King Shocks and other coilover options? ARB? Fox?

[t3lcfe]

Loving my King setup with Camberg UCAs. I was between King and Dobinsons MRR which I had before and would have been happy either way, I just got a deal on the Kings.

Kings shocks are superior America proudly made in California (Garden Grove). I got them, super pleased with my LCFE performance and never looked back for other stuffs.
Currently I also have Fox 2.0 adjustable in my Gwagon.
I love both Fox and Kings in my rigs

 

[geomars]

I might be reading it incorrectly but looking at the King options on Accutune, the listing mentions 6061-T6 aluminum: Kit: 2024+ Land Cruiser 250 King 2.5 Shocks W/Adjusters – AccuTune Off-Road

I ran the Fox PE setup from Accutune on my Tacoma because they were aluminum and not steel. Would be awesome if King has followed suit for real.

I contacted Accutune and received the following reply:

"We have not had an opportunity to develop a tune on the LC250 shocks yet so we do not have an Adventure Tune ready just yet.

With all of these new platforms (22+ Tundra, 24+ Tacoma) we have seen that a 2" lift NEEDS an upper control arm to get a proper alignment, but also to clear the reservoir hoses. So make sure to factor that into your budget.

We do not recommend changing rear springs unless you need the extra spring rate. A Stock rate spring that provides lift, or a simple spacer will suffice to maintain ride quality."

 

[surf fishing offroader]

We do not recommend changing rear springs unless you need the extra spring rate. A Stock rate spring that provides lift, or a simple spacer will suffice to maintain ride quality."

Curious, but can anyone report how the rear springs that come with the Icon setups are like, compared to stock springs?

Icon calls labels them as a "2 stage compression" spring...

Are they extra bouncy, until you load them up?

I've got these now and ready to install, but wondering if I should just leave in the stock springs and westcott spacer vs the icon springs

Thanks

 

[t3lcfe]

Soon, on nice day I will list out all the mods / accessories I added with ultimate loves to my LCFE very happy with the outcomes

The attached video sends some great messages out

 

[LCOceans]

Well this is confusing. Back to drawing board.

 

[radmoonrising]

Well this is confusing. Back to drawing board.

I had Dobinson’s MRR with adjustable front and rear on my 4th gen 4Runner before, and they were fantastic! The person you’re referring to got the wrong set for his Tacoma, which was also running on leaf springs—completely different from a LC250 or 4Runner. Dobinsons are great, but they do require a bit of fine-tuning to get them dialed in for your specific needs. Out of the box, they might not be perfect, but with a little effort, you’ll be happy with the results. Don’t write them off too quickly

 

[fftfk]

Well this is confusing. Back to drawing board.

I have to say - this came off as a pretty insincere apology to me.

 

[surf fishing offroader]

Well this is confusing. Back to drawing board.

Just FYI, but I got the Stage 1 Icons and absolutely love the ride now. It doesn't have that jarring harshness from before, rides much smoother and softer now.

I didn't get the UCA because my lift is only about 1.75 (still have a rake overall), and plenty of adjustment available for the alignment. I don't have the remote reservoirs because I really don't need them. If I was planning on going down to Cabo via Baja, I might have considered it, but I'm just going down the beach to fish. Because there's no remote reservoir, I don't need that clearance the UCAs provide for the hose

The stage 1 is perfect for what I'm needing and the ride and lift look great. I highly recommend it if your on the fence. It's also cheap enough that you can buy a 2nd set later on for shock rebuilds

 

[LCOceans]

Just FYI, but I got the Stage 1 Icons and absolutely love the ride now. It doesn't have that jarring harshness from before, rides much smoother and softer now.

