You guys should do a cheaper shock round up. Maybe throw in one of the more expensive setups in to see if you can pick it out of the crowd. Would be curious to see how something like the 5100, emus, dobs etc compare to each other and to one of the more expensive setups.
Kings FTW.. 5years so far, no leaks, no fading, SCARY smooth at 80mph on desert roads and 15ish psi. Icons, in the FJ cruiser world, no other shock company over the past 14yrs have had more complaints of breaking, leaking, and for sale ads after rebuilds than icon. I watch lots of off road racing competitions, King, Fox, Bilstein, Walker Evans seem to be the dominant suspension of choice. But for me, "if you want to win, win with the King"
My kings started leaking after 9 years of some heavy abuse. I think they recommend rebuilding them every 6 years. Absolutely no complaints with my kings
Great little video series with awesome info. I would love to see a round up of shock set ups under $1500, like Bilstein 6112/5160, Fox 2.0's, Icon Stage 1's, etc.
Excellent video gents! I have King 3.0's with remote adj resi's on my chevy 1500 daily driver, light overlander, work truck and they have been great so far. For anyone considering going with the remote adjusters on any of these kits, do yourself a favor and splurge on them as the adjustability is 100% worth it! Make em soft for onroad, make them hard for offroad/hauling/towing... increases the versatility of the system. Cheers!
Please do a video tearing apart the Fox’s to see if they were defective or if that’s actually how they were meant to perform. Kind of mind blowing how bad they were during the test
It's obvious this was not only just their opinion. But also that the Fox's have been tuned for harder driving. They even note towards this by 'wondering' if the Fox's would have handled much higher speeds than the others if they just pushed through a little of the discomfort at the slower speeds.
@@lukekelly2590 Fox has really dropped the ball on valving. My experience with my LT coil overs had mismatched valving. Not no mention valving was way to aggressive to be driven down the freeway.
A few other bits, it would be good to know the spring rate of each (obviously the dual zone Bilsteins would still be a wildcard). Also how much adjusters actually impact the ride. The 2nd side of the test id say would be to throw ~80% of the GVWM in the truck. I know in my setup it feels much better with load in the bed than when empty. All in all still a great test.
I ran that set up for 15K on my 2020 4runner, never had a complaint. Tiny bit stiff on the road but world's better than my Fox 2.5s were out of the box. Mostly slightly higher speed forest roads and desert driving, never had an issue. For the money, probably one of the top two choices.
Excellent series and information! As Ian mentioned, Bilstein tuned the shocks for stock form, with sway bar in tact. They engineer their shocks to be direct bolt on and have best performance out of the box for a stock setup. As with any setup, modifications to the rig required adjustments (tuning, spring swaps, etc) to the shocks accordingly.
I agree, they better be rebuildable for what they cost but to leak after such a short amount of usage is rediculous. I work with a guy thelat has a Taco with Elkas and he had to fight to get a new set cuz they were F'ed in 2 months and he got them upgraded with his fingers crossed. (Northern bc canada)
@@wassawbound2926 So can Ironman 4x4's, but you don't see them charging astronomically outrageous prices "because they can". Kings are not THAT damn good imo.
I'd go with the Bilstein... Wait, I did! Excellent guys! Thx for this series. As I asked before, do it again with the likes of 5100's, Fox 2.0, and so on, what we most run I think 👍👍 Lake Havasu 🌞 Az.
Great series! I know this was done with your own money (really expensive) but it would be great to see another blind test between Dobinsos, locked offroad, radflow, OME BP51, maybe Eibachs or Ironmans foam cell pro
Agreed…..I have a feeling they’d take the cake since we can clearly see valving is the difference between all these I feel? I like the blind test but it all doesn’t mean anything if they aren’t adjusted for the trucks weight and intended use
@@robert9guinn dobinson valving isn’t great, especially their mrr’s. They’re very difficult to tune yourself. Fox and king make it hard to mess up with the adjusters on purpose. Mrr’s are like a badly tuned triple bypass, it’s easy to make it ride worse
@@robert9guinn all these shocks are for the stock truck, unloaded, stock components, this is literally putting the brand's intended valving against each other on this vehicle. Every brand here used a Tacoma just like in this video to go and test and valve for what they think is the best profile for the customer, off the shelf.
I have the same set up and I upgraded to the 650lb coils ( with Body Armor bumper and winch) and I have no body roll. The 4x4 shop that installed mine couldn't believe how well it rides and with no roll. I also have the SPC UCA too. Maybe that helps?
@Jacob Dennison They have performed well offroad but are a little stiff for daily street driving. So I l keep my psi at 32, and that was the sweet spot for me. One of my rears is leaking, so I need to replace the rears, but I am thinking of just upgrading the whole package. Would buy again, though.
Great series of videos. My ICONs on my FJ doing pretty good after 50K miles. One coilover leaked outside of warranty, but they fixed it and shipped it back for free. How about testing winches. From Warn down to the $300 HF winch, see which one works, fails, burns up, etc...
