Shop with Confidence
IRONMAN 4X4 vs ICON
Two premium ranges, closer than most comparisons admit. Where they separate is the warranty on the part that wears, and whether the spring in the kit was chosen for the weight you carry.
Start Here
The Short Version
Five things that decide which suspension belongs under your vehicle.
- ✓4 years, unlimited miles, shocks included. ICON publishes a 12 month shock warranty. Their Limited Lifetime cover applies to springs, components and weldments, not the damper.
- ✓Every suspension kit ships with its spring. Load ratings run from Light through Extra Heavy across Nitro Gas, Foam Cell Pro and IM2.5, and the ratings for your platform are chosen at the kit level.
- ✓ICON's 2.5 EXP re-uses your factory coil spring. Spring rate stays where the factory left it, so it does not change what the vehicle can carry. Every Nitro Gas, Foam Cell Pro and IM2.5 kit replaces the spring, in a load rating chosen for the build.
- ✓Foam Cell Pro has no counterpart in the ICON range. ICON builds aluminum monotube shocks, with internal floating pistons, reservoirs and bypass. None of them use a foam cell.
- ✓Ours ships dialed in. ICON build externally adjustable damping on selected platforms. We valve for your vehicle and match the spring to your load rating at the factory instead, so there is no damping to tune on install. Their coverage is also United States and Canada only.
Four Series
What Type of Build Are You Planning?
Choose the series built for the toughest thing you ask of your vehicle, not the easiest.
Lift & Level
The Easiest Upgrade. Bigger Tires Start Here.
Daily driven trucks and SUVs. Includes all necessary spacers and brackets for lifting and leveling your truck without breaking the bank, allowing for bigger wheels and tires.
Shop Lift & Level
Nitro Gas
The Smart Upgrade. Better Than Stock in Every Way
Weekend warriors and daily driven trucks and SUVs. Durable twin tube shock design with nitrogen charge and increased shock diameter over stock, allowing better performance on and off road for little investment.
Shop Nitro Gas
Foam Cell Pro
The Workhorse Series. Outlasts Everything on the Trail
Overlanders, outdoor enthusiasts, heavily loaded trucks and SUVs, and daily driven trucks and SUVs. Increased oil capacity without needing a traditional nitrogen charge, so the Foam Cell shock is tough and requires little to no service.
Shop Foam Cell Pro
IM2.5
The Flagship Series. Unmatched Composure & Control
Performance enthusiasts, lightly and heavily loaded trucks and SUVs. Advanced monotube technology allows for precision performance and a planted, composed ride on and off road.
Shop IM2.5Lift & Level |
Nitro Gas |
Foam Cell Pro |
IM2.5 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Load Ratings: | ||||
| OEM | Light, Medium, Medium Plus, Heavy, Extra Heavy | Light, Medium, Medium Plus, Heavy, Extra Heavy | Light, Medium, Medium Plus, Heavy, Extra Heavy | |
| Shock Design: | ||||
| Twin-Tube, shocks included with certain kits only. | Twin-Tube | Twin-Tube | Monotube | |
| Shock Diameter: | ||||
| Up to 2.1" (53 mm) | Up to 2.1" (54 mm) | Up to 2.8" (71 mm) | Up to 2.5" (63.5 mm) | |
| Rebuildable: | ||||
| No | Serviceable | Fully rebuildable | Serviceable | |
| Warranty: | ||||
| 4 Year / Unlimited Mile | 4 Year / Unlimited Mile | 4 Year / Unlimited Mile | 4 Year / Unlimited Mile | |
| Every kit includes the parts listed for your platform. Check the kit page for anything your build also needs, such as longer CV axles on a 2022 or later Tundra lifted 2.5 inches or more at the front. | ||||
What You Get
One Part Number, One Finished Truck
The clearest way to compare two kits is to count what you still have to buy after each one arrives.
IRONMAN 4X4 TOY066KG |
ICON K53220 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Front shocks: | ||
| In the kit | In the kit | |
| Front springs: | ||
| In the kit, at the load rating you choose | Factory coil re-used | |
| Rear shocks: | ||
| In the kit | In the kit | |
| Rear leaf springs: | ||
| In the kit, at the load rating you choose | Not in this system | |
| Rear U-bolt kit: | ||
| In the kit | Required with their leaf pack, sold separately | |
| Part numbers to finish the truck: | ||
| One | Three |
Both of those kits lift the same truck. One of them is finished when it arrives.
