Fox Shocks and Icon....?

[BellevilleRam]

Thanks so much for all the great information guys! Happy new year to you all!

 

[BellevilleRam]

Required i don't know, but i'd think you want a longer body CO's for performance and durability so you don't have to have a 6" spacer on the top of the coilover to give you 6" lift.

I have no idea about full IFS lifts kits as i've never ran one, but if you look in the installs, most are using aftermarket LCA crossmembers that will drop your LCA mounts and diff. Your struts or coilovers will mount to the LCA's, whathever difference there is between the upper strut mount and the LCA's has to be made with either a longer body shock or a spacer on top of that strut so you can connect the lower portion of the strut to the LCA. Fabtech and BDS have full kits with longer CO's, I know Procomp also have their own 2.75 Coilovers so it'll be a matter of calling them to see if they have the longer versions to fit their 6" lift kit, Fox sells a 4-6" version (this could be the same BDS uses, it's advertised in the Fox web site as part# 883-02-073), and that one is 4" longer when extended compared to the 0-3" version they have, 4" shorter too as the entire assembly is shifting up.

Contact Fabtech and BDS and get all the details you can on those 6" Coilovers, or contact Fox and see if they can tell you whether or not you can use that Procomp 6" lift kit with their CO's, or contact Procomp and see if they tell you if the Fox CO's will fit their kit, otherwise you'll have some measurements to make using the spacers on top of your factory shocks, (fender edge to center of your wheel hubs) with the truck at rest/ then with the hub drooping in the air and give this information to any the CO manufacturers so they can make you a custom one, price wise they should be pretty much the same as the 0-3" versions.

Do you think that the Fox 2.5’s would give a similar performance to the Kings? I want to smooth out pot holes and speed bumps in town etc but still be able to take on some higher speeds on rough back roads.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Do you think that the Fox 2.5’s would give a similar performance to the Kings? I want to smooth out pot holes and speed bumps in town etc but still be able to take on some higher speeds on rough back roads.

Yes, I think all the race shocks companies really make geat products, Ford uses Fox in the Raptors for instance.
If you want to dial how softer or firmer they feel, get something with compression adjusters, more money, but well worth it if you want to be able to adjust that feeling.

 

[BellevilleRam]

Yes, I think all the race shocks companies really make geat products, Ford uses Fox in the Raptors for instance.
If you want to dial how softer or firmer they feel, get something with compression adjusters, more money, but well worth it if you want to be able to adjust that feeling.

I read up a lot on the Icon’s also and from what I read their compression adjusters can go softer than the Fox’s which is probably more what I’m after. I’ve noticed that running my tires softer helps take the edge off the pot holes too. Having 17” wheels and 35” tires is nice for that!

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

I read up a lot on the Icon’s also and from what I read their compression adjusters can go softer than the Fox’s which is probably more what I’m after. I’ve noticed that running my tires softer helps take the edge off the pot holes too. Having 17” wheels and 35” tires is nice for that!

The icons makes great products. You are correct, Icon adj resevoir has a lot more adjustment for compression.

 

[novelmike]

I read up a lot on the Icon’s also and from what I read their compression adjusters can go softer than the Fox’s which is probably more what I’m after. I’ve noticed that running my tires softer helps take the edge off the pot holes too. Having 17” wheels and 35” tires is nice for that!

But their compression adjusters are for the rear shocks, not the front. Right? If you wanted them for the front they would have to be custom made with reservoirs, right? $$$$$

 

[BellevilleRam]

Thanks again for the comments guys! I was out for a drive today with my wife and the Bilsteins just aren’t good at all for rough back roads! Nearly lost control a couple of times from the bouncing about and that is with my tires softer! The digressive valving isn’t appropriate for my requirements unfortunately. I think the easiest route would be to order the Fox shocks that are already designed and set up for the BDS 6” lift kit. I’d love Kings but I’m not sure that they have them for a 6” lift or what rear coils I would need. I suppose I’d actually want the front lifted 6” and the rear at 3” to level it.