So speaking overall ranked would be 1-king 2-bilstein 3-icons 4- elkas 5-fox And correct if me im wrong it was just never really stated Great series btw guys!
Great video series! I modify Offroad trucks for a living so this was definitely interesting. I run the Icons on my Tacoma, and I think if you guys had matched the rest of the shocks by using 2.5 w/remote resi (and possibly compression adjusters) paired with their Rxt leaf springs they would have scored even better. My truck is running that setup with proper bump stop setup as well and it floats through the desert 👌🏻 For anyone wondering, the offset lower shock mounts on the rear are designed to allow for more usable travel.
Thanks for doing this test fellas! Loving it and happy to hear the 8112s I went with performed well! Just wish I could’ve gotten the adjusters with my evo greys
I have the same exact truck with the exact fox shocks by pass front & rear that you guys tested , I have the front end lifted 1.5 inch and I have 1 inch lift in the rear with 32inch tall Toyo AT3’s and the Tacoma TRD pro wheels , I don’t really do high speed off road the fastest I will drive is 40mph on dirt/gravel roads but I do a lot of technical trails with deep ruts ,big boulders ,steep hills and they do great , I have 42k miles on my fox shocks and they are holding up great considering my truck practically lives off the pavement and I have not serviced them at all, good job testing all these shocks though, I think we all enjoyed this series !
Ya the Fox is a “race series.” They were not designed from the ground up with the specific vehicle in mind. They have a premade shock that is the best fit for that vehicle. Their performance series is made/designed specifically for a specific vehicle. I have the performance series 2.0’s on my 4Runner and they’re nice and comfortable. They do tend to blow through whoops though at slower speeds which kinda sucks. So ya the “performance elite” is also designed for a vehicle specifically. It would be nice to see how those fare.
I got icons, 40k miles and tons of offroad and no leaks, im happy with them, I have hydro bumps so I don't know how they would be with them but they work great, lots of jumps amd high speed whoops, they could use some more rebound
@@prrnrngr I’m glad they did just straight out of the box feel, but I’m saying now they should dial in each one and see how far they can go to make it the best performance on and off-road
You guys planning on breaking the shocks down to see what may have been causing the issues you pointed out in the video? I'd be curious on the results of that.
This was an awesome comparison. One suggestion would have been to have another stock Tacoma as a control to drive a little between each set just to re establish the baseline.
Enjoyed your reviews but wondered why you didn't include the cost of each shock. It seems like that would be a big factor for buyers when deciding what shocks to buy. I understand that these are high end shocks but including the price would be very helpful in future reviews like this.
Great series, liking and commenting for the algorithm because, like others, I am hoping to see another series with cheaper/more affordable options. Especially if I am looking for a daily truck that can go down forestry service roads and such.
This style of product review is EXCELLENT!! Of course it is also probably prohibitively costly and time-intensive. If you kept doing it, you'll be heroes. But if you can't justify it, most of us will understand. If I ever build a true off-road basher (vice my daily driver 4R with a baby 5100 lift and some get-home stuff, and AWD so no hard core trail work) I will definitely be tracking down your products and product recommendations.
Those Icon rear shocks are for the RXT leaf packs, not for the factory travel, definitely not the right shocks for this stock-test. The offset lower mount is to give more travel
The limiting factor for a rear shock on a Tacoma is compressed length when the rear is fully bottomed out. If the shock fits without bottoming out, then that's all that matters. Having more travel is a bonus. Most, if not all shocks that mount to the stock shock locations limit the travel of even a stock leaf spring, so the extended length is still beneficial. All the shocks tested were the "extended length" versions.
Biggest thing for all of us who daily is the risk of having to put the truck on block’s while sending in the components for repairs. Reliability is huge.
Had them all and all promised better than stock ride quality but only one shock passed the test and passed it with flying colors, the Fox Performance Elite DSC’s. They’ve completely blown away all of them and even my Adjustable Kings got their butts kicked. Fix Performance Elite DSC’s are amazing and would swear that they work like they’re computerized, that’s very easy to set and drive.
Great series guys! I was somewhat disappointed with the results of certain shocks and especially at their price point you’d expect better handling. I’ve seen guys running Pedder’s and regular OME’s going through washboards over thousands of miles and get better results.
Would love to see you do the comparison again after getting all of the shocks tuned if you still have all of them. Also would be great to see a follow up video if you decided to tear apart the Fox's to check for issues
I had a third generation Tacoma and I wanted a really nice coilover/shock combo. I've always ran ICON's on my 4Runners and was so excited to try FOX Factory 2.5's. WORST money I've ever spent on any of my Toyota's. I've put other versions of their shocks on before and have been so happy but I had the worst out of the box experience with the FOX Factories with the same complaints as you.
