Fox or icon??!!

Ok guys, heres My options. Spoke with the guys at @sdhq_offroad and I've narrowed it down to these 2 kits. Thoughts? Opinions? Why and why not? Looking for performance as well as longevity. Daily driven with the occasional weekend beat around.

 

I’m no expert on these brands, and don’t have any first hand experience with either, but you are looking at different valving. Icon is digressive, Fox is progressive. Plus, you have 2.5” shocks on both front and rear with the Icon kit, which is a benefit with these beefy trucks. They’ll run cooler and not overheat as quick as the 2.0 rears on the Fox kit. What are you using the truck for?

 

Purely daily driven and weekend warrior. I dont two or haul anything rarely have anything in the bed at all. Probably going to do some road trips this summer to some offroad parks

 

like stated above, those two set ups arent in the same range. the fox kit has 2.0 non resi shocks and doesnt have the leaf expansion pack.
with that being said i have had good luck with fox stuff in the past. icon is nice too. a 2.5" rear shock is nice on these trucks

 

Alrighty. Could’ve sworn Fox made a 2.5 shock w/ DSC adjusters for the rear of our trucks, I’d recommend going that route if you go Fox. Better to have more than you need than be pissed because the ride isn’t how you want it.

As far as valving, the way I understand it is progressive valving makes high speed bumps feel softer, and digressive is the opposite.

 

And that's kind of what I really want to know. Is there one that would be preferred over the other? For daily driving? Maintenance? Things like that. Theres a grand difference between the 2. And the 2.5s do come in R/R. As I have a set laying around. They just dont offer them in the kit. But it's just as expensive to order the front kit and the ucas... which is why I'm considering the whole kit. Just wondering if the icon setup is worth the extra $ for reliability and overall performance.

 

why not go with bilstein 6112/5100 if a daily? cool factor of having rebuildable shocks with reservoir? i had icons on my 4runner, ran great! i have 6112/5100 setup on my tundra, runs great!

yes the fox/icon are rebuildable, but factor the rebuild cost in there, and you can purchase nearly 4 sets of the 6112/5100 by the time you have the initial cost of the premium shocks and the first rebuild.

 

I haven't ruled that out but I do want to upgrade the ucas. Just looking into kits that are made to correspond with one another to make sure everything operates smoothly.

 

I don’t have much knowledge in regards to those things bud. But @boardude @joonbug and @KevinK all run the Icons, and @xtyfighterx runs Fox. They’ll be able to tell ya that stuff.

 

not trying to bust your balls, but why do you want to upgrade the UCAs? only reason for new UCA would be for alignment purposes if lifted over about 2" or for the ability to run extended travel (basically an extra inch of downtravel, no real difference in a daily) rebuildable shocks. Uniball UCAs will need a lot of care, or they will really start squeaking on you. unless your desert racing, i would recommend sealed BJ UCAs.

UCA's are not made to be kit specific, they are just bundled on those you linked. you can run any aftermarket UCA with any rebuildable shock or 6112. i chose to run my 6112 at 1.9" setting, therefore didnt need new UCAs.

 

Sorry I did not specify in my original post that it would be 3/1 lift. I currently have just a spacer lift and you can tell that alignment is maxed out. That's strictly the purpose for upgrading the ucas

 

The impression I’m under is uniballs only start squeaking on ya if you don’t maintain them. So long as you keep em clean and drop some dry lube on em when needed you’ll be fine. Also, don’t know many guys on this site running heim joint UCA’s, except the ones running 6-7” lifts.

 

we all have good intentions...but even with good maintenance, they make noise...so i've read for years. i personally went with the camburg sealed BJ UCAs on my 4runner with the ext length icons due to being out here in CO and the mag chloride they throw down for snow.

sorry, meant uniball, not heim, my bad.

 

Just as an added point to this my 6112/5160 setup is awesome, i love it. I run my 6112s at the 2.5 top setting with an added CB shim and I aligned just fine. No UCAs needed.

 

Valid point ha. I’m leaning towards uniballs, still on stock UCA’s with the ToyTec/Raflo setup currently. Btw ya ought to try and come to our get togethers in June @yosh2000! And sorry for the partial thread jack @Erichudgins

 

Call Matt at MCM before you buy. He has a great MID Travel kit for the Tundras that have ADS shocks, UCA’s, and Deaver leafs that are spec’ed/tuned for the Tundra.

 

Lol no worries. I'm like a sponge. Absorbing all this knowledge

 

ADS 2.5" DSC and ADS 2.5" piggy back in the rear, Deaver leaf pack and Camburg UCA this is the setup on my gen 1 and never look back.

 

oh and watching this video will probably help out too

King Off-Road Racing Shocks Overview - Filthy Motorsports

And maybe try giving them a call too.

 

Call Matt at MCM he will set you up. ADS and his UCA's you cant go wrong

 

And his Deaver spec'ed leafs

 

I'm an ADS fan as well.
Digressive valving (Bilstein and Icon) makes sense to me in a Porsch or BMW where you want to eliminate body roll, sometimes sacrificing some comfort. Digressive starts stiff and goes softer....... Sounds familiar...
Progressive gets progressively stiffer as it's compressed and makes a lot of sense to me for a big heavy truck.

I don't want to give the impression that I know what I'm talking about. These are just my personal observations. Best of luck whatever you choose.

I would encourage you to use MCM UCAs as I believe Matt's got the alignment #s figured out better than anyone. No aftermarket UCAs are not all the same and will yield hugely different #s. There's even one company telling me that I should cut my inner tie rod to make their UCAs work.

 

Yes his leafs are pretty awesome

 

Got a link?

 

here you go

http://stores.mcmfablv.com/07-tundra-mid-travel-package/

 

Nice. I like how everything is designed to work together. I want to keep that 3/1 level. Can he set me up a pkg to keep that ride as well?

 

Oh yes he can. He can give you that height and make it ride like....... well you get the idea. Matt owns a Tundra, so does his mom and he does all the Tundra RnD for ADS. He really knows his shtuff.

 

That's what I'm talking about. Know any members running a setup similar to this?

 

ADS

 

I think that will be more up to you and how you set the front coils after you install them. Matt can give you all the details for sure.

Per MCM's web site:
Using MCM UCA's you get 12.5in's of travel in the front.
Rear setup will give you 13in's of travel with K37's and Deaver spec'ed ADS shocks.

Sadly i forgot to measure before and after my install.