 

[novelmike]

Thanks again for the comments guys! I was out for a drive today with my wife and the Bilsteins just aren’t good at all for rough back roads! Nearly lost control a couple of times from the bouncing about and that is with my tires softer! The digressive valving isn’t appropriate for my requirements unfortunately. I think the easiest route would be to order the Fox shocks that are already designed and set up for the BDS 6” lift kit. I’d love Kings but I’m not sure that they have them for a 6” lift or what rear coils I would need. I suppose I’d actually want the front lifted 6” and the rear at 3” to level it.

I’ve never had the out of control feeling with my Fox 2.0
I keep telling people the lower end shocks ($100 range) are not even close in performance off road and just in general high speed on and off road driving to the higher end shocks.
Fox, Icon, King, they’ll all over better on and off road performance than Bilstein, Rancho, Pro-comp

 

[BellevilleRam]

Perhaps I could run the BDS 6” lift kit Fox shocks but with softer rate springs to sit my truck deeper into the travel and give a more plush ride? I’d like more droop for sure than my current set up.That might make up for the stiffer compression I’ve read that they have? Although I’ve been running Bilstein 5100’s with 2.8 at the front and a 1” rear spacer and digressive valving so the Fox’s might feel more plush anyway in comparison? I don’t currently tow so not worried about payload or towing performance at the present time.

 

[ram1500rsm]

I read up a lot on the Icon’s also and from what I read their compression adjusters can go softer than the Fox’s which is probably more what I’m after. I’ve noticed that running my tires softer helps take the edge off the pot holes too. Having 17” wheels and 35” tires is nice for that!

Where are you reading that ? compression adjusters are just a way to fine tune oil flow to your reservoir or IFP giving you the option to change your compression damping options away from your factory preset valving. Could be 10-15% softer/stiffer, different manufacturers have different sets of valving dialed in their shocks offerings, different set of spring rates, etc, and they will all feel different riding on the same road. Icon have 10 different settings to valve their shocks with their CDC from softer to stiffer, #4 offers pretty much the same valving in their shocks without compression adjusters. Softer is not defined as a value that you use to compare with other shock manufacturers though because valving/spring combination is unique for the application and vendor, you can only go softer or stiffer depending on whatever valving stack you have preset from the manufacturer.

Fox actually gives you more settings than Icon with their DSC as you can adjust the high speed compression (12 settings) and low speed compression (10 settings), talking about more adjustement ? lol
You can see more of this here

King gives you a CDC like Icon but with 16 settings, Radflo gives you 23 settings, so Fox give you more adjustability if you go by number of clicks in the adjuster

Number of clicks don't mean much really when comparing all the options. It only matters in the context of your starting base valving and spring stiffness and if you want to go softer/stiffer on demand from there. Adjusters will be ideal if you want to fine tune that, i've had adjusters before with Radflo and Icon, set them once and never moved them again from there, same thing with the Rancho shocks i had.

I do miss the option and may add it later on but you can always have them revalved for the type of offroading you'll be doing if you didn't like the base and didn't have adjusters initially, then add and use the adjusters to fine tune that valving, Kings did a good job for the average Joe like me but i haven't tested them in the rough stuff yet, small bumps and washboard like the kind of things found in a fire road won't be a problem for the King OEM valving and you'll have no problems giving the truck speed, and i mean 60-70mph plus, i think they'll lack when going for the type of terrain you find in the desert with big whoops like this, though they can re-valved for this type of abuse, not exactly what a mid travel setup will give you though..


Of course my truck is not setup for this type of stuff so i'll have to move slower in terrain like this, but she's still fast enough that i gurantee you non 2.5 Coilovers will be abe to follow you at the same speed anywhere but the fwy, you could bet the house on that...., offroad race shocks are expensive because they're built for offroad performance and abuse, and all manufacturers will deliver here, i'm sure there will be differences for the seasoned racer, that's something you and me won't notice unless we were making a living out of this, pick your poison and run with it, you'll have fun for sure no matter what vendor you choose.

