Ironman 4x4 Suspension

Alright, got the pre assembled FCP struts at 3.5”, and their UCA’s. I’ve got around 200 miles on them. Coming from a 3” spacer lift, I’m very pleased with the ride quality! Good alignment numbers too, with almost 4 deg caster.

 

Installed my 3.5" lift about 3 weeks ago and it's going great so far.

 

Thanks! Some details... like how is the before and after ride and handling with different loads, on road and off?

 

Well I'm having issues where my OEM rims are touching the UCAs which causes the traction control to go off when making hard turns.

Once I get my new rims, race relation wheels, I'll take the Tundie off road but I can tell the rebound is smoother when I took it to Little Blair Valley. I'll give more updates in January when my rims come in.

 

Wow, haven't seen anyone mention clearance issues on the UCAs before... good to know! Guess everyone has rims with less offset?

 

Finally got mine wrapped up, thought I'd share.

 

Looks great!
Are those Method 705's? Mind sharing the wheel specs?

 

Thanks. Yep, 705. I believe they just come out. Titanium color, 18x9, +25 offset

 

Question for anyone that assembled their own coilovers:

I bought new Moog tophats specific for my Sequoia, for the Foam Cell Pros.
The bottom side of the tophat that sits inside the coil is too wide, by a 1/4". IM doesn't make a tophat for the Sequoia. Anyone got any ideas?

 

Use your stock ones?

 

Their shitty and old, not oem either.
Weird because I confirmed the Moog part number and they should fit the same as OEM Toyota.

 

Keep us updated. I was planning to use OEM wheels as well . Worried about rubbing

 

Got my Foam Cell Pro suspension installed over the weekend. I went with the assembled struts, medium load front and rear. Haven't had a chance to really drive it but it looks great and what I have driven is tight; no dip in the front end even on hard braking, cornering is great.

 

Ya... anyone? Surely someone has at least tried. If you can do it with aluminum Eibachs, you should be able to with the these steel beasts!

Also, any new reports are welcome!

 

25% off sitewide til Sun, code green25. First sitewide sale since BF times I believe.

 

Yes, I’ve done it multiple times. Tires have to be completely off the ground, even then at the preset height from IM there’s enough preload to make it quite difficult. It’s possible just not easy. Eibachs move much easier, probably in part due to the bottom of their spring being flat and being shorter with less preload.

The main reason Fox and King need to be removed is because their upper adjustment collars are split and retained with a hex cap screw. Without using a compressor, which is probably impossible on the truck, there’s a chance the collar could slip a thread with the tension of the spring pressing against the now loose collar. People still do it though, I can’t speak to the actual risk though, I’ve never had those COs.

 

Get on their text list. I’ve gotten a sale text from them almost every other month. Can be frustrating though.

 

How are you doing it?

 

Jack up the side you’re working on, remove the 3 locking screws in the collar. Spray with WD40.

The tire has to be off the ground. I tried it once with it still contacting but still lifted and it was dangerously difficult. Basically say goodbye to your knuckles.

Removing the wheel would help a ton but it’s not required. Break to tension between the two collars with a small hammer. Once they’re separated either lower the lowest collar to the desired position if lowering, or just lower it some to get it out of the way. After that I rotate the upper collar from the position of laying on my back and the spanner wrench on the front side of the lca, but behind the tie rod. It’s a small rotation repeated many times.

 

If you preload the Eibachs to get you the same lift as the Ironmans, they'll have about the same force on them. I'd guess they have better threads.

 

Its complicated, the IMs are 583 lb/in, the Eibachs are 650 lb/in.

The Eibachs if I remember correctly are a 16" coil, the Ironmans are the 18", which I believe makes them the longest mid travel coil and lifts primarily on coil length rather than tension.

If all things were equal and the Eibachs and Ironmans were both positioned to the same height on their perches, the Ironmans would be compressed more and the resulting loss in free coil height would be converted to constant tension or preload.

The Ironmans ride changes dramatically once you lower them, as you're removing that immense preload.

I cant say for sure right now since I no longer have the Eibachs on hand, but if you measured your coils on the Ironmans at stock and subtracted the length you measure from 18", then multiplied the remaining value by 580 you'd has a rough estimate on preload.

I'd gamble to say though, the Eibachs have less preload. I can confirm though as well, you are correct in saying the Eibachs also have better threads. The pitch on the Eibachs is more coarse and makes movement easier.

