BlueSVT
FRF Addict
For the past 18 months, my truck has been through thousands of off-road miles, dozens of Raptor Runs, and countless hours pre-running and chasing for the Raptor Expeditions program. The time has come where the stock suspension simply isn't sufficient for the type of driving we do, with the gear we carry, over the distances we cover. We had the chance to run with the Icon-equipped SuperCrew on the past Raptor Expedition run, and for many of us was our first look at their new 3.0 coil over system for the Raptor. From what we all saw, we were very interested in seeing more, and seeing what these shocks could do! The Icon boys were blazing the trail with the front of the pack, and it was clear their new suspension system was far more capable than any of us knew at the time.
I have been fortunate enough to be loaned a set of Icon 3.0's from ICON, to test not only the performance on the SuperCab, but also the shock's performance on our Expedition sweep truck, RSV-4… which carries 600+lbs in the bed on every run. Before I go into installation specifics and off-road impressions, here are the specs from Icon… Worth taking a look at. They've really managed to pack a tremendous amount of technology and substantial engineering into these shocks, and it's very evident the minute you unbox them, that they're applying new ideas and features that no other shock currently offers. While some may have this or that, these shocks seem to have it ALL in one package.
New Ford SVT Raptor ICON 3.0 Performance Shock System | Icon Vehicle Dynamics -
Install
Installation was rather straight forward, using the supplied instructions. The only modifications we needed to do, was add a small amount of clearance on both the front and rear mounts, to allow for the larger body on the rear, and clearance for the reservoir hose fittings in the front. The rear only required a small amount of trimming, using a small die grinder works best! After trimming, it's always best to re-paint anything that you exposed, as it will rust in short order (like everything on my underbody that is now sand-blasted after off roaring).
For the front shocks, the "inside" of the mounting hole needs to be slightly expanded, to allow the fitting coming from the top of the shock body to clear the hole when installing. It's very straight forward, and a picture included in the instructions shows you roughly how much to clearance, about 1/4".
We took a few shots to show just how much was needed:
And this view is from the passenger side fender, looking towards the engine:
Other than that, the install is very straight forward, similar to any other shock install (factory shock included). With a helper (which is HIGHLY recommended for ANY shock install) the process should only take most people 3-4 hours at the most, and is completely reversible back to stock of course, if needed.
Another feature of these shocks that's a bit different, is the location of the front shock reservoir with compression/rebound adjustment knob. Icon decided to mount this reservoir upright, and in a more protected location. The location protects the reservoir from excessive dirt/debris, and most importantly from possible impacts from rocks or sand in the event you have a hard front-end impact. In addition, their knob is pretty slick, allowing for 10-point adjustment with a VERY smooth and well-labeled adjustment knob. You don't need to remember where you left if, as the knob is engraved with settings from "S" being softest to "H" being the hardest, with a total of 10 clicks. What we also liked, was the fact this knob could be turned in either direction, so you can literally go from the softest to hardest setting in 1 click. In short, it's by far the most user friendly adjuster we've seen, and we love it.
Here is the front and rear shocks once installed on my truck. A huge thanks to Gary Fries and Mike Gordon for the installation help!
Off-Road Tuning[size]
We took Icon's advice, and set the shocks up how they suggested to see how they ran out of the box. As you see in the picture above, out of the box the front end height is comparable to a truck with stock shocks on the "Top" perch. We actually like this, for a few reasons. A lot of people are making the switch to 37's, especially when they upgrade their shocks and start really going all out with these trucks. This means you will be able to accommodate larger tires, without having to significantly increase the front end pre-load to get there. Like the stock shocks, the more pre-load you add, the valving is now fighting against significantly more spring force, making your "On-Road" ride more harsh, and overall the setup may be more difficult to tune. For now, we're leaving as-is to see how the springs settle over a few trips, and if any sag is experienced (so far, after two fairly aggressive runs NO sagging has been noted).
First road we decided to run down, was a set of trails in Barstow near Outlet Center drive… those of you know this area know just how tough this particular area is! I've been here many times before in my truck with the stock Fox set-up, but this was the first time I was able to FLY down some of the roads I previously would have to tackle at much slower and more cautious speeds. It's a great feeling to look over and see traffic on the HIGHWAY going the same speed you are, over large whoops, dips, and trenches! Within the first 5 minutes of use, my passengers (Mike Gordon and Erik Knutson, who frequent the Expeditions runs as my co-drivers) and I both could tell this setup was working far better than I anticipated out of the box. For testing, we let all of the pressure out of my fox 2.0 bump stops, so they would not interfere with the last few inches of travel. Surprisingly, we rarely impacted the now-collapsed bump stop, even over some of the tougher sections.
