Completely UNBIASED Suspension Shootout [Shock Value Conclusion]

Our final thoughts after we tested FIVE different suspension setups without knowing which setup we were driving, all on the same exact truck, in the same terrain. We wanted to know what setup was the best with NO biases. We were very surprised by the results!
Fox, King, Elka, Bilstein and Icon were all tested in this full review series shoot out.
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[@BingBingBingBingham]

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.

[@robertespinoza2740]

@chrisbing the 6112s

[@lorenzoronpedrique2952]

Dobinsons, Old man Emu, Bilstein 5100, Ironman, Rough County.

[@robertespinoza2740]

@@lorenzoronpedrique2952 exactly

[@robertespinoza2740]

@@lorenzoronpedrique2952 they should do the 6112s tho

[@danielpyziak6537]

Basic Fox 2.0’s too

[@johnterpack3940]

Do you know how rare it is to see any form of blind testing in the auto hobby? Kudos for that.

[@hwi7114]

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.

[@Carlo-_]

We just saw icon stage 1’s hold their own against the more expensive comp

[@accordv6er]

And other solutions imo. Do an Alibaba/fleabay round up, OEM stuff too like Tacoma TRD, Bilstein, and Tundra sizes

[@douglasvasquez4113]

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!

[@glennlapres3769]

My vote goes to blind testing different AT, hybrid and MT tires ☝️

[@jamesbrekle7533]

I wanna see the Baja Boss A/Ts!

[@ismav3690]

Haha they’ll need ear plugs. They would hear the mt right away

[@jamiethomas8975]

Great series! Would love to see a review of the Bilstein 6110/ 5160 shocks!

[@thorsky2754]

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.

[@bquade70]

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.

[@nynomadfjc3907]

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"

[@Enessy13]

These guys literally blind tested them all and gave you the results. 😂

[@brokenwrench404]

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

[@freidrichnietzsche6643]

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!

[@Celticjh2000]

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

[@lukekelly2590]

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.

[@bensti]

open the fox can

[@krebel86]

@@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.

[@Relyk711]

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.

[@ryan6109]

@@lukekelly2590 the foxes were just tuned by a putz in one afternoon.

[@Mike-kr9ys]

This was a great test series! Thanks for putting these shocks through such a thorough test. Very helpful.

[@javin028]

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.

[@apa7611]

The kings leaking after a few hours that’s insane for what they cost.

[@wassawbound2926]

Kings can be rebuilt. I think that is why they have a higher price point.

[@bryanmayes9234]

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)

[@gabrielreyes8476]

@@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.

[@JamesFisherfrilleddragons]

​@wassawbound2926 you'd have to pay 800 to rebuild them, they SHOULD NOT be leaking!

[@russellbultman7614]

@@JamesFisherfrilleddragons they clearly stated they werent sure what the oil was

[@DirtRoad_Chronicles]

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.

[@robert9guinn]

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

[@kevinhew5014]

@@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

[@YotaSurfs]

​@@kevinhew5014 hey I know you haha

[@YotaSurfs]

​@@kevinhew5014 just got mine revalved

[@ShockSurplus]

@@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.

[@user-wf9sh9bb7z]

Great series. Would like to see comparison on a truck weighted down with steel bumpers, sliders, under armor, roof top tent, 33” tires, winch

[@Many100videos]

Would love to see the dobinson MRR and the rough country vertex added to this series. Heard good things about them. Great vid!

[@MusashiSush1]

I have been running the Elka 2.5 DC’s that are adjustable since February and have been loving them.

[@HuskyMike]

Love the way this test was run. I wonder how much different the results would be with a functional sway bar?

[@BradenYoungMTB]

Great series! Wish I would have seen this about a year ago!

[@gabedudley8435]

This is a really good review!! Thank you for taking the time to switch out 5 (six) different shocks!!

[@richardplascencia1929]

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.

[@JD83734]

What’d you think of that setup? Might go that route on my 04 tundra

[@davidr.1517]

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?