 

I'll see if I can avoid confusing myself. If it's the same truck (same weight) then the force on the spring when installed in the truck and loaded must be the same... doesn't matter what spring or shock it is. This will vary slightly with ride height, but not much. If we had precise measurements on the Tundra suspension geometry and front axle weight we could use this number, but for talking purposes let's say it's 2500 lbs (which is close). Also, let's say the leverage ratio (wheel vertical movement to shock change in length) is 1.7.

A lift can be achieved 3 ways... increasing the strut length, changing the spring preload (with a longer coil in the same space, or adjustment collars moved up), or increasing the spring rate.

I asked Ironman for the length of the front shock and they didn't have this info, but we know they are longer than stock (photo at post #574). OME and Bilstein 5100 are both about .5" longer, and I'm going to guess it's around that. Eibach is likely similar, but I really don't know. Per the 1.7 ratio, this would yield ~.85" of lift on its own.

Now lets look at getting lift from the spring. The spring force is composed of two parts, the initial preload + the additional force (compression) due to weighting. Note that the total amount is a fixed quantity... for instance if you have 4" of total spring compression in the loaded condition, and 3" of this is preload, then you only have 1" of additional compression. Per the 2500 lb spring force with the truck on the ground, the IM coil would be compressed 4.29" (2500/583), and the Eibach coil 3.85" (2500/650). This doesn't tell us the preload though... how much the spring is compressed before installation vs weighted. But since we know that the lift is the same, and I'm guessing the strut length is the same, then the travel from fully extended to final loaded length must be the same. For instance say they both have 1.5" of strut compression with a load (x1.7= 2.55" of wheel down travel) the Eibach coil would have 3.85"-1.5"= 2.35" of preload compression (x 650 lb/in = 1530 lb of force) and the IM would have 4.29"-1.5"= 2.79" of preload (x 583 = 1630 lb of force). That's 6.5% more.

So the IM would have a bit higher preload force because of its weaker spring, but I don't think that is enough difference to really notice.

Also, if the Eibach has coarser threads that should make them harder to turn, right? Each full turn would result in a greater linear change in length anyway.

 

Thanks for the reply. I installed my Ironman coilovers how they came from Ironman. To me the truck feels a bit stiff and bumpy. Going to try and lower the front to see if that’ll help.

 

I bought shocks, springs, tophats, and the wrench last Sun. Need to get a spring compressor so I'll be ready. I'll try to take good measurements of max and min length.

I want to adjust mine to ~2" with no extra load.

Has anyone overhauled theirs yet? Interesting video here where they took one apart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrL3ks7BmnQ

 

If you can give some guidance on proper measurements for a 2" lift I'd appreciate it! Or any specific lift for that matter. Got the stuff, and getting ready for the death defying spring compression!

 

30 MM of exposed thread from the bottom of the collar resulted in a 2.5" lift for me. Also, if you havent gotten compressors check out the Orion Tech ones, got them for ~50 I think. Worked great, just some adjusting since they coils are close together and getting any decent compressor in there would be hard. These did not flex at all, no issues.

Based off 30mm netting 2.5" I'd suggest going with about 25mm showing if you want to be on the high side of 2" (like just above it) or 24mm would technically net another 1/2" drop on my truck. But I'd recommend going less at first, then adjusting further on the truck if needed. Its easier to adjust them down on the truck than it is to move them up.

Also, for adjusting on the truck, buy Eibachs coilover spanner wrench:
https://eibach.com/us/2209/ETCO2.0-TOYOTA-Tundra-pro-truck-coilover-spanner-wrench
It fits, has a shorter handle so it can be done with the wheel still on. May need a small hammer for motivation though.

 

Thanks a lot! Those are the standard coils, and no extra front weight? I have the longer heavy duty coils, so I'll need to account for that also.

I got clones of the very same compressors since they looked the best. Seem sturdy. Greased them up good and taped over the hooks. One thing that concerned me is the ball bearing thrust plate which looks like a weak point, but I'll see how it goes. I already bought the super expensive Ironman lockring tool, so I'm set there.

 

I see that the heavy coils are only 5mm longer and have the same spring rate. So if you got 2.5" of lift at 30mm, I'd need to go to 25mm to match your lift. To drop it another .5" (~12mm) and assuming a 1.7/1 ratio I'd be at 25-(12/1.7) or 18mm.

Is that going to be close to interfering with anything? Hope not...

 

No promises, but based off the math, and what you saw on their site, yes 18mm would be correct.

Im on the standard springs, no extra weight.