 

[BellevilleRam]

Thanks as always for the in depth response! To clarify, what I had read was that if you bought the Fox and Icon 2.5 shocks for my truck with the compression adjusters, the Icon’s will have less compression than the Fox’s when the adjusters are backed off fully. I do realize that the valving/shim stacks etc are what is responsible for the main shock tuning and that the adjusters are used to fine tune. The Icons must be valved softer to begin with. Now that I think of it, I believe that what I had read was that compared to the oem shocks, the Icon’s can be dialed softer than oem whereas the Fox’s least compression setting would still be stiffer feeling than the oem shocks. Of course I took that information with a grain of salt.

 

[BellevilleRam]

Regarding my soon to be installed lift kit, is there a downside to having strut/shock spacers on oem length shocks vs having longer shocks assuming that both shocks give the same amount of suspension travel? I’m also assuming that the spacers aren’t having anything to do with spring preload like my existing Bilstein 2.8 level. Would adding an aftermarket UCA negate any potential downsides to spacers? The specific kit is the Pro Comp 6” suspension lift minus the shocks and struts. I’ll attempt to add a screenshot of the kit. Ideally, I’d love Kings front and rear with high and low speed compression adjusters.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Regarding my soon to be installed lift kit, is there a downside to having strut/shock spacers on oem length shocks vs having longer shocks assuming that both shocks give the same amount of suspension travel? I’m also assuming that the spacers aren’t having anything to do with spring preload like my existing Bilstein 2.8 level. The specific kit is the Pro Comp 6” suspension lift minus the shocks and struts. I’ll attempt to add a screenshot of the kit. Ideally, I’d love Kings front and rear with high and low speed compression adjusters.

View attachment 150823

Define what you want, looks, performance or both.
Contact Procomp and see what they can do for you since you'll be running their kit.

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

Dont forget Icon does not make coilovers with adj compression...you have to ask them to do it, and pay more. If your going to just be street driving, you do not need the resevoirs.
The standard icon non resi coilovers have a nice soft ride. It all depends on what kind of driving you want to do.

 

[wisey113]

Regarding my soon to be installed lift kit, is there a downside to having strut/shock spacers on oem length shocks vs having longer shocks assuming that both shocks give the same amount of suspension travel? I’m also assuming that the spacers aren’t having anything to do with spring preload like my existing Bilstein 2.8 level. Would adding an aftermarket UCA negate any potential downsides to spacers? The specific kit is the Pro Comp 6” suspension lift minus the shocks and struts. I’ll attempt to add a screenshot of the kit. Ideally, I’d love Kings front and rear with high and low speed compression adjusters.

View attachment 150823

I'm running the 4" version of this kit (from ProComp) and just ordered a King 2.5 front/rear setup about a month ago. I'm looking into replacing the UCA's and am leaning towards the Icon Delta Joint UCA's. I did hear that some aftermarket UCA's can bind with aftermarket lift kit knuckles, but I'm trying to verify that with Icon as I type this. I will update this when I hear from them.

 

[BellevilleRam]

I'm running the 4" version of this kit (from ProComp) and just ordered a King 2.5 front/rear setup about a month ago. I'm looking into replacing the UCA's and am leaning towards the Icon Delta Joint UCA's. I did hear that some aftermarket UCA's can bind with aftermarket lift kit knuckles, but I'm trying to verify that with Icon as I type this. I will update this when I hear from them.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. What is it that is actually giving the lift on the Pro Comp kits? Is it the knuckles, some strut spacers, longer shocks or a combination? I am wanting to avoid preloading the shock springs like I’m currently having to do with my Bilstein 5100’s and I certainly don’t want to lessen my available suspension travel. This is my first truck and there has been so much to learn! I am aiming to make pot holes and speed bumps disappear and make rough back roads drivable at higher speeds than my current set up. I am also considering going with Kings after reading about them from others here.

