Icon Vehicle Dynamics Suspension?

yv1650c · January 20, 2010

Searching for suspension lift, I found in the forum of Toyota FjCruiser, that the best kit for them is the one made by Icon vehicle dynamics, (web page: http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com) and theres a kit for 2.5" for 1425$, wich includes coilover, but i don't see how does it releases the truck.

I always liked the FJ for offroading, and if I can have one, i always think in OldManEmu, (theres no available for our trucks but it's the best for offroading).. And reading a lot on the FJ forum, i found they liked too much the one htat is made by Icon Vdynamics...

What do you think about this kit? have you ever hear about it?

excuse my bad English!

Delmarva · January 20, 2010

Icon Vehicle Dynamics (IVD) used to be Donahoe Racing, before William Donahoe was arrested and convicted for child porno...

Anyhoo... IVD produces amazing products -- they are, however, a smidge overpriced in their class. A comparable suspension from Camburg Engineering will cost you a few hundred less (extended travel). If you decide to drop the coin on the IVD, spend a few more bucks and go for Kings.

OME suspension is amazing for the price point... I was disappointed to find out they don't do anything for GM products.

And if you go with such a nice C/O setup, might as well upgrade the upper control arms to Total Chaos Arms.

yv1650c · January 20, 2010

Is it the best way i found to lift my truck to add 33in tires, because it give me the offroad height I need. I didn't like from rancho all those steel bridges down the chassis that can make in the mud to get stuck the truck.

Is it a good product? And of course, installing the c/o i think the best way is going with the total chaos arms...

What to do with the rear? install blocks in the leaft sprgins?

09Jimmy · January 20, 2010

I've had the ICON Racing adjustable coilovers and Total Chaos Fabrication UCAs on my 09 RCSB for a year now and they are awesome. I went with the optional extended length coilovers on the front and the longer rear shocks they offer. The extended length coilovers could be adjusted to give 5 or 6" of lift if you want but you have to drop your front diff to compensate. I had a machine shop make me some custom 1 1/2" front diff spacers and run 34 1/2" tires in the summer with the coilovers set at 4" of lift. In the winter I run BFG ATs 285/55R20s on the factory 20s with the coilovers set at 3" of lift.

On the rear I removed the stock blocks and replaced them with Readylift 3" blocks.

The quality of the ICONs and Total Chaos parts are second to none. Machined billet with Heim joints and no rubber bushings, German silicon steel coils. The UCAs have stainless 1" uniballs that replace the balljoints and also have greaseable urethane bushings.

The price is high but worth every penny to me. As mentioned above, King Racing now make a similar coilover but it also has remote reservoirs and look incredible. They also offer rear shocks with remote reservoirs. They are close to a grand more but if they were out a year ago, I would have probably bought them.

yv1650c · January 20, 2010

So, if I only want to go 2.5" to 3" is it good option for me? I think it's simpliest thant others and also othrs offer min 4.5" (rancho..) I want to go 2.5" or 3" and I want, factory driving feel... with 33"... I like these kits... I don't know why here nobody has tryed this..

So if I install rear 3" blocks, and front 2.5" will be like the oem configuration wich the front is lower a litte than the rear...?

yv1650c · January 20, 2010

Wow I called Offroad Warehouse, and make a quote for this:

Tota Chaos Arms, Front Coilovers, Rear Shocks, Rear Blocks, rear UBolts for a grand total of: 2,364.55 Shipped to Miami... Wow that's a LOT for all this, but it's the best I found for my truck, as offroad performance...

What do you think guys?

Loopedout · January 21, 2010

Plus, from what I understand, you can't run stock wheels with this setup, so that'll send the price a little higher.

09Jimmy · January 21, 2010

Wow I called Offroad Warehouse, and make a quote for this:
Tota Chaos Arms, Front Coilovers, Rear Shocks, Rear Blocks, rear UBolts for a grand total of: 2,364.55 Shipped to Miami... Wow that's a LOT for all this, but it's the best I found for my truck, as offroad performance...

What do you think guys?

I bought mine direct from ICON's website who set me up with a local dealer.

Front coilovers = $1200

Rear shocks = $200

Total Chaos UCAs = $775

Readylift blocks = $139 (they come with new U-bolts)

Your price sounds about right. Don't forget, you aren't just lifting your truck, you are completely changing the suspension characteristics for the better. You are getting rid of the crappy stock springs and shocks and getting state of the art components. You'll get more droop from the UCAs yet no balljoint failures because it doesn't have balljoints anymore. It soaks up washboard like it isn't even there and off-road it behaves like a desert racer. I've lifted my front wheels a couple feet in the air over berms and it settles down in front just like the Baja trucks do. I've never bottomed out the suspension yet.

In the winter I run my stock GMC 20" chrome wheels with no problems. If you don't want to go higher than 3" you dont have to order the extended travel coilovers but they are the same price so if down the road you want to go higher, you can with a simple adjustment. I'd suggest ordering their spanner adjusting wrench too because I found a hard time to get one locally, the Moroso and hot rod ones are too small.

blackout07 · January 21, 2010

The price of that set up is laughable. The only way you are going to extend travel is with new UCA's or by chopping the droop stops. And is it that important to you? And if you go up to 3" you are going to put the CV's in a bind (if 4x4). Save yourself a load of cash and get a RC leveling kit. Or if you are set on replacing the front coilovers, go with Bilstein adjustables.

09Jimmy · January 21, 2010

The price of that set up is laughable. The only way you are going to extend travel is with new UCA's or by chopping the droop stops. And is it that important to you? And if you go up to 3" you are going to put the CV's in a bind (if 4x4). Save yourself a load of cash and get a RC leveling kit. Or if you are set on replacing the front coilovers, go with Bilstein adjustables.

