IronMan 4x4: Avoid At All Costs

Due the recent events with Ironman’s recall on UCAs, I felt compelled to share my story with Ironman products.


Recall Notice


On April 20th, I walked out to my garaged 4Runner to go on my religious chipotle run, come to find out…the battery is dead.

I call my neighbor over to ask for a jump. He said “what the fuck man, you’ve got a 2023, how is the battery dead?”

I said “No idea, but give me a jump idiot, I’m hungry.”



We hook up his battery and immediately the winch starts turning. I disconnect the jumper cables, and we look at each other with the dumbest faces.

“What the fuck…is your car possessed? Is the controller connected?”

“No dude…”

I touch the jumper cables to my battery and the winch starts turning immediately. I disconnect the winch and jump the battery.



I started looking at the winch and to my surprise the harness for the winch shorted itself somehow. The cables are melted, some of the plastic components in my engine bay was melted…

Holy shit. The winch harness got shorted and turned on in the last few hours.

My neighbor cries “dude, your car could have caught fire.”

I start digging through everything and I see the winch cable snap, no damage to the fairlead or flatlink. Hollar to the boys at Factor 55.



I emailed Ironman on April 22nd asking for a full refund. Pieces of shit only gave me a partial refund due to “warranty period” or a new winch.

I told them, “my 4Runner nearly burned down, I’m not taking another product from you guys.”

I offer Ironman’s customer service, either give me a full refund, or a partial refund and I reserve the right to share my experience with Ironman’s winch. They went with the latter.

This took about 3 weeks to get the funds back on my card.

This winch was ordered in November during Black Friday. Installed in January. And used twice between January and April of 2023.



I am sharing my experience with everyone to recommend they stay away from all Ironman 4x4 products. Most of which are made in China.

I’ve emailed the CEO of Ironman, Luke Schnacke, asking for a full refund + installation for the UCAs and he responded that he will get back to me tomorrow morning.

I made ZERO modifications to the harness from Ironman. Hookups were correct, the winch was functional the two times I've used it and when I winded the line.


Images of burned harness

 

Ironman simply sells cheap Chinese shit, either rebranded or their own.

 

Customer voice!

 

What about Ironman tires?

 

I just cut mine in they are great!

 

I made a similar reply to your post on Reddit so feel free to reply to whichever one you want (or not at all).

That wire shorted for a reason. It either rubbed against metal (installation error) or got hot and melted and then touched metal (possible installation error or component failure).

Look for arc'd metal etc.

I'm not saying it isn't their fault, but I think the first step should be to find out why that wire melted before you bash Ironman.

 

Hey Mike,

Responding to both post because I think it is valuable for both communities.


[This was the wire that shorted.](https://i.imgur.com/uDypl0L.png) The harness connects the controller to the solenoid.

I just figured at the time, it was just a shitty wire. There wasn't any exposed wiring, it's fully shrink wrapped. But now reflecting on why there was a short...

The only thing I can think of is a pinch? But it was rolled up pretty nicely in the engine bay. [This is the route](https://i.imgur.com/7S4aCXr.png) it went from the solenoid.

The wire is rubbing against the side of the engine bay, maybe that's what caused it? There was plenty of room for it move.

It didn't get hot the car was off for a while.

Strange that it was in the engine bay for 4 months with two uses before it randomly shorted. Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

Here comes my uneducated guess...

I'm assuming the controller wire was connected to the winch but the controller was not.

My guess is the controller wire rubbed against something, wore through the sheath and touched metal- grounding that wire. When you tried to jump start your car, you sent 12v to ground and energized that wire melting it. That 12v also sent power to the winch to activate it... as if you were pushing the button on the controller which is why the winch started spinning.

That wire size seems perfectly fine for a controller wire. It's only sending signals from the hand controller to the winch's control box.

It's possible the wire was melting all night- which explains your dead battery. It may also happened when you tried to jump start your car. Do you remember melting plastic smell?

If this is at all correct, it might cause Ironman to put an inline fuse in their winch controller line (or suggest people do not leave it connected).

I've attached one of your pictures. The red circled area looks worn through. The blue circled area looks melted or torn. I'd start looking in the area where those two spots were to see if there is arc'd metal.

 

Your assumption is correct. Controller wire is connected but no controller. I left it connected because to reach down into the solenoid to hook up the harness you have to remove the radiator cover, which is a pain if you're on the trail.


Thanks for the feedback. I'll actually go and pop the hood and record a video and let me know if you see anything obvious. I have my warn hooked up the same way, we can analyze that. I'll compare the heat shrink / sheath to the Ironman version.

 

Yup. I can see why leaving it connected would be something people would do out of convenience.

Maybe I'm way off base, but I'm confused why people on Reddit think that wire is undersized. It's just a controller wire. It's not like it's connecting the winch motor to the battery. That sheath is only protecting the wire inside. One might want a thicker sheath since you're moving it around a lot, dropping it on the ground, running it over with a truck etc. In other words I don't believe someone elses controller wire it's extra thick because of all the amperage it's pushing.

 

That looks like rodent damage? I would invest in a “rat zapper”.

 

Here's a video of how I have my harness wire laid up

https://streamable.com/hkoy92

 

Well just from the video.

Nothing is strapped down and looks like a mess. I'm going to go with it rubbing through the insulation and shorting out. I'd be happy with any refund and move along.

Add something like this in the engine bay. To strap it down so it can't move. They have ones you can screw down as well.

$12 Benliu 50 Pcs Cable Zip Tie, 8.3x0.2" Heavy Duty Nylon Push Mount Self Locking Assortment Black, 8.3x0.2"(50Pcs)

https://www.amazon.com/Benliu-Cable-8-3x0-2-Locking-Assortment/dp/B093L658YR?crid=23MTB3FU6B4IK&keywords=Automotive+wire+straps&qid=1694031541&sprefix=automotive+wire+stra%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-7-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1

I would also not coil it in the engine bay but under the dash.

 

That’s secondary air pump, for emission standards.

 

Here's a copy/ pasta of my reply on Reddit.

Honestly, that whole thing being loose would bother me. e.g. there is a reason that OEMs cover everything in that plastic loom and tie things down every where.

While it doesn't necessarily look like it's currently rubbing on anything (except that area next to the airbox that you talked about), when you're talking miles and miles of constant vibration, I'd worry. Even if you just spooled it up in a loop and attached the loop somewhere, I think it'd be better.

I'd also worry about that bundle of loose wire at the end. Just seems like it'd be too easy for it to vibrate and move eventually ending up on something hot or spinning etc.

Did you every find a shorted spot on metal anywhere? Like where that one worn section was? The comment on the forum about rodents seemed possible too.

 

This sucks, but very glad it wasn’t worse. If this happened on the high amperage power wire, it would have been way worse. I think I was pretty careful routing my wiring and tying it down, but now I feel like I should double check everything lol.

It’s worth going through the trouble of installing a properly rated disconnect switch, right where the main power wire leaves the battery. I leave mine switched off. When I need to use it, I switch it on, and if magic smoke starts to come out, I can immediately turn it back off to isolate the entire winch system from the battery. To me, it seems dumb that only the Badlands come with switches, but everybody else leaves you to have to do it on your own.

The likelyhood of this happening on a well installed system is probably very low, but we all make mistakes. It just makes sense for all of thesetl come with disconnect switches you can control in an emergency.

 

wow holy crap man!!!

 

glad it didnt burn to the ground. That is why I always use that corrugated split plastic wire loom on any aftermarket stuff added on that has wires or chinsy looms.