Fox shocks on Tacos are tuned per Toyota’s specifications, not Fox specifications. Try driving a ranger raptor and taco trd pro, since both are on 2.5 similar shocks, but, you’ll see both shocks tuned differently as per manufacturer’s specifications.
FWIW, I am running 08+ Tundra 5160 rears on my GX due to the extra stroke, with a very minor increase in collapsed length. Worth trying for loaded down Tacoma especially since they're valved for leafs
Could you guys please do a comparison video between the bilstein 6112, 5160 set up and the eibach stage 2r PLEASE! Im debating between the two for my 4runner and I need more information on actual ride quality on and off road. I believe most people can benefit from this comparison as these two setups are the most popular right now. Thank you!!!
I would have enjoyed seeing Old Man Emu and Dobinsons in the mix given they are arguably the two most well known and trusted brands in the Toyota market.
The elkas have a rebound adjustment, Both high/lo speed, right? If so, you need to do some tuning with the high speed rebound so you ARENT topping out super hard.
I would definitely love to see how tuned suspension products compare. Companies, such as AccuTune, can tune based on weight and usage so it should give a better ride.
It's all just going to be down to build quality at that point with a slight edge to the Bilstein with their ride control. Valving can overcome a lot of piston design differences.
@@madxmaxxine6552 my comment was assuming a half ass decent tuner on each. It 100% comes down to build quality, you could give consideration to cost of replacement parts, and ease of repair, etc. But a shock is a shock is a shock. You can make a 2.0 work like a 4.0 with a big though reservoir for a short amount of time. Shock design isn't different between the brands other than piston design and tiny minute changes, with the exception of Bilstein as I mentioned. If we're talking straight 2.5 smooth body, non adjustable resi, any of them will work EXACTLY the same given proper shock tuning.
I've got two additions up for suggestion. One cheap workhorse shock as a baseline reference (maybe OME?) and the increasingly popular Dobinsons MRR reservoir shocks, which I think are supposed to compete with the likes of King and Fox.
Any chance y’all could open all the shocks up and compare shim stacks/tuning? Especially that 8100 series would be cool to confirm why the variability. Or even the Foxs not performing. Maybe even a follow up video on tuned vs untuned shocks!
Mainly a) how important is a tune and how to do it and b) once all the shocks are tuned “equal” on the dyno (whatever that means) are there noticeable differences? 8100s internal cutoffs worth it? Subtle quality differences in Fox/Kings lead to large performance diffs?
Agreed….ran no sway bar with an alu cab canopy camper….425lb of extra weight above the cab and that’s the only thing causing mad body roll and it was totally manageable……built a different maker recenetly with a similar weight but it’s all in the flatbed…..zero body roll
Well! Lol I just installed the 7” Bds/fox kit in my 2018 Tundra. Mostly On road tho. Question, for the future, which shocks are compatible with my lift?
I wonder if the tune on those Fox shocks is something generic? Thats definitely an interesting result. I think I'll probably have to give the Bilstein's a try though, given that it's kind of the best buy for what you get.
My Tacoma is my doo-all vehicles. Most of the time it is my daily drivers, mostly highway driving. Occasionally off road driving on dirt roads...no rock crawling. But I am also considering purchasing a camper trailer that is around 4000-4500 Lbs. So I'm interested in improved towing ability as well as a little off road capability.
I’d be more curious how the fox Performance Elites would fair in this setup. I have fox Factory race and they are exceptional, but they are 5 years old. I’ve enjoyed them, but I do understand that there have been changes in production.
Videos were all amazing, thank you both for sharing with us all. I'm very interested to see the valving setup on the bilstein as I too thought they were supposed to be more of a "stiffer" ride then what your both experienced. Wondering if they changed it to a more linear type? I would love to see a similar video using a larger truck such as a tundra 😊..keep up the fantastic work!
For shits and giggles you should have thrown in the Rough Country adjustable Vertex coil overs and adjustable shocks. I would be curious to get your thoughts from a budget higher end suspension
the icon can get away with a longer rear shock body because of the offset mount. they done this to get the most travel possible out of a stock location shock and bump stop setup
For 90% of people all of your suspensions are overkill and are way more money that most people need and you know it. Most people who do a lift would be very happy with a basic Bilstein or Eibach lift. Advertising, forums and TH-cam videos are a powerful thing convincing so many people to get these super expensive kits when they don't even need them. Is the reason you only included the expensive options because you like money???
This was a really cool series. Doesn't do me any good being a Jeep house, but still cool none the less (it would probably work our way as well) .. kinda sucks when we have to eat our words, hey. But nice that you had to. Good stuff, thanks! With your couple of favourites, are you gonna run em on your trucks for a long term, real world test? (You paid for em) Some of how they would ACTUALLY be used... wandering around exploring.
I have had 2.5 kings with the reservoirs on my 2018 4runner and on my wife 4runner we went with 2.5 Icons with the reservoirs and adjusters. Very similar builds on each and I actually like her's offroad a bit more. On road my kings are a tad better but her icons seem to handle the high speed stuff just a bit better cutting out the chatter.
