Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

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Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby daniel944 on Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:35 pm

So after waiting 3 months I finally received both my EKO canopy and Ironman bullbar and I though I would share my experience with both products:

First the canopy - This took 3 months to arrive, I was quoted 2 months but such is life. Apparently they are built to order in Thailand and shipped out and as an importer myself I know only to well the delays that sea freight can cause, so no fault to the company on that one. The product itself is fantastic, at the time of ordering it was the cheapest canopy on the market and came color coded at the base price where as the others are white. It also includes roof rails - which suit me as I only carry ski's and my kayak on the roof. The color match is fantastic as is the paint job. All the windows are glass and close positively. The mounting system is also very innovative - a hook arrangement means no drilling into the vehicle. The only small gripe is that I had to readjust the locks on the back window, not a big job but still had to be done. Also the rear window isn't 100% centered but not bad enough that I am bothered to do anything about it. Compared to the flexiglass canopy I had on my 2007 Triton, this thing is the bee's knee's. If you can wait it is well worth it.

I also fitted an Ironman deluxe bullbar. I paid $1050 after negotiating with a ebay seller for a cash price outside of ebay. The bullbar is a quality item and you get a lot for the money however I feel Ironman have let them selves down with attention to detail.
The first issue is the instructions, the pictures are tiny and close to useless. I was able to figure everything out by carefully reading the text and trial fitting parts but clearer instructions with bigger pictures would save a lot of time. And while were on the instructions, forget the 4 hour time guide, more like 8-10 depending on your skill level.
Lining the bullbar up was very difficult, Ironman have made the bar and all the brackets with large slots for all the bolt holes. The problem I had was that once the bullbar was on the car I couldn't get to some of the bolts to make a perfect alignment without taking the bar off. I don;t know if I can be peeved at ironman for this, but when fitting a genuine bar to my Dad's Pajero, it went straight on and aligned very easily.
Once the bar was installed I wired up the fog lights (came in the bar), switched them on and blew fuse after fuse until I realised one of the lights was a dead short circuit. Rang Ironman and was told to pull the light apart and check for a sleeve that covers a join inside the light to see if it had come loose. It had, and would come loose time and time again, so I taped it in place...
I used the factory fog light circuit to run the fog lights and used the wiring harness supplied to wire up some spotties. The switch supplied in the wiring loom DOES NOT fit in a triton dashboard! Again I rung Ironman, to be told this is normal and that it is a generic kit and to cut the dash to make it fit!!! I did have something to say about that and was promised that someone from product development would call me back, but as I had to stop the guy before he hung up to give him my phone number im not holding my breath... While were on the harness, the battery wire needs to be cut and lengthened to allow a neat installation of the wire across the firewall, otherwise the only way it reaches is to lay it across the motor.
As I said above, the bullbar is a great product at a great price its just a real shame that Ironman lets them selves down on the details...
If your installing one, you need to drill holes into the chassis so your going to want a top quality hole saw set and HSS drill set - dont worry the strengthening brackets supplied reinforce the chassis to stronger than what is was before drilling.

Also anyone know where I can get a switch that suits our dashboards for my lights?!?
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby navh on Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:40 pm

nice review. did you get the canopy from trek? I do like the flexiglass canopy which has central locking to the rear door. still have not made up my mind though which canopy to get thou...
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby daniel944 on Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:58 pm

Yes. Canopy from trek4x4.com.au
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby Joel on Fri Nov 13, 2015 2:25 pm

Thanks for the review. I was looking at the eco canopy aswell but wasnt willing to spend the coin when i couldnt find much about them. Hopefully this info will help others choose in the future.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby Jeff Turner on Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:53 pm

I've had my eko close for 12 months now. I had a few leaks around the front .took it back ..the boys are great to deal with. But still had a bit of a leak so I lifted the canopy a bit and ran a silicon line around problem area. Since then all good. Yes. Colorado code close .clamps don't move as some people suggested. So for me a winner.
Put in sealer kit from mits and all good. The reals on the roof I've put a solar panel on...yep a winner for me.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby simmo2803 on Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:15 am

That's the canopy I want. Hope I don't have to wait that long though.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby damo83 on Sat Nov 14, 2015 5:26 pm

Thanks for the review, very helpful. I'm looking at getting an EKO canopy in the new year.

Do you know whether there is an option to have an internal frame to increase the load rating of the rails?
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby daniel944 on Sat Nov 14, 2015 6:48 pm

Not that was offered to me, but if you can cut and weld steel it would be easy to make something. That been said the rails on the canopy are rated to 100kg and the best rated cross bars I have found are rated to 90kg's so not a lot of point.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby damo83 on Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:36 pm

Ok no worries... I have a steel tradesman rack that weighs about 50kg so would like a little more capacity.

