Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans - 2016 F150 King Coilovers w/Icon UCA's and Toyo AT2 XT 285/75R17

Hello everyone,

I’m a new member to the site, but have been lurking around the forum for a while now. I just wanted to say thank you, in one way or another over the years the wealth of knowledge has been very instrumental in my decision making for parts and issues I’ve experienced. I’ve owned a 2010, 2012 and two 2016’s F150’s (first 2016 lariat build date of 2/16 was pretty much a lemon) Now I own a 2016 Platinum (build date 1/15) and has been a night and day difference.

Now to the reason of the thread. This is only one man’s opinion and experience’s so take it for what it’s worth. My 2012 I put an Icon stage 3 kit on it, loved the ride and the performance of the kit. What I didn’t love was the customer service. When the kit arrived both of the 2.5 reservoir rears had issues. One had a visible leak, the other wasn’t charged enough because I could compress it by hand. When I called Icon to let them know about my issue I was met with some flak. They said they would fix them free of charge but I had to pay shipping. Well when you spend over 3k on something you expect it to work and arrive with no issues right. Well I paid the $300.00 give or take a few dollars to ship it overnight FedEx to them. About a week later they arrived back to my doorstep and I installed everything.

Performance of Icon kit was great, on road it had a firmer but not jarring feel. Off road it was responsive and soaked up some pretty decent hits with ease. With most of these suspensions, they faster you go the more they perform and shine. Again the rears started to leak after about 7k and I sold the truck and bought a 2015 Denali HD. Now I’m not bashing Icon in any way. I think they make great products and I still continue to buy their products today. As I said before these are my experiences. I should also put my driving style is about 80% highway, 10% washboard roads and 10% off road.

Fast forward to my current truck 2016 F150 Platinum. I won’t get into the first 2016 that will be put a thread when I find the correct one. So, with these new trucks and the weight savings of the new body. The ride in my opinion, suffered as well. I live in West Texas and these roads will rattle your teeth out of your head. I decided I would go back down the old suspension road. So I started looking on the forums and googling reviews. I knew I was going to go with Icon or king. Some of the members on here stated the new trucks had a bounce to them going down the road with the Icon kit. Well I don’t mind re valving the shocks but I don’t want to have to send them back to Icon for service. I called two different companies, Stage3 they have real world testing on the Icons and Filthy motorsports, my opinion the experts on kings. If you want no BS and straight answers call them. After talking to Ben from Filthy motorsports for about 30 mins I decided I was going with kings. He went over everything, my driving style, any aftermarket parts (I have a Fusion front bumper) and really what I expected from the shocks performance wise. Both companies hit me with a fire hose of knowledge.

Now which Kings to buy? With the adjuster or without was my next dilemma. Ben asked me how many times I was willing to mess with the adjuster. Well maybe a few I said until I said screw it and set it on the middle setting (he said that’s what most people do) there is a place for them. But not on my application. I was told to invest that money into some UCA’s or deaver leafs.

So I did just that, I picked up some Icon UCA’s from Stage3. I could have went with Camburg, the 1.25 uniball vs 1 in isn’t a huge difference to me. The Icon’s and Camburg were pretty much the same price at Stage 3 when I bought them. The whole reason I went with the Icon was the cap they offer. That’s it, West Texas is a dirt field and the more protection no matter how minimal is better than nothing. Fit and finish is out standing with both. Now with UCA’s all they really offer is added travel without binding on the crappy ball joint. There's no noticeable ride difference that I can tell.

Now the kings have arrived and I installed everything a few days ago……If you are on the fence between Icon and the Kings. Kings all day every day!!! I wish I went with them the first time. They are just as firm as the Icons but they have a more refined rebound, they soak up everything with the stock valving from king. Companies can re-valve them to give you a floating on air feeling, but you will lose some offroad performance. I should also add you can use the stock 20” wheels with +44 offset and tires with this kit because the reservoirs mount under the tow hooks. The Icon kit you can’t and will need a max of 5in back spacing to clear the reservoirs.

For the rear shocks I have just put Icon 2.0 smooth bodies on it and the rear stays for the most part planted instead of trying to bounce into the other lane. The next step will be a set of deaver leafs and then after I’ll make a decision to change out the shocks to a set of 2.5. Some will say that 2.5 fronts and 2.0 rears isn’t a good idea from a performance aspect. Well maybe it is or isn’t. I don’t carry anyweight in the back so 2.0s suit me for now, but if I have a few hundred pounds in the bed then I would say go with 2.5 rears to start off with.

For my tires and wheels I went with Method NV 17in and Toyo AT2 XT 285/75/17 or what the sticker said 34/11.50r17. A couple of reasons I did this. One is I thought I need the backspacing but really I could of held off instead to swiping the old plastic card again. The tire size and price was another factor. A set of AT2 XT 295/60r20 and a set of FG spacers was pretty much the same as buying a new set of tires and wheels. Tread Depot had the 295/60r20 (34in) for $350.00 per and the 285/75/17 (34in) for $225.00. Discount tire sold them to me for $210 a tire and crushed any ones price for the wheels. I have the EB and 3.55 gears so weight was a factor. I wanted to stay under 65lbs per tire, I could have went with a 35x12.50 but 75-80lbs a tire wasn’t something I liked. Plus a 17in tire gives me a bit more side wall then the 20in.

Road noise on the Toyo is minimal and I barely notice any loss in power. I’ve had AT2 (XT)on the last two trucks a Jeep Rubicon and they perform fantastic in snow, mud and Ice. They have a wider tread pattern so they clean out fairly well and rocks don’t stick in the tread and become projectiles at highway speeds in your wheelwells. I removed the front crash bars and I can tell you Ford doesn't make it easy, unless you have a torch or a 7in grinder.

Once I figure out to upload the pictures I will, and if there is any questions ask or constructive criticism pass it along. Before you ask why I didn’t go with Fox or Boss, I got the Kings for less than any of them besides the boss kit and the boss kit wasn’t something that appealed to me.

Feel free to move this if Its posted incorrectly.