I didn't get the UCA because my lift is only about 1.75 (still have a rake overall), and plenty of adjustment available for the alignment. I don't have the remote reservoirs because I really don't need them. If I was planning on going down to Cabo via Baja, I might have considered it, but I'm just going down the beach to fish. Because there's no remote reservoir, I don't need that clearance the UCAs provide for the hose

The stage 1 is perfect for what I'm needing and the ride and lift look great. I highly recommend it if your on the fence. It's also cheap enough that you can buy a 2nd set later on for shock rebuilds

Excellent information and awesome trip. I was literally just before reading this chatting with friend about going back to Cabo for surf. To drive down in the LC would be epic.
How is the ride on the road compared to stock? I think you had a Westcott right? Which made it stiff. Is the Icon setup firmer or softer than stock?

 

[surf fishing offroader]

Excellent information and awesome trip. I was literally just before reading this chatting with friend about going back to Cabo for surf. To drive down in the LC would be epic.
How is the ride on the road compared to stock? I think you had a Westcott right? Which made it stiff. Is the Icon setup firmer or softer than stock?

Cabo is my favorite place to surf fish, summertime for roosters and winter for mahi - and by-catches are jacks! I've always wanted to drive down also and fish all those beaches along the way

Yup, I had the westcott pucks and it compressed the springs too much and made the ride really stiff. Even stock setup was a bit too stiff for me. This setup just soaks up the road imperfections - the whole setup is softer (springs & shocks), but it handles/drives just fine still. It's not like it suddenly handles like a 5th gen 4runner or something

 

[Jkersh2244]

This is what I ended up going with and I'm happy with how it turned out. I was looking for a 1" spacer or coil but didn't like the options so I reached out to Dobson and they recommended their .5" coil with a .5" spacer. Paired with the King coilovers I ended up perfectly level at 38-5/8" front and rear (Ground to fender). The Kings came with about 3 full threads showing as you can see in the pictures. Since this is my wife's daily driver I decided to go with Toyo Open Country's 285/75/R17 (33.9" diameter 59 lbs.) The spare hangs low but it does fit fully inflated.
Dobson .5" coil C59-883V
Dobson .5" spacer PS59-4035
King Shock Kit
King-25001-415A ( Front Coilovers)
King-25001-416A (Rear Shocks)
King-20001-293 (Sway bar links)
Icon upper control Tubular arm 5842DJ
Method 703's Wheels +35mm offset
Tire Toyo Open County AT3 285/75/R17 C load

 

[LunarCruiser]

This is what I ended up going with and I'm happy with how it turned out. I was looking for a 1" spacer or coil but didn't like the options so I reached out to Dobson and they recommended their .5" coil with a .5" spacer. Paired with the King coilovers I ended up perfectly level at 38-5/8" front and rear (Ground to fender). The Kings came with about 3 full threads showing as you can see in the pictures. Since this is my wife's daily driver I decided to go with Toyo Open Country's 285/75/R17 (33.9" diameter 59 lbs.) The spare hangs low but it does fit fully inflated.
Dobson .5" coil C59-883V
Dobson .5" spacer PS59-4035
King Shock Kit
King-25001-415A ( Front Coilovers)
King-25001-416A (Rear Shocks)
King-20001-293 (Sway bar links)
Icon upper control Tubular arm 5842DJ
Method 703's Wheels +35mm offset
Tire Toyo Open County AT3 285/75/R17 C load

I run the same-sized tire and had no issue with the departure angle when I took it on some trails. I was pretty surprised as it hangs lower than stock, but also, the additional lift from bigger tires might have helped.

 

[Jkersh2244]

I run the same-sized tire and had no issue with the departure angle when I took it on some trails. I was pretty surprised as it hangs lower than stock, but also, the additional lift from bigger tires might have helped.

Thanks for passing that along. I lifted it last weekend and I haven't had a chance to test it out.

 

[kyakaddict]

I just added Icon Stage 6 coilovers with reservoirs, 2" front and 1" rear (includes a dif drop and panhard) along with an RCI engine skid plate. Ground clearance went from 8.7" under the skid plate to 12" on 265/70/18's. Ground clearance at the rear pumpkin is 9.8" Also, Prinsu roof rack.

