Ironman Shocks
Submitted: Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 15:30
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dicko1980
Just letting everyone know about this so called "Ironman Heavy Duty"
suspension packages that are available. I recently fitted a heavy duty kit to my GQ coil cab ute in Febuary this year. So far I've had to replace the front shocks within 10 000km of bitumen driving, car was bouncing all over the road. Inspection of shocks revealed chewed out bushes both top and bottom. These were replaced under warranty with two new shocks and assurance from the salesman that he'd never seen a problem with Ironman before. The new front set and rears from the first set fitted have now lasted a whole 3000km. Inspections have revealed bushes chewed out. Dropping bottom mounts have revealed all four shocks either seized or have no resistance. Have been offered Ironman replacement warranty again, refused offer, offered Monroe shocks for no extra charge, and am now negotiaiting with
suspension fitter for refund of money, so I can buy some shocks for Australian conditions; OME or TJM XGS's. Salesman is also now admitting there may be a problem with this product. There is a lesson to be learnt, sometimes quality may come at a price, but it is definately for a reason.
Regards Dicko1980
Reply By: at4x4 - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 17:02
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 17:02
Coming from using Bilstiens for our
suspension packages, the only cheaper shock I have found worth using has been the Ridepro range.
The bushes and mounts are all good, and the valving/construction is whatyou would expect for the $.
Good luck to anyone who shops on price alone, and buys ironman, we dont sell it, but we have replaced it for people who have used it, and regretted it.
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Reply By: Gerhardp1 - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 17:59
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 17:59
I reckon you can't go past the Ranchos. They're not expensive and all the "way out" rigs with mega lifts, etc seem to use them. I've had the basic RS5000 on the Jackaroo for 20000k now and they are still as good as new.
For your GQ you may want to consider the RS9000 which are also adjustable - I will get these next time I need some.
Gerhard
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Follow Up By: Diamond (Vic) - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 18:24
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 18:24
have a look through the archives rancho cop a fair bit of a bagging.
i was thinking about getting some a fair while ago untill i read about just how crap they were.
cheers
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Gerhardp1 - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 19:02
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 19:02
Forums such as this can be a real problem because
- you have had a problem with Ironman, so 90% of the readers will conclude that all of them and anything else they make is crap. This may or may not be true
I haven't had a problem with my Ranchos, which means they aren't crap as far as I'm concerned. Another Rancho user got 900,000k out of a set of RS9000 so I guess he is happy too.
You won't consider Rancho any more because someone has had a problem, even though you don't have any personal experience with them.
I guess if you search long enough, you will find that every brand sold in Aus has given someone a problem, which leaves you with nothing to buy. But then If you don't have any they can't give you a problem and you will save money as
well.
Good luck with your choice!
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 20:52
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 20:52
To even things up for you Gerhardp1 I have iron man shocks that were on the front of my 80 when i bought it and monroes on the back, No problems so far with either
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Follow Up By: Crackles - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 20:56
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 20:56
Gerhard, it's not really a problem on this
Forum if people bag a shock when it fails as it's not that one individual post you take notice of, rather the trend shown by multiple failures or multiple endorsements.
Do a search & it will be easy to see a trend showing on average, Ironman are unreliable, Koni are long lasting & Bilstien are high in performance. It goes without saying you should never rely just on one persons opinion including this one although
mine have done the Canning, Simpson x 4 crossings, Gunbarrel,
Cape York etc.........& thats probably the greatest problem, not knowing how much people use or abuse their equipment before it fails.
The last person you should ask for an opinion on a product is the salesman.......
Cheers Craig............
HZJ105 (With Konis. 180,000km & still going:-)
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Follow Up By: Member - Glenn D (NSW) - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 21:28
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 21:28
Hows it going Gerhard,
Do you know this person who got such a long life from these shocks, got about 40,000 out of
mine and they need replacing.Did go round Australia with them ,they got flogged.
Great thing about the
forum you can write what you like ,within reason.
My Patrol gets 900,000 km from a single tank of fuel , does this make it true?
If I am paying top dollar for something I want value for money, or you may as
well just buy the cheap crap and keep replacing it.
Glenn .
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Reply By: Diamond (Vic) - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 18:25
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 18:25
i just love that line that salesmen use.
geez mate ive never seen that before.
lol
cheers
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Reply By: Bonz (Vic) - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 21:02
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 21:02
I had Ironman shocks and springs on my GQ for 3 years and had a great run out of them, sold it with them on it, I would go them again for sure, there will always be good and bad press, I guess I am a affirmative poster
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Reply By: Member Eric - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 21:34
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 21:34
I had fitted almost every shocker that man can find lol .