That is what we mean by value, and it is the part you can check before you spend anything. Open both contents lists and count. Our Tacoma kit is one part number holding the spring at the load rating you picked, a damper valved to match it, and the rear hardware in the same box. ICON's Stage 1 EXP is a well made 2.5 inch coilover and they are direct about what it does, which is to re-use the factory coil. Finishing the rear means their leaf pack, two of them, plus the U-bolt kit that pack needs.
ICON do build systems with a full replacement rear pack included, in their RXT equipped tiers, and those sit well up the range. So compare the same tier on both sides, and compare the contents before you compare anything else.
Where the money goes on an IRONMAN 4X4 kit: a spring rated for the weight you actually carry, a damper valved for your vehicle, and the hardware to fit it, at one part number. The front load rating never changes what the kit costs. On the three leaf sprung trucks where a heavier rear pack does carry an uplift, the figure updates on the product page before you add to cart.
Coverage
4 Years. Unlimited Miles.
On the part that actually wears.
IRONMAN 4X4 |
ICON |
|
|---|---|---|
| Shocks: | ||
| 4 years, unlimited miles | 12 months from date of purchase | |
| Where it applies: | ||
| Wherever we sell | United States and Canada only |
A shock is the part of a suspension kit that wears. It is the component with oil, seals and a moving shaft, and it is the one most likely to need attention over the life of a build. We cover it for four years with no mileage limit. ICON publishes a 12 month shock warranty, limited to manufacturer's defect from the date of purchase. Their Limited Lifetime warranty covers components, springs and weldments rather than the damper.
Both warranties carry their own conditions and exclusions, and both are worth reading in full before you buy. Ours is at ironman4x4.com/pages/warranty.
Load Ratings
Built For What You Actually Carry
A lift height tells you nothing about what a vehicle can carry. A spring rate does.
This matters at both ends of the vehicle. Bolt a steel bumper and a winch to the front and that weight sits over the front axle every day, so the front coil has to be rated for it or the vehicle sits nose down and works through less of its travel. Load drawers, a second battery, water and recovery gear in the back and the rear needs a spring rated for that constant weight. Our lift kit finder asks about your bumper, your winch, your drawers and your tow weight, and returns the load rating to match.
Long Term Value
Rebuildable, With the Seal Kit on the Shelf
Both ranges are built to be serviced rather than scrapped. What separates them is how long your truck sits while it happens.
Our seal kits ship to you. Order the kit, hand the shock to a suspension shop you already trust, and the truck stays in the driveway while the work gets done. ICON also sell rebuild kits as catalogue parts and run a factory service program. Both routes end with a rebuilt shock, and building them to be rebuilt is the right call either way. Ours is the route where the part comes to you.
Ownership
Upkeep, And Where The Work Happens
Both ranges need looking after. What differs is whether the shock has to leave.
IRONMAN 4X4 |
ICON |
|
|---|---|---|
| Routine care: | ||
| Inspect periodically, clean the dirt shield, check the seals. | Clean shock bodies and shafts every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Inspect bushings, bearings and spacers at 10,000 miles. | |
| Full service: | ||
| On condition, when the damping tells you to, rather than on a mileage. | Recommended full service at 15,000 miles for street and dirt use, or 40,000 miles for street use. | |
| Where the work happens: | ||
| Seal kit ships to you, fitted by a shop you already use. | The shock ships to their factory service department, or to an authorized service center. | |
| Turnaround: | ||
| One part number, ordered like any other part. | A published minimum of four to six weeks at the factory, faster at an authorized center. |
ICON publish recommended service intervals that vary with how the vehicle is used. Ours is a condition based approach instead: look at the shock, and rebuild it when the damping tells you to. We publish no mileage based shock service schedule, because Foam Cell Pro requires little to no service. That comes down to the design. Foam cell replaces the nitrogen charge with a closed cell foam insert, so there is more room for oil, the oil cannot aerate against a gas charge, and the top seal only sees pressure when the shock is actually working. There is no external canister or hose to route, protect or inspect either.