 

[AgRN16]

For everyone considering the Dobinson MRR 3 way suspension kit, I may be able to shed some light. I am very blessed to have a full dobinsons suspension (mrr 3 way adjustable, 2.6" of lift over stock) running on 35" Toyo Open Country RT Trail tires (load E). This suspension was profesionaly installed by the folks at Doetsch Offroad in Arizona. They paired with Camburg Billet UCAs, as well as an Icon diff drop kit. The coil springs they used are the heavier duty ones, rated for 550 to 770 lbs.

I have mostly been on road with it, but have done a little bit of off roading with plans for much more offroading and trail running up in the Rockies this June.

I'm no expert, but IMO the setup is dead nuts, amazing. Comparing it to the stock TRD Pro suspension in my 2019 TRD Pro 4runner, well there is zero comparison. Not comparable, light years better. Weather that be at speed or slow crawling.

So for those of you who have already ordered and are still waiting but worried about how it will turn out, ide say assuage your fears. If it's installed properly, it is going to SLAY on and off road.

If anyone is interested, ask, and I can try to post up some close up pics of the suspension components that are visible as well as a detailed list of the parts installed in the suspension.

 

[radmoonrising]

For everyone considering the Dobinson MRR 3 way suspension kit, I may be able to shed some light. I am very blessed to have a full dobinsons suspension (mrr 3 way adjustable, 2.6" of lift over stock) running on 35" Toyo Open Country RT Trail tires (load E). This suspension was profesionaly installed by the folks at Doetsch Offroad in Arizona. They paired with Camburg Billet UCAs, as well as an Icon diff drop kit. The coil springs they used are the heavier duty ones, rated for 550 to 770 lbs.

I have mostly been on road with it, but have done a little bit of off roading with plans for much more offroading and trail running up in the Rockies this June.

I'm no expert, but IMO the setup is dead nuts, amazing. Comparing it to the stock TRD Pro suspension in my 2019 TRD Pro 4runner, well there is zero comparison. Not comparable, light years better. Weather that be at speed or slow crawling.

So for those of you who have already ordered and are still waiting but worried about how it will turn out, ide say assuage your fears. If it's installed properly, it is going to SLAY on and off road.

If anyone is interested, ask, and I can try to post up some close up pics of the suspension components that are visible as well as a detailed list of the parts installed in the suspension.

How do you like the heavier springs?

My trailer doesn’t have a huge tong weight but it’s enough where I want firmer springs. Can’t decide between the 550-770 springs or the lighter 175-330 springs. My 4 gen was on dobbie 200-400 springs so I’m right in the middle between the two for the LC.

 

[AgRN16]

How do you like the heavier springs?

My trailer doesn’t have a huge tong weight but it’s enough where I want firmer springs. Can’t decide between the 550-770 springs or the lighter 175-330 springs. My 4 gen was on dobbie 200-400 springs so I’m right in the middle between the two for the LC.

I like them. Considering when we go road tripping/camping we load up the back. With the steel bumpers, the RTT, and roof rack there is added weight, and I plan to add rock sliders and full skids (probably going aluminum for all) so that will add more weight. So IMO, if adding weight, the heavier rated springs are well worth it.

 

[Markarian421]

I've had the same thoughts. But, the shocks and springs will not be tuned specifically to the LC.

Bilstein was looking for volunteers on this forum back in January to work on their solutions for the Land Cruiser. They seem to be working on something Land Cruiser specific.

Free shocks in exchange for your help - Bilstein looking for development vehicles in the SoCal region

Hi Everybody, My name is Ryan Crane. I work for Bilstein Shock Absorbers as the Senior Technician in our R&D department. We're looking for LC250s to develop our product on. If you are in the Southern California region, please feel free to reach out or you can follow the link below to our...

www.landcruiserforum.com

 

[LCOceans]

For everyone considering the Dobinson MRR 3 way suspension kit, I may be able to shed some light. I am very blessed to have a full dobinsons suspension (mrr 3 way adjustable, 2.6" of lift over stock) running on 35" Toyo Open Country RT Trail tires (load E). This suspension was profesionaly installed by the folks at Doetsch Offroad in Arizona. They paired with Camburg Billet UCAs, as well as an Icon diff drop kit. The coil springs they used are the heavier duty ones, rated for 550 to 770 lbs.

