KaiserM715
Kaiser Söze
When I heard that TMX was coming to Raptoberfest, an idea popped into my head. I knew that they had different shocks on each of their three trucks, Fox, Icon and King. I wanted to see the difference between them for myself. I talked to them about test driving all three, and they agreed. Unfortunately, there was an unrelated issue with the King truck and I was not able to drive it.
The Trucks
I asked the TMX guys to keep the details of the trucks private until after I drove them. Both trucks were Super Cabs and are outfitted with the following (all sold and installed by TMX):
The Fox (Molten Orange) truck was equipped with:
The Course
I chose to do the back half of the Raptoberfest course for my testing. This worked out to be about a 10 mile loop with a smooth high speed section, a washboard type high speed section, a nice little jump (mile marker 12) along with a couple of steep descents and ascents. In addition, there were also several slower speed, more technical sections.
The Driver
My truck is a Super Cab with mid-perch, but otherwise stock and before Raptoberfest, I have never driven a truck with 3.0s and / or 37’s. I have quite a bit of rock crawling type of off-road driving experience. This was my third TRR event. I helped mark the course at Raptoberfest and felt that I knew the course pretty well. I consider myself a conservative (in order to conserve equipment, as in this case, that did not belong to me), intermediate driver. Unfortunately, I don’t have the significant higher speed seat time the folks out west have.
The Drive
For both trucks, I started off the first half mile a little slow to get familiar. As I picked up speed, I noticed how both trucks were quite a bit faster over rough sections and soaked up bumps better than a stock truck. I caught a little air right after mile marker 12 and both trucks landed smoothly. The next section of note was the high speed washboard section. As most of this course was originally grass, the turf made this section pretty bumpy at speed. For both trucks, I was carrying about 10-15 mph more than a stock truck. Not too far after is what I felt was the fastest section of the course, as it was based on an existing red clay double track. The next section of note contained three steep grades in a row, one up hill, one uphill with a double bump coming down and the third going downhill and then back up. In this section, both trucks soaked up each section. There is more to the track, but at this point I feel like the different types of terrain have been covered.
Conclusions
The high speed washboard section was the only section where I could tell a noticeable difference in the two trucks. I thought the Fox truck felt a little more planted and that the Icon truck was bouncing around a little more. That being said, the Icon truck did not have upgraded springs, so that may have been a contributing factor. Other than that, the difference over stock is so significant that I really had a very hard time telling the two trucks apart. Could I have felt a difference if I pushed harder? Maybe, but with my level of driving experience and knowing I was in a truck that didn’t belong to me, I drove at a pace I was comfortable with. In a perfect world, I would have spent all day in one truck and the next day in the other. I think it would take that much seat time to get more differences between the two.
Which one would I pick? Based on my experience, it would be a financial decision. Either of these setups would be a big purchase for me – I would get the one I could get the better deal on.
Credits
A big thanks to the TMX guys for being willing guinea pigs. They were enthusiastic about me pursuing this. I also want to thank Trey for letting me use this event for my test drive.
NOTE: I consider myself neutral when it comes to shock debates and as such I would really like for this thread to stay on topic, with no bashing. Any post that gets too far out in left field will be moved here: Oh loooooook!! Drink drnak drunk!
The Trucks
I asked the TMX guys to keep the details of the trucks private until after I drove them. Both trucks were Super Cabs and are outfitted with the following (all sold and installed by TMX):
- Aftermarket fenders
- Toyo 37’s (air pressure was 25 psi for both trucks)
- Method 17" wheels
- Headers (one was Stainless Works, the other Kooks)
- 5Star Tune
- Upgraded brakes
The Fox (Molten Orange) truck was equipped with:
- National SD rear leafs
- RPG bump-stop kit with Fox air bumps
- Fox 3.0 shocks front and rear
- Stock rear leafs
- Icon bump-stop kit
- Icon 3.0 shocks front and rear
The Course
I chose to do the back half of the Raptoberfest course for my testing. This worked out to be about a 10 mile loop with a smooth high speed section, a washboard type high speed section, a nice little jump (mile marker 12) along with a couple of steep descents and ascents. In addition, there were also several slower speed, more technical sections.
The Driver
My truck is a Super Cab with mid-perch, but otherwise stock and before Raptoberfest, I have never driven a truck with 3.0s and / or 37’s. I have quite a bit of rock crawling type of off-road driving experience. This was my third TRR event. I helped mark the course at Raptoberfest and felt that I knew the course pretty well. I consider myself a conservative (in order to conserve equipment, as in this case, that did not belong to me), intermediate driver. Unfortunately, I don’t have the significant higher speed seat time the folks out west have.
The Drive
For both trucks, I started off the first half mile a little slow to get familiar. As I picked up speed, I noticed how both trucks were quite a bit faster over rough sections and soaked up bumps better than a stock truck. I caught a little air right after mile marker 12 and both trucks landed smoothly. The next section of note was the high speed washboard section. As most of this course was originally grass, the turf made this section pretty bumpy at speed. For both trucks, I was carrying about 10-15 mph more than a stock truck. Not too far after is what I felt was the fastest section of the course, as it was based on an existing red clay double track. The next section of note contained three steep grades in a row, one up hill, one uphill with a double bump coming down and the third going downhill and then back up. In this section, both trucks soaked up each section. There is more to the track, but at this point I feel like the different types of terrain have been covered.
Conclusions
The high speed washboard section was the only section where I could tell a noticeable difference in the two trucks. I thought the Fox truck felt a little more planted and that the Icon truck was bouncing around a little more. That being said, the Icon truck did not have upgraded springs, so that may have been a contributing factor. Other than that, the difference over stock is so significant that I really had a very hard time telling the two trucks apart. Could I have felt a difference if I pushed harder? Maybe, but with my level of driving experience and knowing I was in a truck that didn’t belong to me, I drove at a pace I was comfortable with. In a perfect world, I would have spent all day in one truck and the next day in the other. I think it would take that much seat time to get more differences between the two.
Which one would I pick? Based on my experience, it would be a financial decision. Either of these setups would be a big purchase for me – I would get the one I could get the better deal on.
Credits
A big thanks to the TMX guys for being willing guinea pigs. They were enthusiastic about me pursuing this. I also want to thank Trey for letting me use this event for my test drive.
NOTE: I consider myself neutral when it comes to shock debates and as such I would really like for this thread to stay on topic, with no bashing. Any post that gets too far out in left field will be moved here: Oh loooooook!! Drink drnak drunk!
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