Hey guys awesome, series, it would be cool to see the more inexpensive shock testing such as the fox 2.0 and eibach pro truck 2.0 coil overs, terraflex falcon and Bilstein 6112s .
Best shock setup for a 4Runner being used as a sweep vehicle in rally events? Must be up to the abuse and be able to run PNW forest service roads anywhere from 30-60mph. I’m currently on basic Dobinsons nitro chargers and find them a bit jarring on rougher sections of pavement and gravel.
Wow! Great video and series fellas! Comparisons like this are needed with all the choices and options out there! Hats off! One question though. What was the ride height set at? Stock or maybe an 1” -1.5” at the most by the looks of it. Cheers!
What was the spring rate of each coilover? In my experience it spring rate is going to drastically change the way the vehicle handles on the street (sweeping curves, etc) 1000 times more than the 1.5" of shock travel that occurs on smooth surfaces. If it handles like it is on "rails" on smooth roads then that is a spring rate issue, not a shock valving issue. That test was a lot of work and expense....thanks for going to the effort in doing this.
All coilovers had 600lb coils. Fox typically run light valving on a low flow piston with very little bleed which is why it handled that way on the street
@@OverlandOutfitters I didn't expect that since they physically look different in spring thickness and design on a couple of them. Thanks for the clarification.
![I Answer Your Questions About Shock Value [+ Fox's Response!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-cxr8G13En4/mqdefault.jpg)
![I Answer Your Questions About Shock Value [+ Fox's Response!]](/img/tr.png)
You guys should do a cheaper shock round up. Maybe throw in one of the more expensive setups in to see if you can pick it out of the crowd. Would be curious to see how something like the 5100, emus, dobs etc compare to each other and to one of the more expensive setups.
@chrisbing the 6112s
Dobinsons, Old man Emu, Bilstein 5100, Ironman, Rough County.
@@lorenzoronpedrique2952 exactly
@@lorenzoronpedrique2952 they should do the 6112s tho
Basic Fox 2.0’s too
Do you know how rare it is to see any form of blind testing in the auto hobby? Kudos for that.
Kings FTW.. 5years so far, no leaks, no fading, SCARY smooth at 80mph on desert roads and 15ish psi. Icons, in the FJ cruiser world, no other shock company over the past 14yrs have had more complaints of breaking, leaking, and for sale ads after rebuilds than icon. I watch lots of off road racing competitions, King, Fox, Bilstein, Walker Evans seem to be the dominant suspension of choice. But for me, "if you want to win, win with the King"
These guys literally blind tested them all and gave you the results. 😂
My kings started leaking after 9 years of some heavy abuse. I think they recommend rebuilding them every 6 years. Absolutely no complaints with my kings
Great little video series with awesome info. I would love to see a round up of shock set ups under $1500, like Bilstein 6112/5160, Fox 2.0's, Icon Stage 1's, etc.
We just saw icon stage 1’s hold their own against the more expensive comp
And other solutions imo. Do an Alibaba/fleabay round up, OEM stuff too like Tacoma TRD, Bilstein, and Tundra sizes
Excellent video gents! I have King 3.0's with remote adj resi's on my chevy 1500 daily driver, light overlander, work truck and they have been great so far. For anyone considering going with the remote adjusters on any of these kits, do yourself a favor and splurge on them as the adjustability is 100% worth it! Make em soft for onroad, make them hard for offroad/hauling/towing... increases the versatility of the system. Cheers!
My vote goes to blind testing different AT, hybrid and MT tires ☝️
I wanna see the Baja Boss A/Ts!
Haha they’ll need ear plugs. They would hear the mt right away
Please do a video tearing apart the Fox’s to see if they were defective or if that’s actually how they were meant to perform. Kind of mind blowing how bad they were during the test
It's obvious this was not only just their opinion. But also that the Fox's have been tuned for harder driving. They even note towards this by 'wondering' if the Fox's would have handled much higher speeds than the others if they just pushed through a little of the discomfort at the slower speeds.
open the fox can
@@lukekelly2590 Fox has really dropped the ball on valving. My experience with my LT coil overs had mismatched valving. Not no mention valving was way to aggressive to be driven down the freeway.
A few other bits, it would be good to know the spring rate of each (obviously the dual zone Bilsteins would still be a wildcard). Also how much adjusters actually impact the ride. The 2nd side of the test id say would be to throw ~80% of the GVWM in the truck. I know in my setup it feels much better with load in the bed than when empty. All in all still a great test.
@@lukekelly2590 the foxes were just tuned by a putz in one afternoon.
Great series! Would love to see a review of the Bilstein 6110/ 5160 shocks!
I ran that set up for 15K on my 2020 4runner, never had a complaint. Tiny bit stiff on the road but world's better than my Fox 2.5s were out of the box. Mostly slightly higher speed forest roads and desert driving, never had an issue. For the money, probably one of the top two choices.
