Ironman Deluxe Commercial Front Bumper

[Wasatch Jay]

In a different thread Oregon LC suggested the Iron man bumpers as an alternative to the ARB or TJM lines (IMHO the Slee Blueberry is in a class by itself).

The Deluxe Commercial model is the one most comparable to the ARB and TJM bumperf for 100 series trucks. He offered to take some photos if I started a different thread.

In addition to some pics could you describe it in some detail and also your "likes" and "dislikes"?

Two questions:

1.) As you're driving down the highway do the round tubular portions shake independently of the rest of the bumper?

2.) Does this also have antenna tabs welded to the tubular section which must be cut off on Lexus applications due to hood interference?

Thanks for your help. Prior to your post I had never even heard of this option.

 

[bamachem]

I'm very interested as well. Looks like I'm going to be buying some front steel very soon myself. To me, it's a total toss-up between ARB Commercial, ARB Sahara, TJM T-13, and Ironman Commercial.

Personally, I probably won't be doing ANY rock crawling (therefore no blueberry). It's mostly for the ability to add a winch along with frontal protection from deer/animal impact, with the secondary utility of protecting the front end offroad. Plus the tupperware on my LX has already been removed, so why not?

Anyway, I've had a Sahara, and was really leaning towards going with full protection across the front this time via welded bars instead of the bolt-on hoop system the Sahara uses.

Let's see those Ironman pics!

 

[duggy]

Interested in this also.

 

[GaFJC]

In a different thread Oregon LC suggested the Iron man bumpers as an alternative to the ARB or TJM lines (IMHO the Slee Blueberry is in a class by itself).

The Deluxe Commercial model is the one most comparable to the ARB and TJM bumperf for 100 series trucks. He offered to take some photos if I started a different thread.

In addition to some pics could you describe it in some detail and also your "likes" and "dislikes"?

Two questions:

1.) As you're driving down the highway do the round tubular portions shake independently of the rest of the bumper?

2.) Does this also have antenna tabs welded to the tubular section which must be cut off on Lexus applications due to hood interference?

Thanks for your help. Prior to your post I had never even heard of this option.

I've had this bumper installed on my 100 for 18 months. While the construction is solid, the finish is subpar. I had rust developing on different weld spots less than a month after it was installed. I'll post pictures if I can find them.

I went with the Ironman because of price and felt it backfired as such.

Answers:

1. No, the tubes on mine do not shake. They're welded to the main bumper body.

2. Can only answer in relation to my 100 and no, the tabs do not interfere.


Overall the finish has been such a disappointment I plan on having it repainted this fall. It also makes me question my decision not to spend a little more and buy and ARB or Slee.

All of this said, it is possible Ironman corrected this problem.

 

[CappyKD]

I have the same bumper on my LX. I love it. I have had no finish issues in the two years it has been on my truck. The bar as stated does not shake. It has one tab and the tab clears the grill just fine on my 2001. I will post a few pics up in a followup post in a little bit.

Thanks,
Kirk

 

[GaFJC]

Here's a few pics (but not all) of the rust on welds 30 days after it was installed. No road salt and no sea spray, just a mild Georgia winter.

Not really a big deal for a used bumper or one a few years old but not this one 40 days out of the shipping container.

Other folks may not have the same problem. Again I've been pleased with the construction. It was purchased mainly for protection against animal (deer) collisions.

I hope Ironman has improved their QC.

 

[CappyKD]

Here are a few more pics.

 

[Wasatch Jay]

Thanks guys for the photos and the comments. Please keep 'em coming. Honestly; the more the better!

I'm a bit concerned about the brush guard portion of the bar in that it looks very straight and somewhat high compared to say the TJM.

I got this bumper on my F-350 and it's really "stout": http://www.buckstop.biz/Images/ford/99-03/Ford_revtek_front_l.jpg

The shaking of the TJM would drive me nuts...

Ironman's description of the bumper seems to make a big deal as far as "designed and tested in Australia", but they don't mention where it's actually made. China?

 

[OregonLC]

I get no significant shaking on the Ironman. It's a stout unit. Keep in mind that the 'shaking' you see is the difference in movement between the hood line and the bumper, therefore it's not necessarily the bumper that is moving. Could be soft body mounts allowing the body to move around the frame, although if it's a high frequency shake then yes, it's most likely bumper vibration.

As far as a review goes... The bumper arrived extremely well packaged. In fact, it took a lot of effort just to get the silly thing unwrapped.

