ironman suspension anygood?

[mudguts]

hi guys. am thinking of a lift for my 08 xtra cab. i wont be doing no major off road stuff just the occasional beach trip and a trip to the cape mid next year. have been looking at the ironman suspension. was going to run iron man B grade springs in the back C grade constant load in the front because of arb bullbar and winch and maybe look to get airbags in the back down the track for towing camper. has anyone heard of anything wrong with the ironman suspension?

[Gulfstream8]

Hello mudguts

I highly recommend Paul from Sydney Shock Absorbers Ph 95 57 37 39 you will not get a better shock then Bilstein end of story.

Give Paul a call as these guys are genuine and won’t sell you rubbish or stuff you won’t need. Don’t get sucked into thinking you need to lift your truck into the sky, I survived on cattle property’s in some of the toughest country in Aust without super high suspension.

[hodgo81]

I have a querie about some ironman suspension components too.

My old man had a set of Ironman "load Plus" (http://www.ironmandealer.com.au/loadplus.htm) helper springs sitting in his shed from his old D22 navara, and gave them to me to try on my lux now that I am carrying a fair load in the back.
I know on his navara he was always carrying over 1/2t and they helped a lot.

has anyone tried them on a lux?
It seems you can adgust the preload to suit you, so maybe a good way for unbalanced loads (eg my rig)

[hodgo81]

Well, I put the load helpers on firday night So I could test them out this weekend since I was going to have a full load on the back and 2 bikes in a trailer.

*Installing* - pretty easy really. just jack one rear wheel up, put on blocks, do up U bolt on each end. Adjust as desired. Repeat on the other side. as a side note I noticed that the bump rubber has definitly touched the chassis rail a few times, so was a good call to upgrade the suspension.

*adjusting* again easy, just have ute jacked up, wind more preload on the back U-bolts. I have gone with equal preload each side. But I think because of my uneven load I will wind up more preload on the "heavy" side. Because when I got the tape measure out it was riding at least 20mm lower that side.

*effect* - well tape measure suggests about 20mm of "lift". I know thats not much, but it has definitly improved the ride. both nloaded and with a trailer on there is less body roll than there was with just standard springs. Unloaded the ride has gone back to a bit harsher feeling 1tonne ute style suspension...but not too bad.

*issues* - the only issues are probably because I'm using the wrong ones... and I got 3 leafs, ie, one and a half sets. one leaf had longer u-bolts, so I was a bit baffled why I wasn't getting much effect adjusting it with the long bolt.... when I adjusted it to match the other side much better.
I also found that I had to wind on a fair bit of preload to stop the Load plus hitting the chassis rail. I still need to cheack if there is any rub marks from it.

In summary, they definitly made a better ride, gave a bit of height back and are easy to fit....really good value at the cost i paid $0 even at $160 or what ever the price is I still think that is quite good value.

[hodgo81]

After an extra drive to and from work i will revise my review.... it has actually made a HUGE difference to the handling...it almost feels sports car like to me

[amitch888]

Thanks for posting the info up mate. Might just have to give these ago as id like the rear up a little higher when ive got a load on. Pretty sure these cost around $125 which works out a lot cheaper then playin around with the leafs not to mention easier to fit.

Be interested to know if they effect the flex much?

[hodgo81]

amitch888, just going by how they feel to drive, a rough guess I'd say they will limit flex a little more than stock.

To me it feels a lot like when upgrading sway bars on a road car...which (correct me if I'm wrong) usually is bad news for offroad.
but I have no supporting info or theory, just going by how they feel to drive on the road.

[Macca]

We use those helpers on our constantly loaded work Hiace Vans, they are a great bit of gear, we have broken the U Bolt that you adjust a few times.
Broken about 10 of them in 8 years, its a bugger cause the plate normally falls of when it happens.
So I would keep one as a spare for off road work as the flexing may cause some problems.
Still cant beat a properly set up suspension though, but this might be a good alternative for you.
Macca

[Alby]

I have heard the same that with heavily corrugated outback work they have been known to wear out the u bolt but as you say for the price it is no biggy to carry a spare.
I would assume that they would allow better articulation than airbags ??????? does anyone know?

[Bracey]

After finalising the packing of the Hilux in readiness for the Cape my new 500kg+ rear leaf springs are all but flattened. I'm hoping a spring helper such as the Ironman Load Plus will add that extra bend so I can add the last 150kg of the load. I'll be visiting an Ironman dealership tomorrow in the hope they can help! Thanks for the above information.

[ashh]

They are great. My '02 work lux gained 20mm of rear sag back as 'lift' and the body roll improved well beyond expectations.
If you watch the demo video on the ironman website, what you see is exactly what happens when you install them.
They also sell them at repco where you can use racq member discount.

[DAVE07]

I have the ironman lift installed in my 2012 SR5 and am really happy with how it looks and handles. My hilux is 95% driven on the black stuff and only get a chance to do some moderate wheeling once every three or 4 weeks so im probably not as extreme as others but for where ive taken it, shes done very well. Ive got B springs in the front with a,15mm ironman spacer and medium leafs rear and has given me overall about 2.5 inches of lift and has settled well. The reasons why i went with ironman is that My cousin has iron man in his hilux and hes been up to the cape twice, and over to the kimberlies and he swears by it. Has never missed a beat. I also got a ripper deal through a friend where i paid $1350 for the lift and underbody protection installed. Don't get me wrong, i would have loved to have gone the monster rides stage 2 kit as it is an awesome bit of gear, but i thought for what I'm paying for the ironman and the amount of off roading I do i thought it was worth a shot and so far so good. Heres a few pics

[Bracey]

I went and saw Ironman this arvo and as much as he wanted to sell me the load plus helper kit, he was honest enough to state that they might not improve my situation even though I'm maxed out with the load I have on board and the HD leaf springs already in place. I put the ute on a weigh bridge this arvo and the GVM is already at 2.68t He also said I still have a bit more play in the springs before I should get really worried; I hope he's right!

[Zookie13]

Hi guys,

I have a 2013 toyota hilux sr5 which I am doing up for a tour, towing a camper trailer.

As I have the bullbar and winch to be fitted suspension struggling a bit.

I have been looking at all the options for suspension and I'm just gobsmacked at the choice...

Anyone that can point me in the best direction?

Thanks

[Zookie13]

Has anyone had good bad experiences with ironman?

[Rocket55]

Threads merged

[10 luxxxx]

Only bad from me struts fell apart after less than 20k
They were good on the warranty dude of things and got my cash back.

[dave g]

hi is there any body using the ironman new pro shooks and struts.
if so are they any good

[taresk]

Has anyone had good bad experiences with ironman?

I don't know what the specs or age are of the Ironman kit on my Hilux, it was fitted when I bought it, but I can say i'm not happy with their level of control, and the ride is very harsh, I find myself bouncing around a lot on rough roads (front and back). It is possible that it has a heavy duty kit despite lack of barwork to warrant it, but having driven two other hilux's of the same vintage offroad (one running OME, the other running Amada Extreme) I have seen that it can ride much better.

I should also mention that the front struts sound like they're worn right out (@ 120,000km) creaking and groaning (i'm thinking it's the coil insulator).

[TRDLuxxy]

I really like the ultimate suspension gear, very good value and excellent customer service.