Excellent series and information! As Ian mentioned, Bilstein tuned the shocks for stock form, with sway bar in tact. They engineer their shocks to be direct bolt on and have best performance out of the box for a stock setup. As with any setup, modifications to the rig required adjustments (tuning, spring swaps, etc) to the shocks accordingly.
The kings leaking after a few hours that’s insane for what they cost.
Kings can be rebuilt. I think that is why they have a higher price point.
I agree, they better be rebuildable for what they cost but to leak after such a short amount of usage is rediculous. I work with a guy thelat has a Taco with Elkas and he had to fight to get a new set cuz they were F'ed in 2 months and he got them upgraded with his fingers crossed. (Northern bc canada)
@@wassawbound2926 So can Ironman 4x4's, but you don't see them charging astronomically outrageous prices "because they can". Kings are not THAT damn good imo.
@wassawbound2926 you'd have to pay 800 to rebuild them, they SHOULD NOT be leaking!
@@Myfrilleddragons they clearly stated they werent sure what the oil was
I'd go with the Bilstein... Wait, I did!
Excellent guys! Thx for this series.
As I asked before, do it again with the likes of 5100's, Fox 2.0, and so on, what we most run I think 👍👍
Lake Havasu 🌞 Az.
Great series! I know this was done with your own money (really expensive) but it would be great to see another blind test between Dobinsos, locked offroad, radflow, OME BP51, maybe Eibachs or Ironmans foam cell pro
i was thinking of these exact brands aswell. maybe even rough country vertex coilovers aswell
Reviews these brands please🙏🏻
Great series. Would like to see comparison on a truck weighted down with steel bumpers, sliders, under armor, roof top tent, 33” tires, winch
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Dobinsons MRR 3 way adjustable kit. Would be nice to see these added to the comparison.
Agreed…..I have a feeling they’d take the cake since we can clearly see valving is the difference between all these I feel? I like the blind test but it all doesn’t mean anything if they aren’t adjusted for the trucks weight and intended use
@@robert9guinn dobinson valving isn’t great, especially their mrr’s. They’re very difficult to tune yourself. Fox and king make it hard to mess up with the adjusters on purpose. Mrr’s are like a badly tuned triple bypass, it’s easy to make it ride worse
@@kevinhew5014 hey I know you haha
@@kevinhew5014 just got mine revalved
@@robert9guinn all these shocks are for the stock truck, unloaded, stock components, this is literally putting the brand's intended valving against each other on this vehicle. Every brand here used a Tacoma just like in this video to go and test and valve for what they think is the best profile for the customer, off the shelf.
Great series, my Bilstein 6112/5160 have 53,000 miles on them and I am looking to upgrade, so this testing came out at the perfect time.
What’d you think of that setup? Might go that route on my 04 tundra
I have the same set up and I upgraded to the 650lb coils ( with Body Armor bumper and winch) and I have no body roll. The 4x4 shop that installed mine couldn't believe how well it rides and with no roll. I also have the SPC UCA too. Maybe that helps?
@@davidr.1517 how’d it run off road? Washboard and whoops
@Jacob Dennison They have performed well offroad but are a little stiff for daily street driving. So I l keep my psi at 32, and that was the sweet spot for me. One of my rears is leaking, so I need to replace the rears, but I am thinking of just upgrading the whole package. Would buy again, though.
I have been running the Elka 2.5 DC’s that are adjustable since February and have been loving them.
Great series of videos. My ICONs on my FJ doing pretty good after 50K miles. One coilover leaked outside of warranty, but they fixed it and shipped it back for free. How about testing winches. From Warn down to the $300 HF winch, see which one works, fails, burns up, etc...
Project Farm did a solid video on winches
i have also the icon 2.5 on all corner on my FJ. Feel smooth and strong at the same time. i had fox 2.0 before and it was too soft. (body roll a lot)
Would love to see the dobinson MRR and the rough country vertex added to this series. Heard good things about them. Great vid!
Just noticed that the fox shocks they are testing are not the DSC series so don’t get your hopes down neither are the kings
Thanks for running this test you guys. Recieved some great info. Would like to see the Aussie's tested. OME's & Dobinson's
Of course custom valving can change things. However for those who are buying out the box set ups this is huge. Thanks guys!
Excellent point, it's all about valving and spring rates for your specific vehicle
So speaking overall ranked would be
1-king
2-bilstein
3-icons
4- elkas
5-fox
And correct if me im wrong it was just never really stated
Great series btw guys!
Great video series! I modify Offroad trucks for a living so this was definitely interesting. I run the Icons on my Tacoma, and I think if you guys had matched the rest of the shocks by using 2.5 w/remote resi (and possibly compression adjusters) paired with their Rxt leaf springs they would have scored even better. My truck is running that setup with proper bump stop setup as well and it floats through the desert 👌🏻
For anyone wondering, the offset lower shock mounts on the rear are designed to allow for more usable travel.
