IM Foam Cell Pro - Long Term Feedback

[JiBLiT]

Hello all, total newb here, with a new-to-me 1995 LC. Was wondering if anyone had any updates on the likes/dislikes for the Foam Cell Pros? Long term info on these shocks seems to be hard to find. Except for one guy who did a youtube review after taking his 200 all over the world (literally). Seen a few threads for the install and spring/shock choice, but not seeing the results after the shiny wears off.
Thinking about doing an Icon dual rate springs and Foam Cell Pro shocks. Land Cruiser is Stock in Rear and only has a bumper and winch in the front. Rock Sliders are ordered as well. Plan would be to put a rear bumper with tire carrier on the LC some time down the road as well. Currently on 315/75 R16 tires and plan to put 37s on it in the future. Any insights would be welcome. Buy once, cry once

 

[voodu3]

I have a little over 40k miles and 6+ years on my foam cell pro shocks. They have been ok but they are starting to show their age. The shock seems to be functioning ok but the bushings are wearing out. My 80 is pretty light and I think these shocks would work better on a heavier truck. I have the Ironman 4” springs and I got 5.5” in the rear and 5” in the front. I don’t know if there is any correlation but in some situations it feels like the dampening is non existent. On a positive note the stiffness improves the handling. I think these shocks are more suited to rigs with everything including the kitchen sink loaded in them. I hope this helps.

 

[jonheld]

I've been running IronMan 4" springs and matching foam cell pro shocks since 2010. In early 2017 I replaced the original springs and shocks with new on my 97 LX450 because one of the springs had started to sag and I was planning on a long road trip (7600 miles). All purchased through MetalTech at the time, as they were the US distributor. Been running the same setup since with no issues. Ride is comfortable and controlled and flexes very nicely in the rocks. No complaints.

That said, this was before IronMan set up a US distributorship and changed spring colors from yellow to green. I don't know if any other changes were made to the spring design or rate.
I will also add that springs and shocks should be a matched set, regardless of manufacturer.

 

[JiBLiT]

I've been running IronMan 4" springs and matching foam cell pro shocks since 2010. In early 2017 I replaced the original springs and shocks with new on my 97 LX450 because one of the springs had started to sag and I was planning on a long road trip (7600 miles). All purchased through MetalTech at the time, as they were the US distributor. Been running the same setup since with no issues. Ride is comfortable and controlled and flexes very nicely in the rocks. No complaints.

That said, this was before IronMan set up a US distributorship and changed spring colors from yellow to green. I don't know if any other changes were made to the spring design or rate.
I will also add that springs and shocks should be a matched set, regardless of manufacturer.

Yeah, the green color is a bit too Zombie Apocalypse for me. I suppose there’s always the option of Powdercoat. Iron Man lists one spring rate under specifications for the springs. So I assume that that’s a linear spring rate, but the spring does seem to taper a bit which would lead to a progressive feel on that portion of the spring engagement .
Comfortable and controlled is pretty much what I’m looking for. My words to describe the ideal ride is Super plush but stable at high speed compression. Would it be a stretch to say that about the foam cells? Although I’ve never had twin tube shocks on any vehicles I’ve owned, did have twin tube shock on my dirtbike and it was actually one of the best feeling rear shocks I’ve ever had. But unfortunately, all the tuning was internal and there wasn’t much I could do external. Just preload and rebound adjustment dial. Thanks for the advice on matching, I’ll reconsider my idea of swapping springs.

 

[JiBLiT]

I have a little over 40k miles and 6+ years on my foam cell pro shocks. They have been ok but they are starting to show their age. The shock seems to be functioning ok but the bushings are wearing out. My 80 is pretty light and I think these shocks would work better on a heavier truck. I have the Ironman 4” springs and I got 5.5” in the rear and 5” in the front. I don’t know if there is any correlation but in some situations it feels like the dampening is non existent. On a positive note the stiffness improves the handling. I think these shocks are more suited to rigs with everything including the kitchen sink loaded in them. I hope this helps.

