Minneapolis, MN area, 2.5" shocks

[spdfrek]

Hello! Been lurking around and reading, and I'm planning to order up some 2.5" coilers and matching rears this year for my '17 1500. Was hoping maybe there was some members around the area with icon, fox, king, or even radflo stuff that would be willing to take me for a quick spin so I could get a better idea of the differences in ride quality between them. Also, would be nice to see how they are holding up to the MN salt and brine!

I'm leaning heavy towards just doing a fox 2.5 from accutune, but the icon would save a big chunk. Majority of my driving is pavement, maybe 5% off-road at this point. There's also the regular bomb down a pot holed and washboarded gravel road. I'm after a nice plush highway ride that soaks up everything, with a bit of extra comfort on those rough gravel roads thrown in for good measure.

RC forged alloy UCA's went on the truck not to long ago. Not planning to lift the rear or swap springs unless I need to soften it up a bit to get where I want to be. Front end, 1.5-2" is about all I'm looking for lift. 17x8.5 Method rims with 0 offset, 285/75r17 tire.

 

[healthyrx]

If you’re after a plush highway ride you’ll probably want to drop the $$$ on accutune fox or king 2.5s with their custom valving. I have the icons on my truck and while they’re absolutely great shocks they are firmer on the highway than stock. They do absorb bumps wonderfully, but I don’t think I would call them plush.

 

[Cableman]

I did the fox 2.0 coilovers, couldn't be happier. Im not off road at all. Save your self some money getting 2", im sure they went up but i paid $805 for the set.

 

[crazykid1994]

I can attest to the icons being firmer. Got a test ride in healthyrx truck and as it is a better feel you can tell it’s firmer. It feels a lot more controlled on road but you can feel how it hits the bumps. That’s great for off-roading though. I opted for the fox 2.0 rear currently. Had bilstein 5100 rear. The fox is softer than the bilstein. I’ve heard that eibach gives a more plush ride but those are only 2” body shocks. Carli, thuren, and accutune will do custom valved to your needs for fox or king shocks. Or talk with @Nick@GotExhaust. He’s a forum vendor and gets great deals on suspension components. I’ll be swapping my whole setup eventually to fox 2.5. Since you are in a salt area you will most likely want aluminum body shocks to prevent corrosion and definitely spray with some inhibitor spray to help everything from seizing up.

 

[spdfrek]

I did the fox 2.0 coilovers, couldn't be happier. Im not off road at all. Save your self some money getting 2", im sure they went up but i paid $805 for the set.

I actually have a set of off the shelf fox 2.0 coilovers I tried. Pulled them back off to resell. They are better then stock on the bigger stuff by far, but the small bump feel is almost the same as stock on my truck. They've also gone up a few bucks in price! I am however considering trying the carli commuter, as they have the 2.0's custom valved to match the kit, and it's suppose to be a bit softer feel they tell me.

I can attest to the icons being firmer. Got a test ride in healthyrx truck and as it is a better feel you can tell it’s firmer. It feels a lot more controlled on road but you can feel how it hits the bumps. That’s great for off-roading though. I opted for the fox 2.0 rear currently. Had bilstein 5100 rear. The fox is softer than the bilstein. I’ve heard that eibach gives a more plush ride but those are only 2” body shocks. Carli, thuren, and accutune will do custom valved to your needs for fox or king shocks. Or talk with @Nick@GotExhaust. He’s a forum vendor and gets great deals on suspension components. I’ll be swapping my whole setup eventually to fox 2.5. Since you are in a salt area you will most likely want aluminum body shocks to prevent corrosion and definitely spray with some inhibitor spray to help everything from seizing up.

Two votes against icon. I really wish accutune sold these with custom valving! So much cheaper then the other 2.5 options and I don't need the heat capacity of a remote res. But they just don't sound like they are going to feel they way I want them to out of the box.

Carli has custom valving, but only to match their kits. No option to tweak the valving for added weight, or different ride quality desire from them. Just spoke to them this morning for a bit. Also, king only, if i go 2.5". They are custom valved, with custom carli pistons and stainless shafts though. As well as a cold weather rated king shock oil. -55f I think he said.

Thuren, king only again, but more flexible tuning options. Not sure which fluid they are using, but they also run the stainless shafts. If valving is not to my liking I was told $100 a shock for revalve, plus shipping.

Accutune, customized to your liking, free revalve on the first go around. Fox or king. Not a ram specialist though, for what its worth. They are currently at the top of my list though.

For alloy body, your pretty limited. Fox hasn't released a performance elite for the 4th gen. The 5th gen from what I've found would mount up, but its 1" longer overall, with reduced travel. Fox 2.0 is of course an option. And there's also elka, but elka has limited tuning options in house from what i understand of them. As well as a short track record for full size vehicles. Also one of the most expensive options for just shocks.

