Old Man Emu vs Icon, first hand experience?

ive got ome shocks and coils on my TJ and the ride quality is pretty impressive, but im selling the jeep and building a taco- 4cyl 5spd standard cab 4wd-

how much better is the ride quality and travel of the Icon suspension? is it good enough to spend twice the money?

i want something that will handle well hauling dirtbikes, hauling camping gear, and hauling ***. :sombrero:

leelikesbikes said:

ive got ome shocks and coils on my TJ and the ride quality is pretty impressive, but im selling the jeep and building a taco- 4cyl 5spd standard cab 4wd-

how much better is the ride quality and travel of the Icon suspension? is it good enough to spend twice the money?

i want something that will handle well hauling dirtbikes, hauling camping gear, and hauling ***. :sombrero:

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I've ran both. Both are great. I recommend establishing what you want to do with your truck (besides the details you provided above), the frequency you'd "Haul ***," and where you live.

Right now I sport ICON but only because of the SAC. I was entirely satisfied with OME.

I agree both are great products. I've run both and currently have Icon coilovers and shocks with OME leaf springs on both of my Tacomas.


Jacque

I don't know where Wally World is but in the northeast, several ICON owners could no longer adjust/rebuild the coils. I have only run OME and been happy.

I've run both on the same truck. OME was a huge improvement over stock, and the Icons have been even better. Firm without being harsh, and still holding up the weight of a steel bumper, winch, air compressor, dual batteries etc. for over 100,000 miles. And they are adjustable and re-buildable to boot (though I have yet to have to do either to mine). In my opinion, aftermarket coilover suspensions are one of those things where you get what you pay for. If you're not going to heavily modify the truck or you're on a budget, put on the OME and be happy. If you're going to keep the truck a long time, add a lot of weight in mods/accessories, and just want to do it right the first time, then spring for Icon and you won't be sorry.

Either would provide a good ride. I had Icon's on my old Tacoma when they were still called Donohoes and they were excellent. I never liked the fact that OME's sag and need spacers added to maintain height.

thanks for the replys

i think i better just do the Icon, i have OME on my TJ and its good, but i would like better high speed handling, part of the reason to go taco. i would like to do the extended travel icons and some uniball UCA's, do you guys think the Deavers are worth the money in the rear, or would the dakars do? i want a really pregressive spring rate, so its not too harsh when empty, but doesn't bottom when hauling a couple of dirtbikes or a weeks worth of camping gear.I live in eastern washington, i assume the icons got too corroded in the east and thats why they couldnt be adjusted/serviced? seems like you could just try and keep em clean and maybe spray some wd on em in the winter? thanks for the advice.

OME is great, Icon is a huge upgrade and rebuildable. They rebuild CO's every tuesday

.02

leelikesbikes said:

... i would like to do the extended travel icons and some uniball UCA's

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Aftermarket UCA's are a very worthwhile investment, especially if you're going for any lift. Sorry, no advice on Taco rear springs.

If you know you are not going to make any changes in weight up front, you can save a good bit with the OME. If I had to buy today, that is what I would do now that I know the front weight is set.

I bought Donahoes (Icons) in July of '07. One rebuild. I do WD40 the adjustment rings twice a year but I have no reason to adjust them. I dialed in the proper height when I bought them and cancelled out the Tacoma lean. I added a ARB bumper and thought I'd have to adjust them but no. Same height, same road manners.
They were pricey then at $1050.
I really recommend you wait on the UCAs unless you're going over 2.5" in ride height. I put my stock UCAs back on after the uniballs wore out and haven't bothered rebuilding them. I have 2.25" of height. Alignment is fine with room for adjustment.
Do your wallet a favor and try Wheeler's single add-a-leaf and see if they do the job for you. If not, you've only wasted $80. I use them. Ride is fine empty. Ride is fine and stable hauling 600-800 lbs. I shied away from the off-the-shelf Deavers and Alcans because in both cases there is some loss of weight capacity.

"let me tell you a little bit about the dude"

thanks for the reply's, heres a little info that may help you guys understand what im going for. i ve had quite a few rigs that were built for going slow, i sas'd an 87 4runner, gears,lockers, dual cases, 35's. I also sas'd a 96 xcab v6 taco, gears, lockers, 37's. my current TJ has OME shocks and coils, RE superflex arms, ARB's, 4.56's, and 35" MTR's. The taco build i want to do will still be geared and locked, but more focused on high speed ride and stability, i want a rig that i can drive from here (SE WA) to anywhere in the western us and rally around comfortably on the backroads, and drive home. it will be a weekend dirtbike hauler, but i would rather have it be undersprung with 6-800lbs in the bed than oversprung with 1-300lbs. I have contemplated going with a full long travel system from total chaos or the like, but i dont want all the added track width and i dint want to have to run glass fenders and bedsides to cover the tires. on the other hand im not a rich guy and i want to get the most performance out of my hard earned money. so, maybe icons in the front and UCa's down the road? can anyone tell me how much better that deaver rears are than the OME dakars? thanks for the input.

Interesting thread.
Sub'd.

mtnbike28 said:

I don't know where Wally World is but in the northeast, several ICON owners could no longer adjust/rebuild the coils. I have only run OME and been happy.

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My thoughts, as well. You really can't go wrong with the OME set-up, unless you plan on building an LAV. You CAN however go wrong with the ICON stuff, if your truck will see a lot of salt. I would get the OME, and if you decide that you really need more from the suspension, you can re-sell the OME stuff for whatever life it still has left. I'd be leary too, of the uniball UCA for something that will see a lot of miles or winters. Eventhough uniballs are technically stronger, they just don't seem to be as durable. Camburg makes both.

If I lived in a dry arid climate I would go with ICON and a Uniball UCA setup. This would be a great setup and many have spoken highly of its performance.

I live a very wet grimy (volcanic and glaciated sediment) climate with lots of de-icer on roads, so I opted for the OME Nitrochargers and an SPC Light Racing UCA which has a boot on the UCA-to-spindle joint.

It all comes down to what your needs are, some good feedback on this thread.

One request: AFTER you decide on what you will install and run, PLEASE post an update on your decision and the performance as you have experienced it.

Thanks for posting!

hmm

well im leaning strongly towards some sort of coilover (icon or racerunner) in front set at 1.5-2" and deavers w/bilsteins in the rear. later i could add the UCA's and adjust the ride height up to 2 or 2.5 and add a longer shackle in the rear. i plan on running 33's, prob 10.50 km2's but im not afraid to clearance things a bit if needed. i have a hard time imagining the adjustable coilovers being that much of a problem if proper care is taken. i hate rust and i keep my rigs and dirtbikes clean and lubed. i think some marine grease on the threads would eliminate most problems, but theres one way to find out. i just want the taco to ride considerably smoother than my TJ with OME (which rides awesome for a jeep) -the extra wheelbase and ifs will help, but i want it to be as good as possible without going to extended A-arms. keep the comments and suggestions coming.