Roryslife

I will take a shot at this question:

1. because they look cool (Before you judge I would estimate that at least 75% of all mods bought by the jeep owners are purely for looks... I bet 75% of all Jeeps were bought because they look cool)

2. Icon's specifically is returnable to stock (allows someone to recoup costs if they change or sell vehicles) I assume Evo and Rebels are as well.

3. Bolt on is a big money saver vs weld on kids if you don't have the skills to do it yourself as far as welding goes.

4. Jeep suspensions come in a wide variety of price points for a reason... bolt on coil overs are just another entry that might hit the sweet spot for certain customers.

5. Weld-on kits have a greater risk of improper installation and setup vs a bolt on option where the engineering has already been done.

6. Easy adjustable height vs non coil over systems, and also adjustable valving (CDCV with Icon).

Having said all this... after I purchase, I might find that in a year or two I want to replace it with something different (as with my current setup), but I spend over 250 a days a year on the road making enough money to afford my capricious purchasing habits.

JKZinger

I have been running the EVO bolt on coilovers since they came out and I can tell you they are awesome. Haven't had one issue with them being "bolt on" at all. Multiple Rubicon and Moab trips.

Maertz

Mostly my point, if you really need coilovers imo they wont be bolt on, the rest is just a waste of money for looks. If you want them get them. I understand all of the above and wasnt looking for info, just curious why he feels he needs coilovers, hes asking for opinions on something he doesnt seem to understand well. Makes me question his desire for coilovers, and think possibly he may not understand that other kits will probably suit him well. I also attached a basic video so he can try and make his own opinion. Just looking at there kit alone should help make an opinion. Theres no issues with them being bolt on, but if im running coilovers, its going to be custom to be the best fit it can be for my rig.

PET77

What I was looking for was some user experience regarding the issues that go with usage of such a kit in order to avoid unwillingly serve as cheap R&D for the manufacturer. And although you are right, that in reality I "dont really need them", I have a fair idea about what would the coilovers do to my Jeep, since I have been in circuit racing for some time and I have been running them on my cars.

And honestly yes, of all the off-road capable vehicles on the market, I did bought JK "for the looks". Does it make me a bad/stupid person? Dont think so:-)

P.S. What kind of suspension would you recommend instead of coilovers that would allow you to set/change damping as well as lift heigh and allow for such a massive wheel travel?

mrmike

Here are my mounts as installed by ORE. Note they do sit lower that the standard bolt on kit. But I wanted it for speed and. Didn't care about the ground clearance that much. Basically by keeping your mounts lower or at stock height your making you bottom out point further up towards the fenders. This essentially means more up travel, less droop, and allows for lift height to be set up lower. You could take the regular bolt on kit and set at 1" of lift but you would bottom on even the smallest bump in the street.

As to bolt on vs custom, a lot of that come down to what your use is. The bolt on fit my Budget and use. It lets jeep go as fast as I'm comfortable with sans till cage and 5 points. And it will rides and handles great as a daily driver.

Back to Icon, maybe they can help you get in contact with a customer who is running them.

Maertz

Im not judging you and if its for looks, i personally dont think you should worry about comparing them... They will all perform very well for your use and have a nice bling factor. I dont see you being unhappy with any coilover set up.

TheDirtman

Running coil overs on an long suspension travel off road vehicle is nothing like the coil overs on cars that have almost no suspension travel in them at all other then being able to adjust the ride height.

You make the statement that coil overs will give you "massive wheel travel". A coil over system will not give you any more travel then a conventional shock and coil system that is correctly set up given a specific travel length. Most bolt on kits will not allow you to run the longest possible travel shock as well due to the constraints of having it bolted on.

There was a statement that lowering the lower shock mount is the way to gain travel, but in reality the best way is to raise the top mount as high as you can and run the lower mount on top of the axle tube. This will maximize your ground clearance and eliminates the stress on the control arm joints like a front or rear mount will do. You should also have the top mount angled in about 15 degrees from the bottom mount to increase stability in cornering. I don't know of any bolt on coil over kits that do this. If you google "the coil over bible" you will find a great write up that should give you just about everything you need to know about setting up coil overs.

Icon is almost non existent in the JK market. I am not sure why someone would choose their shocks over King, Fox, or Rock Krawler that have done the research and have the rigs out there proving their products.

If you want to run coil overs because they are cool, thats great nock yourself out. There is nothing magic about coil overs and like everything else they need to be set up correctly for what you are doing and the weight of the rig.

You asked about other ways to get an adjustable height with adjustable valving, one would be ORI struts and another would be the JKS ACOS system with the adjustable shock of your choice. With the ACOS you could easily run 4 tube bypass shocks if you really want the "cool" factor and drop $2k on each corner while still being a bolt on solution that you could return to stock.

mrmike

I will clarify as there seems to be confusion on what I prev posted.

For the EVO bolt on coil over system the lower mounts achieve the lower height and add UP travel. And you get LESS droop. For speed it's more important that way. I set up my ride for speed. If you don't need to drive 40mph over big bumps then you don't NEED coilovers. The dual spring rate is specifically what makes them special. Otherwise you can get enough travel from a conventional system for 90% of off road situations.

And yes going higher on the upper mounts is
The best way to go. But again I'm talking about this specific kit.


As to ICON, they were no body in the Toyota and Ford Raptor arena a few years ago. Now they are right up there with King and Fox. But as I personally don't have them on any of my rigs I won't say if of how they compare.

I would suggest calling them directly. Ask them detailed question. What up and down travel at each ride height. What do they valve their shocks for. What range if adjustability do you get with the adjuster. Are their standard spring rates set up for a basic jk or is it for steel bumpers, winch, etc.

TheDirtman

Wow, I just looked up the icon kit, $2500 for a pair of shocks and the mounts? I always thought the off road evolution was over priced at $1750 but that is crazy. I couldn't find the shock length but from the photos it looks like a 10" travel shock and states if you run 35" tires you need flat fenders and other modifications. BTW you can buy a set of 12" king dual rate coil overs with res and adjustable compression dampening for $1200 and weld on towers for another $100 a pair and lower mounts for $35. The rear at $2200 is a rip off as well and just includes a big crazy heavy bracket that in all reality is just an upper mount. The rear synergy coil over bracket package is $195 and does the same thing.

Maertz

but there more expensive and therefore better looking correct?