[SS-Traveller]

Ironman 4x4 is a name we often hear in the off-road modification forums and discussions. So when an opportunity became available to visit their offices in Melbourne and meet Mr. Kristian Ristell, General Manager, Global Products and Development, I was elated.









Here's a summary of the discussions, along with some photographs.

Ironman 4x4's office, showroom, warehouse and workshop are gigantic by any Indian standard. I joked that they are bigger than Costco!

400m down the road is their Product Development Building, Kristian's own kingdom! Although I took ample photographs in the showroom & warehouse, no photography is (understandably) allowed inside the Product Development Building.

Apart from their Melbourne setup (actually located in the suburb of Dandenong South), Ironman 4x4 has warehouses at other places in Australia too, in Newcastle, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. In addition, they have offices and warehouses in Bangkok, Dubai, Oregon (USA) and Johannesburg. For the rest of the world where their products are available, such as in India, there are official representatives / importers / distributors / independent resellers to look after their business.

In addition to their own products, Ironman 4x4 are also official distributors for Alu-Cab products in Australia.

Ironman 4x4 outsources the manufacturing of their products to fabricators in China, Vietnam, Thailand & Taiwan, based on their own design and performance parameters, and then perform due diligence on these products for quality. Some products such as seat covers and floor mats are outsourced for manufacture within Australia.

[SS-Traveller]

Besides vehicle-specific products such as bumpers, trays, suspension components, seat covers, floor mats, etc., Ironman 4x4 is also known for a variety of quality accessories and lifestyle products. Here's a quick look around their showroom. I was like a kid let loose in a candy shop on his birthday, and I could have spent hours browsing the displayed products.







































A look inside the massive warehouse below:







For their local customers, they have a workshop where fitments and conversions are done. In addition to individual customers, the company also does work for fleets on contract.







Here's a Ford Ranger fleet vehicle, fresh out of the showroom and as yet unregistered, which is being worked on.

[SS-Traveller]

Product development building:





Photography not being allowed inside, I would verbally describe some of the work and instruments I saw inside.

First off, there's the section where CAD and 3D printing happen. Then there's the suspension development lab, with its leaf spring testing machine, shock dyno with its load cell, temperature probe and position sensors - and a room full of shock absorbers, of every vehicle ever tested here over the last 15 years! Kristian tells me he is associated with the company for 20 years.

At the rear of the building is this giant piece of equipment for testing bull bars, as tall as a 3-storey building. It incorporates a massive pendulum swing, a mount for the bumpers / bull bars being tested, and multiple sensors to measure impact load and deflection. The machine is capable of forces up to 60 tonnes, though the usual force for testing is in the range of 10–15 tonnes. It is important to test bull bars in a stringent manner to ensure that they deform on impact and allow deployment of airbags according to correct manufacturer specifications and conforming to ADR and State regulations in Australia - for example, an impact below 16 kmph should not trigger off airbag deployment, but at higher speeds airbags must work.

Alongside this machine is another, for testing recovery equipment such as winches and winch beds, towbars, shackles, tow straps and tow ropes. While newer winches come with synthetic rope and not always steel braided cables, certain commercial applications demand steel cables. For recovery, Kristian prefers tow straps over tow ropes, because straps take up less space and can do the same job, as well as last long.

Here's a Ford F150 recently imported into Australia for product development. Interestingly, the vehicle was manufactured in Sri Lanka as a left-hand-drive unit for the US market, and subsequently converted to RHD in Australia.

[SS-Traveller]

For India-specific vehicles, namely Mahindras and Tatas, Ironman 4x4 has no specific development and part numbers are not the same, though the Indian distributor has identified some common parts such as shock absorbers and springs from the Ironman bin where the lengths and mountings are the same (though the load ratings may be different). For the newly-launched and very popular 5-door Suzuki Jimny, they offer multiple modification parts.

Ironman has a number of suspension and other modifications for the 3-door Jimny that is sold in Australia, and Kristian is waiting to get his hands on a 5-door example to carry out more product development. However, a number of parts are a straight fit from the 3-door to the 5-door version, as has been fitted & tested by the Indian distributor, Zac. Kristian recommends that the medium / standard suspension kit should work well for the 5-door Jimny. However, this conversion kit has not been officially validated and catalogued for the 5-door version in Australia yet.

Springs: The 3-door Jimny's Ironman 4x4 springs sold in Australia provide a 45-50mm lift and a 300kg GVM increase (legal payload increase) according to ADR rules. The same springs are a direct fit for the 5-door Jimny, but due to the additional weight of the 5-door version, the lift is about 35-40mm, and the legal GVM increase would be ~175kg.

Shock absorbers / dampers: For the Jimny, Kristian suggested specific Nitro Gas shocks - twin tube, 30mm pistons (their usual Nitro Gas shocks have 35mm pistons, but the Jimny has space constraints preventing fitment of the thicker shocks), longer travel, with valving matched to spring rates - for a more planted ride and less body roll. These shock absorbers have greater damping on rebound, which reduces body roll significantly. The anti-roll bars remain stock, and are not changed.