The Ironman support strategy utilizes a winch cradle that mounts between the frame rails. The bumper then mounts to the cradle. This is similar to other bumpers, however, the Ironman uses shims to fir out the gap created by the frame horns. I've read where other brands require trimming of the horns. While I don't consider trimming to be an unpardonable sin, I'd rather cut as little as possible. That said, there was one user with an LX who had gap issue with the shims. Don't know if this was caused by a delta in frame design between LC and LX (unlikely) or a mis-shipped set of shims.

Here you can see the DS frame horn and OEM recovery point. Also note the proximity of the A/C lines.

Here's a pic of the installed shim. This is PS below the frame rail.

A couple shots of the installed cradle. Note the slotted holes on the front. These are used to adjust pitch, bank, and height of the bumper. The 'Swiss Cheese' area is the crash crumple zone.

I didn't get any pics of the winch mounted separately, but you can pretty much see the plate where it mounts. I have a Titan 12,000 lbs TW12 so my guess is just about any full size winch will fit. Don't know about the new Xeon as they have a larger height due to the cross-over frame design.

Installed pics:

Looking at that last pic, I could probably shore up a lot of that gap without any problems. I want to run it 'loose' for a while to see how it responded to flex and just haven't gotten around to adjusting it.

The light kit is superb. The orange LED couples to the blinker, the white LED to the running lights, and the fog (obviously) to the fog light. While not as bright as a Rigid Dually, these are some impressive little foggies. I'd say 2x - 3x as bright as OEM. They make a noticeable improvement. I just splice the turn/driving up into the corner lamp circuit next to the headlights.

The wiring harness is of very high quality. It comes with an an awesome OEM style switch that pops right into one of the factory blanks. Also comes with a relay for the fogs, although I just use the factory wiring.

All in all, very impressed. It's unique enough that you don't look like everyone else's ARB. Granted, a custom bumper with better recovery points would be the ulitmate, but at this time there aren't any that I care for. While the Blueberry is an exceptional piece of hardware, it has too much of a 'bikini' look to me and is missing the grill guard.

Not showing is the under-bumper guard; a plate that bridges between the bottom lip of the bumper and the OE skid plate to keep debris out of the winch area.

Happy to take other pics or answer other questions, just ask...

 

[OregonLC]

Here's a few pics (but not all) of the rust on welds 30 days after it was installed. No road salt and no sea spray, just a mild Georgia winter.

Not really a big deal for a used bumper or one a few years old but not this one 40 days out of the shipping container.

Other folks may not have the same problem. Again I've been pleased with the construction. It was purchased mainly for protection against animal (deer) collisions.

I hope Ironman has improved their QC.

Looks like they probably had some residual grease or debris at the weld area prior to powder coating. I would imagine this potential exists for any factory made bumper. As a data point, however, I do not have any powder coat gaps on mine.

 

[GaFJC]

Looks like they probably had some residual grease or debris at the weld area prior to powder coating. I would imagine this potential exists for any factory made bumper.

I'd like to hear from folks in the ARB or Slee bumper camp as to how often they experienced the same problem with a new bumper. It would be interesting especially given the difference in manufacturing volume.

My bumper was also impeccably wrapped although two dents were found on one of the lower outer wings after the packaging was removed. They required paint touch ups. Yay.

It's possible I received an Ironman lemon. Pity as the construction is impressive and the design is aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Wasatch Jay]

OregonLC ...Thank You for the great photos, detailed commentary and general thoughts.

I've studied your photos closely. It appears that the brush guard tubes are somewhat taller than either the TJM or ARB bumpers. Are they too high in your opinion?

Also this photo of an installed TJM gave me pause:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a363/tabraha/IH8MUD/DBM100/null_zpsf0c31b49.jpg


That gap struck me as huge. Is there a gap in that area with the Ironman, and if so how big is it?

Your excellent photo of the winch cradle showed some pretty big slots for adjustment. Are those slots large enough to minimize gaps (obviously they need to be big enough that there's no "crunch" as the frame and body flex differently)?

Thanks Again!

 

[dclee]

Very cool, thanks for the info! I'm thinking about building my truck up again and this and the TJM T13 Outback are my two choices (had two ARBs previously, both a Sahara and a Deluxe, won't be going back).

On the switch, I just had one quick comment. If it were me, I'd use the existing OEM fog lamp circuit and "switch" and then use this new switch for the driving lights that of course must be added eventually!