Might be going against the grain here, but I’m thinking the bushings are a positive. The natural vibration dampening vs, the hard connections on most aftermarket eyelet connections.
Hmm, I’d reckon I’ll be Spung light, no plans for a roof rack or roof tent.

 

[jonheld]

My words to describe the ideal ride is Super plush but stable at high speed compression. Would it be a stretch to say that about the foam cells? Although I’ve never had twin tube shocks on any vehicles I’ve owned, did have twin tube shock on my dirtbike and it was actually one of the best feeling rear shocks I’ve ever had. But unfortunately, all the tuning was internal and there wasn’t much I could do external. Just preload and rebound adjustment dial. Thanks for the advice on matching, I’ll reconsider my idea of swapping springs.

I understand that everyone's use case is different, but are you planning on running the Baja? High speed and 80 Series really shouldn't be used in the same sentence.
Ride comfort is subjective and has as much to do with tire load rating and inflation pressure as it does with suspension systems. A "C" rated tire will have much better "comfort" than an "E" rated tire given the same setup.

 

[JiBLiT]

I understand that everyone's use case is different, but are you planning on running the Baja? High speed and 80 Series really shouldn't be used in the same sentence.
Ride comfort is subjective and has as much to do with tire load rating and inflation pressure as it does with suspension systems. A "C" rated tire will have much better "comfort" than an "E" rated tire given the same setup.

lol, no Baja. Just meant plush but doesn’t bottom out easy. Very true on the tires. Sidewall and pressure are key

 

[HighDesert Dawg]

I am running the IM 4-inch Stage 3 system. I have driven the rig on a number of long highway trips (+500 miles) as well as some moderate off-road excursions into Moab and high moutain passes in Southern CO. For both senarios, the rig always feels planted with decent handling and gave enough articulation for the moderately difficult trail runs. If anything, it feels just a tad on the stiff side for the medium load springs even with the ARB bumper and 35s, so might feel a tad softer once I get a little more weight up front such as a 12K winch. But the slight stiffness helps with the handling feel. Also, at speed, the system soaks up speed bumps and other road imperfections with ease.

And I like the green springs...lol.

​

 

[ZetheGSD]

I’ve installed the foam cell pro 4” kit on a couple 80’s. Quality was fine as far as that goes but both vehicles were not “heavy”. One was light with a front bumper and the other was full armor with some decent amount of cargo weight. Both customers elected to switch to Dobinsons setups within a year after install as the ride was harsh.

The cheaper white Ironman shocks gave a great ride as far as comfort, but the foam cell pro shocks were extremely harsh and almost like there was no dampening. I wouldn’t recommend them on an 80.

As far as the other Ironman foam cell suspensions on all other Toyotas the ride seemed to be decently plush and a worthwhile upgrade from stock and would respond well to additional weight.

If memory serves me right the kits available from Ironman in the FCP variant were made with at minimum of 600lbs over stock. So it’s safe to assume these kits were made for the Aussie touring vehicle that carried a bunch of extra weight.

 

[YotaTrail]

I spent months considering these and doing research. Ultimately I went with dobinsons and there was even a member here complaining about his ironman being too harsh

 

[Nay]

I run then on my 80 with 5.5” lift and 38’s, no sway bars, Dobinson’s CVT dual rate coils. They are a slow rebound shock - in a longer travel setup with the right spring you don’t end up quickly back at the harsher top travel of the system. There is a lot of personal preference here, I have hauled ass on bad roads with 5 guys in the truck and mountain bikes hanging off the back - the shock capacity is there you have to understand what you want.

I have also run them on the back of the 4th gen 4Runner and 1st gen Sequoia. Excellent in both applications. I have no idea where you’d find them harsh, slow rebound is the opposite of harsh you just need enough travel where the spring is in its sweet spot. Any talk of a shock absent the pairing of the spring is useless, except for really cheap stuff.