[@JD83734]

@@davidr.1517 how’d it run off road? Washboard and whoops

[@richardplascencia1929]

@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.

[@SDMTB14]

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

[@123devinzz1]

i was thinking of these exact brands aswell. maybe even rough country vertex coilovers aswell

[@fzner6844]

Reviews these brands please🙏🏻

[@jdmfc1]

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

[@peterhoma6385]

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 !

[@artofwar1776]

I’d like to see an upper control arm comparison. Thank you for doing this.

[@carloswilliams719]

Thanks for running this test you guys. Recieved some great info. Would like to see the Aussie's tested. OME's & Dobinson's

[@chrislee4946]

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

[@ShockSurplus]

we're all waiting on the adjusters to come out =)

[@HuntFishLiveFL]

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...

[@pittwerx]

Project Farm did a solid video on winches

[@bensti]

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)

[@mrocco36]

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!

[@TacoBruso]

awesome thanks again, didn't realize you were doing a summary video so this was a great surprise. Awesome series !!

[@r35tmanbash]

Thanks for doing this. You guys have helped a lot with this video. Great job! 👍🏽

[@GaryWold]

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.

[@erok080]

I was interested to see Dobinson tested as well. But this series was amazing. Bring more!

[@chriswoods3271]

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

[@GregPorterServices]

Great review guys!

[@Bacnow]

I love Bilsteins! Have had the 5100/5160 setup in my truck and the 6112 setup on my Bronco! These things are bulletproof, economical and perform way better than their price point would suggest! I’m surprised by the performance of the Kings! I always thought about upgrading but couldn’t get past the pricing. Now, i’m glad i never pulled the trigger on them.

[@shifty5279]

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.

[@adrianjay1972]

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!

[@Ductaco]

Of course custom valving can change things. However for those who are buying out the box set ups this is huge. Thanks guys!

[@stevieray1828]

Excellent point, it's all about valving and spring rates for your specific vehicle

[@mxer254]

awesome series guys!!

[@moridin1000]

Thanks for doing this! Would love to see further reviews with Dobinsons, ADS, and Radflos if possible.

[@604Voodoo]

I second Radflo!

[@moridin1000]

And just to clarify, Dobinsons MRAs (the 3-way adjustables)

[@tayloru8282]

Agreed on ADS!

[@Crtulu]

Thanks for doing this!

[@daveharness70]

Extremely good series!

[@nkreigline01]

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.

[@wyant4]

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.

[@Atizzle121310]

Loved the series! So, which ones would you recommend? It sounded like king on road and bilstein off road.

[@tkelly1087]

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.

[@HunterDude58]

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.

[@pony0110]

How’s on road running that?

[@alexgarcia3900]

Thanks for the video. Haven't seen anything like it.

[@mattbrackett8393]

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 .

[@motodude23]

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

[@spencerwarholik2904]

6112 comparison to similar set ups next!

[@TheReligiousLeft]

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.

[@SDwriter.and.surfer]

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.

[@mikeadamski4958]

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.

[@explore_off_road]

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.

[@TomwithaDream]

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.

[@accordv6er]

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

[@realdeal1512]

I recently spoke to a shop that does builds for 4 Runners and recommended Icon for sure

[@FOURFTP]

If I have the 2.5 king shocks on my 1st gen tacoma is there a way to add the remote reservoir or is that not a option ? Only fox has the 2.5 with reservoir

[@mtbgeoff]

It’d be really interesting to get some of the vendors on to discuss their shocks. Especially Fox!

[@joshuasavill1874]

Thanks guys

[@Aleissa_04]

Amazing series! Would be great to see a comparison between iron mans foam cell pro, dobinsons, bp51, radflow and bilstein 5100s .

[@andrewwey7472]

Please test dobinsons IMS!

[@patrickcross2799]

Lights and related lighting accessories would be fantastic to see reviewed.