 

[OregonLC]

On the switch, I just had one quick comment. If it were me, I'd use the existing OEM fog lamp circuit and "switch" and then use this new switch for the driving lights that of course must be added eventually!

That's exactly how I'm running it. I'll use the Ironman switch to control Dualies eventually.

 

[OregonLC]

OregonLC ...Thank You for the great photos, detailed commentary and general thoughts.

I've studied your photos closely. It appears that the brush guard tubes are somewhat taller than either the TJM or ARB bumpers. Are they too high in your opinion?

The height is just barely visible over the hood from the driver's seat. The only 'too tall' then would be from the perspective of working on the engine, such as doing a 90k job. It's easy enough to remove that I'd probably just pull it off if I was going to be leaning over the nose for any length of time. I'd be happy to measure if it's of specific concern.

Also this photo of an installed TJM gave me pause: That gap struck me as huge. Is there a gap in that area with the Ironman, and if so how big is it?

Your excellent photo of the winch cradle showed some pretty big slots for adjustment. Are those slots large enough to minimize gaps (obviously they need to be big enough that there's no "crunch" as the frame and body flex differently)?

No gap, unless you want one. It's completely adjustable in three dimensions. Mine is set pretty 'loose' in the pic, I could tighten it up quite a bit. In fact, there may be enough adjustment to make up for slop in a body lift. Don't know on the latter, I'd have to take a look at where I'm at on the vertical range.

 

[hoser]

I think if the bumper was aligned to close the gap in front of the headlamps, the wheel well opening would look off.

 

[OregonLC]

I think if the bumper was aligned to close the gap in front of the headlamps, the wheel well opening would look off.

I don't have a gap in the front of mine. Same color different truck/bumper.

What I need to shore up is the vertical gap by about 3/8" as well as a minor adjustment to pitch.

Edit: here's my front 'gap'



Double edit: as long as I'm updating, this isn't from the seat, but this is about how much bumper is visible from the cockpit. Real view is slightly lower so less exposure.

 

[tabraha]

Yup, my TJM could definitely be adjusted to make the gap smaller front to back. It's just low priority quite honestly. Sounds like OregonLC's in the same boat as me! I could easily slide back a bit and I believe my wings would line up perfectly with the wheel well arches as they are a bit forward too. Also don't forget I took the picture Jay linked to at the best angle possible to demonstrate the size of the gap (I took the picture from 1 foot away) and that gap is around 0.8". If I took the same pic Oregon posted above from the same distance you'd be hard pressed to pick up on it.

I think the gap may be getting a bit overhyped on the TJM due to my closeup exagerrating it, especially with me not adjusting it back all the way yet (if ever)... Don't get me wrong it will always have a bigger gap than the Ironman. I certainly wouldn't let that dissuade me from a cosmetic standpoint. If it is that concerning I would take a look at all of the other differences overlooked like the crossbar tube in front of the headlights TJM and ARB have as well as TJM's matching of the curvature of the uprights to the curvature of the grille/headlights. I would say if someone is discerning enough to spot that gap then these are things that stick out from 10 feet away while the gap is not even perceivable at those distances to put some perspective on things here... I'll try to get some more pics of the TJM and post them up in the other thread. I don't want to photo bomb the Ironman thread (as I feel it is a great product too).

Nick has a good pic of the Ironman and ARB side by side he sent me when I was bumper shopping. I'll see if he can post it up or if I still have it on iMessage so you can see them together for reference. You know we should've done this at 100's in the hills with all of them together?!?!

 

[Wasatch Jay]

OregonLC, Tad, Hoser,

Thanks for the photos and the discussion. It would be great to see a side-by-side comparison photo. As it is I have two threads pulled up and alternate between the two. But the pictures, as good as they are, are taken from different angles.

All of the comments are really appreciated as they DO help in making a purchase decision. The opinions of people who own the product, or have experience with it or a similar product, carry a lot more weight than a manufacturers ad.

Thanks Guys!

 

[bamachem]

At $800 + freight, this bumper was a no-brainer. That included the fog lights as well as the switch and harness. A comparable ARB is $1500!

Yes, the hoops are slightly taller than an ARB, but they don't appear to be "too tall" once installed, at least on the LX. Also, the round tubing is a larger diameter than what's on an ARB. I'm extremely pleased with the build quality of this bumper. I've owned several ARBs and I have built several custom bumpers myself. The Ironman is a great value, especially at the sale price.