How’s on road running that?
I’d like to see an upper control arm comparison.
Thank you for doing this.
Love the way this test was run. I wonder how much different the results would be with a functional sway bar?
Thanks for doing this! Would love to see further reviews with Dobinsons, ADS, and Radflos if possible.
I second Radflo!
And just to clarify, Dobinsons MRAs (the 3-way adjustables)
Agreed on ADS!
Thanks for doing this test fellas! Loving it and happy to hear the 8112s I went with performed well! Just wish I could’ve gotten the adjusters with my evo greys
we're all waiting on the adjusters to come out =)
I have the same exact truck with the exact fox shocks by pass front & rear that you guys tested , I have the front end lifted 1.5 inch and I have 1 inch lift in the rear with 32inch tall Toyo AT3’s and the Tacoma TRD pro wheels , I don’t really do high speed off road the fastest I will drive is 40mph on dirt/gravel roads but I do a lot of technical trails with deep ruts ,big boulders ,steep hills and they do great , I have 42k miles on my fox shocks and they are holding up great considering my truck practically lives off the pavement and I have not serviced them at all, good job testing all these shocks though, I think we all enjoyed this series !
Ya the Fox is a “race series.” They were not designed from the ground up with the specific vehicle in mind. They have a premade shock that is the best fit for that vehicle.
Their performance series is made/designed specifically for a specific vehicle. I have the performance series 2.0’s on my 4Runner and they’re nice and comfortable. They do tend to blow through whoops though at slower speeds which kinda sucks.
So ya the “performance elite” is also designed for a vehicle specifically. It would be nice to see how those fare.
I got icons, 40k miles and tons of offroad and no leaks, im happy with them, I have hydro bumps so I don't know how they would be with them but they work great, lots of jumps amd high speed whoops, they could use some more rebound
Awesome series! I’d love to see how all of them would work if they were tuned specifically
I was thinking the same thing throughout the whole series.
Same shim stacks or same goal in ride feel? Either way, out of the box, some did better than others.
@@prrnrngr I’m glad they did just straight out of the box feel, but I’m saying now they should dial in each one and see how far they can go to make it the best performance on and off-road
Does Fox still offer one free re-valve though? It would be worth a call maybe to Fox to ask them what the valving was and why it was done that way.
Please post something about pulling the foxs apart. Super super curious why they were so bad.
You guys planning on breaking the shocks down to see what may have been causing the issues you pointed out in the video? I'd be curious on the results of that.
It’d be really interesting to get some of the vendors on to discuss their shocks. Especially Fox!
This was an awesome comparison. One suggestion would have been to have another stock Tacoma as a control to drive a little between each set just to re establish the baseline.
Enjoyed your reviews but wondered why you didn't include the cost of each shock. It seems like that would be a big factor for buyers when deciding what shocks to buy. I understand that these are high end shocks but including the price would be very helpful in future reviews like this.
Great series, liking and commenting for the algorithm because, like others, I am hoping to see another series with cheaper/more affordable options. Especially if I am looking for a daily truck that can go down forestry service roads and such.
This style of product review is EXCELLENT!! Of course it is also probably prohibitively costly and time-intensive. If you kept doing it, you'll be heroes. But if you can't justify it, most of us will understand.
If I ever build a true off-road basher (vice my daily driver 4R with a baby 5100 lift and some get-home stuff, and AWD so no hard core trail work) I will definitely be tracking down your products and product recommendations.
Great series! Wish I would have seen this about a year ago!
Inwould really love to hear a follow up about the 8112 shocks. I’ve got 5100 on my 06 4R and I would hate to go any softer on the road.
It would be nice to see a review of Falcons. I have a set with tow / haul function. They are great handling on road and smooth off-road.
Those Icon rear shocks are for the RXT leaf packs, not for the factory travel, definitely not the right shocks for this stock-test. The offset lower mount is to give more travel
The limiting factor for a rear shock on a Tacoma is compressed length when the rear is fully bottomed out. If the shock fits without bottoming out, then that's all that matters. Having more travel is a bonus. Most, if not all shocks that mount to the stock shock locations limit the travel of even a stock leaf spring, so the extended length is still beneficial. All the shocks tested were the "extended length" versions.
PLEASE DO A TACOMA BUDGET SHOCK SHOOT OUT🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Some of us can’t afford $3000+ for shocks.
Biggest thing for all of us who daily is the risk of having to put the truck on block’s while sending in the components for repairs. Reliability is huge.
Keep your stock setup for these times
Had them all and all promised better than stock ride quality but only one shock passed the test and passed it with flying colors, the Fox Performance Elite DSC’s. They’ve completely blown away all of them and even my Adjustable Kings got their butts kicked. Fix Performance Elite DSC’s are amazing and would swear that they work like they’re computerized, that’s very easy to set and drive.