Accutune suggested anti corrosion and spring bags front, modified ***** on the rear.

Last but not least, I've messaged back and forth with Nick a bit. He's the only reason I was hoping the Icons would work out, solid prices! Didn't sound like he dealt with custom valving on anything though, unless I misunderstood.

 

[crazykid1994]

I actually have a set of off the shelf fox 2.0 coilovers I tried. Pulled them back off to resell. They are better then stock on the bigger stuff by far, but the small bump feel is almost the same as stock on my truck. They've also gone up a few bucks in price! I am however considering trying the carli commuter, as they have the 2.0's custom valved to match the kit, and it's suppose to be a bit softer feel they tell me.

Two votes against icon. I really wish accutune sold these with custom valving! So much cheaper then the other 2.5 options and I don't need the heat capacity of a remote res. But they just don't sound like they are going to feel they way I want them to out of the box.

Carli has custom valving, but only to match their kits. No option to tweak the valving for added weight, or different ride quality desire from them. Just spoke to them this morning for a bit. Also, king only, if i go 2.5". They are custom valved, with custom carli pistons and stainless shafts though. As well as a cold weather rated king shock oil. -55f I think he said.

Thuren, king only again, but more flexible tuning options. Not sure which fluid they are using, but they also run the stainless shafts. If valving is not to my liking I was told $100 a shock for revalve, plus shipping.

Accutune, customized to your liking, free revalve on the first go around. Fox or king. Not a ram specialist though, for what its worth. They are currently at the top of my list though.

For alloy body, your pretty limited. Fox hasn't released a performance elite for the 4th gen. The 5th gen from what I've found would mount up, but its 1" longer overall, with reduced travel. Fox 2.0 is of course an option. And there's also elka, but elka has limited tuning options in house from what i understand of them. As well as a short track record for full size vehicles. Also one of the most expensive options for just shocks.

Accutune suggested anti corrosion and spring bags front, modified ***** on the rear.

Last but not least, I've messaged back and forth with Nick a bit. He's the only reason I was hoping the Icons would work out, solid prices! Didn't sound like he dealt with custom valving on anything though, unless I misunderstood.

Where are you at and how many miles on the front 2.0? I may be interested but that’s a hard maybe because money is really tight currently. And no. Icon does not do custom valving. I think he deals with thuren? I don’t remember. You’d have to ask him. They’re king shocks as well too though. Everyone seems to be doing king more. Not sure if that’s a parts availability though or a preference.

 

[spdfrek]

Where are you at and how many miles on the front 2.0? I may be interested but that’s a hard maybe because money is really tight currently. And no. Icon does not do custom valving. I think he deals with thuren? I don’t remember. You’d have to ask him. They’re king shocks as well too though. Everyone seems to be doing king more. Not sure if that’s a parts availability though or a preference.

Bloomington, MN. ~600 miles on the 2.0’s.

Based off conversations with thuren and carli, they both use kings because they can order them pre-valved to their specs. Accutune Valves everything in house, and so they have no problem doing either.

 

[crazykid1994]

Bloomington, MN. ~600 miles on the 2.0’s.

Based off conversations with thuren and carli, they both use kings because they can order them pre-valved to their specs. Accutune Valves everything in house, and so they have no problem doing either.

Never mind. I should have realized MN. By your thread title. I’m in south Florida so shipping would be horrendous.

 

[ram1500rsm]

I'm biased towards King 2.5. I started out with the King oe specs for the 4th gen RAM 1500 then later got them rebuilt by Accutune. They have done my rears twice now as I went with a custom length based on the Dirt King long travel rear the 2nd time. I have front and rear fully revalved and tuned by Accutune to match my coils springs truck weight and driving style. King 2.5 were super plush in OE trim and if you have a stock/ligthly modded truck still on factory bumpers and the like King OE will do a great job for you street, highway or dirt road. It’s a noticeable difference over standard shocks or 2.0 shocks any day of the week. If you can afford the 2.5 shocks don’t overthink too much. They will be day and night better even in OE trim, revalve and tuning will make them better depending on what you're looking to get out of them. I needed more bottoming out support as my truck is heavier than a factory one so i needed a different low speed compression/high speed rebound settings. If you think you'll need adjustablity then get the version with the adjusters, more money yes but pay once cry once.

Icons will always be inherently firmer than anything else in the segment. They have the heavier coil springs in this application in oe trim combined with more diggresive valving so they'll firmer in nature. Icons are just cheaper in this application simply because they don’t give you the reservoir in the front and likewise you can't get adjusters for the front. Seems to be one of the very very few applications that Icon does without a reservoir, i have no idea why they don't offer it for the 4th gen truck.
They have no issues adding it to the 5th gen Trucks in Stage 3 and up.


