Fox 2.0 vs 2.5? Icon 2.5 rears and Fox 2.5 fronts?

I know this has already been posted many times but I cannot find someone’s opinion on this shock that is really putting them to the test. Everyone either remarks on street driving or dirt road towing. I am mainly looking for fast washboard road driving reviews and going higher speeds on rough terrain roads. Does anyone have any advice what’s best? I have a 2006 dc and I have a camper shell with a decent amount of weight on it. Would the 2.5s be best for that amount of weight and be good for dampening washboard roads? Also I don’t know if I’m liking people Fox 2.5 adjustable rears reviews. The icon 2.5 rears have had good reviews in my realm I’m looking to achieve. I am leaning towards 2.5 icon 3in lifts in the back and the fox 2.5 3in lift in the fronts with adjustables. Thank you in advance if you have any real world experience with any of these shocks in this type of terrain. Thanks

 

2.5's all around for washboards, don't care the brand. Washboards are hell on shocks, small volume shocks fade and you tend to lose control then you're in the ditch. Remote res on all corners is best for washboards.

 

Thank you guys for the feedback. I guess all that’s left to do is decide between Fox and icon. Leaning towards icon for price preference but still deciding.

 

I have ICONS and I wish I had gone with Kings or ADS. I've written about them at length. If you do a search you can find many threads discussing this topic. Fox had issues for years on our trucks. The lower cup made contact with the brake line. Design flaw. Fox refused to fix this for many years but I believe they finally addressed the issue and fixed it. You'd want to make sure you got the newer design, and not old inventory.

 

Spend the money if you have it for the best washboard setup. Going into a corner with faded shocks on washboards is a heartstopper, you have no control. Best of luck to you, loved my '05.

 

I have Icons and love them. 2.5 adjustables on the front and 2.0’s on the back. When it’s time to service the 2.0’s I’m going to switch to the clickers like I have up front; I may go to 2.5’s too but the 2.0’s have been great so far.

Towing: fantastic, but would prefer the clickers to switch modes for the rears.
Dirt roads, fire service roads, iffy gravel roads, and highway driving have all been great. If I did long, fast washboards I’d 100% want remote resi’s on the rear.

Icon is digressive vs the progressive Kings. I love the digressive shock action especially for road manners and towing but many others don’t, it’s all preference. To be clear, I have not done long, fast washboards, just several miles of fast potholed and bumpy forest roads at a time at worst. I could see going big progressives if washboards was a priority.

edit: Bought mine from Demello, he’s great to deal with. I definitely pestered them a bit during the COVID shutdowns asking for updates on delivery and they were very responsive and helpful the whole time.

 

I think I already gave you my $0.02 on the Fox but I have Fox 2.5 and reservoirs on all 4 corners. The ones I have in the rear don't have adjusters but were tuned by accutune. I am really pleased with the ride on those. I tested them out in the fall when I went searching for firewood. Rocky washboard dirt road and I was doing 40-45 for 20 miles. Both were really smooth but the rear felt more planted than the front. That's probably an adjuster thing that I can play with but haven't had time. The front also needs more preload because I was hitting the wheel liner some on big dips.

I would suggest getting in a truck with Icon and see if you like the feel. The digressive/progressive difference is big and noticeable. If you go with Fox, I would also suggest ordering them from a shop that can shorten the reservoir hose. They come with a really long hose that make them hard to mount. You can't mount in the location they suggest because you will get tire run on the hose and/or the reservoir; ask me how I know.

 

Just echoing what others are saying... If your final contenders are Fox and Icon, you should really take a look at this article first to understand the difference, and make the choice based off this rather than the price point.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digressive-vs-linear-vs-progressive-pistons-shock-valving/

My experience, I've tried digressive shocks in the desert/washboard driving and absolutely hated them.

 

I haven’t tried either product, but from what I know about shocks, I’d think digressive wouldn’t be as good in the washboard as it is stiffer off the top, which can help hold the vehicle up in corners, but inherently will probably feel stiffer on small bumps like washboard. Progressive is softer off the top.

Im not a shock expert, that’s what I know from biking.

 

I think you're absolutely correct and it lines up with the experts like Accutune that you linked.

Most of my driving is street/highway and towing and the ICONs have been great for that. I've had a blast bombing down forest roads and badly maintained gravel roads too, but not much of any washboard yet or true off-roading. Also keep in mind I got out and turned the clickers way down for the forest roads. 6-7 for normal on-road driving, 9 for towing, 3-5 for offroad(including bad gravel and forest roads) depending on the surface. For my use case, they work extremely well.