 

[JiBLiT]

I’ve installed the foam cell pro 4” kit on a couple 80’s. Quality was fine as far as that goes but both vehicles were not “heavy”. One was light with a front bumper and the other was full armor with some decent amount of cargo weight. Both customers elected to switch to Dobinsons setups within a year after install as the ride was harsh.

The cheaper white Ironman shocks gave a great ride as far as comfort, but the foam cell pro shocks were extremely harsh and almost like there was no dampening. I wouldn’t recommend them on an 80.

As far as the other Ironman foam cell suspensions on all other Toyotas the ride seemed to be decently plush and a worthwhile upgrade from stock and would respond well to additional weight.

If memory serves me right the kits available from Ironman in the FCP variant were made with at minimum of 600lbs over stock. So it’s safe to assume these kits were made for the Aussie touring vehicle that carried a bunch of extra weight.

Thanks for the Aussie insight about weight and how they set up their rigs. My goal atm is trying to keep the rig light and simple...AND I have to keep the lift lower due to garage clearance. I have an additional 3" max to play with before the truck scrapes the garage door on the way in. Currently it has the basic model 2" Ironman with nitro. Don't plan on going crazy with overlander add-ons. Suspension, tires, sliders, bumpers are about it.

 

[JiBLiT]

"Any talk of a shock absent the pairing of the spring is useless, except for really cheap stuff."

I was originally considering paring the FCP with the Icon dual rate springs. Not sure what I'm leaning toward now.

Slow rebound can cause the suspension to 'pack up' over repeated continuous compressions. That may be the harsh feel some are reporting. Is a shame these can't be tuned externally. Basic rebound and compression adjuster knobs would be awesome to quickly solve and over/under dampened shock

 

[Nay]

"Any talk of a shock absent the pairing of the spring is useless, except for really cheap stuff."

I was originally considering paring the FCP with the Icon dual rate springs. Not sure what I'm leaning toward now.

Slow rebound can cause the suspension to 'pack up' over repeated continuous compressions. That may be the harsh feel some are reporting. Is a shame these can't be tuned externally. Basic rebound and compression adjuster knobs would be awesome to quickly solve and over/under dampened shock

I would figure out your design parameters related to the dual rate coils first. If you have a lower weight rig, and haven’t static compressed through the transition zone in the spring, there is a lot of stability that will come from the spring that doesn’t require over-damping.

If we recognize that “sway bars” are laterally located torsion bars designed to amplify the base rate of the spring creating side to side load transfer and a dual rate spring will compress into the higher rate without the use of torsion, then the action of the shock can be designed differently between a linear and dual rate coil.

I’ve always said that the worst thing you can do to an 80 is just load it up with weight - it’s already heavy and you are forced into over valving against stiff spring dynamics and most likely (looking at you OME) designing for up travel in compensation. That further reduces the effective travel before binding at a corner.

The beginning of this stupid clip is running fast in rutted and whooped terrain. Remember, no torsion sway bars here.



This is a 5” high angled driveway. Try this with IFS, which isn’t ‘independent’ given both sides are connected by a torsion bar.



And slo-mo. Watch how much the axle moves without interacting with the other side or jerking the rig around.

https://vimeo.com/567722184

Balanced flex with 38’s, stock radius arms, stock fenders.

If I was going to spend over $300 a shock, unless I had a really compelling reason to do it, I would bank that money and spend $500 on Timbren bump stops. Having progressive uptravel resistance is a game changer. The metal mount lengths are long in the back and short in the front so you may have to tweak them, but dumping the rigid factory stops for smart man’s hydro is a huge performance investment.

You could make them yourself with dog Kongs, but mine are dialed so I have about 1/8” full stuff clearance at full compression without limiting up travel. Vastly superior to fiddly shocks, it’s like having a hydro bump at the bottom of the travel in a mountain bike shock so you don’t have to tune out small bump compliance in the mid travel or over damp rebound.

TLDR: dual rate coils, a simple high capacity 2.5”+ shock, Timbren bumps, raise the rear panhard axle mount, travel designed to be as close to 50/50 as possible, don’t add pointless weight that is working against you in all situations.