The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

regthing · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 18:26 Post subject: Ironman vs OME

I've had a look through the forums and there seems to be plenty or people who have had suspension from both companies. But there is a BIG difference in price between the two. I was quote £458 for the Ironman Kit from West Coast 4x4 and £709 for OME from TBR.

Both seem to be popular enough. Does anyone have experiance of both that can justify spending the extra on OME?
_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!

Google · Sponsor

Vagabond · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 20:30 Post subject:

Hi,

I had the same dilemma a few weeks ago and whilst I haven't actually bought the kit yet, I decided to go with the Ironman from WC4X4.

The problem, ironically, is that both these kits are good (if not very good). So almost everyone that has had one fitted is pleased with the results (vs the OEM suspension) regardless of whether it is Ironman or OME.

Ideally what would be the perfect test would be to have a kit fitted, then be allowed to run it for a few weeks, then have the other kits fitted and do similar. Then at the end make an informed choice. Or better still, clone your car fit both kits and you can drive them back to back to get a good "feel".....(I'm not taking price into consideration here).

...ok, back to the real world; Both kits seems to be good and have many, many recommendations on many, many forums (not just Toyo or LC).

So for me it was simply a matter of how much I wanted to spend and the kind of usage my LC would get. If I was planning an overland trip or two, then I might have seriously considered the OME kit but since my LC is primarily my daily driver and family transport, I opted for the Ironman kit.

Anyway my 2p worth. Smile

Choices, choices...... Wink

_________________
'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

ignat · Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 12:37 Post subject:

I also faced this dilemma, and decided on the OME. I was mainly concerned with reliability. Ride is good and has given a nice lift.

Some people I spoke to said that Ironman is decent stuff, but they thought there were just a few corners cut in the finishing.

As Vagabond says it depends on the overlanding aspect. I am going to be driving to South Africa next year, through Cameroon etc, so I chose OME because its basically tried and tested in that arena.

Also - Land Cruisers Overland offer a 10% discount for members of the forum which helps.

Have you looked at TJM? I never did look at them but I hear they are very good too, but dont know what the pricing is like
_________________
'97 Colorado 3.0 TD LWB
LML125 Scooter

uk_vette · Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 2:12 Post subject:

Hello guys,
I went to WC 4x4 with my 120 series.

They did a great job of fitting the Iron Man 50mm lift springs and shocks.

But I am not sure I like the new ride height as she sits with no load.

Original front height was 742mm
Original rear height was 773mm

New measurements, from the same measure points.
front 800mm
rear 860mm

So have gone up 58 mm at the front
and 87 mm up at the rear

I feel the 87mm rear lift is too high, but I also need remember, there is no weight at all in the rear.
So if I put some weight in her, I think the front will drop to the given 50mm, and the rear will drop to the given 50mm.
The rear will obviously drop more than the front.

'vette

busaboy · Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 8:01 Post subject:

As usual with things like this OME seem to be a victim of their own sucess and quality on the dampers has gone down quite a bit as alot of them are now made under license outside of Oz.
If you have a look through here, Julian with the 100 series had to take them off as they were overheating!
I have Ironman and think they are fine. If i knew there was a TJM supplier near me they would have gotten serious consideration too.
_________________
1995 4.2 80 Series VX 24 valve, manual. 285/75 - 16 BFG Muds, Ironman +2", TJM Winch Bumper with T-Max Winch, Safari Snorkel, Superpro poly bush kit.
SOLD TO AFRICA
100 Series now on the drive

regthing · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 18:03 Post subject:

Well I've finally took the plunge. Just ordered my Ironman kit from West Coast 4x4 Shocked

_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!

uk_vette · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 19:00 Post subject:

regthing · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 20:13 Post subject:

Cheers vette.
Always good to hear this when you're just shelled out a the cash.

Is there any way to identify the rating of the spring before I fit them? I'm sure someone mentioned they had a kit with a mixture of B and C.
_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!

uk_vette · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 23:03 Post subject:

regthing · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:41 Post subject:

uk_vette · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:39 Post subject:

The identification is on the ends of the boxes.
2 springs in each box
on the ends of the box, there is a 'C' or a 'B'

Also on the springs, there is a sticker,
It is a clear transparent sticker, about half way down each spring.
The sticker is quite small, and measures about 1 inch x half inch
and on the sticker in black print is a 'C' or a 'B'

I will look for a picture of the sticker on the spring, but now you know where to look, you will easy find

http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/coil_springs.html

Here is my 120 series spring specs
http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/toyota/91.html

Here is your 90 series springs
http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/toyota/90_prado.html

'vette

regthing · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 14:18 Post subject:

Thanks vette, don't worry about the pic, so long as I know I can check before I fit them. They should be here today or tomorrow
_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!

regthing · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:13 Post subject:

Finally fitted the Ironman kit last night Very Happy

_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!

Vagabond · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 18:18 Post subject:

_________________
'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

regthing · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 23:44 Post subject:

I kind of forgot to take a before picture Embarassed

I drove into the garage with the thought of "remember the before and after pics" then just started to get tore in Rolling Eyes

The job itself is easy enough although one of the three nuts at the top of the drivers side strut rounded on me. The one at the back as well so access was very limited.

Ended up spending an age hacksawing one side of the nut off Sad

but got there in the end.

The bottom bolt came out no bother

The whole assembly comes out ready to strip

This was the first time I've used spring compressors and my erse was twitching a bit at first!! But soon got my head round it. Compressed the spring enough that it starts to turn freely then removed the top nut.

The bit you're keeping is 48603 above.

I was surprised to see that the new spring seemed slightly shorter than the original (but they do mention this on their website, the lift comes from the spring being stronger)

Re-assembly is simple enough. The kit comes with new bushes, washers and a nut. A bit of podgering later and it all looks nice

That's it for the photos, I didn't take pics of the rear as I've covered that when I fitted the Milners kit to the rear and the only difference here is that I need to use the spring compressors as the spring is longer on the rear. Link

I'll try and get an after pic tomorrow. So far I'm happy with it seems comfy enough for every day driving.
_________________
'98 Colorado KZJ95 1KZTE
General Grabber AT2s, Ironman Suspension and working my way round the worn bits!