Icon leaf spring expansion pack 3” lift?

I installed the Icon leaf expansion pack about 6 weeks ago and I’m looking for advice and other users recent experience. I was hoping to get the stated 1.5” lift for a slight rake but it’s more like 3-3.5” of lift. I’ve been waiting for them to brake in and loaded my 900lbs camper in the bed for a week but they are still running way taller than documented. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

I am looking at the
07-21 TUNDRA MULTI RATE RXT LEAF PACK W/ ADD IN LEAF
can you report on whether your kit ever settled? I have about 450 pounds steady state between topper, decked, and gear.

 

My Expansion pack never did settle in and I pulled it. The expansion pack I had is different than the full leaf springs you are asking about.

 

Is this the 3 leaf pack you used?

https://iconvehicledynamics.com/acc...ssories-07-up-tundra-rear-expansion-pack-kit/

If so, did you remove two of the factory leaves for a total leaf stack of 5? Or did you leave all of the factory leaves for a total leaf stack if 7?

The former is correct per their instructions to yield 1.5” of lift. I run the same icon expansion pack; I installed it with some takeoff rear springs with 2k miles on them and certainly didn’t get 3+ inches of lift as you describe. But I also have a topper and bedslide at a minimum when “empty” and much more than that in tools and gear on daily basis. I would say that 1.5-2”” of lift on a stock rig is accurate. I achieved close to 1” with the empty load I described earlier.

If, however, you left all of the factory leaves in the stack, you could easily achieve 3”+ of lift. 3/4” of that lift would be from the extra leaf pack stack height, the rest wild be from the extra spring rate. So I’m guessing this is what you did? There’s nothing wrong with it per se. I thought of leaving all the leaves in, but decided against it when it was installing the leaf pack.

 

Blenton,

(truck in question is a '21 TRD pro, currently stock suspension)

Have you had squeaking issues with your Ikon pack? The guys at Wescott directed me to the Ikon pack listed above, but there are about 6 guys on this forum ready to suck start a shotgun over their Ikon kits squeaking. I had the OME 613 heavy load springs on my last tundra ('17) and they never made a peep. I'm considering those again.

 

Fwiw, my RXT leafs are quiet.

 

I have not - at least not something that I hear inside the truck. However, now that you mention it, I have an occasional squeak that I hear from the rear passenger side that I only hear at low speeds (20 mph or so) with the windows down driving next to buildings or houses. So maybe it's the spring pack squeaking? But maybe not? Could be the topper moving a big and needing to be cinched down. I'll have to look in to it some more, but I've got about 12k miles on the leaf pack and haven't noticed until recently. I also run air bags and usually have 15-20 psi in them or more, which significantly extended the life of my factory springs and may be keeping the Icon leaf pack from acting up.

I'm mostly sold on a set of Alcan's, though. I just need to actually weigh the truck so I can give them a rear axle weight to build from. I actually had the Icon leaf pack sitting in my garage for a couple of... years.... before I got around to installing them. Oops. But they provided the advertised lift and a stronger spring pack. Due to the bags and having swapped rear shocks at the same time, I can't really tell if the ride is much improved on account of the springs, but it does seem to handle the weight better when I air down the bags to 5 psi and let the leaf pack shoulder most of the load. I'm thinking of ditching the bags in favor of a stronger leaf pack, but couldn't find a leaf pack that was versatile enough to meet my needs without breaking the bank or sacrificing something else. And the airbags have been great with both factory leaf pack and the Icon modified pack.

 

I installed them per the instructions and removed the stock factory leafs leaving only the main spring and the overload spring. The only extra weight I had is the spare tire which is a 35x12.5R17, so nothing significant. My springs had 10k on them at the time of installation. I went back to my stock springs and installed a set of Firestone airbags. Works great for my setup so far.

 

Interesting that you got so much lift from them. I assume that you have 5100's up front? Are you running those with any lift, or at stock height? Just curious..

 

I never had any noise issues and only ran the springs for 1000 miles, one thing I did notice but did not document is the plastic pads were fairly worn in that short time. I also live in the midwest and we salt our roads so everything has a little rust on it, including the springs.

 

I did have 5100's (lowest setting) but went to an RSO set up of 2.5 remote reservoir ACR, that's why I made the leaf spring switch. I currently have around a 2.25" lift up front with 10 clicks of compression and 10 clicks of rebound adjustment all around on their system.

 

Can one purchase new plastic shim pads for their leaf-packs? I'm about to throw in my Boise Springworks AALs and nowI'm thinking, because my OE leaves are near flat with 94k miles on them, when I add these new AAL, which one, OE leaves or new AAL will conform to the other? I'm hoping to not experience 3" but more the 1-1-1/2" lift

 

I let some air out of the bags today and ran the truck down my neighborhood road at about 20 mph with the windows down where I have head a very mild squeak before. They were quiet - no squeaking. I’ll chase the squeak but it’s prolly not the springs and it’s certainly not enough to bother me (even though I hate squeaks and rattles).

 

Got it. Glad to hear.