Test 6112, icon 2.5 ifp, fox 2.5 and ironman 2.5 coilover. I feel most people get front coilovers without resivors
I was interested to see Dobinson tested as well. But this series was amazing. Bring more!
Great series guys! I was somewhat disappointed with the results of certain shocks and especially at their price point you’d expect better handling. I’ve seen guys running Pedder’s and regular OME’s going through washboards over thousands of miles and get better results.
Would love to see you do the comparison again after getting all of the shocks tuned if you still have all of them. Also would be great to see a follow up video if you decided to tear apart the Fox's to check for issues
Do you have to adjust them to get better results?
Did you adjust each shock to make sure they were competitive?
Love blind shoot-outs.
I had a third generation Tacoma and I wanted a really nice coilover/shock combo. I've always ran ICON's on my 4Runners and was so excited to try FOX Factory 2.5's. WORST money I've ever spent on any of my Toyota's. I've put other versions of their shocks on before and have been so happy but I had the worst out of the box experience with the FOX Factories with the same complaints as you.
Maybe test the ironman 4x4 foam cell Pro , it would be interesting to test them the same way to compare with a normal shock of this price range.
Fox shocks on Tacos are tuned per Toyota’s specifications, not Fox specifications. Try driving a ranger raptor and taco trd pro, since both are on 2.5 similar shocks, but, you’ll see both shocks tuned differently as per manufacturer’s specifications.
OE shocks are; not aftermarket versions of either Fox or Bilstein.
This is a really good review!! Thank you for taking the time to switch out 5 (six) different shocks!!
FWIW, I am running 08+ Tundra 5160 rears on my GX due to the extra stroke, with a very minor increase in collapsed length. Worth trying for loaded down Tacoma especially since they're valved for leafs
Loved the series! So, which ones would you recommend? It sounded like king on road and bilstein off road.
Could you guys please do a comparison video between the bilstein 6112, 5160 set up and the eibach stage 2r PLEASE! Im debating between the two for my 4runner and I need more information on actual ride quality on and off road. I believe most people can benefit from this comparison as these two setups are the most popular right now.
Thank you!!!
What do you think would be a better choice dobinsons or kings ?
Try out locked shocks. My friend has them on his 2nd gen and I think they're under rated.
I would have enjoyed seeing Old Man Emu and Dobinsons in the mix given they are arguably the two most well known and trusted brands in the Toyota market.
Questions! What about Dobinson? Was any tuning to the shocks preformed before or during your testing?
Please test dobinsons IMS!
Be cool to see the Eibach shocks tested
The elkas have a rebound adjustment, Both high/lo speed, right?
If so, you need to do some tuning with the high speed rebound so you ARENT topping out super hard.
I would definitely love to see how tuned suspension products compare. Companies, such as AccuTune, can tune based on weight and usage so it should give a better ride.
It's all just going to be down to build quality at that point with a slight edge to the Bilstein with their ride control. Valving can overcome a lot of piston design differences.
Build quality nahhh. Tuner quality. The tuning philosophy is not the same across different shock tuners
@@madxmaxxine6552 my comment was assuming a half ass decent tuner on each. It 100% comes down to build quality, you could give consideration to cost of replacement parts, and ease of repair, etc. But a shock is a shock is a shock. You can make a 2.0 work like a 4.0 with a big though reservoir for a short amount of time.
Shock design isn't different between the brands other than piston design and tiny minute changes, with the exception of Bilstein as I mentioned. If we're talking straight 2.5 smooth body, non adjustable resi, any of them will work EXACTLY the same given proper shock tuning.
I've got two additions up for suggestion. One cheap workhorse shock as a baseline reference (maybe OME?) and the increasingly popular Dobinsons MRR reservoir shocks, which I think are supposed to compete with the likes of King and Fox.
Any chance y’all could open all the shocks up and compare shim stacks/tuning? Especially that 8100 series would be cool to confirm why the variability. Or even the Foxs not performing. Maybe even a follow up video on tuned vs untuned shocks!
Mainly a) how important is a tune and how to do it and b) once all the shocks are tuned “equal” on the dyno (whatever that means) are there noticeable differences? 8100s internal cutoffs worth it? Subtle quality differences in Fox/Kings lead to large performance diffs?
Went from rancho, 5100, fox, and now icon. For me, and I know it’s subjective, I felt that Fox was the worst. Icon the best by far.
Doing a test on cheaper shocks that most people are likely to use. I’d like to see the 5100, Ironman 4x4, dobinson, old man emu, eibach.
5100s are super clanky I wouldn't recommend for any offroad
I'd love to know what tuning you have on each shock? I'm very surprised you rated the fox so low.
Dobinsons seems to be popular too can you guys test them?
I would be interested to see what the shocks are like with the swaybar cause I know you guys remove the sway bar
why have the sway bar on? these trucks are worse with one
Agreed….ran no sway bar with an alu cab canopy camper….425lb of extra weight above the cab and that’s the only thing causing mad body roll and it was totally manageable……built a different maker recenetly with a similar weight but it’s all in the flatbed…..zero body roll
Take that shiz off and never look back
Well! Lol I just installed the 7” Bds/fox kit in my 2018 Tundra. Mostly
On road tho.