I have mostly been on road with it, but have done a little bit of off roading with plans for much more offroading and trail running up in the Rockies this June.

I'm no expert, but IMO the setup is dead nuts, amazing. Comparing it to the stock TRD Pro suspension in my 2019 TRD Pro 4runner, well there is zero comparison. Not comparable, light years better. Weather that be at speed or slow crawling.

So for those of you who have already ordered and are still waiting but worried about how it will turn out, ide say assuage your fears. If it's installed properly, it is going to SLAY on and off road.

If anyone is interested, ask, and I can try to post up some close up pics of the suspension components that are visible as well as a detailed list of the parts installed in the suspension.

Great post and thank you!
Any reason you did not go with the Dobinsons billet UCA's? Why the Camburg?
Did you preset the Dobinsons coilovers for 2.6" of lift prior to install (I believe they are 1"-3" adjustable).
No panhard rod? Was it not necessary?
Thanks again and glad you are stoked.

 

[Bad1975]

Great post and thank you!
Any reason you did not go with the Dobinsons billet UCA's? Why the Camburg?
Did you preset the Dobinsons coilovers for 2.6" of lift prior to install (I believe they are 1"-3" adjustable).
No panhard rod? Was it not necessary?
Thanks again and glad you are stoked.

I will soon have the Dobinsons billet UCAs, the draw back to them is you have to press out your old upper ball joints and press them into the new arms. If I would have known that prior to purchase I would have gotten different UCAs. I'm not fan of anything Uniball, heim or that uses poly bushings vice rubber on a daily driver though as it adds harshness and sources for noise and most of the offerings available use one or more of the aforementioned in their UCAs.

Nothing really wrong with the Dobinsons UCAs but currently nobody makes an upper ball joint yet (Toyota decided to change to new never before used size for this platform) and nobody that I could find could tell me of anything pre existing that would work as of yet?

Toyota doesn't sell the upper ball joint, you have to by the entire arm with the ball joint for which it doesn't come with the ball joint dust boot and retaining ring for some odd reason and the maintenance literature states those items aren't re-useable?? I was hoping to at least get my hands on some upper ball joints so I could install them in the new UCAs prior to beginning the lift install. Instead I bought a shop press so I can press out and back in myself to limit the down time during install.

The Dobby UCAs do come with the required press adapters to safely press out and in though so that is a plus.

Everyone I spoke to said if you want the rear axle centered properly and to stay within factory alignment an adjustable panhard is a must for anything beyond 1" of rear lift, was told at less than 1" it will still be in spec but will not be centered at any lift above stock. They also mentioned to steer clear of on vehicle adjustable panhards as they have a tendency to come loose.

I'll be measuring all the pinion angles in stock configuration when I get ready to install my setup to determine if rear upper and lower four link bars are needed or not? I'm sure the pinion angles will change but I wanna see where it lands before I determine if those are necessary or not? There is the potential to be eating U-joints if the angles are too high or not inversely matching one another on the drive shafts and have the possibility of running the pinion bearing dry destroying the pumpkin as well. You can physically feel the vibration while driving from having the u-joint angles not matching sort like a unbalance tire feels and get worse the faster you go.

I wish someone made front adjustable sway bar end links, that is the only void I see in all manufacturers offerings. Any amount of lift is going to preload the front sway bar limiting articulation with SDM inactive and stiffening up the cornering, probably making the ride slightly more harsh on road or at speeds above SDM disconnect capabilities, although it may produce better cornering on the road similar to adding a larger sway bar.

King has front and rear sway bar end links but they aren't adjustable (front or rear) and aren't any longer (front) just beefier and they use either uniball or heim joints so that can lead to suspension clunks either from new or as it ages and the price for those is ridiculous for what your getting IMO.