I've seen there are universal supports available so may have to look into that option.

Cheers.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby Koala on Sun Nov 15, 2015 5:59 am

Three of us did a group buy of the EKO canopy recently from Trek 4X4 and all of us are happy with the product. They appear to be rebadged Avenger Canopies even to the extent that the rear window has Avenger etched into it.
Easy to fit only needing a little adjustment to the back window but this is to be expected. The paint finish is great and the match to the white is good.
You can order different window configurations but I think that you have to wait for it to come from Thailand.
My only small grip is a problem with the alignment of the rear window seal to the tailgate which could be better and varies across the three canopies. No big problem but could be better as you cannot adjust the window enough to fix the problem.
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby Logzy on Sun Nov 22, 2015 3:05 pm

Agree. I also have an eko canopy from trek.
Color match great, also had to adjust rear window locks, seal across rear tailgate and glass not the best (on one side).
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby rhr on Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:45 pm

Recently bought one of these canopies for my MR. Pretty disappointed with the fit and finish.

Could some of you please post some pics of the rear door closed.

Main issue after numerous attempts adjusting is closing the door. The gap at the lower part is pretty wide compared to the top.
https://youtu.be/4Dr0-zlDmzE

https://youtu.be/BX5acpV77SU
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby NowForThe5th on Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:52 pm

Start by moving the top hinges of the window back a little, until the window sits evenly on the seals.

You may also need to adjust the strikers. From the video the tailgate seems to line up ok with the tub, but there may be room to take up a few millimetres, moving the tailgate in a bit.

Failing that, if the window still sits too hard against the tailgate, the whole canopy may have to be moved back a bit.

As is usual with body panels it's a case of a little massaging in a few different places. The consolation is that as the bottom seal deforms the fit will get better.
Chris

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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby rhr on Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:28 am

Thanks for the reply.

Mate I've tried adjusting the strikers and catches numerous times. If I adjust the catches out then the glass doesn't get close to sitting flush as the bottom. I've actually removed the glass and adjusted the hinges and re installed.

Other than it not closing correctly the main issue is the difference in the gap between the glass at the top of the door vs the bottom.

The canopy isn't even lined up with the back of the tray. Its sitting roughly 3mm back off the tub.

The sides of the rear of the canopy don't even line up with the tray body.

What I'm mainly after is photos of the gap at the bottom of the glass of other EKO canopies
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby RHKTriton on Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:51 am

Is it worth checking that your tub is true?

What sort of tolerances can we expect in the assembly of the tub components during assembly?
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby rhr on Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:18 am

Yeah I might check that. Father in law has an MQ.

The gap between the body and the tailgate is nice and even with a gap of between 4 and 5 mm
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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby NowForThe5th on Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:37 am

RHKTriton wrote:Is it worth checking that your tub is true?


Possibly, but I wouldn't bother at this stage.

rhr wrote:What I'm mainly after is photos of the gap at the bottom of the glass of other EKO canopies


I don't think that's going to help. Whether it's a generic problem or not isn't the issue. What is the issue is how to fix it.
'
As I said, above, the problem is that the glass doesn't close fully because the seal at the bottom hits the tailgate too early. The solutions are to:
- move the top hinges out a touch;
- move the top of the tailgate in a bit; and, as a last resort,
- move the whole canopy back, and straighten if necessary.

The object is to get the glass, when closed, sitting evenly on the seals around the opening on the canopy. Not really shown in the videos but the first thing I would look at. If it does sit evenly then the top of the tailgate needs to move in or the whole canopy move back. Easier to move the tailgate first.

The other alternative is to use a lower profile rubber seal on the bottom of the glass.

To adjust the vertical gaps either side of the glass the bottom corners of the tub may need to be moved in. Don't know how this tub is mounted so depends how to do that, but there should be some way.

This is a problem that we have in the shop reasonably frequently but more often when doing restorations and the like where new seals are fitted. They do take a while to take up the shape of the parts they are sealing, so can be quite tight initially. We normally get them operating right and then have the customer come back in a few months for an adjustment.

Which brings up one important thing. Did you buy this new and have it fitted? If so then just take it back and have them make any adjustments necessary.
Chris

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Re: Review of EKO canopy and Ironman deluxe bull bar

Postby rhr on Mon May 06, 2019 7:21 pm

Update.

So after some discussion with the dealer they have agreed to take the canopy back for inspection. Hopefully it results in a replacement. So far they have been pretty understanding.
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