Icon Top Plate Reinforcement!?

[TheChadster]

Hey gang!! New to this forum and really excited about my 2025 taco coming in a couple months as a factory order.

I have (as most of us have) seen the thread about the aluminum top plate located in the front shocks breaking when off-roading, possibly due to a new design that eliminated the external bump stops on the 24’+ Tacos.

Now I do believe Bilstein addressed the issue, stating that their bump stops are now built-in the actual shocks. My question is, if I decide to add the aftermarket Icon top plate, in the event of bottoming out and cracking the aluminum part by Toyota, would Icon reinforcement plate “transfer” the load to a more important part like a control arm, thus potentially causing more expensive damage? Or is the Icon plate a cheap and effective preventative measure, “solving” the potential issue?

Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated!!

 

[rustytaco]

Are you planning on wheeling the stock suspension heavily? Just curious. But on the note of the transferring of force, you should be fine. The lower control arms and other components are very beefy. They can handle it. Just a poor design from factory, to my understanding.

 

[TheChadster]

Are you planning on wheeling the stock suspension heavily? Just curious. But on the note of the transferring of force, you should be fine. The lower control arms and other components are very beefy. They can handle it. Just a poor design from factory, to my understanding.

I really don’t plan on changing the wheels too much, basically just cycle through 265 70r17 size tires as needed, and do some light off-roading and regular driving through snow filled Canada. Thanks for the input my friend I appreciate it!

 

[rustytaco]

Haha, by "wheeling" I meant are you planning on off-roading the factory suspension heavily. Just to clarify. Either way, sounds like you won't be using it too roughly. The failures we've seen are more focused around people who beat on their trucks more than average. I haven't seen any failures in light duty environments. If we did, Toyota would definitely be forced to address something like this. I just don't see this happening in huge volumes. Not to say it can't happen. So for your use case, I think you would be okay. Toyota would have to warranty it, even if you did.

 

[TheChadster]

Haha, by "wheeling" I meant are you planning on off-roading the factory suspension heavily. Just to clarify. Either way, sounds like you won't be using it too roughly. The failures we've seen are more focused around people who beat on their trucks more than average. I haven't seen any failures in light duty environments. If we did, Toyota would definitely be forced to address something like this. I just don't see this happening in huge volumes. Not to say it can't happen. So for your use case, I think you would be okay. Toyota would have to warranty it, even if you did.

Haha I understand now! Well I may not be off-roading heavily, but if I did replace the whole shocks, what would you suggest ? (As opposed to simply adding the Icon plate for insurance on the stock Bilsteins?)

 

[rustytaco]

Haha I understand now! Well I may not be off-roading heavily, but if I did replace the whole shocks, what would you suggest ? (As opposed to simply adding the Icon plate for insurance on the stock Bilsteins?)

Replacing the shocks is usually done to give extra lift and more capacity for a better and higher performing ride. So you'd be considering lifting your truck at that point. But for purely lifting the truck, they sell nice "spacer" style kits which retain factory components (I just got the Peak Suspension one). These are primarily what the aftermarket space provides. There are many options. They have slight upgrades, and major ones. Price point determines the result. Running a true coilover assembly (threaded body, shock/spring in one) on the front will allow you to tweak the ride height as well. The rear axle has two coil springs and two shocks, in comparison.

There are many brands who make them. Personally, on my last truck, I ran a lot of Dirt King components. I'll be running their full suspension (including all arms and links) within two months. They won me over with everything I've seen over the past couple years and quality of components. But there are other reputable companies who already have, or are developing other options.

 

[TheChadster]

Replacing the shocks is usually done to give extra lift and more capacity for a better and higher performing ride. So you'd be considering lifting your truck at that point. But for purely lifting the truck, they sell nice "spacer" style kits which retain factory components (I just got the Peak Suspension one). These are primarily what the aftermarket space provides. There are many options. They have slight upgrades, and major ones. Price point determines the result. Running a true coilover assembly (threaded body, shock/spring in one) on the front will allow you to tweak the ride height as well. The rear axle has two coil springs and two shocks, in comparison.

There are many brands who make them. Personally, on my last truck, I ran a lot of Dirt King components. I'll be running their full suspension (including all arms and links) within two months. They won me over with everything I've seen over the past couple years and quality of components. But there are other reputable companies who already have, or are developing other options.

Amazing! Once again thanks for the info! For now I’ll at least install the Icon reinforcement plate, it’s a cheap and easy install for at least peace of mind. And I’ll also take a look at the Dirt King components for sure! The suspension kits look nice and I guess worth the cash for what they do

 

[rustytaco]

Amazing! Once again thanks for the info! For now I’ll at least install the Icon reinforcement plate, it’s a cheap and easy install for at least peace of mind. And I’ll also take a look at the Dirt King components for sure! The suspension kits look nice and I guess worth the cash for what they do

For sure. Wouldn't hurt. It's probably not thick enough to impact alignment too much. But yes, seems pretty simple. I'll post more on the DK kit as I get updates!

 

[TheChadster]

For sure. Wouldn't hurt. It's probably not thick enough to impact alignment too much. But yes, seems pretty simple. I'll post more on the DK kit as I get updates!

Oh you mean because of the added weight the alignment might be altered ?

 

[rustytaco]

Oh you mean because of the added weight the alignment might be altered ?

I took a closer look, seems that it won't affect the alignment because it goes on top of the strut tower.