Ironman4x4 2.5" Stage 2 Nitro-Gas Kit - 2WD Prerunner Edition - Ongoing Assessment and Impressions!

In my experience with lower pitch creaks vs high pitched squeaks the the low pitched ones are more likely to be the bush needing grease.

Imagine it being like if you grab your steering wheel with a firm grip and then rotate your hand around it, it’ll have a similar “creaking effect” (At least mine does ) and that’s kind of like what’s happening with the bush.

Usually rubbing issues with the leaf pack give off the high pitch squeaks. That I’ve noticed.

 

i tend to agree with you. It sounds like twisting rubber which would imply the bushing wasnt properly greased. Correct me if im wrong but you can spray lithium grease until your blue in the face but if the bushing wasnt properly greased at installation it will continue to be an issue.

 

Yeah it’ll persist, I had the same problem and had to take that crap back apart to re-grease inside the bushing. I’d love to install some zerks one day.
I ordered a tub of the Formula 5 grease from Energy Suspension when I first did my install, I used that to re-grease and haven’t had an issue with the rear since.
When I can actually muster up the patience I’ll tackle the front as well.

 

just purchased some of the Energy Suspension Lube. Thanks for the rec. Ive never done it before so hopefully i dont do more harm than good.

 

It’s simple enough, you’ll be alright. Just grease it all, every surface of the bush and the metal bolt sleeve in the center.

Wear some latex gloves, that stuff sticks.

 

Here comes the hyper noob questons:

How does this look for order of operations,

1. Jack Truck up from axle
2. remove tire
3. remove u bolts
4. only remove bushings and bolts for the side youre going to grease.

 

So you'll want to jack it up and support it with jack stands on the frame rails. That way when you let the jack down it'll take the load off the leaf springs.

1. Jack up truck from axle
2. Support with jack stands (on frame rails)
3. Remove tire
4. Remove u-bolts
5. Remove bolts then leaf spring and then bushes


If you're going to go through the trouble of pulling all that out you may as well grease all the bushes, front eyelet and rear, and the shackle bush if it's polyurethane as well.

 

Remember way back when I said “I’d love to install some zerks one day.”
Well I did that today when I swapped my front coil springs out.


So as a Prerunner, I have to account for the lighter weight of my truck versus an equivalent 4x4 variant. This discussion is a common theme on this thread you’ll have noticed.

Since the Ironman kit “meant for 4x4 vehicles” jacked my truck up almost 5.5” and gave me essentially no real useable suspension travel either direction I started looking for a way to fix that issue without buying an entirely new setup.

So after a lot of thought and probably tons of unnecessary calculations I decided to pick up these coils and try them out. They should set me right about stock height, which I prefer.

If you have the Ironman nitro gas system on a prerunner and are looking for a bit softer ride then the Dobinsons coils might be for you! They have all the same free heights as the Ironman coils with a 586lbs/inch spring rate.
So you can preserve your lift height and get a lighter spring rate.


I’ll have to keep updating as I put more miles on them!


Zerk fittings!


Coilovers out, shocks aren’t too dirty. Still ugly white though.


New coil springs next to the outgoing model, those are Dobinsons C59-238 coils. (14.75” free height and 586lbs/inch rate) Thanks @Crikeymike for all the help!


No better opportunity than now to remedy the colour choice!


Much better!



Installed some Superbumps while I was under there, just in case I need them.

 

A couple of side shots, doesn’t look too much different to me in these but I’ll have to look at it a few more places still.





Superbump clearance compared to the old springs.

 

Nice, sounds like those springs are the right move!!

For anyone else that looks at this in the future, here are the new springs he's using: https://exitoffroad.com/product/dob...rings-for-toyota-4x4-trucks-and-suvs-c59-238/

 

Been following this post for a while now. First of all, thanks for your in depth review and on going review, it has helped so much! Thanks to you i decided to take the plunge and purchased the 3" Foam Cell Pro for my '09 PreRunner. The dude I bought the truck from was running a 6" lift on the truck, didn't like the feel or look of it so I am hopefully gonna drop it down some. Are you still running Ironman on your PreRunner? If so, you think I made the right choice? Thanks!

 

I’m glad it has helped you! I think you made a great choice, the FCPs are even better than the nitro gas I’m running.
I bet your ride quality will improve, most of those big lifts sacrifice the ride for the higher lift height.

I’m still running the kit, no problems with it! The only thing I don’t like is the little bit of creaking I get from the poly bushes, but that’s only in the winter.

 

Ironman4x4 issued a safety recall for the ball joint in their Pro Forge UCAs. On the webpage it says “Effective immediately, we’re recalling all Ironman 4×4 Pro Forge Upper Control Arms.” However to my understanding they said this has only affected products sold in Australia, and not in the USA.

I’ll keep an eye on any development.

@hyrule_trd @Lucario Runner

Web link; https://www.ironman4x4.com/recall/

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

No worries!

How’s your setup been performing?

 

It’s been going well overall. Tried the king springs and that didn’t work out. The ride felt weird, no other way to really explain it. So I’m back on the 720# springs.

How about yours and how’ve things been?

 

That’s a bummer it didn’t work out. Now I’m curious how it made the ride weirdI imagine it’s one of those things you have to experience in person. At least you could switch back, were you able to send the kings back?

Mine has been good, still unethically squeaky but, reliable nonetheless. Of course that’s the bushing’s faults, not the shocks & struts (I assume).

 

It was like the springs couldn’t support the weight truck along with the shocks. Just felt odd and I decided I couldn’t trust it lol.
I was able to sell the springs to another member here.
My leafs are squeaking again but I know where it’s coming from and where to spray, I just need to do it. Sometimes dirt gets inbetween the saddle isolator and that causes the squeaking.