Ironman 4x4 Foam Cell Pro

Alright guys. How are my cv boots? I didn't do any adjustments to the coilovers - just left them where Ironman set them at. I need an alignment for sure but if my boots are looking like they're gonna rub like crazy and have a pre-mature wear out I want to adjust my coilovers before taking the truck in for an alignment.

Driver side

Passenger side

 

FWIW mine look exactly like that with the two outer fins touching. I didn't notice any new noises up front or anything, but who knows long term. Although I think the rubbing is bad in the long run, you cant really avoid minor cv fin rub with a meaningful lift. As long as they're not all bunched together I think they'll be ok.
Also dont be like me, measure the day of, go beat it up and drive it around, then measure again. I think mine settled a lot, but I don't have the numbers to show it.

 

I got about 2.25” lift in the rear on mine with the performance leaf packs.

I don't think they look too bad. Mine were touching when I was at 3”. When I lowered it to about 2.5” the fins stopped touching. I will say mine has settled to about 2” lift height from stock.

While it does not sound like you’re worried, there is a boot slide mod you can do on the cv. You’d have to cut the clamp off, slide the boot end about 1/4” then use a hose clamp and clamp it back. It’s supposed to move the fins just enough so they don’t touch. I had planned to do it on mine but once I lowered it, it became a non issue.

 

Thanks for the responses! I'm not too worried about them as of yet but time will tell I guess. Other than needing an alignment my truck rides fine. A lot better than my old coilover setup for sure. I'll give it some time to let the suspension settle before I start cranking on the coilovers..or I may not even need to do anything at all.

 

Hello All,

I have an Access Cab Toyota Tacoma (SR5) Year: 2019. I'd like to know if anyone that see's this thread has an access cab too and/or knows someone with an access cab that has the;
Ironman 4x4
Foam Cell Pro Suspension Kit Suited for 2005+ Toyota Tacoma - Stage 2

I'd like to know if the following options I have selected would be wise as I don't off-road a ton but do visit farmers on a weekly basis in the country. I'm guessing these options I have selected would be wise considering my truck is an Access Cab and not 4-door Crew-Cab. I don't haul anything hardly and don't plan on adding any off-road bumpers. Someone please give me some guidance before I throw money in the air!
Front Springs:
2.5" Lift Performance Load (0-110LBS Additional Payload)
Rear Leaf Springs:
Performance Load (0-440LBS Additional Payload)
Pre-Built Struts:
Pre-Built

 

I think that's the right setup. Based on the 83 pages of this thread, which I feel like I've read/referenced 23408 times... This is the right setup for your needs. That being said... results are a bit inconsistent.
My initial thoughts:

• Take measurements before removing stock setup.
• Absolutely get everything pre-built!
• Don't be surprised/scared/shocked if the suspension requires additional "tuning" after installation
  • If available, buy their spanner wrench.
• Im happy with their UCA's, but installation sucks. This is a Toyota issue, not Ironman.
• Leaf Springs may still be too stiff/high.
  • Use GOOD grease on bushings and be generous!
  • If you're really ambitious, grease the springs. I haven't experienced squeaking, but many others have.
• Everyone has a personal opinion on diff drops. I installed one to help with CV angles. Research, consider and make your own decision
• I added a spacer for the center bearing.
• I replaced the driver side needle bearing. Definitely got noise after installation. Install this during the lift installation to save yourself time/energy later.
• Watch for sales. They regularly offer discounts, freebies, etc. Dont pay full price without some goodies included.
• This suspension is overall a great option, considering the price. I'm happy with it, but it rides a bit firmer than stock and other manufacturers out there. I trust it 100% to fulfill my needs and based on your description, it's more than enough for your use.
• Take measurements after installation. Reference this thread for comparison.
• Keep asking questions! Lots of knowledge and super helpful folks following this thread!

 

I figure I've put enough time and miles on the foam cell pro set up for at least an initial review. My mods that will make a difference and should be mentioned are:
One piece driveshaft, ECGS bushing, Front steel bumper (100 lbs), X20 gen 2 winch (100 lbs), sliders (140 lbs), and a fiberglass shell (150-200? lbs).

Setup:
Front constant load FCP coilovers, IM UCAs, constant load leaf packs, and FCP rear shocks.
My suspension seems to have settled at roughly a 2" lift.
FD: 22.25" FP: 22.75"
RD: 24" RP: 23.5"

I feel I've put this suspension through its paces relatively well so far. With a couple of thousand miles on them, I've gone offroading multiple times, as well as daily driving, and even a 1000 mile road trip too.