If you ask me , there all crap lol
Ranchos are fantastic , if they are used on vehicles they were intended for . If you own a Jeep , or similar weighted vehicle , then go for it , they work
well . If oyu are think if fitting them to a cruiser , think again. Adjustable goes out the window . If you take them off maximum setting , they will jump around like a roo .
I have fitted some of the best name and had problems from day one , then other times have a fantastic run . I have also run the iron man shocks and find them to work ok . I have also had a faulty one from scratch. The way I look at it now , I would rather fit some iron man that if I bust on a bolder , I wont cry about it . If I break a Koni or ect , it would make me cry . I destroyd a shock in
the painted desert from rocks ect , I garrantee you that no brand will save you from these rocks lol .
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 09:12
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 09:12
Ahhh Eric.......................You are a good advertisement on how to break things lol . a bit like me.
On the other hand, if one left the vehicle as standard and drove gently with it all over Aus, on the blacktop and in the scrub, then maybe the shocks and stuff will last a bit longer.
Yeah I know.......thats not fun, eh? lol
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:09
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:09
If you did a trip and all went
well , had no dramas , everyone was nice . You would talk about it for 3 sec lol . Add some busted gear some a holes lol , we talk about it for months lol
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Reply By: dicko1980 - Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 22:28
Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 at 22:28
Well I wish I could have used my truck on the dirt like it was built for but unfortunately without being biased, I can confidently give my opinion that with the two front sets and the rear set supplied originally when first purchasing the kit that Ironman shocks have so far being nothing but sh%t that couldn't do 10000 and 3000 soft km's respectively. How can I have faith in this product to last a trip like the Cape?
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:08
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:08
as I said Dicko there allbleep, most are made in the same factory . Were you using foam cell ? I fnd that they are ok. If you think you will fix your problem by fitting bigger dollar shocks , think again .
cheers dude , hope it works out ok
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Reply By: dicko1980 - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:41
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:41
No mate, just your standard gas 35mm's. I'm still tossing up whether to fit a brand name, or a set of Monroes. A few mates of
mine have these fitted, and have never had a problem. I also spoke to a mate from Repco, and he reckons they rarely experience warranty problems. Thanks for your reply
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 11:57
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 11:57
ok cool , I have never used Gas shocks on 4by's because they usually dont last lol ,
If there offering to replace them free , get them to give you a set of foam cell shocks , I think yo uwill be impressed.
I am not sure about the gas ones but i belive that they are made in same place as geabriel shocks are made .Yuck ,
Munro make shocks for ARB under the old man emu brand , more hipe than anything else is my opinion. I was also veru happy with my Pedders foam cell , they were on the car for a while and were only rremoved due to a bigger lift , I fitted them to my mates 100 series up north and there working fine still today.
Hope this helps some what
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Follow Up By: 120scruiser - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:13
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:13
Agree
I had foam cell Gabriel fitted to my 80 series.
They were on there for 3 years with regular off road and still perfect when I sold it at the beginning of the month.
I have just fitted Raised lovells to my new prado and left the standard toyota shocks in it. We have had a great run with standard toyota shocks so will leave them in until they give a problem.
One word of advice don't fit the polyurethane bushes, stick with standard rubber ones as lifted vehicles change the angles of some vehicles shock mountings putting more load on one side of the bush causing it to chew out. This happened with the 80 and I fitted standard toyota bushes, no more dramas.
My two cents worth.
120scruiser
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Follow Up By: 120scruiser - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:15
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:15
One futher thing.
I have a customers 75 tray top cruiser with iron man shocks front and rear fitted for years. This truck works on building sites doing the plumbing and is always in the S#$T stuff working hard and we had a good run out of them. I think we just replaced the front because one shock began leaking after about 150 000 km.
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Follow Up By: Member Eric - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:18
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 12:18
I totaly agree with rubber bushes
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Reply By: Member - Crazie (VIC) - Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 21:35
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005 at 21:35
If your bushes are continually being crewed out, I would take a guess and say it may have something to do with the fitting.If the shocks are tightened whilst the vehicles is in the air, this generally leads to bushes getting crewed out, no matter what the brand,
I have just travelled across the simpson and strzelic deserts with Ironman full kit and had no dramas.
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