It was a case of out with the (tired old) shock absorbers fitted to their much-travelled Mitsi Pajero and in with a brand-new set of ‘you-beaut’ Ironman 4x4 Foam Cell units. Here Scott tells us a bit about how he went about narrowing down the options and how happy he is with the Ironman Foam cell shock absorbers he eventually settled on.
If, like Kristen and I did, you have a mid-90s 4WD vehicle that seems to accentuate every bump in the road, this one is for you; in an effort to improve the on road as well as the off-road handling of our trusty ‘93 Pajero, we decided it was time to up upgrade the shocks.
It had been running a fairly old and worn combo of Old Man Emu and Monroe 4x4 shocks and prior to that had been on the factory shocks that surprisingly still vaguely worked after 25 years. With a summers’ worth of adventures coming up, a new set of shocks was a no brainer.
After considering the diverse range of aftermarket shocks aimed at the 4WD/Overlanding community, we decided to choose Ironman for a couple of reasons. Firstly, being in Christchurch we could easily visit their well-appointed showroom and actually eyeball the product in person and the helpful staff could answer my many questions. Secondly, Ironman makes a nice range of suspension options to suit most performance and/or budgetary needs. And finally, Ironman actually stocks a large range of suspension in New Zealand meaning no long wait times for overseas delivery – a common problem with many of the comparable brands.
Performance and value
Of Ironman’s three levels of suspension, we decided to split the middle between value and performance and go with their Foam Cell shock. These are a twin tube unit that utilise a 40mm piston housed in a 60mm shock body. The twin tube design comprises a small inner tube housed within the outer tube that is the shock body. This allows for the shock body to withstand minor damage as the piston and main workings of the shock are shielded inside the smaller inner tube or pressure tube. Not a bad thing for a 4WD where rocks often come in contact with the bottom of the vehicle.
As the foam cell name implies, the nitrogen gas within the shock is housed within the cells of a closed cell foam located in the secondary outer tube. The use of the foam cell eliminates the potential for oil and gas to mix causing the oil to foam or cavitate. Additionally, foam cell allows for oil to move more freely around the outer tube thus increasing oil coverage and allowing for better heat dissipation.
Ironman designs these to perform well on stock or lifted vehicles and use high quality materials which should ensure the consumer is not only satisfied with the ride but is happy for a very long time. We were happy knowing our new shocks are warrantied for three years or 60,000km.
It should be noted that our springs were not upgraded at the same time as they had already been swapped for uprated lift springs. Ideally all suspension parts would be upgraded at one time, but we felt there was no need to break the bank over something that was currently working for us.
DIY Ezi-As
Being reasonably mechanical, I opted to install the shocks myself. It’ not a particularly hard job and I was able to complete the install in an afternoon. All the tolerances seemed correct as the shocks fit neat and snugly.
Handling the shocks during installation it was easy to see that these are a high-quality units designed for some serious 4WD use. Compared to the old factory suspension the Foam Cells are gigantic and even slightly larger in diameter than the Old Man Emu shocks they replaced. This extra size means more oil, which helps counteract the heat build-up during hard off-road driving.
Speaking of hard off-road driving, that is exactly what these shocks have been subjected to. But to get to that off-roading, at least from our house, a bit of tarmac must be covered before the fun starts. Thus, my initial impressions of the suspension were on road. I must say I was impressed; the handling improvement was pretty remarkable.
Body roll around corners was much improved and small bump sensitivity over the rough roads of Christchurch is also notably better. The vehicle seems to get less input into the steering wheel from minor undulations in the road. Before instillation I found the shocks extremely easy to compress by hand, which is a sign of low friction and surely is partially responsible for the smooth tracking over small bumps.
Ticking all the boxes
Once the tyres hit dirt though the shocks really shine. Our first drive was a short trip down the Waipara River to a cheeky little camp spot on the beach. Anyone who has driven a classic braided South Island riverbed knows they can be rough! At the beginning of the drive my wife and I would see a rock or sharp edge coming and find ourselves tensing up and bracing ourselves for impact. Then said obstacle would pass under the vehicle and it seemed that nothing had happened. There was no jolt, there was no bounce, the old Pajero just smoothly drove right on over rock after rock. We were impressed.
Back on the dirt the shocks continue to impress. Testing on harder tracks around Reefton the shocks have given a bit of extra confidence; the truck feels more planted on big leans and off camber sections of track. Over large undulations that get the truck rocking back and forth the side-to-side roll seems less extreme as well.
Another recent weekend away was spent in the Clarence River Valley where we did a bit of exploration along the riverbed, which of course had all sorts of large rocks to navigate. Once again it was amazing how smooth the truck handles hitting such obstacles with modest speed.
To sum up….
After about six months of driving and quite a few kms the shocks still feel as good as new. Aside from a few small rock chips in the paint the finish seems to be holding up well, no oil is leaking, and we have had no problems.
Being designed for hard off-road use I would expect to get years of good life from these shocks. I could happily recommend the Ironman Foam Cell shocks for just about anyone looking to upgrade their suspension.