King or Fox or Radflo have more linear valving so it's a more subtle feeling on the street. Keep in mind King gives you 500lbs spring, Fox are 550, Radflo are 600 and Icon give you 650lbs springs. Kings will feel a lot more plush under any condition, but you'll need to change springs if you'll be running one of those 300lbs crazy rhino killer bumpers with a a winch. You can ask to get your springs changed to match whatever weight you have now or later down the road.

Have fun.

 

[spdfrek]

King or Fox or Radflo have more linear valving so it's a more subtle feeling on the street. Keep in mind King gives you 500lbs spring, Fox are 550, Radflo are 600 and Icon give you 650lbs springs. Kings will feel a lot more plush under any condition, but you'll need to change springs if you'll be running one of those 300lbs crazy rhino killer bumpers with a a winch. You can ask to get your springs changed to match whatever weight you have now or later down the road.

Have fun.

Aside from Starting/already having kings, any particular reason for the bias vs fox? Near stock truck as far as anything heavy. 285/75r17 went on today. Just need to get the shocks chosen and ordered. Is there any reason not to go accutune custom vs an off the shelf shock given the price would be near the same? Only downside is king lead time right now. Fox dsc could be one the way by the middle of next week.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Aside from Starting/already having kings, any particular reason for the bias vs fox? Near stock truck as far as anything heavy. 285/75r17 went on today. Just need to get the shocks chosen and ordered. Is there any reason not to go accutune custom vs an off the shelf shock given the price would be near the same? Only downside is king lead time right now. Fox dsc could be one the way by the middle of next week.

You can't go wrong with King or Fox or any of the big names. In my case I live around 30 min or so so from King, and they have always seemed to pick up the phone fairly quick and answer every silly question i've had and to me that's gold. Same with Radflo, they're literally 10 min away from each other. You can show up unscheduled at Radflo and they'll be more than happy to engage you, show their facilties etc. Icon is about 45-50 min from me, Fox is almost 2 hours away so i haven't have the pleasure to tour their facilities.

I had the chance to pick up my 2nd rear shocks set straight from King
2020-11-16_05-57-10 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Asides from that i love their silver/blue logo. I know Fox redesigned theirs and finally changed that old silver/black boring one. I have Fox 2.0's performance series shocks and steering stabilizer in my Jeep JKU now for a couple of months with the new logos and they look great and i like them a lot better than the old ones, still prefer the classic King one though

I'll also say the vast portion of the offroad scene at least here in Socal lean more towards King. I don't know exactly why. I've had a little of all the shock manufacturers out there with King, Icon, Radflo, SAW, all in 2.5's, Fox with their 2.0 line, and in my humble opinion King is still King even though Fox may have some cool new gadgtes out there especially for the OE lines with their electronic live valving. I frequent some of the sanctioned offroad races every year watching the Ultra 4 rigs at KOH and King almost always seem to win the most classes (2022 was King, 2021 was also King), you'll see a lot more King than anything else. It maybe a price thing as well who knows. Fox is more expensive than King. Accutune favors Fox better than King, but in either case we know neither is cheap stuff.

Having said that, Yes i'd still recommend to start with Accutune or any other shock tuner shop that can valve and tune their shocks to match your application instead of the OE versions regardless if you go with King or Fox. It'll save you money in the long run At least with King, i had to have my King oe rear pistons changed the first time to accomodate Accutune double flute valve stacks, better oil, seals etc etc plus if you buy the version with adjusters regardless of manufacturer, they'll valve them better than OE. In that regards the Fox 2.5 adjusters will give you more granular control cause you can adjust your low speed/hi speed compresson independently from each other where as with King you get one knob to kind of give you that control. simpler to use but you'll gain more control of your low/high compresion settings with Fox. To find if you hi speed setup correctly you'll have to run her hard and find if you're bottoming out or not. if it's too fast then the landing might be hard, or you won't use full uptravel, too slow and you'll feel the shock hitting the bumpstop hard. King does both with one knob so when you change your low speed comp you also affect the mid one, Accutune can dial the valving so the adjuster does more for you. This is one of the reasons Accutune favors Fox better than King, Fox is a dual adjuster vs King mid rnage one, other reasons are the Fox shaft can wishtand pitting much better than the King ones, i protect my shafts at all times so i don't have any issues there.

If you can get Fox quicker go for Fox. You're buying the good stuff either way.

Have fun.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Had forgotten for harsh winter like conditions you can protect your invesment from salt and other elements with something like this

ProSeries Coil Savers – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

 

[spdfrek]

Had forgotten for harsh winter like conditions you can protect your invesment from salt and other elements with something like this

ProSeries Coil Savers – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

Planning to run some sort of covers/protection along with surface treatments, for longevity. I’m curious, just got off the phone with king, and they do in house valving as well. Any particular reason you went accutune instead of just doing some king tuning sessions? Just a more customized tune or?