Steering feedback after Ironman suspension fitted

[BlinkyBuoy]

Just wondering if any of you guys who have had the Ironman springs and shocks fitted have noticed increased feedback through the steering wheel over rough ground or corrugation and the like?

Dunno whether it's something bad, but it is a fraction annoying compared to factory setup. Does it mean anything bad? Do the steering damper shocks a couple of companies sell give you a friendlier steering wheel on rough road at all? Can the steering damper shock be fitted behind the bash plates?? I'd value your advice/experience.

[TrickML]

Never driven one with standard suspension so can't compare, I have minor squeaks and steering pulling to the left that needs attention from Ironman. I dont think you can fit steering dampers to the Triton.

[BlinkyBuoy]

That's interesting Tricky,

Looking at my truck from a distance I reckon it sits a fraction (and i mean only slightly) lower on the left hand side sometimes since the Ironman kit was put on. And mine has a slight roll to the left on the highway if you take your hands off the reigns (but again, only very slight so I haven't worried about it as yet).

Wonder if it's evidence of dodgy Ironman stuff? Or am I being oversensitive (I'm from north Queensland though - there ain't too many metrosexuals or SNAGS up here).:roll:

[Greedy]

I trust they did wheel alignments after fitting. :roll:

[BlinkyBuoy]

Apparently yes Greeds.

But feedback through the wheel over rough ground is not an alignment or balancing issue.

I don't understand enough about suspension and lift dynamics to diagnose it myself really. I've driven lifted vehicles before and understand they can feel different from stock in some ways, but I've never felt more punch coming through the steering wheel over rougher roads because of a suspension upgrade or lift?

[GLX-RSilver]

No prolbems with my ironman kit drives as well as standard except need to lift front after fitting winch and bar.

[Wallace]

Don't forget , with the after market suspesion package that is fitted you have increased the spring rates as well as the shock absorber compression and rebound rates. Basically the whole setup is a lot stiffed than standard suspension sets, hence you will get a lot more feed back thru the wheel. Realistically suspension will be slightly higher on the right side than the left, this extra height on the drivers side is to compensate for the weight of the driver, also when getting wheel aligmnents done there should be some consideration for the driver factor in seting the toe adjustment on the right front wheel. That is the toe adjustment should be a couple of mil less that the left side to adjust for the drivers weight.I tip the scales at 105kg and this is how the wheel align is done on my vehicle, IE with me sitting in the vehicle. As far a vehicle pulling slightly to the left you will find that this is due to the slight camber of the road which is always pitched to the nearside ...

[BlinkyBuoy]

You're probably right Wallace. And yes, the Ironman kit is stiffer because it has certainly taken a lot of the annoying body roll out of the truck on the bitumen which is great - better vehicle to drive through roundabouts and the like. That must explain the steering thing. I also notice with these Tritons that there seems to be nearly twice as many turns of the wheel lock-to-lock, so maybe the way they are set up picks up more feedback with stiffer suspension.

[Wallace]

Blinky, glad I could help.......

[TrickML]

Ironman dont do a wheel alignment after fitting their suspension products, so getting one done after the suspension settles may help. I am getting an alignment done very soon as mine pulls reasonably hard to the left.

[Mud16]

The bloke up in townsville who does ironman operates a tyre joint and normally does a wheel alignment

[sam]

There isn't a steering damper available as the rack a pinion steering makes it VERY hard to do anything

[scubapro]

sam I thought I saw an ad in one of the 4wd magazines from Rancho stating that they have a steering damper to suit the ML for $175-00.

I will see if I can find the ad.

[BlinkyBuoy]

I've seen that too Scuby. The 4WD1 mob advertise an ML steering damper (with "bracket" - not sure what the bracket does?) for about that price. Wonder what the story is?

[Mud16]

Hey Blinky arent you happy with your Ironman suspension you said it felt a little cheap

[sam]

I hope you did cause I want one

Just did a search on the 4wd1 site but couldn't find anything but I'm not that flash on these things (computers) :o

[gfm_69]

I have been told you are wasting your time doing a wheel alignment at the same time as any new suspension is fitted and you should wait about a month until the suspension has settled as the angles will change front start to finish.

[BlinkyBuoy]

Hi Mud16!

To be fair, I've only had OME on 'cruiser wagons in the past to compare with. Those suspension upgrades make the big Toyotas a much nicer truck on rough ground or corrugation.

The Ironman stuff has taken much of the annoying bodyroll out of the Triton on the road, but over rough ground the vehicle doesn't seem to feel any more capable than with the factory suspension - particularly corrugated type surfaces. I was expecting an improvement in shock absorber performance for my 1400 bucks, but doesn't seem to be. But as I said, comparing different vehicles against different suspension kits probably isn't fair. Opposite Lock did mine - the sales manager bloke there said they'd make sure there was no shudder after the suspension lift was done and they delivered on that promise so that was good.

[rick]

good stuff this iron man,i have no problems/worries at all....rides better on road and feels more capable off road,maybe its the 285's i dont know as they were fitted at the same time but its sure better than stock.

[Greedy]

Blinky,
Are you in a manual or auto?

[BlinkyBuoy]

Mine's a manual diesel Greed's.

Told the OL boys before I agreed to the Ironman stuff that if it made anything wiggle or wobble afterwards, they'd be fixing it or putting the old gear back on and giving me my $$ back. Sales manager bloke said he was confident that they could sort it out if it had any shudders - talked about castor wedges or something to re-position diff angles or something? Dunno what that means.

My truck has always had a slight shudder when you initially take off in first gear (only very slight). But the Ironman lift has not produced any other sins so far, so the OL boys delivered.

I find it strange that some vehicles get the issue but some don't. Doesn't make sense. It would indicate an issue on Mitsubishi's side of the fence if this is the case.

[Greedy]

That is good news Blinky. It's nice to go in armed with some knowledge of what can go wrong so at least you have a bargaining point to start from. I'll be looking more seriously at a lift now given those results (and my shite shockers)

[BlinkyBuoy]

You're absolutely right Greeds. I only knew about the lift-shudder issue through newtriton.net, so this forum has been worth its weight in gold for things like that.

Mind you, the Ironman headquarters won't guarantee it I'm sure because they now produce a kit for ML Triton manuals which provides barely any lift to combat the lift shudder issue. It was only a deal through the local blokes here that got the 2" lifted version on my truck - so you'll have to negotiate with whoever you get to do it I imagine. My local bloke was confident they could sort it out so I trusted them. Have to say they did a stirling job on the Ironman commercial bar install too - looks and feels good!

[Mud16]

Glad to see your happy Blinks I go and have a chat to OL and mightn go the same way TJM have no solutions and are waiting for someone to come up with one

[BlinkyBuoy]

Good idea Mud's, have a yarn with 'em and see what they say. I was talking to Richard (sales manager bloke) over there. Make sure you remind 'em that you want to keep your old suspension in case there are any issues.

I just picked up my Ironman 12,000 pounder today and while I was there he said the first bloke's Triton they fitted the Ironman lift kit to has gotten rid of his ML because of shudder, engine and other issues that the local dealer didn't want to know about under warranty apparently. Claims that the shudder issue did become a problem, (yikes - hope the same doesn't happen to mine???). Sounds like a tale of woe...