We spend a few hours making the same run up and down a nice section we found, making slight adjustments each time. In the end, we found that Icon truly has these shocks set up VERY well out of the box. When changes are needed, these shocks really shine compared to any others I've seen. All adjustments can be made without ANY hand tools, using a large anodized knob on the top of each bypass tube. There is a noticeable "click" at each 1/4 turn, so it's very easy to count each adjustment! We played around with adjustments, ending up being very happy with the out of the box settings overall! A small rebound change was made, and of course the front end adjustment was changed a bit, ending up at "3" for a large percentage of our riding. Those on more challenging terrain will likely want to set the front end to "5", and in the dunes I would guess that "7" would be perfect. The changes on the front adjuster were very noticeable, and it was a NICE luxury to have on these shocks. I personally would not be able to go back to a non-adjusting front end, after having these shocks installed now. When heading home, we clicked back to "S" for a nice smooth ride… can't beat that.
Hauling Cargo
As you'll see in the video I will be posting below, we had the rare opportunity to really put these shocks to the test, and OVERLOAD my bed beyond what I would ever normally carry. While pre-running and testing, we encountered a broken down dirt-biker from San Diego. He had no support, and it would have been hours before his friends with a trailer were able to come get him. We decided to shuffle some stuff around, and load his bike in the back of my truck, and give him a ride back to Barstow. All in all, roughly 1000lbs in the bed of my truck, that we would now have to haul down a power line road, in Barstow!
We made no adjustments, didn't crank down the compression like some would assume. To our surprise, the ride was VERY comfortable… and to even more of our surprise, we were NOT constantly bottoming the back end on the bump stops. Originally, we assumed we'd be cruising towards Barstow at 25-30MPH being mindful of every bump in the trail… however, we eventually found ourselves traveling at 50mph+ as our speed and confidence continued to climb after seeing just how well this setup was working. We were more than happy, and truly impressed with these rear shocks. Our new friend, Steve (MotoX rider), was enjoying the view from the truck behind me, watching his bike sail through the trails at high speeds… and enjoying the A/C of course, haha.
Once our testing had concluded, and we dropped off Steve, who would then wait for his friends who were bringing him a trailer…
On-Road Ride
Of course, with these trucks most owners spend 90% of their time on the asphalt, not in the desert or in the dirt. The on-road ride is VERY important to most owners still, as it should be. I found the on-road ride to be very comparable to stock, which was a nice relief. The body roll and diving under braking is definitely reduced, due to the increased piston size and front spring size increase. The highway ride is still very compliant, and even with the +3" Deavers in the back, I didn't experienced the dreaded "galloping" that will drive you crazy on sectioned highways (aside from once section of the I-10 in Los Angeles… but even god can't help you there… haha).
The nice benefit to being able to set the front suspension on the softest setting is truly noticeable when hitting the streets. Although on soft, it's still plenty firm to soak up parking lot ramps, speed bumps, and drainage crossings. The true test was driving my wife around town, who was still very happy with the ride quality, and didn't even notice a change from stock! Remember… happy wives = happy lives!
In addition, these shocks are as quiet as stock too, which for many will be a selling point for sure. The valves in the rear triple bypass setup are equipped with specially engineering dampening valves to eliminate the "click" that can be heard with other brands. Translation? These babies are quiet, not even noticeable.
I have been fortunate enough to be loaned a set of Icon 3.0's from ICON, to test not only the performance on the SuperCab, but also the shock's performance on our Expedition sweep truck, RSV-4… which carries 600+lbs in the bed on every run. Before I go into installation specifics and off-road impressions, here are the specs from Icon… Worth taking a look at. They've really managed to pack a tremendous amount of technology and substantial engineering into these shocks, and it's very evident the minute you unbox them, that they're applying new ideas and features that no other shock currently offers. While some may have this or that, these shocks seem to have it ALL in one package.
New Ford SVT Raptor ICON 3.0 Performance Shock System | Icon Vehicle Dynamics -
Install
Installation was rather straight forward, using the supplied instructions. The only modifications we needed to do, was add a small amount of clearance on both the front and rear mounts, to allow for the larger body on the rear, and clearance for the reservoir hose fittings in the front. The rear only required a small amount of trimming, using a small die grinder works best! After trimming, it's always best to re-paint anything that you exposed, as it will rust in short order (like everything on my underbody that is now sand-blasted after off roaring).
For the front shocks, the "inside" of the mounting hole needs to be slightly expanded, to allow the fitting coming from the top of the shock body to clear the hole when installing. It's very straight forward, and a picture included in the instructions shows you roughly how much to clearance, about 1/4".
We took a few shots to show just how much was needed:
And this view is from the passenger side fender, looking towards the engine:
Other than that, the install is very straight forward, similar to any other shock install (factory shock included). With a helper (which is HIGHLY recommended for ANY shock install) the process should only take most people 3-4 hours at the most, and is completely reversible back to stock of course, if needed.
Another feature of these shocks that's a bit different, is the location of the front shock reservoir with compression/rebound adjustment knob. Icon decided to mount this reservoir upright, and in a more protected location. The location protects the reservoir from excessive dirt/debris, and most importantly from possible impacts from rocks or sand in the event you have a hard front-end impact. In addition, their knob is pretty slick, allowing for 10-point adjustment with a VERY smooth and well-labeled adjustment knob. You don't need to remember where you left if, as the knob is engraved with settings from "S" being softest to "H" being the hardest, with a total of 10 clicks. What we also liked, was the fact this knob could be turned in either direction, so you can literally go from the softest to hardest setting in 1 click. In short, it's by far the most user friendly adjuster we've seen, and we love it.
