Remote reservoir shocks. Falcon, King or Icon?

[Wbrook24]

Any reason to choose one over the other. Will see a lot of washboard roads and forest service roads.

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[hjdca]

I had the same questions. I ended up ordering the Falcon SP2 3.3 adjustable shocks on Black Friday. Still waiting.... For me, it was between the Kings and the Falcons. What tilted me towards the Falcons is a "Casey 250" video where he asked the "Epic Adventures Outfitters" guy "why he took off the Kings on his JT and put on the Falcons". His answer was - they are much easier to adjust. Turn the lever one or two clicks instead of 30 clicks with the Kings. It seems he got tired of the time needed to adjust all 4 shocks between on-road and off-road with the Kings.
Regarding performance, it seems he liked both the Kings and Falcons. it seemed he favored the Falcons on the street for his loaded JT.

 

[LostWoods]

Any reason to choose one over the other. Will see a lot of washboard roads and forest service roads.

Then King/Fox as long as you are talking 2.5s. Icon and Falcon are both digressive valved while Fox and King are linear trending slightly toward progressive.

Digressive is going to be stiff with quick hits while doing less great at dampening soft hits... On road, towing, and on slower trails that have sudden drops, this is a great thing. The trade off is that they are aggressive and harsh over washboard roads while not having enough dampening for slow hits like larger whoops. It's a solid axle truck so it's unlikely you're hauling nine kinds of ass over whoops anyway.

Linear/Progressive shocks are going to be much more compliant with quick hits so they are softer on road and over washboard roads. Their valving also allows for better management of large, slower movements like large whoops but they don't have as great of management for large, quick hits. This can, however, be managed with air bumps which means you're only sacrificing a bit of on-road tightness. Fox makes a great air bump kit that fits inside the spring perch and uses the stock bump location... just need to trim a bit off the factory bump mount and it slides right in.

No matter what you choose, get them valved for your weight and springs - it makes all the difference in the world and it's a lot easier to find a King, Fox, or Bilstein dealer who can do it over Falcon and Icon.

 

[Wbrook24]

hjdca let me know how you like the Falcon 3.3s when you get them on. I had heard they are stiffer then some but that they soften up a bit once there broken in. I keep considering going that route but was concerned how they would handle the washboard stuff.

 

[Wbrook24]

Then King/Fox as long as you are talking 2.5s. Icon and Falcon are both digressive valved while Fox and King are linear trending slightly toward progressive.

Digressive is going to be stiff with quick hits while doing less great at dampening soft hits... On road, towing, and on slower trails that have sudden drops, this is a great thing. The trade off is that they are aggressive and harsh over washboard roads while not having enough dampening for slow hits like larger whoops. It's a solid axle truck so it's unlikely you're hauling nine kinds of ass over whoops anyway.

Linear/Progressive shocks are going to be much more compliant with quick hits so they are softer on road and over washboard roads. Their valving also allows for better management of large, slower movements like large whoops but they don't have as great of management for large, quick hits. This can, however, be managed with air bumps which means you're only sacrificing a bit of on-road tightness. Fox makes a great air bump kit that fits inside the spring perch and uses the stock bump location... just need to trim a bit off the factory bump mount and it slides right in.

No matter what you choose, get them valved for your weight and springs - it makes all the difference in the world and it's a lot easier to find a King, Fox, or Bilstein dealer who can do it over Falcon and Icon.

Thanks for the info. I had looked at the Evo 2.5 lift with king shocks but wasn't sure I wanted as much lift as people were getting. I had also looked at putting on the mojave shocks but if i ever wanted 37s they won't work with a lift. Probably better to go the evo route......so hard to decide.

 

[hjdca]

hjdca let me know how you like the Falcon 3.3s when you get them on. I had heard they are stiffer then some but that they soften up a bit once there broken in. I keep considering going that route but was concerned how they would handle the washboard stuff.

Ok, Falcon SP2 3.3 adjustable shocks just arrived. I ordered them on Black Friday weekend from Clayton Off road together with their 3.5" Overland Plus kit. Timing seems to be pretty good. Clayton told me today that my lift kit should ship this Friday. So, it seems Teraflex and Clayton are running about the same wait time.
I have to say I am super impressed with the quality feel of these shocks when you handle them. Super great USA Engineering and Manufacturing. If they perform as good as they look and feel, I am in business. The adjust knobs feel thick, sturdy, strong, and positive locking. The shocks are labeled JT corner specific. Serial numbers are low. Here are some pics of the unboxing. The box got beat up some from Utah, and the shocks got unseated from their spots, but, the shocks were not scratched at all. So far, so good. These things look awesome.