Reading is fundamental. For that price it comes with Total Chaos Fabrication Upper Control Arms that are tubular chromoly steel with 1 inch diameter stainless and forged uniballs that replace the upper balljoints and are engineered to increase droop. They also have gresable urethane bushings. Stock UCAs are cast iron.

CVs are not in a bind at only 3", I dropped my front diff to go to 4".

Levelling kits are cheap, yes, but are only for looks and some tire clearance. Every inch you raise with a levelling kit you lose an inch of downtravel. Every inch you raise with a levelling kit you put your stock upper balljoints in more of a bind and THEY WILL FAIL. Haven't you read all the postd about upper balljoints going bad on levelled trucks? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the stock upper balljoints, they are not LOAD BEARING. The only reason they fail are due to bind from levelling kits.

Bilstein adjustables ARE NOT COILOVERS. They are merely better shocks. You are still stuck with the crappy front springs and rubber pivot points, on top and bottom. Do you know what CNC carved Billet is? Do you know what Heim joints are? Do you know what a stainless uniball is?

Whats laughable is all the misinformation posted on this site by people who don't have a clue. I HEARD this, I HEARD that. Hey, I can raise my new Chevy for only $39.95. I HEARD cold air intakes don't work but I've never owned one.

Check out the sigs of some posters here. They give technical advice yet their own mods consist of floormats, mudflaps, ipod docks and window tint.

There are some posters here that know their stuff and their posts are MUCH APPRECIATED. However, about 75% is hearsay and readers should beware and do much more research before taking stuff posted here as gospel.

blackout07 · January 22, 2010

Wow. Did my post offend you? Do you get commission off of pushing that product? That kit is overpriced for such a small amount of lift and some increased travel. It may be a high quality kit, but what are the ops intentions? Hence asking if increased travel was that important. I do believe the site recommends either purchasing the UCA's or modifying the droop stops. I suppose I could've tried really hard and read more in depth, but honestly it's not that important to me. How would the stock ball joints fair with the droop stops relocated or removed? And at 3" of lift the CV's will be at steep angles. Hell, even a junk kit like the RC 3" includes diff drops. Clearly you are the expert on all things like CNC Carved billet and Heim Joints, so why don't you share your technical expertise with us "uneducated folk" rather than running your mouth because you disagree with someone's post. I stated my opinion on the price of the kit. Not it's quality. I also offered a simple and inexpensive solution to adding such a small amount of lift. There is nothing wrong with a basic leveling kit. And the ball joint issues on this site are hardly indicitive of of wide spread failure due to leveling kits. Oh, and all those poor pathetic souls that only have "floormats, mudflaps, ipod docks and window tint" all help to make this forum an interesting place to learn and chat about trucks. Maybe since you already know it all, you can take your Uniballs and go home.

Matt_ · January 22, 2010

If you base peoples knowledge on what's "in their sig" then you're painfully mistaken. Lets just say that some of the "sigs" here don't come close to reflecting the knowledge and capability that those members have.... and this goes both ways. You can be a complete idiot with a ton of money and drop your truck off somewhere to have a kickass suspension system installed and a ton of drivetrain mods, does that now make you and expert? Does purchasing an intake all the sudden make you an engine and fluid dynamics expert as well? C'mon dude, chill out.

PS: I'm still waiting for pics of your truck. It sounds interesting... why don't you back up some of your posts and show pics of your setup? And since you do claim to be running 4+ inches with that setup, what did you do to modify your steering components? Serious question... did you make new brackets to drop the steering rack?

BACK on topic:

To the OP, what exactly are you planning on doing with this truck? Are you planning on taking it offroad on a consistent basis or will it be mostly street driven with the occasional off road trip a few times a year? If this is mostly a street driven truck then there are much "better" ways to spend that money (or half of it) to achieve what you want.

Lets put it this way... buying a $2000+ coilover/UCA combination for a daily driven street truck is like buying a 20-ton jack to do maintenance on your truck when a 3-ton jack will achieve the same results.

Delmarva · January 22, 2010

Wow.... I've never seen so many people completely against good suspension...

OP: Also check out Camburg Coilovers (http://www.camburg.com/?page_id=159). I ran them on my Tacoma along with TC UCAs -- they were amazing. Price point is a bit better too.

Matt_ · January 22, 2010

No one said we're against good suspension.. i'm currently installing a Dixon long travel kit on my buddies Ranger. But if the OP just wants 2-3" and isn't going offroad often, do you truly believe that a $2500 coilover/UCA kit is a wise investment? If he's like my buddy, lol then maybe it is!

With that said... I like the 0-2" coilovers like camburg or CST:

For a mostly daily driven street truck he can get one of those setups, increase his ride height 1.5-2" and achieve the other 1.5-3" with a body lift, put the $1000+ he saved into a nice set of wheels & tires. The downside, yes he will now have lost 1.5-2" of his OEM 3" down travel unless he gets new UCAs, for a mostly street driven truck 1.5" of travel is usually enough, especially with a better performing coilover that controls rebound better. But if it is an issue, he can always add the UCA's down the road.

FWIW I do agree to the point that too many people jump straight to the "get a spacer" conclusion. There are benefits to coilovers, its just a matter of if its worth the money for some. (if they were close to the $600-$700 mark, they'd already be on my truck for a 1-1.5" ride height increase)

yv1650c · January 22, 2010

Well, I do not know what to answer you all. First, All I want is 3in of lift, and many of you say that the RC3in is bad option... Thinking in Rancho, I would to keep my stock wheels and ad 33in.. but theres too much height, and too much steel downside of the chassis!. And I see is no Offroad capabilities on it..

And I find all this, that I think is the best for offroad, just as Landcruiser guys lift their Cars, to go offroad and do the job!, but what a high prices no?