I live near Boise and I am going to have them do their add-a-leaf package to the rear with the Wescott pre-load collar in the front. I have about 550 pounds in the bed steady state and want a 2'' lift.

 

I don’t know why I always forget about Boise Spring Works. I think their spring package would have worked better for my setup but I was sold on having some Icon gear on my truck. Needed the sticker. Or something like that.. PM me when you get it installed; I’m interested to hear how it goes.

 

I believe you did it right otherwise the U bolts woulda never fit but something isn't adding up here.... Jus sayin

 

Im having the same issue. I installed the expansion pack per instructions and im getting alot of rear end lift. I emailed icon a few times to date with no response. Did anyone figure out a solution?

 

Had the same issue with the expansion pack, too much rear lift and it honestly didn't ride well, was kinda harsh.
I ended up only using the two bottom leafs from the expansion pack. Left the two top leafs from the oem leaf pack instead and the oem overload leaf in.
Settled the height to a much better position imo and rode a lot better.

 

Throw a couple hundred pounds in the bed and drive around for a few weeks. My HD leaf pack in my other truck settled an inch or two after a few weeks of being constantly loaded with 1000 lbs or so.

 

Just found this thread. I too got more than 1.5" with this kit and it is a harsher ride offroad, although I attributed that to the rough country (i know i know) shocks I installed. What are you guys running for rear shocks in conjunction with the icon kit?

 

Have you put any significant weight in the bed yet? Folks don't seem to believe me that the springs will break in and settle, which happens sooner with more weight in the bed. That shiny bicycle and pup aren't enough weight

As for shocks... What's your budget? I've had a few different setups. What "rides good" is subjective. Since most drivers spend 99% of their time on pavement, choosing a shock that works well off roads is about compromises - as are most decisions. Bilstein 5100's and 5160's are great for corners and moderate speed off road, but can translate a little more road feel to the driver and feel a bit stiffer on bumps. Eibach Pro Truck Shocks or 2.0 RR's ride much softer but are more wallowy in turns and feel less controlled (to me); some much prefer this. Dobinsons are much more money but handle most things ok, with the exception of corrugations or chatter, which feel like they basically lock up and shake the whole truck. Icon's behave a lot like 5100's, but seem to have a slightly stiffer ride on road, with more give Offroad. Fox 2.0's are floaty just about everywhere, IMO, which isn't always desirable to me but can be nice if tuned well.

I currently run DirtKing 2.5's on one truck and Falcon towing shocks on the other. The Falcons are mid-priced, but an improvement over the options listed above. The are semi-adjustable, meaning the rears have three settings that are designed for towing and hauling when dialed up, and regular driving when turned down - including off road. The valving scheme is a little different than most and you can't just buy rear shocks.

The Dirt Kings are significantly more money but are beefy, adjustable, and smooth. Compared to the Dobinson MRA adjustables, it's not contest and the DK's win hands down.

Lot's of other options beyond that, but I'd avoid any parts store shocks.

 

I have not. I've been meaning to buy a pallet of bricks or something (and return it later) but haven't gotten around to it.

I'm not REALLY looking to spend a bunch on shocks, which is why I gave the RC's a shot. Wish I hadn't. They've already sent me two rear replacements for free because they blew. On previous Taco's I've owned I've always ran bilsteins (5100's or 5125's) and was happy with them. I was looking to buy bilsteins for the tundra but unless I'm missing it, I only see two versions: one for 0-1" of lift, and another 4+". I think I need a shock to cover 1-3".

I'd prefer a shock that handles chatter/washboard roads well, as I drive them quite often. Want to cut down on my bike bouncing on the tailgate. Currently, my truck likes to twerk...

 

Also, in regards to squeaking.. After some amateur sleuthing I was able to determine the source of my squeak - and it wasn't the leaf springs.

I have a bed slide installed in the truck that uses a form of rivnut to mount the slide frame to the bed floor. To install them without special tools, they come with a spacer, some washers, and a bolt; you hold the spacer with a wrench, then turn the nut to compress the rivet. Per bed slides destructions, they warn not to wrench down on them too tight, so I didn't. Apparently a couple of the bolts worked themselves a little loose, causing an intermittent squeak in the general vicinity of the springs. So I used the spacer and washers to snug up each rivnut again, then re-torqued the bolts and the squeak disappeared.

 

Totally understandable. The 0-1" lift version will work just fine. I've gone down that road before and asked just about every shock MFG about it, noting my "custom" leaf pack and travel needs. Most shocks are going to be the limiting factor in articulation as even the stock springs will have more travel than most aftermarket shocks designed for 0-1.5" of lift. If you do some in-depth research on Bilstein's website, you can compare compressed vs extended lengths of their different shock offerings. You will see that both the 5100's and 5160's offer more shock travel than the 4600 (what the stock TRD shock is based on). But how often are you at those limits?

For the money, 5100's or Eibach Pro Truck shocks are hard to beat.

 

Good to know!

"But how often are you at those limits?" Occasionally. I did take note that my tundra doesn't "stuff" like my tacomas did. I assumed it's a limiting factor of the RC's? I removed my sway bar too.