ICON Shocks: Thumbs down

Professionally installed by authorized dealer, totally babied on fireroads, with only 10,000 miles of wear, and my fancy pants $1000 Icon shock is leaking shock oil all over the driveway. Two months outside of its 12-month warranty. Grr. Not impressed. I wonder what the other 3 fancy-pants shocks have in store for me now that the warranty is up.

 

That sucks. Sorry to hear this. Had mine for about 10,000 miles and no issue. Very rare problem here.

 

Simple $35 shock rebuild kit for each and wham, bam, presto... your good as new...... ask me how I know

 

Have you reached out to icon to see if they will do anything? My experience with companies like them is that they have good customer service and will try to help you resolve the issue.

 

Yea bummer.
To top it off they don't even rebuild their own shocks anymore outside of warranty. One of the many reason I went with Kings on my FJ.

 

Strange, i had a pair for over 150k with no isses and my current ones have 8k on them thur far with no issues. A simple rebuild is cheap and easy though, plug in your location on the website and find the local authorized rebuild shop.

 

First try checking the nitrogen pressure. Insufficient pressure can cause them to leak too. Lots of times they don't even come with the right pressure from the factory.

 

When I had my ICON's installed the 4x4 shop said "you'll be back. We always have problems with ICON's leaking"...

 

And did you go back? Lol

 

I had similar experiences. I will say they have awesome corrosion resistance compared to King’s so you have that going for you.

 

Well, that totally sucks. Mine have had no problems after many, many miles on and off road. I'd definitely check with Icon. That's completely unacceptable and an uncommon issue. Maybe they'll sport you some new ones even outside of the warranty.

 

No but it's only been 8 months.

 

Well I’ve been considering getting one of the higher stages but don’t want to drop coin on faulty stuff. I’ve read stuff on the Tacoma forum too

 

So I talked to my installer, who is an authorized Icon dealer & installer, and they are willing to rebuild the shock for free "since it's so close to the warranty period". So I guess that's good. But then I'd be responsible for the cost of the alignment. Hmph.

A $35 rebuild kit sounds nice, but I live in a little condo complex, so taking the coilover off and rebuilding a shock isn't feasible for me; I would instead have to pay a shop however much (I'd guess $300?) to do this.

I guess what it boils down to is that I've never had any trouble with any shocks I've ever owned, and then I get these fancy pants Icons and it shits the bed almost right away. Maybe it's a fluke, but I wanted to add a data point on these forums for other people.

Does anybody know, is it going to totally fuck the shock up if the shock fluid runs out while I'm driving it around until my rebuild appointment next week? It's dripping out maybe a half teaspoon every day.

Edit: Just emailed Icon to let them know about it. Curious if they bother with a response.

 

Really? Can you provide detail as to how Icons are more corrosion resistant than Kings? I do live in a snowy, salty climate so that is good to hear!

 

I'll have to ask my installer about this. They are an authorized dealer so I hope they know what they're doing. I don't really have a service manual for the shocks so I don't know the first thing about their internals, such as adjusting NO2 pressure.

 

If your shocks are set the same you shouldn't need an alignment--you aren't changing anything. Also, regardless if you want to, you could rebuild them on the bed of your truck. Whether you have the tools and such to do that (jack, jack stands, wrenches, vice, etc.) is another question. If they'll rebuild them for free though, count how many threads are above the collar and just set them the same way when you get them back as when you hand them off and you're golden then and it's all free.

As for fluid leaking out. It is what it is. Just run it. If it totally ran out of fluid then you'll get a lot of friction and could go south, but lots of shocks have been run a long time leaking without issue. I wouldn't sweat it.

As for your remark about Kings, here's actually a photo I took from earlier today of mine that have like 15k miles on them:



And the body is oxidizing worse than the shaft is.


As far as fancy shocks go in general. Everyone jerks off a certain brand and 99% of those people don't know squat about shocks and don't even know what they have or how to change the pressure in them. So I would take anyones comments with a grain of salt. With that said, the nice thing about fancy shocks is you can fix them and rebuild them and keep on going. Does it suck it's leaking this fast? Yes. But, have the shop rebuild it, if they're worth a shit (which is a big IF) then hopefully the shock won't ever leak again. Maybe it was a flaw from the factory, maybe nitrogen level was off or lacking, maybe there was a burr from machining so an o-ring didn't seat, etc. I would bet once it's rebuilt it's fine for a long time. If it was me, I would rebuild it and if it leaks again, then rebuild it a second time and sell them as "essentially new" and go buy some other brand.

 

I was looking at various shock videos online the other week.