Question, for the future, which shocks are compatible with my lift?
I wonder if the tune on those Fox shocks is something generic?
Thats definitely an interesting result.
I think I'll probably have to give the Bilstein's a try though, given that it's kind of the best buy for what you get.
I recently spoke to a shop that does builds for 4 Runners and recommended Icon for sure
Thanks guys
I had the icon 2.5 with reservoirs.. they are amazing.
Do you think the Fox 2.5 Performance vs. Race Elite will feel significantly different? Which ones were tested here again?
would like to see how the OME BP-51 would stack up against the rest of those 5
My Tacoma is my doo-all vehicles.
Most of the time it is my daily drivers, mostly highway driving.
Occasionally off road driving on dirt roads...no rock crawling.
But I am also considering purchasing a camper trailer that is around 4000-4500 Lbs.
So I'm interested in improved towing ability as well as a little off road capability.
Lights and related lighting accessories would be fantastic to see reviewed.
My buddy has fox and they are pretty dang stiff shocks I had kings and went to the stage 10 icon & never looking back ❤
I’d be more curious how the fox Performance Elites would fair in this setup. I have fox Factory race and they are exceptional, but they are 5 years old. I’ve enjoyed them, but I do understand that there have been changes in production.
Did you ever find out if there was a problem with the Fox shocks?
Videos were all amazing, thank you both for sharing with us all. I'm very interested to see the valving setup on the bilstein as I too thought they were supposed to be more of a "stiffer" ride then what your both experienced. Wondering if they changed it to a more linear type? I would love to see a similar video using a larger truck such as a tundra 😊..keep up the fantastic work!
My fox coilovers are amazing on 23 sierra. But as a daily driver, i dont beat on it.. hard choice. Gotta pick 95% of your driving.almost went eibach
For shits and giggles you should have thrown in the Rough Country adjustable Vertex coil overs and adjustable shocks. I would be curious to get your thoughts from a budget higher end suspension
Would like to see a test of the Dobinson MRR.
the icon can get away with a longer rear shock body because of the offset mount. they done this to get the most travel possible out of a stock location shock and bump stop setup
For 90% of people all of your suspensions are overkill and are way more money that most people need and you know it. Most people who do a lift would be very happy with a basic Bilstein or Eibach lift. Advertising, forums and TH-cam videos are a powerful thing convincing so many people to get these super expensive kits when they don't even need them. Is the reason you only included the expensive options because you like money???
I'm currious to know how the 3.5 vertex rough country bypass shocks stack up
This was a really cool series. Doesn't do me any good being a Jeep house, but still cool none the less (it would probably work our way as well) .. kinda sucks when we have to eat our words, hey. But nice that you had to. Good stuff, thanks! With your couple of favourites, are you gonna run em on your trucks for a long term, real world test? (You paid for em) Some of how they would ACTUALLY be used... wandering around exploring.
Please test the Bilstein 6112/5160
We have a 2nd gen with Bilstiens and a 3rd gen with King 2.5 with adjusters and the Kings are way less bouncy and jarring like night and day 🤙🏽
I have had 2.5 kings with the reservoirs on my 2018 4runner and on my wife 4runner we went with 2.5 Icons with the reservoirs and adjusters. Very similar builds on each and I actually like her's offroad a bit more. On road my kings are a tad better but her icons seem to handle the high speed stuff just a bit better cutting out the chatter.
Hey guys awesome, series, it would be cool to see the more inexpensive shock testing such as the fox 2.0 and eibach pro truck 2.0 coil overs, terraflex falcon and Bilstein 6112s .
Best shock setup for a 4Runner being used as a sweep vehicle in rally events? Must be up to the abuse and be able to run PNW forest service roads anywhere from 30-60mph. I’m currently on basic Dobinsons nitro chargers and find them a bit jarring on rougher sections of pavement and gravel.
Wow! Great video and series fellas! Comparisons like this are needed with all the choices and options out there!
Hats off!
One question though.
What was the ride height set at?
Stock or maybe an 1” -1.5” at the most by the looks of it.
Cheers!
What was the spring rate of each coilover? In my experience it spring rate is going to drastically change the way the vehicle handles on the street (sweeping curves, etc) 1000 times more than the 1.5" of shock travel that occurs on smooth surfaces. If it handles like it is on "rails" on smooth roads then that is a spring rate issue, not a shock valving issue. That test was a lot of work and expense....thanks for going to the effort in doing this.
All coilovers had 600lb coils. Fox typically run light valving on a low flow piston with very little bleed which is why it handled that way on the street
@@OverlandOutfitters I didn't expect that since they physically look different in spring thickness and design on a couple of them. Thanks for the clarification.