads. Handling is fine at freeway speeds. But at slow speeds they are not great - at least how Ben at Filthy ordered mine after I described slow speeds and New Orleans roads.
I'm going to try some other suspensions and maybe the Kings will go up for sale. We'll see how the other options feel.
I will say one thing - they are beautiful. And people can see them peeking out of the wheel wells like little blue bling. But I'm not a Baja racer and perhaps they weren't the best choice for my truck. I was told they can ride however you want, but either 1,) not really or 2.) Ben doesn't really care about optimizing valving for slow speed on-road driving in deteriorating cities. Ben is extremely busy with much more interesting challenges so the second option is very plausible.
The Kings change a bit as they break in. Mine got softer for sure. What I have found with my setup is that if a road is just horrible - consistent bump after bump after bump - the Kings perform great. The faster you go the better on a road like that. But at slow speeds, 25-35 mph (basically the only two speed limits we have in nola), on the type of roads I primarily drive on where there is a dip here, an isolated pothole there, major subsidence / sink holes, etc (but not hit-hit-hit) - the Kings are not handling that well. I don't get brake dive and the truck corners pretty well / level on smooth roads. Handling is fine at freeway speeds. But at slow speeds they are not great - at least how Ben at Filthy ordered mine after I described slow speeds and New Orleans roads.
I'm going to try some other suspensions and maybe the Kings will go up for sale. We'll see how the other options feel.
I will say one thing - they are beautiful. And people can see them peeking out of the wheel wells like little blue bling. But I'm not a Baja racer and perhaps they weren't the best choice for my truck. I was told they can ride however you want, but either 1,) not really or 2.) Ben doesn't really care about optimizing valving for slow speed on-road driving in deteriorating cities. Ben is extremely busy with much more interesting challenges so the second option is very plausible.
bloc
SILVER Star
I totally support this statement.
Let us know what your next suspension will be. I know how bad your roads are. I think many us would like more of that Cadillac comfort with off-road chops, which is asking a lot.