There was one guy who lived up north,who recommended a light coat of clear coat on the shocks to help with rust and oxidizing

I have no experience with that,but it seems like it may help from a common sense stand point

 

I have over 75000 miles on mine on the Taco. Purchased directly from Adrian at icon....never rebuilt....which is negligent on my part. Not one leak....

 

Cost to have Icon coil overs rebuilt is $75 each. Had it done twice over the years. Several excellent shops out there, so no downside to the Icon factory not doing it. Takes about 10 days from time they are put in the mail until you get them back. The bummer is not having a truck to drive for 10 days. But I love the idea of buying a lifetime shock that can continue to get rebuilt over the years. As long as you like the performance and appreciate the value, buying once is nice.

 

Accutune told me to clean them regularly and spray them down with wd40, fluid film, etc

 

OP sorry to hear your shocks are leaking. It is disappointing to spend that kind of money and have issues.
Unfortunately high end performance parts can have higher maintenance requirements, and shocks are one of those items.
While the failure sounds like this is of no fault of your own, the silver lining is they are re-buildable.
Don't get me wrong, ive been there, and sending them out is a hassle, but it should be a consideration during purchase.
The recommended service intervals is clean and lube pivots every 10k miles and full rebuild every 50k. (rule of thumb)
If you think just because they are expensive, they will last longer, that is incorrect.
You should not need and alignment if you keep your ride height and settings the same. AKA take measurements before and match them. (Ride height/ preload collar)
Your installer is suggesting an alignment as a CYA (cover your *ss) so if they rebuild them and don't match the previous settings, the truck will still drive fine after alignment.
I second the Icon's corrosion resistance, mine have held up fine through 8 yrs of Ohio winters with nothing more than a WD40 wipe down.
My Fox's look like absolute garbage from aluminum oxidation. I have Tried wd40 / neoprene shock cover etc. but have been VERY disappointed with how they have held up appearance wise.
(The Fox's were the shocks i sent out for a rebuild).
Each shock company has their perks, but jumping brands based on a leak (That they are willing to warranty) seems silly.

 

These will help keep your coilovers nice and clean. My coilovers still look brand new after a year.

 

Too bad you don't live in a place that has garage. Rebuilding a standard shock like that is stupid easy. You can do it in an afternoon. That right there makes having aftermarket shocks a bargain in the long run. Leaking shocks that can't be rebuilt go in the trash bin.
I'd consider seeing if I could utilize a friend's garage, remove the shocks myself, send them in, then reinstall them myself. Take pictures of where the coil is adjusted. When you get them back, ensure they're set the same as before. Reinstall them. This whole notion of having to do an alignment after removing/reinstalling the same coilover is malarkey. I've done it several times, and no alignment needed. drives straight as an arrow, before and after.

Also, I have icons on my 4runner. no issues 35k miles and 4 years later. Never been rebuilt.

 

Bumping this thread to see what respond did OP get from icon. I noticed mine leaking on the passenger side while doing my oil change yesterday. I have around 21k miles on them and 8 months outside warranty. Pavement and occasional beach sand driving is all it seen. I had same coilovers on my Tacoma that went over 50k miles without any service and no issue at all.

 

The people I had install the shocks rebuilt the shock ("it was a bad seal") for free, even though it was outside of the warranty. This could be because I've spent a ridiculous amount of money at their shop. It did require taking 3 hours out of two separate days and driving two cars back and forth about 120 miles, twice, since I live in the sticks and my shop is not exactly nearby, all the while cursing Icon and their stupid leaky god damned shocks. Normally they charge $130 for the rebuild, which I think is one shop-hour (!) of time.

As for Icon themselves, though I had already secured a rebuild appointment at my installer, for shits and grins I emailed Icon with a picture and details, just to see what level of service I'd receive. They responded two days later:

Please send your proof of purchase also a picture of the shock over toSALES@ICONVEHICLEDYNAMICS.COMand our warranty department will take a look at it and respond back with how to move forward. Typically our shocks have a 1 year warranty on any manufacture defects. Although you said it was a few months past warranty I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to work with you.​

HTH!

Edit: I'll tell you, the Old Man Emus I have on my Tacoma give me zero problems compared to Icon. I doubt I'd ever buy another set from them.

 

This type of thread will always attract the "my icons are perfect" posts but I read enough accounts of these Icons leaking to steer me away from them. I'm glad you got sorted out though

 

Google shows a shit tons of leaks with low miles and not getting any help from icon.
Thanks for the reply OP. I may just pull both them out and send them down to grant pass Oregon for a rebuild

 

same issue on my buddy's tacoma. Icon coilovers were leaking 2 months in. 4WP swapped him to some Kings instead.

 

This has me worried I’ll keep a look. I got mine about 4 months ago