Parts/Service:
As most of you know, IM got way behind on their estimated lead times. It's a covid thing, they were responsive, and it happens. No big deal. I will say my order got pushed so far out, I had to have them ship the kit to a different address because I was no longer in MT when they were ready to go. They handled it no problem, almost. They finally sent my shocks and leafs to the changed address, but a month later when the UCAs got back in stock they sent them to the old address in MT. They really get kudos from me for sending another UCA to the proper address. Sending another $700 part at a loss to them with no hesitation was impressive. The guys at IM have a top notch customer service department, no doubt about that. When installing the kit, the only issue I had with their parts was the hardware. One of the coilover nuts got striped with no force at all. Just spinning the nut to the point where it stopped freely spinning, and then using a wrench, the nut never tightened. I ended up having to double nut it to lock it down because I couldn't spin the bad nut off. Other nuts ended up starting to round off when torqued to spec. If I ever remove this setup, I'll be putting my old OEM hardware back on in place of IM's stuff. They could really afford to beef up their hardware.
Edit: The only other issue I had was a minor one, but annoying. The bolt for the brake line bracket was too large, so it had to be enlarged. Not a part easily taken off for drilling, but not a huge deal.

On Road:
No vibes! This is great, although I already installed the ECGS bushing and had a one piece driveshaft, so YMMV. I also have nearly no body roll now, so that is very nice and makes the truck handle well. The leafs also hold a load very well. I traveled from the bay area in CA to southwest MT with a bed full of 4 spare tires with wheels, and a bunch of other crap, probably around 400lbs of extra weight in the bed. The truck still looked perfectly level, if not maintaining a slight rake. Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the praise ends. The ride on road felt roughly equivalent to my old blown out shocks that practically used the bump stops as the main damping force. This setup is harsh, there's no way around that. Speed bumps and potholes feel like I'm riding in an old farm truck. For regular on road driving, the only place this setup excels is large smoother dips. If there's a steep angle going into a parking lot, this setup will handle it at speed. I guess this is the price you pay for good offroad performance, or so I thought.

Off Road:
From forest service roads to mild crawling, this setup was only good at cushioning hard hits. With the tires aired down, this setup could not smoothen out a mild forest service road to save its life. I'd wager that a car with reasonable ground clearance like a subaru would have done much better. Driving on forest service roads is a serious chore, as the truck gets rattled around a lot. Before I left CA, I managed to stop by Hollister hills and put this suspension to the test flexing it out, getting wheels off the ground, and bouncing around quite a bit. If you search for the Hollister hills thread, you can get an idea of the obstacles there. At some point in the day, each tire was stuffed as well as hung in the air. Nothing stretched too far, no brake lines were split, ABS connections remained intact, nothing went wrong with the setup and I can appreciate that. There is an obstacle at HH that consists of a whole bunch of logs lined up parallel to each other that can be taxing on the suspension. The obstacle forces your front and rear tires to climb at the same time, so when you come down on the other side of the logs, you come down hard, even in double low 1st gear with the brake pedal to the floor. My factory shocks bounced so much that I thought I broke something the first time I tried this obstacle. With the IM setup, it handled the drop exceptionally well. I also managed to hit another bump going a little too fast and managed to get the front end off the ground. The coilovers cushioned the impact great, no damage was taken, and I was very impressed with that. Overall, off road, these shocks will save your bacon if you drop down hard off of rocks, logs, etc, but it can't handle small stuff at all.

Notes:
Maybe my expectations were just too high, I'm not sure. I wasn't expecting everything to be buttery smooth, but I was really hoping for an improvement in ride quality over my old suspension with 140k miles on it. Maybe the coilovers could be smoother if I dropped the preload, but I only have about 2" of lift, and I really don't want it any lower. If the preload was maxed out, I would expect it to be rougher, but I'm on a pretty mild lift. If I had known how this setup would ride, I would've waited and spent the extra $1000 on kings or a fox setup. I wonder how going with Bilstein 6112s would have been as well. A nice Bilstein setup would probably be pretty similar in price to this one, but I wonder if it would perform better? Other food for thought is I helped my brother install the IM nitro lift on his 21 crosstrek. That setup ROCKS. He can hit speed bumps at 35+mph and it handles that beautifully. Although he can't crawl, he can do FS roads, and those are leagues smoother in his crosstrek. Not to mention, his on road ride hasn't changed at all, which is a good thing for that car. Maybe I should have gone for their cheaper nitro shocks? These shocks may be thick and have a special foam setup for heat dissipation so they last longer, but does that really matter if they feel like they aren't dampening anything? Overall, I'd skip this setup. This is my first aftermarket suspension setup, so maybe I was expecting too much. I don't know how other setups handled, but if I could go back, I'd choose something else.

 

I'm curious to see how mine rides when it gets here with the performance springs (not constant load)

However, I know how you were talking about on and offroad driving experience. Everything you said reminds me of my OME hd springs on my second gen and it sucked. So I'm probably going to feel the same as the OME according to your review but we will see. Thanks for the feedback!

 

I think part of it might be the spring rate. I couldn't find it anywhere before I bought the kit, but someone posted new spring specs recently and they're crazy. 800 some odd lbs/ft? The most you see on other "heavy duty" coils is 700, maybe 750. If there's a way to get a softer spring and keep the lift, I might go for that eventually. Can't really mess with the rear though, if I remove any leafs the lift is going down, and I don't want blocks.