We do ask for a few things, and they ship in the instructions with the kit. Recheck the torque on newly installed hardware after two weeks or 310 miles, recheck it after off road use, and check ride height in the first few hundred miles, since Foam Cell Pro front coilovers settle about half an inch. None of that takes the shock off the truck.
So the part worth weighing before you buy is where the work happens. A seal kit is a part number that arrives at your door and goes to a shop you already use. A factory service is a shock that comes off the vehicle, travels, waits and travels back, billed per shock with freight both ways, and ICON publish both the minimum turnaround and the authorized service centers that shorten it.
Four years and unlimited miles on the shocks. Both warranties carry their own conditions and exclusions, ours included, and both are worth reading in full.
What It Means
What These Differences Change
Map your typical use across the full range, from the daily commute to the trails, and choose the option built for the toughest use you do regularly.
Intended Use
Built For The Trail, And For Monday Morning
Both ranges are built by people who know what they are doing. The question is which conditions your truck actually meets.
ICON are open about where their engineering comes from, and it is real engineering. A range that can carry a race truck across a desert is a serious piece of work, and the adjustment on it exists so a driver can change how the shock behaves for the conditions in front of them.
The question worth asking is how much of that you will use. A Tacoma or a 4Runner that commutes five days a week and sees dirt on Saturday is a different job from a race truck. Capability you do not use still has to be set up, and adjustment that earns its place on a race weekend is adjustment to work through on a truck that mostly does the school run.
We build for performance on a vehicle that still has to work on Monday. That means the tuning is finished before the box arrives, the spring is rated for the weight you actually carry, and the shock is one you can forget about between adventures.
If your weekends are run at race pace and you want a bypass shock with 28 settings on it, that is a different build from the one most people are doing. For a truck that does the school run on Monday and the trail on Saturday, performance you can fit and forget is worth more than performance you have to set up.
Proving Ground
Tested On The Australian Outback
We use the Australian continent as our proving ground. Our suspension is engineered and field tested in desert heat, on outback tracks and across the kind of distance that punishes equipment: sustained load, relentless washboard and a long way from the nearest shop. That is the environment Foam Cell Pro was built for, and it is why our range is organized by load rating and not by lift height alone.
IRONMAN 4X4 traces back to a Melbourne suspension manufacturer founded in 1958. Our products have been specified by fleet and military organizations and have completed the Dakar Rally.
By Platform
Kits Built For Your Vehicle
Both ranges are specified per platform, so make the comparison on the vehicle you actually drive.
On independent front suspension trucks, the Toyota Tacoma, 4Runner, Tundra, Ford F-150 and Lexus GX, the lowest cost route to lift leaves the factory coil and its load capacity untouched, whether that is a spacer or a coilover built to re-use the stock spring. Every IRONMAN 4X4 suspension kit replaces the spring, and you choose the rating. Owners running a bumper and a winch on a Tacoma or a 4Runner are the clearest case for a load rated front coil, and heavily loaded overland Tundras and Land Cruisers are the clearest case for Foam Cell Pro.
Frequently Asked Questions on Lift Kits
Are ICON shocks worth it?
On a dedicated race or off road only vehicle, where every setting gets used, ICON's external adjustment earns its place. On a truck or SUV driven every day, that is adjustment you may never use. Where ICON add externally adjustable damping it is one more thing to set up, and their shock warranty runs 12 months against defects. Every IRONMAN 4X4 suspension kit replaces the spring as well as the shocks, in the load rating you pick, so the kit is matched to the weight you carry. The shocks arrive valved for the vehicle, so there is no damping to dial in. Recheck the torque at 310 miles and after off road use, check ride height in the first few hundred miles, and beyond that it needs minimal maintenance. Our suspension is built for the family SUV heading out on the weekend, and for the performance enthusiast running it hard on the trail.
How long is ICON's warranty compared to IRONMAN 4X4?
ICON publish a 12 month shock warranty, limited to manufacturer's defect from the date of purchase, and their Limited Lifetime warranty covers components, springs and weldments rather than the damper. Their coverage applies in the United States and Canada only. IRONMAN 4X4 covers suspension lift kits and parts, shocks included, for 4 years with unlimited mileage. Both warranties carry conditions and exclusions and both are worth reading in full.
Does the ICON 2.5 EXP come with springs?