Here is the front and rear shocks once installed on my truck. A huge thanks to Gary Fries and Mike Gordon for the installation help!
Off-Road Tuning[size]
We took Icon's advice, and set the shocks up how they suggested to see how they ran out of the box. As you see in the picture above, out of the box the front end height is comparable to a truck with stock shocks on the "Top" perch. We actually like this, for a few reasons. A lot of people are making the switch to 37's, especially when they upgrade their shocks and start really going all out with these trucks. This means you will be able to accommodate larger tires, without having to significantly increase the front end pre-load to get there. Like the stock shocks, the more pre-load you add, the valving is now fighting against significantly more spring force, making your "On-Road" ride more harsh, and overall the setup may be more difficult to tune. For now, we're leaving as-is to see how the springs settle over a few trips, and if any sag is experienced (so far, after two fairly aggressive runs NO sagging has been noted).
First road we decided to run down, was a set of trails in Barstow near Outlet Center drive… those of you know this area know just how tough this particular area is! I've been here many times before in my truck with the stock Fox set-up, but this was the first time I was able to FLY down some of the roads I previously would have to tackle at much slower and more cautious speeds. It's a great feeling to look over and see traffic on the HIGHWAY going the same speed you are, over large whoops, dips, and trenches! Within the first 5 minutes of use, my passengers (Mike Gordon and Erik Knutson, who frequent the Expeditions runs as my co-drivers) and I both could tell this setup was working far better than I anticipated out of the box. For testing, we let all of the pressure out of my fox 2.0 bump stops, so they would not interfere with the last few inches of travel. Surprisingly, we rarely impacted the now-collapsed bump stop, even over some of the tougher sections.
We spend a few hours making the same run up and down a nice section we found, making slight adjustments each time. In the end, we found that Icon truly has these shocks set up VERY well out of the box. When changes are needed, these shocks really shine compared to any others I've seen. All adjustments can be made without ANY hand tools, using a large anodized knob on the top of each bypass tube. There is a noticeable "click" at each 1/4 turn, so it's very easy to count each adjustment! We played around with adjustments, ending up being very happy with the out of the box settings overall! A small rebound change was made, and of course the front end adjustment was changed a bit, ending up at "3" for a large percentage of our riding. Those on more challenging terrain will likely want to set the front end to "5", and in the dunes I would guess that "7" would be perfect. The changes on the front adjuster were very noticeable, and it was a NICE luxury to have on these shocks. I personally would not be able to go back to a non-adjusting front end, after having these shocks installed now. When heading home, we clicked back to "S" for a nice smooth ride… can't beat that.
Hauling Cargo
As you'll see in the video I will be posting below, we had the rare opportunity to really put these shocks to the test, and OVERLOAD my bed beyond what I would ever normally carry. While pre-running and testing, we encountered a broken down dirt-biker from San Diego. He had no support, and it would have been hours before his friends with a trailer were able to come get him. We decided to shuffle some stuff around, and load his bike in the back of my truck, and give him a ride back to Barstow. All in all, roughly 1000lbs in the bed of my truck, that we would now have to haul down a power line road, in Barstow!
We made no adjustments, didn't crank down the compression like some would assume. To our surprise, the ride was VERY comfortable… and to even more of our surprise, we were NOT constantly bottoming the back end on the bump stops. Originally, we assumed we'd be cruising towards Barstow at 25-30MPH being mindful of every bump in the trail… however, we eventually found ourselves traveling at 50mph+ as our speed and confidence continued to climb after seeing just how well this setup was working. We were more than happy, and truly impressed with these rear shocks. Our new friend, Steve (MotoX rider), was enjoying the view from the truck behind me, watching his bike sail through the trails at high speeds… and enjoying the A/C of course, haha.
Once our testing had concluded, and we dropped off Steve, who would then wait for his friends who were bringing him a trailer…
On-Road Ride
Of course, with these trucks most owners spend 90% of their time on the asphalt, not in the desert or in the dirt. The on-road ride is VERY important to most owners still, as it should be. I found the on-road ride to be very comparable to stock, which was a nice relief. The body roll and diving under braking is definitely reduced, due to the increased piston size and front spring size increase. The highway ride is still very compliant, and even with the +3" Deavers in the back, I didn't experienced the dreaded "galloping" that will drive you crazy on sectioned highways (aside from once section of the I-10 in Los Angeles… but even god can't help you there… haha).
The nice benefit to being able to set the front suspension on the softest setting is truly noticeable when hitting the streets. Although on soft, it's still plenty firm to soak up parking lot ramps, speed bumps, and drainage crossings. The true test was driving my wife around town, who was still very happy with the ride quality, and didn't even notice a change from stock! Remember… happy wives = happy lives!
In addition, these shocks are as quiet as stock too, which for many will be a selling point for sure. The valves in the rear triple bypass setup are equipped with specially engineering dampening valves to eliminate the "click" that can be heard with other brands. Translation? These babies are quiet, not even noticeable.
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