Offset caster bushes: With the lifting of the suspension, the steering feedback changes, with a lighter steering feel, with less-than-optimal tracking in the straight ahead position. To resolve this issue, Ironman 4x4 offers offset caster bushes where the radius arm and the axle meet - this makes for a more positive steering feel.



Front cross member kit: With longer suspension travel, there is a tendency for the OE cross member of the 3-door Jimny to be touched - Ironman offers a front cross member kit to avoid this.

Bump stops: Kristian recommends better quality, redesigned bump stops to take care of the longer suspension travel.

Headlight levelling bracket: With the lifted suspension, the headlight alignment is improper - Ironman 4x4 offers a longer headlight levelling bracket specific to the Jimny, to solve the problem.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Blooming Flower]

Nice coverage with finer technical details. It's really wonderful to visit an off-road accesories manufacturer of global repute. Two things come to my mind.

1. If they can sell their products in India through proper channels with India-centric pricing (sans the exorbitant import duty as it is at present) it must be a delight for the off-roader community in this country.

2. The bull-bars, custom bumpers of 4x4 vehicles are legal in Australia, and Ironman and alike manufacturers conduct a great deal of R&D for making these products while meeting all the sepcified regulation. In India, neither the regulations for such things are implemented in a very well-formed manner, nor the existing 3rd party manufacturers do much R&D, except the external design (read look).

[KkVaidya]

Very nice facility. Good to read they have a strong R&D backed product.
What is still bothering me is people changing the shock absorbers from OEM to Ironman for the purpose of comfort and performance alone. Isn't it that Ironman manufactures its dampers for vehicles that are modified for off-road use and have extra weight where the OEM shocks will not provide required performance?
And hardly I have seen people changing the camber settings caused due to lifts; I maybe wrong.

BTW, do you have more details on that handsome LC300 standing in front of the R&D building? Looks intimidating with those modifications.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

Nice coverage with finer technical details. It's really wonderful to visit an off-road accesories manufacturer of global repute. Two things come to my mind.

Thank you.

1. If they can sell their products in India through proper channels with India-centric pricing (sans the exorbitant import duty as it is at present) it must be a delight for the off-roader community in this country.

If you zoom in on some of the pics from the showroom, you can see their prices in AUD. Prices in THB would be different. Ironman 4x4 parts come to India from Thailand, and would certainly attract import duty + GST.

2. The bull-bars, custom bumpers of 4x4 vehicles are legal in Australia, and Ironman and alike manufacturers conduct a great deal of R&D for making these products while meeting all the sepcified regulation. In India, neither the regulations for such things are implemented in a very well-formed manner, nor the existing 3rd party manufacturers do much R&D, except the external design (read look).

People install off-road bumpers there to mount accessories such as lights and aerials and to improve approach/departure angles. Indian bull bars are installed by owners to actually nudge bulls, cows, people and smaller cars out of the way of their majestic SUVs - and then these are coated with Line-X to prevent scratches in the process!

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

What is still bothering me is people changing the shock absorbers from OEM to Ironman for the purpose of comfort and performance alone. Isn't it that Ironman manufactures its dampers for vehicles that are modified for off-road use and have extra weight where the OEM shocks will not provide required performance?

Not really. Springs and shocks can be changed to alter many things - ride height, comfort, stability, GVM. Why should the change be specific to off-road use?

And hardly I have seen people changing the camber settings caused due to lifts; I maybe wrong.

Some do, some don't. Depends on which modifier works on the car.

BTW, do you have more details on that handsome LC300 standing in front of the R&D building? Looks intimidating with those modifications.

Kristian drives it - not sure if it's his personal or company car. Has a special registration, in keeping with his being a suspension specialist. You can see him in the driver's seat in the first post.

[arjithin]

A very happy Ironman customer here. I did my suspension upgrade, recovery points, fog lamps and Bull bar from this facility. Their in house workshop is one of the best in town. They do these installations every day and I chose to bank on that experience. Their workshop manager Jeff is a gem of person.

Here is my Pajero sport with Ironman accessories.



Right after installation of bullbar and suspension upgrade along with its garage mate.


Pro Tip: This facility runs an annual warehouse sale day with huge discounts. This pic is from last year

[Samfromindia]

Wow lovely report, a delight for all 4x4 enthusiasts

[wheeledwanderer]

Despite manufacturing in China and other South East Asian countries, the product is very expensive when i compare it with other manufacturer doing the same in these countries. Do not know the durability of the products as yet but about 6 months ago, I have bought an awning and annex for my FJ cruiser from Ironman Dubai distributor and it is holding up well so far (rarely used as well)

[Blooming Flower]

Ironman 4x4 product catalogue.
Ironman 4x4 MiniMag.pdf