Let’s talk suspension, icon vs fox

Well, my buddy helped with the final version of that one but.........

 

A stolen meme from stealing a meme!

 

DAAAAAMN BRO! Who's the shifty one now, eh?!

 

And we've derailed on page 3...

OP, just my 2 cents, but you don't happen to be a bit OCD (I only say this because I have a huge spreadsheet with every possible option and I did the same thing you're doing)? Once you're in the high end territory like Icon and Kings I don't think you can really go wrong. So my vote is kings because the blue coils look really cool!

 

Whoa you fellas been busy in here lol

man this is the truth right here lol, I literally will research stuff too death before I make a decision. Can’t help it. I wanna explore all my options. I wouldn’t mind Kings but it bums me out I have no option for Kings in the rear. The ocd wants things to match. Kings and fox’s in the rear are one of my contenders

@Professional Hand Model
That’s a good idea about some front end attention. When I got the truck I had to do lower control arm bushings, cam bolts, u-joints, and carrier bearing. Trucks currently setting with 136k on the clock

 

Digressive struts really ride nice at higher speeds, springs finally get to do there job of absorbing the impacts and rough stuff

 

I think digressive is great for a daily driver that sees some occasional off road action. I will say when I ran digressive Bilstein up front my truck did have better road manners, I wasn't as able to hurl into a corner and pin the truck on a bump stop like I do with Fox. Thats a fun move, but my wife drives my truck occasionally and it isn't as fun when she does it .

 

I found high speed corners to be better with the digressive struts but it is still dependent on the sway bar and springs. The digressive stay firm during cornering keeping the truck relatively flat but a sway bar upgrade for street driving would make it better. Driving fast over rough loose terrain is what digressive Struts do best, but if your springs are very stiff and short (stock length) then no advantage. Long travel progressive or linear rate springs with digressive struts would make the most sense for off road Unless all you are doing is riding in 4 low.

 

^ yeah. I can't recall what spring length was on my Bilstein, it was a Toytec setup with 600 pound linear coils. It was an odd all setup they made because parts were on such backorder but they worked really well. I ran them for about 2 years and would have kept them but when Fox came out with reservoirs and 16" coils I was too intrigued to resist.

 

The Billybobs 5100 and sway bars transformed my truck into a street racing machine! I could star in Fast and Furious if I wanted to.

 

@Rex Kramer had recco’d this kit to somebody a while back. Not sure of the part #. I grabbed a screen shot for future reference. I remember these being a very good value and sold as a complete package to eliminate OCD triggerings.

 

I am now in the same shoes as the OP, and am trying to choose my new suspension setup, and have just about narrowed it down to Fox, ADS, and King. I'm hoping to collect some more information.

I've heard that Fox coilovers with reservoirs has an issue with hitting the brake line/fitting into the caliper. Those who have seen or had this problem:
Were the calipers toyota oem, or were they the aftermarket LX calipers, Napa, etc?
What size tires/wheels were you running?
Was it a certain situation that caused it (wheel turned full lock and fully compressed/drooped)?
Does anyone know if this has been fixed?

Has anyone tried running ADS? Any reviews? These are really catching my eye and I might end up going this route for the front and Fox in the back.

 

@Darkness can tell you all about the brake line Fox issue.

We have a few members running ADS and a few more I've seen online. I've heard mostly positive feedback but earlier in this thread someone mentioned that one person didn't have great feedback. @Jon@Mule is running ADS and he's put them on 2 tundras so he must like them.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the-tundra-from-down-unda.61113/

 

Bit of good news for me, a buddy of mine pulled the trigger on a icon kit for his taco, so I’ll have an idea of how the icons ride.

i pm’d a guy on here running ads, he pushed his hard and had some customer service issues

 

The brake line gets hit with OEM or aftermarket calipers. It makes no difference because the brake line meets the caliper in the same spot, the majority of aftermarket
calipers are rebuilt OEM. It hits on the S13WE or the 13WL caliper, I have not tried the 13WG which has a slightly different brake line angle. Tire/wheel size doesn't matter, that doesn't affect the issue.

It happens when you are turning. It doesn't need to be while going over a bump but that can make it more likely to happen. It doesn't need to be full lock turned to happen either but that is most common.

I don't think it has been fixed. The only "solve" is not a great one, you can run Tacoma brake lines with banjo fittings but connecting them to Tundra calipers is not proper. You will very likely have brake fluid leaking unless you can machine the surface where the banjo bolt joins the caliper.

 

You think it would be possible to get some kinda flex line with a 90 from that little bracket to the caliper? Or even just a 90 adapter?

 

If I remember correctly, we had one member here state they wished they had just saved their money and gone with Billy Bobs 5100. They switched into one of these high end shocks brands everyone gets excited about and felt like they aren’t worth the money, as the ride isn’t what it should be.

 

Thanks for the great info. That's really helpful. I tried calling and asking a few shops but they had never heard anything or just said they couldn't see Fox keeping that design. I think that takes Fox out of the running for me.

 

There's a chance I could come to that same conclusion. After having the 5100s on my last truck and not being satisfied with the ride, I feel the need to try something else. Also, I might as well add another review for someone to hopefully find useful later on. Or have as a reminder that I wasted money on something stupid.

 

It flexes, it flexes too much and ruptures

Its a hard line so it doesn't allow flexing without losing strength. I looked at using a longer stainless line and clocking the 45 back rather than up but it hits at the point of entry so it wouldn't make a difference.

@Kimosabe the unfortunate "welcome to our world" is that these trucks are neglected in terms of good aftermarket support. That design wouldn't last a month for new Tundras but for the first gen where they maybe sell 5 a year they aren't redesigning anything.

 

I went from stock to 5100’s, to 6112’s, to 2.5 Icon Coilovers on my 1st Gen DC and there is a BIG difference in ride quality between the four of them. Find someone who runs what you are thinking about and do a test drive. And then buy what meets your needs and budget.

 

Which ones have been your favorite? Do you have remote reservoirs on the Icons? Trying to make that decision as well.

 

The Icons provide a superior ride than the others I have had. No reservoirs—99% on road use, so seems like overkill. No regrets.

 

Well, hopefully I can add some useful information in the near future. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on some ADS coilovers for the front. I decided to got with them based on a few reasons:
- good reviews on other sites
- Fox was taken out of the running after their issues
- When comparing to King and Elka, the prices were about the same, but these came with external reservoirs, can be rebuilt, and I've heard great things about their customer service.

 

Awesome! Be sure and let us know your experience.

 

There’s guy on expedition portal forum that has the Fox’s and was able to fix the issue by using Tacoma lower buckets to hold the springs as recommended from Fox and it fix’s the issue with hitting the brake Line but I don’t think Fox has actually changed the design.

 

Sounds like a possible solution, which i would opt for over changing the brake line fitting. But, too late I already placed my order with ADS.

 

Yeah I just found the forum because I’m going to be picking up a tundra myself for overlanding and found the guys build thread on the other forum. Maybe it can be some good info for some else looking

 

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/2004-tundra-adventure-cab-build-adventure-thread.127989/page-63

This is his build thread with a lot of info if anyone is interested

 

@toyotech2016 is on here every so often.