[@MrSMANCHEZ]

Be cool to see the Eibach shocks tested

[@ChronicMasterHater]

I love my fox shocks. Make sure you get them tuned for your truck!

[@AG-mt4bm]

You guys definitely need to do this test again but with a full size truck. Silverado/Sierra. I imagine the shocks will act different since the Tacoma is lighter than a full size

[@willimmel]

Awesome series! I’d love to see how all of them would work if they were tuned specifically

[@nanopotato420]

I was thinking the same thing throughout the whole series.

[@prrnrngr]

Same shim stacks or same goal in ride feel? Either way, out of the box, some did better than others.

[@willimmel]

@@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

[@HiYota808]

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.

[@jdesigns7239]

+2000 subs from this series. I’ll be interested to see more like this!

[@TrashPandaGarage]

Dudes. Killer video series. Not a Taco owner, but still enjoyed it.

[@nic4682]

Dobinsons seems to be popular too can you guys test them?

[@ernestoalvarez329]

Please test the Bilstein 6112/5160

[@hwi7114]

I was looking at Fox, now y'all got me eyeing Icon.

[@BackyardBeaters]

Please post something about pulling the foxs apart. Super super curious why they were so bad.

[@waynemessick149]

Questions! What about Dobinson? Was any tuning to the shocks preformed before or during your testing?

[@alecreinsch]

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.

[@jakeb383]

Try out locked shocks. My friend has them on his 2nd gen and I think they're under rated.

[@airdog1967]

How about a rear SUA shoot out between JDfad, DMZ and Dirt King!! BTW great video series and look forward to wheeling with you guys agian when you come down next time!

[@robthewaywardwoodworker9956]

So you guys only sell for Toyotas. Any recommendations for a factory stock 2013 Power Wagon? My factory shocks are about ready to pack it in I think, so I'm ready to make a change. Thanks.

[@emiledoiron19]

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.

[@jasonchard8327]

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?

[@txgreek3512]

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.

[@McR45]

Would have been interesting if you got the fox’s and kings’s with the adjusters. Makes sense the way you guys did this tho. Eye opening for people who just go for the $$$$ brand over something else cheaper(ish) that might be better out of the box

[@chriswoods3271]

Do you think the Bilsteins would be comparable with the Kings on road if the sway bar was installed?

[@kwojciech]

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.

[@LAXLUCAS1]

Would the external reservoir icon have made a difference from the non resi

[@lorenzoronpedrique2952]

Please try Australian brands. Old Man Emu, Ironman, Dobinsons, etc

[@M7mmdQ]

The fox 2.5, is the same one on the bronco wildtrak 2023?

[@bryanhutson6741]

is there a followup on the Fox shocks?

[@quinnjones1221]

What are your recommendations for those of us losing our teeth due to the insane stiff ride on the Fox 2.5 Racing Series Adjustable? Any settings or info to help us out?

[@dozercole73]

I would be interested in seeing locked offroad shocks in the line up too.

[@vivalasvegas702]

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.

[@stevevonseggern6934]

OE shocks are; not aftermarket versions of either Fox or Bilstein.

[@sunnyoutdooradventures]

such a good series

[@thegreatoutdoore]

I had some used DSC Fox 2.5s in my F-150 that were excellent... and I would dare to say better than my gen2 raptor now at higher and lower speeds. But my buddy had The same experience as you guys for his second gen Tacoma with the fox 2.5s, they were hot trash Right out of the box, maybe something fox should look into. We're local too so if you guys figure something out at Overland Outfitters I'll send his there.

[@RobbDzzz]

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.

[@mikemoravec3978]

Don't forget to add eibach!!! They have 2 setups to choose from for my 4runner👍

[@snosqrl]

Wow! Great series guys! Thanks for doing this. If you're going to do another round on a Taco or 4Runner, you HAVE to throw in Toytecs... just sayin.

[@Kahoa21]

Which of those provide a lift in the rear?