Reservoir Shocks, Need some input / feedback

[gungriffin]

I have Icon stage 2 and was very impressed with the ride quality both on and off road. It's been 2 year now and 3 of the 4 shocks started leaking. I also had issues with the cheap rubber bushing falling apart. 2 other friends with Icons have had issues as well. One has had the top stem pullout of the shock cap twice. Both have experienced leaking as well.
I have since switched to Slee shocks which are made by a local to me shock builder, ADS. I have run their shocks before, on my rock buggy with numerous top 20 finishs at KOH. Never had any quality issues with them. Time will tell how they do my my LX.

The outer range for rebuilds on the Icons is only 40k miles between rebuilds if you are doing almost 100% highway driving. That is just one of the downsides of high end shocks. It only takes a day and a few hundo in specalty parts to be able to rebuild them yourself though.

 

[OEMGUY0720]

I ran the billet trailing arms on my truck for quite some time. I can confirm they fit. Eventually I bent one of them and needed to replace it. I went with Metal Tech rear LCAs to match my UCAs. Honestly, it is a stupid part to buy in aluminum unless you have money to burn and want a shiny part. If I had them the Icon LCAs in usable condition, I would certainly put them on though.

Dang you must have pushed the LC hard or the obstacle was that "technical". Do you have pictures of the LTA that you bent? I'm curious on the damage.

 

[gungriffin]

Dang you must have pushed the LC hard or the obstacle was that "technical". Do you have pictures of the LTA that you bent? I'm curious on the damage.

My 100 is defintely no garage queen. The damage happened when I just slid off of a ledge and the LCA happened to land on a rock on a fairly easy trail. It was mostly just bad luck how it happened. Funny part is that I have done trails that were so much harder, but it was the easy trail that got me. It not only bent the LCA, but it also bent the threads on the LCA near the axle. As a result, the threaded extension nut would constantly adjust itself shorter again. I don't think that I would have had the same situation happen with the DOM tubing LCAs if I had them on the truck instead. The Icon LCAs are just so much bigger than the DOM tubing LCAs. It makes them a magnet for strikes and scrapes.

I will take some photos of the LCAs when I go to my garage this afternoon.

 

[gungriffin]

Dang you must have pushed the LC hard or the obstacle was that "technical". Do you have pictures of the LTA that you bent? I'm curious on the damage.

I forgot to upload the photos. Here you go. I would have continued to run with the slight bend if the threads to receive the heim joint were still tight. Unfortunately, the hit deformed these threads and allowed the length of the arm to adjust.

 

[OEMGUY0720]

@gungriffin Yup that’s bent but I didn’t expect it was bent thru the side of the truss billet. Thanks for sharing this though. I also saw another similar product with identical specs except for the brand and color finish, probably from the same factory too but not as $$$.

Rear Lower Trailing Arm Kit | INSPIRED OVERLAND, LLC

Billet Aluminum Rear Lower Link KitOn-truck adjustability using INSPIRED PERFORMANCE's pinch housing and double adjusterJM16T Rod End and INSPIRED PERFORMANCE dual stage bushings, for excellent strength and longevityReplaceable Nylon Rock Slider protects link and prevents hang ups while...

www.inspiredoverland.com

 

[gungriffin]

@gungriffin Yup that’s bent but I didn’t expect it was bent thru the side of the truss billet. Thanks for sharing this though. I also saw another similar product with identical specs except for the brand and color finish, probably from the same factory too but not as $$$.

Rear Lower Trailing Arm Kit | INSPIRED OVERLAND, LLC

Billet Aluminum Rear Lower Link KitOn-truck adjustability using INSPIRED PERFORMANCE's pinch housing and double adjusterJM16T Rod End and INSPIRED PERFORMANCE dual stage bushings, for excellent strength and longevityReplaceable Nylon Rock Slider protects link and prevents hang ups while...

www.inspiredoverland.com

I really do believe that it was just bad luck. I want to love the aluminum arms, but they seem to solve a problem that doesn't exist for our trucks. Canguroo Racing uses the Icon aluminum LCAs to save weight in the suspension on their race 200 series. That makes sense as they are already cycling the suspension hard while desert racing. I don't see what the aluminum improves for a normal truck beyond looks. All while creating a lot more issues. The other issue I find is with the Heim joints. They squeak constantly and it was maddening! I prefer the DOM tubing arms with the greaseable Rock Jock joints after having used both.