Icon 1 / 2 / 3 ease to upgrade

Brand new SR5 Doing quite a few mods which I won't list yet. Suspension on the list. After much reading, settling on Icon. trying to determine stage 1 vs 2 vs 3. on scale of 1 to 5, i can see doing trails up to level 3. I live in AZ. I know my goal is NOT to hang with my jeep friends who have one tire pointing out, the other in a 5 foot ditch with the other in the air. I am leaning towards stage 1 with once I see what i do, maybe upgrade over time to stage 3. Is that possible to do without re-doing a bunch of stuff? Or any opinions about just starting now with stage 2 or stage 3. I am thinking start with 1 and then skip to 3 if I really get into this and push my truck farther. Any experience in upgrading as time goes on? Oh, this will be DD truck as well. I don't want it lifted more than 3 inches. I am putting 33 inch tires on as well. I am bypassing the TRD Pro suspension.

 

You can buy individual components as the parts are readily available not in kit format. I would advise against getting the stage one kit, or get the stage one kit and add upper control arms.

What I would do is buy the components individually, and add on as you see fit. The list below is a very solid lift. These are the components I had on my Tacoma and I was very happy with it. This list is just an example, but I'd recommend doing some shopping/calling around at places like headstrongoffroad.com and wheelersoffroad.com to get a better deal than the MSRP prices.

Front Coils
http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop...xtended-travel-front-coil-over-shock-kit.html

Rear Shocks
http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop...ies-remote-reservoir-rear-shock-1-3-lift.html

Rear Coils
http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop...current-4runner-2-lift-rear-coil-springs.html

Upper Control Arms
http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop...ta-4runner-uniball-upper-control-arm-kit.html

 

If you plan to lift the front more than 2.25" then you will end up wanting to get some UCAs. Icons are great, but you could go with another option like the Light Racing as well.

 

ICONs have regressive damping, so it's stiffer at first, but softens out the faster you go. Great for pounding woops in the desert, but maybe not so great for a DD.

Fox and Kings are progressive, meaning they get stiffer as you go faster.

IMO, ICONs wouldn't be the ideal choice for a DD and/or slower speed crawling (trying to keep up with your jeep friends, lol).