 

[Wbrook24]

Those look awesome. I have been considering the clayton 2.5 inch lift and 3.3's. Really interested to see how you like the lift and shock setup.

 

[Mac]

On Teraflex’s site they say having the reservoir on the body provides better performance than remote reservoir shocks. They sure look nice.
Curious if these type of shocks are really needed for the majority of use they see, would a regular Fox shock or Bilstein 5100 overheat and would the performance be noticeably degraded in normal use? At what point is a shock like these needed?

 

[hjdca]

On Teraflex’s site they say having the reservoir on the body provides better performance than remote reservoir shocks. They sure look nice.
Curious if these type of shocks are really needed for the majority of use they see, would a regular Fox shock or Bilstein 5100 overheat and would the performance be noticeably degraded in normal use? At what point is a shock like these needed?

For me, it is not so much the endurance issue, but, more that I like the adjustability that you can do based on terrain and speed -- ie. that you can do between higher speed Dunes/desert, street, and rock crawling. It is sort of like having rock crawling, desert shock, and street shock all in one.

I have the manual JTR and the Rubicon shocks bottomed out a few times when I was hitting the dunes in Pismo. In this scenario, I firm up the shocks to 3. When you are rock crawling or slow speed 4wheeling, you can set the shocks to 1. On the street, set them to 2.4 or 2.1, etc.., so, you get no swaying.

 

[Mac]

Certainly not in the same caliper as the shocks mentioned here but I had a set of Rancho 9000s on my JKU which were adjustable, you could definitely notice a difference between the 9 settings on the shock.

 

[LostWoods]

On Teraflex’s site they say having the reservoir on the body provides better performance than remote reservoir shocks. They sure look nice.
Curious if these type of shocks are really needed for the majority of use they see, would a regular Fox shock or Bilstein 5100 overheat and would the performance be noticeably degraded in normal use? At what point is a shock like these needed?

It's not a difference in performance on high end shocks. The hose bulging is what they're probably referring to and it's just not an issue on good shocks.

As for need, need is a strong word. Reservoirs separate oil and nitrogen (without they're called emulsion shocks because the nitrogen mixes into the oil) and that allows for fine tuning and better predictability. Most don't go long enough, hard enough to really need Fox/King 2.5s, for example, but almost anyone who does longer trail rides over rough terrain will benefit from 2.0 resi shocks if for no other reason than they have more oil volume and will take longer to fade.

Teraflex is a bit of a different animal that isn't in the same realm since they're digressive valved - it makes them excellent for slow wheeling which is Teraflex's game. Digressive shocks have a sharp initial response which is why they seriously benefit from an adjuster; you can set that initial response to be firm while wheeling and soft while driving. Wheeling can really cycle your suspension so I'd imagine their reservoirs are more for fluid volume to keep them cooler than anything.

 

[Theoz385]

Any updates?? How do you like them on the street?? Thanks!!

 

[Wbrook24]

I was just logging on to see if you had a chance to get them set up as well. Really curious to get your impressions since I will be making my decision in the next week or two.

 

[hjdca]

Any updates?? How do you like them on the street?? Thanks!!

I finally received all the parts - Clayton 3.5" overland plus kit and the SP2 3.3 Falcon Adjustable shocks. I plan to do the install this weekend.

Note: Since, I had to wait for the lift, I decided to install my Warn platinum winch, and Rockslide Engineering steps with armor last weekend. That stuff weighs a ton. I did not bother to measure, but, I can tell that the front of my JTR is lower, maybe 3/4" drop now... I can also kinda feel the extra weight of the winch sometimes with that wallowing feel of the JTR. I am really looking forward to the springs and shocks now. My JTR springs and shocks feel weak with the added weight of the winch. I did some light wheeling with it and the front end hits the bumps stops much easier now. We can only compare the amount of lift, and what kind of ride I get on the shocks with this additional weight now, so, it obviously is going to be much, much better, since I think the stock JTR springs and shocks are weak for the added weight of a winch. The winch and RSE steps with armor were part of my plan, so, I can only give you an evaluation of the ride that is close to my final build weight.

 

[Wbrook24]

Definitely looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

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