Digressive is Control - Icon Shocks Bronco Review 

Appreciated! Been working on leveling it all up

Glad you are liking the videos! We have been working hard to tighten things up a bit, so its good to hear it shows. We definitely are excited to get the Dobinsons in as well. We think they really are going to be one of that are right for a lot of people.

They can certainly be a little firm at lower speeds, but if you are going to be loaded down with armor and or gear, they are a killer choice. All that extra travel makes for a lot of articulation at lower speeds, and their tight low-speed compression dampening helps keep the cab flat when and if your sway bars are disconnected, and you are flexed out. We think a 2.5" body without a reservoir is also all most people need as well, so they are really at the right level for more people. With that said if you are keeping it light and you like the idea of the Icon's handling characteristics and all that travel, you might consider stepping up to a set with the CDCV adjusters. Typically you can the CDCV adjustable shocks up to far be softer across the board to be more plush, particularly at lower speeds. So you can back them off on the trail and tighten them up to be just as razor-sharp on the road. Since most paved surfaces are smoother than dirt, you can usually end up setting them up to be stiffer for better stability with less detriment to your ride comfort.

Definitely coming soon. We actually are planning on posting our impressions so far in a short/reel later this week so keep an eye on our channel and our Instagram account for that to drop.

That's the word on the street! Our inside source told us they jump real good 🤣

I can see where your head is going with that, and from a ride standpoint, it might just work out swimmingly. However, I think it would be a bit of pig around corners with the regular 2.0s or 2.0 Res. The more linear nature of the Fox will make it prone to push at the limit, so if that long straight dirt road ever comes to a corner, it will probably want to understeer wide. If you can swing it and want to get tricky with mixing and matching shocks, I recommend trying the CD adjustable 2.0s in the rear (985-26-117 or 118, depending on the lift). They have a low-speed compression adjuster, so you can tighten them up to handle more similarly to the Bilsteins for better balance while maintaining the Fox ride you are probably looking for.

Yup or at the very least we will drive one of Bilstein's Broncos this year at KOH. The review will be included in the full buyers guide to compare like everything else, but we likely are not going to do a direct comparison video of them to things like the Fox PES and FR series or Kings 2.5s simply because it really is not a fair comparison, especially at their price points

I am having a hard time finding where we had the file for both setups, but I believe the Fox ended up about an inch higher in the front and a half inch higher on the rear than these Icons. Although we did not adjust either from how they were out of the box, these are coilovers so you can adjust them to pretty much where you like it. If you are concerned about maximizing flex than you might even want to set up both lower than both of their out of the box settings. Fox built their coilovers to have a fairly long compressed length to limit upward suspension travel to better clear 37s, so on paper they should flex less, but if you run the bump stop spacers Icon recommends for 37s you are in the same boat. Obviously, if you are not averse to ditching your flares and trimming your fenders or switching to glass, you can run the Icons without bump stop spacers, and that would give you the most flex out there. Otherwise, I do not think there is much appreciable difference in available articulation between the Fox and the Icon in the real world once you put the bump stop spacers on the Icon. This Bronco is truthfully not far off stock outside of the 37s. Not including whatever coilovers we happen to be running at the time, it just has 1.25" wheel spacers on the stock sasquatch wheels, JKS tie rod sleeves, and Rough Country tailgate and spare tire reinforcements. We would never go with Rough Country to begin with or ever again, but there wasn't anything else on the market at the time. From there, we ripped the flares off because we wanted to see if you could get away without the bump stop spacers on the Icon 2.5 EXPs. They definitely still kissed the fenders at full bump, but that is pretty hard to do, so we figured we could get away with it, and we certainly did until we had a shock failure in the rear. Without any shock, let alone a bump stop to control the rear suspension, the tire caved the rear quarter, making the flare delete basically permanent LOL. Regarding fitting the 37s, I would not be too concerned about lift height as any issues or benefits with fitment inherent to a particular set of coilovers would be the same within their recommended lift range. For example, a Fox at 1" of lift will still clear 37s better than an Icon at 2.5" with no bump-stop spacers. The only real concern outside of managing bump travel will be turning and rubbing on the crash bar mounts, which can be easily rectified with a JKS tire clearance kit and wheel offset. Whether you go aftermarket or a stock wheel with spacers, you want to be around 8.5-9" wide and close to a 0 offset. For reference, the effective offset on the stock 17x8.5 Sasquatch wheels with a 1.25" spacer is right at -3 mm or basically almost perfect. I have yet to install the JKS kit and actually trim my fenders, but even with a 13.5" wide, the rub really is not bad at all so we haven't been in much of a rush to do it.

@@ShockSurplus Excellent info! Would you measure your frame height (center of frame to ground) with current Fox setup? I'm trying to figure out if this can reasonably rock crawl on 37s without portals or drop bracket lift. Really shooting for a minimum of 16" belly clearance (lowest point). Most interested in the Icon CDEV. We love our Fox 2.5 and have run King, Bilstein, Radflo, OME on various rigs. Will be watch for your upcoming videos.

Its about 17" at the trans crossmember and gas tank skids but 13" at the trailing arm mounts. It saw many rock gardens sitting much lower without issues so I would not get too hung up on belly clearance and pay more attention to having your suspension set up for the best articulation. Line choice will get you a lot further than more lift.

@@ShockSurplus What about the distance to the ground from the bottom of the vehicle frame? Trailing arms are rather low! We spend a good amount of time in the moving boulders of the Sierra Nevada Mtn. They move around and clearance goes a long ways! At least for enjoying the trails vs smash and bash. Have you been through the Rubicon trail? We drove it four times this summer. Along with a bunch of other trails Fordyce, Slick Rock, Deer Valley, Hell Hole... Thanks for your time and info!!!

I installed the stage 5 which is the 2.5 c/o and UCA with delta joint pro in the front. I measured over 2" more droop over stock Sasquatch and the CVs rotated fine at full droop and full steering lock.

@PowerTankOfficial Thanks for input. This makes it a really solid choice in the 2.5 department. I'm hoping ohlins would eventually release something for the Bronco as they did for the jeep since they are at the same price point.

Up front, they are comparable with everything else but the Kings across the board and do not bind the CVs, however, they do have the shortest compressed length sans the Bilstein 5100, 6100, and 6112. ironically when the recommended bump stop spacers are installed to fit 37s, compressed and extended lengths are almost identical to the front Fox 2.5 Performance Elite coilovers. The rear is where they are markedly longer than anything else and was the first to bind the trailing arms, although driveline angles were still solid.

coming sooon!

Still waiting @@ShockSurplus

Same here! The Bronco is currently on the Fox 2.5 DSC coilovers since this review was shot, and they have been great.

These are the stock 17x8.5 ET 30 (5.93" BS) Sasquatch wheels with a 1.25" wheel spacer. So the effective size is a 17x8.5 ET -1.75 (4.68" BS)