 

Just found out today that ironman is coming out with sliders in about a month…

 

Great review! I can’t say I’ve got the same experience but we have different set ups for sure. After reading your review I got thinking this morning if you’d be able to put other springs on there. I took a quick look this morning and the shock diameter of the IM is 2.75 while most others is 2.5. There are springs in 2.5,3.0 and 3.5 (but not many). I’m not sure how it would work but maybe finding other springs that fit would help you out. I can’t figure out how to read the measurements of the Springs vs the shock to see what would work but if you’re really unhappy maybe @AccuTune Offroad might have a recommendation of a different spring that would fit. Just throwing it out there.

I saw those too but personally I wanted a kick out. I’m giving trail Tacoma and rrw a chance. They’ve been banned from TW for customer service issues I think, could not really figure it out. They say on Instagram that there issues have been resolved and I really like the look and posted specs of their sliders. Trail Tacoma held a group buy last week, which. Is the main reason I decided to give them a try, well again besides me liking how they look.

 

I should not had even let the thought cross my mind… since I posted my previous comment, I’ve been looking at King springs to potentially replace the IM springs with. Do I need to, no, should I, also no… that said, I think the IM springs are a little much for my set up with a spring rate of 827 lbf. Most Tacoma’s don’t go a live 750. The IM spring stats are below. I’m just not sure if the springs need to be higher since it’s a foam cell and not a nitrogen… I can’t tell what the spring rate is for the nitrogen shock springs. Those shocks are thinner and I suspect the springs are different.


Material Diameter 18mm/.70”
Free Height 385mm/15.15”
End I/D 66/76mm/ 2.59/2.99
Spring Rate 145(N/mm)
Spring Rate 827(lbf/in)

 

Taking nothing away from your post, and honestly, posting the spring rates for IronMan will prove super helpful for everyone following/finding this thread! Thank you for the info!
My personal experience was a drastic change in ride quality with about a 1/2" adjustment to the front springs. Mine required lowering to get "decent" CV angles and I ordered unassembled so I'm not a good read for consistency.
As I installed them, I loved the look but hated the ride. I adjusted them about 1/2" lower via the threads and will say I'm much happier. Rears have been a moving target, but now that I've got a topper, I think the rear rides much better.
That being said, my buddy has a King setup and I rode about 100 miles with him and couldn't believe how smooth his truck was! Definitely a difference! I think you're onto something with the 827 spring rate...
I went out with a couple other folks last week and after exercising the springs for 2 days, I noticed an improved ride quality also, still not to the level of Kings, but I wouldn't be afraid to bounce these around a bit and see if that improves your ride.
I'm curious if a set of King coils could mount up and work with the FCP setup!?
Thanks for the info and more real life insight!

 

Interesting. I didn't really compare the two spring options when I ordered. The Constant Load and Performance Load both claim the same spring rate. Yet the Perf springs claim 3" lift and a 385mm free spring length compared tp the Constant springs which claim only 2" and 380mm free length.

I agree the front end is harsh over small hard hits on the road and pretty rough offroad on rocky terrain even when aired down.

Not sure I'd gain much by switching my Constant load springs to Performance.

 

Here's a recent video of me crossing a small washout. I have the IM FCP Constant Load springs up front and the Constant Load leaf pack with the 3rd leaf removed. The trunk is on 33" tires. I can see I get some good articulation in the rear but the front coilovers barely show flex. I lowered the front ~1/2 on the threads a few weeks ago. Rides better but I was hoping to see more flex up front.

https://youtu.be/zRVy9gaBe8I

 

How much lift do you have after lowering the preload? I'm only just over 2" and I'm hesitant to lower it any more. I still have skids to add eventually, so maybe even more weight will help out, but I really dont want to have to sit at stock height for reasonable ride quality.

 

I had to do the same thing. At 3” lift the ride was too harsh and my cv angles didn’t look good but lowering it made it a lot better. Last weekend I rode in a Pro and thought mine get similar just a little harsher, if that makes sense. I’m not sure if my post will go anywhere but if I see a set of springs on the marketplace maybe I’ll take a chance. I’m not sure what the 14” king vs the 15” IM would really mean though. More research is needed.
It’s not that I’m unhappy with my purchase, the ride quality or anything, just curious if it could be better. Just like all the small things we do to these trucks lol, always improving and tinkering!

 

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/coilover-spring-rates-for-toyota-tacoma-4runner/

I think this article will answer a lot of people's questions. I don't have the foam cell but 827lbs spring rate sounds terrifyingly jarring.

 

827lbs is quite high.... The 3" performance springs I got with my FCP kit are 720lbs and I wouldn't want to go higher.

https://ironman4x4america.com/perfo...a-4runner-2003-tacoma-2005-lexus-gx470-gx460/

 

Im so on the fence about getting foam cells or the ironman nitro shocks. I'm not sure Im someone that would benefit from the foam cells since it seems like those are more suited for driving over washboards a lot or rougher than normal fire roads. I just need additional lift and weight support for my camper on the back and something better than stock.