No. The EXP is ICON's entry tier coilover and re-uses the vehicle's factory coil spring. The shock is tuned for that stock spring, so it is a genuine damper upgrade, but spring rate stays where the factory set it. If you are adding a bumper, a winch or a drawer system, you want a kit with a spring chosen for that weight, which from ICON means a V.S. or Stage system, since those do include springs, or an IRONMAN 4X4 kit in the load rating that matches your build.
Do ICON shocks need regular servicing?
ICON publish a maintenance schedule: clean shock bodies and shafts every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, inspect bushings, bearings and spacers at 10,000 miles, and a recommended full service at 15,000 miles for street and dirt use or 40,000 miles for street use. They also publish a factory service turnaround of four to six weeks, with authorized service centers in a number of states for faster work. That schedule is worth factoring into the cost of ownership alongside the purchase price.
Are IRONMAN 4X4 shocks rebuildable?
Foam Cell Pro is fully rebuildable by design, and we sell the seal kit over the counter as a catalogue part, with an IM2.5 seal kit alongside it. Check the fitment list for your part number, and have the work done by a qualified suspension technician, since a reseal needs the correct oil volume and a nitrogen recharge. Nitro Gas is a fixed damping tier, serviceable but not rebuildable. ICON likewise sell rebuild kits as catalogue parts, so neither range is a throwaway.
Do I need externally adjustable damping?
Most people do not. ICON build it on selected platforms, where CDCV gives ten compression settings, CDXS adds independent high and low speed compression with ten detents per circuit, and the Omega bypass offers 28 settings of compression and rebound. Those are application specific rather than range wide. We take the other route. Every IRONMAN 4X4 suspension kit arrives with the shocks valved for the vehicle and the spring rated for your load, so the tuning is finished before the box arrives, and IM2.5 coilovers adjust at the spring seat for ride height rather than for damping. For most drivers that is one less thing to set up on install and one less thing to second guess on the trail.
Which is better for overlanding?
It depends on whether you want to tune the shock or forget about it. ICON's strength is adjustability and a deep performance range including 3.0 bodies and bypass shocks. Foam Cell Pro is built for the other approach: a big bore twin tube with a closed cell foam insert in place of a pressurized nitrogen charge, more oil volume, no reservoir to route or protect, five load ratings and a 4 year unlimited mile warranty. If you want to get out and explore without thinking about your shocks, that is the one.
Am I downgrading from my factory suspension?
You can. If a product raises the vehicle without replacing the spring, spring rate and load capacity stay exactly where they were while the tires get heavier and the geometry changes. Stock shocks are tuned for a near empty vehicle on smooth road. Add a bumper, a winch or a rooftop tent and that factory setup quickly loses control, composure and safety margin. Replacing the spring with one rated for your load and matching the valving to it is what makes it an upgrade.
Will the springs sag?
Our coils are CNC cold wound and bar peeled, shot blasted, preset to solid height and load tested to guard against sag. The other half of the answer is choosing the right load rating for the weight you carry, which is why every suspension series is offered in load ratings rather than one spring per part number. Expect around half an inch of settle on Foam Cell Pro front coilovers in the first miles, then check and reset ride height on the threaded body.
Do I need upper control arms?
There's no single lift height at which arms become mandatory. It depends on the vehicle, the height you run and the alignment you're trying to reach. We handle this by making arms a defined Stage 2 step rather than something you research separately after the kit arrives. Our Pro Forge upper control arms are drop forged with 4 degrees of caster correction to bring lifted geometry back toward factory specification.
Will I need an alignment?
Yes. A professional alignment is required after installing a suspension lift. Factor it into the total cost of the job rather than the price of the box.
Which IRONMAN 4X4 suspension series should I buy?
Lift & Level for height and bigger tires on a daily driven truck. Nitro Gas for weekend warriors who want a full suspension upgrade at our most accessible price point. Foam Cell Pro for overlanders and heavily loaded rigs that need load support, heat management and a rebuildable shock. IM2.5 for performance enthusiasts who want monotube precision and the most composed ride on and off road. Our lift kit finder picks the series and the load rating for your vehicle in about a minute.
Get The Kit Built For Your Load
Answer a few questions about your vehicle, your accessories and how you load it, and we will return the series and the load rating to match.