 

[JB1]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. What is it that is actually giving the lift on the Pro Comp kits? Is it the knuckles, some strut spacers, longer shocks or a combination? I am wanting to avoid preloading the shock springs like I’m currently having to do with my Bilstein 5100’s and I certainly don’t want to lessen my available suspension travel. This is my first truck and there has been so much to learn! I am aiming to make pot holes and speed bumps disappear and make rough back roads drivable at higher speeds than my current set up. I am also considering going with Kings after reading about them from others here.

Procomp offers a nice coilover for your kit, the 6" kit P/N is K2084BMX and includes MX2.75 Coilovers

https://www.procompusa.com/aux_incl/pdf.ashx?pdf=56750B_K2084B_INST.pdf&line=EXP

Here's a video showing the kit

 

[hodge-xj]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. What is it that is actually giving the lift on the Pro Comp kits? Is it the knuckles, some strut spacers, longer shocks or a combination? I am wanting to avoid preloading the shock springs like I’m currently having to do with my Bilstein 5100’s and I certainly don’t want to lessen my available suspension travel. This is my first truck and there has been so much to learn! I am aiming to make pot holes and speed bumps disappear and make rough back roads drivable at higher speeds than my current set up. I am also considering going with Kings after reading about them from others here.

So basically it's a combination of things. The struts are longer for the lift kit and paired with a spacer on top of it to make up for some of the extra length as well, this helps keep costs down compared to a full length item. It seems most 6" kits use a 4-5" strut spacer and have you preload a little into the strut to make up the difference. Unless you opt for full length coilovers, but that pushes the cost of these kits way up, which than lowers sales so they do it as cheap as possible.

The drop crossmember lowers the entire lower suspension mounting points down, as well as the front differential. They then utilize longer knuckles to span the new longer distance to the upper control arms which are left in the oem upper mounts. At 6" of lift you're gonna probably have to run a leveled height shock for the front in conjunction with the lifts spacer to achieve level. There is a thread floating around here where the guys were playing with the zone lift combinations to yield the best ride between the 4 and 6" kits. It seems both require the same parts, the only major differences were rear coils were longer and front struts were adjustable instead of oem with spacers.

That's kind of the abbreviated version, there's a lot to drop bracket lifts.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[BellevilleRam]

That was really helpful, thanks!

 

[wisey113]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. What is it that is actually giving the lift on the Pro Comp kits? Is it the knuckles, some strut spacers, longer shocks or a combination? I am wanting to avoid preloading the shock springs like I’m currently having to do with my Bilstein 5100’s and I certainly don’t want to lessen my available suspension travel. This is my first truck and there has been so much to learn! I am aiming to make pot holes and speed bumps disappear and make rough back roads drivable at higher speeds than my current set up. I am also considering going with Kings after reading about them from others here.

Much like Hodge said, it's complex, but the struts are elongated with a spacer in the front, and a coil spacer in the rear. The procomp 4" uses a 4" front spacer and 2" rear spacer to achieve "4" inches of lift. I currently run it with the OEM shocks in the front and the ones that came with the kit in the rear, and I don't like the way it rides (personal opinion). When I decided to go the King route, I did away with the front spacer entirely, and opted for a shock that was the correct length for my lift kit. Like Hodge also mentioned, Pro Comp (as well as most other companies offering a 6" lift) offer a coilover version of the 6" lift which uses the coilover instead of the spacer to achieve the lift in the front. I don't believe the Procomp is a reservoir shock, however it looks to be a 2.75" diameter shock, which is .25 more than the King OEM series. (You can always get a 3.0 King shock, but unless you're a hardcore prerunner, there is almost no benefit to this, and the cost is substantially more and then there is the issue of fitment etc. etc.)

If you have the itch to do kings, and cost is a non factor, I'd say go for it!