ICON Stage 8 30k Mile Review - Overlanding Toyota Tacoma
Posted by Sean Reyes on
This is a long term ownership review, checking in after about 30k miles of having the stage 8 RXT kit from Icon Vehicle Dynamics on our 2006 Toyota Tacoma 4WD. The kit was initially installed in July of 2017, along with Frontrunner Roofracks, and an A.R.E Z-series bed camper shell - all in preparation for a week on the road and a week at Burning Man. Long term usability of the truck as a mobile base was our primary focus, since this truck will likely stay in the family forever. There’s 220,000 miles currently on the truck.
Previous suspension experience was with Bilstein 5100s for about 50k miles, then Fox 2.0 coilovers and shocks for about 30k miles, then came the Icon setup. The stock suspension lasted quite a while, most of it was back and forth from easy-access campgrounds, Mammoth, and various national parks across California. We saw a more rugged future for the Tacoma, thus the upgrade.
Since then, we’ve pushed the truck much harder through aggressive terrain (Moab), and faster through the deserts of southwest America and Baja. The biggest improvements we saw over the standard suspension, or any mild upgrade (any 2” option):
- Much better capability in handling heavy loads in the rear without excessive bounce (500-700lb loads of gear and sport equipment). The 8-leaf spring progressive rate pack barely squats under a decent load of 300-600lbs, and handles excellent in aggressive terrain; slow terrain with small-medium obstacles.
- Body roll is subjective to load and shock settings (CDCV). There’s significant difference in body roll between soft or firm settings on the shocks. This is more noticeable in the front end without a sway-bar.
- Rear traction is improved quite a bit, its hard to be objective with this because ever since installing the kit, we had an additional 300lbs from the rack, camper shell, and rear aftermarket bumper. There’s no more skipping in the rear though when hitting bumps or going through turns on washboard terrain (constant mini speed bumps). I used to feel the rear end sliding too much when getting squirly in the desert, not much anymore.
- High speed action; such as a full compression of the suspension is a night and day difference over your standard 2” shock. We would constantly top-out on the previous setups, feeling significant impact to the front and rear. Now the suspension creates a soft bounce-off feeling from woop-like bumps or sudden changes in terrain. The rear hydraulic bumpstops provide the extra needed support in high speed environments.
Full Disclosure, we dont push this suspension as hard as its been designed to do. It really performs well, and at its best, at higher speeds in the desert. You can feel a lot of low-speed action as the driver, small bumps and rocks and irregularities are met with higher compression force. When there are high speed actions, such as coming down off a woop or hitting a large burm, this activates the shim stacks through the shock to open up the compression range, resulting in an obvious ‘floaty’ feel. For those not familiar with a race-level suspension, this is kind of the opposite of what is expected when you think of a race product.
As we approach the 50k mile mark, we are considering the scheduled shock rebuild. All offroad shock manufacturers suggest a shock rebuild between 35k-50k miles, depending on how much offroading has been done, vs highway driving. Seeing as how most of our offroad miles have been over slower terrain such as mountainous trails, rocky terrain like that of Moab, and general dirt roads that are predictable, we may opt for a different valving in the front end to soften the ride in those situations.
Since getting one of the first RXT kits off the ICON lot, we've outfitted quite a few Tacomas with similar setups, with nothing but raving reviews through their outtings. We highly recommend this setup in one form or another for anyone wishing to overland, or make their rig expedition ready. See our inital review video below:
