Ironman shocks OK?

Phill,

I've got a full Ironman kit on my car and it is good stuff.

Bloody good value for money.

Cheers,

Jim.

Bilsteins are one of the best. Handle the rough going very well and excellent longevity.

You get what you pay for!
Ironman is rubbish .

G'day mate
There's more to suspension setup than just throwing a set of dampers at it, and a lot depends on what conditions and uses for the vehicle. Is it a tradesman truck or a touring vehicle?? Remember the Rodeo is not an ideal rock-hopping stump-jumping extreme truck- but when setup is a very capable, safe & comfortable touring platform.
OK, what have we done with our Rodeo TF 4x4 dual cab.
Oversize torsion bars, extra leaf & rest leaf pack, lengthened rear hanger (140mm), relocated front upper balljoint, low profile nolathane upper bumpstop and OME dampers all round.
We've done many 000s km of outback touring incl. SA deserts, Central QLD, Cape York, W coast Tas, and the Beadell Rds last year (posts on this site will confirm the roughness & degree of difficulty of those highways).
We've had the OMEs on for 4 years now- and tested them on a Boge rig last month- and there still fresh and viable- after about 100.000kms.
What the Rodeo lacks in extreme 'off road' capabilities is sure made up in comfort & mechanical safety on corrugated outback raods. When proprley setup- the IFS torsion bar is far superior to any leaf or coil sprung front ends.

(my opinion from personal experience & observation)

Thanks all for your input. I suppose every product will have good and bad press. Always good to hear actual experience with certain products.
My 98 Rodeo mostly stays on the black-top in Melb but I am off to the Cape in 4 weeks and wanted some shocks that I could depend on. I just want to do the trip and bring the car home in one piece. Every year I have 2 months off and go somewhere in Aust with a camper trailer. Did the Cape last year (with stock 140,000km old shocks) and had no drama except for the rear chassis bending (got Holden to pay for repair). Got a few mates who have the same type of vehicle as me (bravo, triton) and they changed shocks from new. Those who say Ironman is rubbish, why? Have you had experience? What happened?
Anywho, thanks again for input.

Phill

Just don't try Tough Dog adjustables - the adjustment knob gets knocked off in even modest 4WD useage, rendering the adjustment useless. I learned the hard way.

you see a few dual cabs, all makes ,with bent chasis up the cape
fred

After extensive research I've gone with the Ironman. And if the product is half as good as the service at Clayton..... it'll be all good!

G'day all,

Ive had Ironman foam cell shocks on my 2003 hilux V6 dual Cab almost since day one. I run a 4way RTC dampner and 2nd hand Tuff Dog springs. I would swear by the ironman shockies. They been through hell and back numnerous times, I go hunting and camping with the back end fully loaded and I tell ya I dont go easy on her once she's offroad (gotta have some fun eh?). They have lasted m,e approximately 80,000kms so far and only the other week my left hand rear shocker started leaking. I just got a new set in yesterday and decided to replace all four of them. Just by looking at them they seem to be slightly larger in diameter than the old ones but not by much.

Whe I rang the guys at Ironman, they said that in the last two years or so they've had big changes in the place. He said that before they had a bunch of old (no disrespect to older explore oz members) guy6s working for ironman who weren't too enthusiastic about the product aswell as the product being made in Brazil or somewhere like that.

Now, he reckons there is a whole crerw of younger blokes who are really into 4x4'ing and all run Ironman setup in theior trucks to evaluate any potential problems that might arise from day to day driving aswell as offroading that they do. Also, the current shockies are made in China he said, with better materials and design, and as you all know, coz its made in China the costs are down. He swears that their performance is a big improvement on the older ones......then again he is a salesman!

Im gonna fit them this weekend and we will see how different theyb really are.

Max.

If your factory shocks were good for 140,000km, then why don't you go down to Holdens and buy another set.

Certainly the Toyota factory shocks are more reliable than any of the aftermarket brands we use on trips.

Phill, I didnt say the stock shocks were good, just that I didnt have any drama's with them. We almost had our teeth rattled out on some roads up there and I think that may have a bit to do with stock set-up. I know your never gonna get a black top type ride on the corregations but hopefully some after market gear will help. Only time will tell.(about 3 and a half weeks!!)

Phill