Old Man Emu Medium Duty Suspension Lift - Just Making Sure..

Uttles · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:07 pm

The following has been confirmed in a previous post:

I understand I only need the following parts:

OME Medium Springs Front
OME Struts Front
OME Medium Spring Rear
OME Shocks Rear (Just Regular Travel to avoid needing new bump stops)

I figure I can install them myself with a little help from LOST and a few other great resources.

Do I need anything else to install the above parts? For example....do I need new bolts/fasteners.......Do I re-use the factory strut plate....etc.

Basically...once the wheels are off and we start changing things...am I gonna say "Doh! I need one of THOSE too?!"

daspes · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:18 pm

Spring compressor, to assemble the struts.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:23 pm

depending on the size of the tires you plan to run you may want to install some kind of bump stop spacer in the rear
on the wifes KJ running 245/75 MTR's on OE wheels with that same setup we get some rub at very full stuff in the rear
easy to do if you have the spring out

Uttles · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:25 pm

I was hoping someone would say that so I can ask a really basic question. I have a friend who has a shop and will install the struts into the springs for me.
Do I need to hand him anything other than the struts and springs I get shipped? Do I need anything from my stock KJ?

Gopher · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:31 pm

Congrats on the OME lift. I just put mine on this weekend. A spring compressor is a must. We actually had to use two to compress the springs enough (but I got the HD). Don't forget to tighten the nut on top of the struts or else you'll hear a rattling noise from the plastic cover (forgive me for not using any sort of technical term, I'm saving brain space for my Cell Biology exam). I don't know about the medium duty springs, but with the HD ones I needed a big friend to push the rear axle down far enough to fit them in. But most importantly, you need an H3 nearby so after you're finished with the lift you can roll by them and watch their envy :twisted:

Also, some of the bolts look VERY similar but have different threading. Don't mix up your nuts/bolts or else you'll be making a trip to the junkyards. Not that we did this while installing my lift :oops:

That's what happens when you have three Polish boys and ones an Aggie installing a lift.

Good Luck

Are you going to do the clevis lift as well? It was easy and cheap

Uttles · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:38 pm

No plan for the Clevis lift for now. Don't have a good reason why not, in fact...maybe I will...

Tires MAY be 245/74R16.....but we'll see. I really don't want to do the inevitable pounding of the pinch weld. The tires will be of the AT variety...
I would love some MTR's but they just wouldn't make sense for my Daily Driver.

daspes · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:51 pm

Gopher wrote:

I don't know about the medium duty springs, but with the HD ones I needed a big friend to push the rear axle down far enough to fit them in.

If you have issues with the rear try jacking up the opposing side of the axle. It will push down the side you are trying to put the spring on.

Gopher · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:58 pm

The clevis lift is worth every penny of the 3 dollars you'll spend. I used 3 conduit nuts on each side. It was a really easy install and levels out the KJ. I'm running 245/75/R16 MTRs. I only get rub at about full lock, but every Jeep is different.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:06 pm

Uttles wrote:

No plan for the Clevis lift for now. Don't have a good reason why not, in fact...maybe I will...

Tires MAY be 245/74R16.....but we'll see. I really don't want to do the inevitable pounding of the pinch weld. The tires will be of the AT variety...
I would love some MTR's but they just wouldn't make sense for my Daily Driver.

why not run MTR's on a DD
My wife does
she also does some out side sales and runs around with a 7 month old baby girl too
If you do like I did and shop around you may be able to pick some up for cheep
I paid ~$350 for 5 mounted and balaced
2 ~ new
2 ~3-5K
1 ~10K

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:09 pm

In the rear very simple thing to do follow along now, get out the stock jack , put it between the rotor or brake drum and the frame and go to town spreading the axle from the frame until you can slip the spring in, dont need any help at all! :wink:

Front if your friend has a spring compressor thats great as they are hard to compress with regular compressors, take the old ones off tear them down for the top plates etc put it all back together.
simple to do.

if you use conduit nuts tape them together to hold them on while putting it back together.

Bunch of little tricks in doing it.

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:11 pm

Gopher wrote:

Congrats on the OME lift. I just put mine on this weekend. A spring compressor is a must. We actually had to use two to compress the springs enough (but I got the HD). I don't know about the medium duty springs, but with the HD ones I needed a big friend to push the rear axle down far enough to fit them in. But most importantly, you need an H3 nearby so after you're finished with the lift you can roll by them and watch their envy :twisted:

Also, some of the bolts look VERY similar but have different threading. Don't mix up your nuts/bolts or else you'll be making a trip to the junkyards. Not that we did this while installing my lift :oops:

That's what happens when you have three Polish boys and ones an Aggie installing a lift.

Good Luck

Are you going to do the clevis lift as well? It was easy and cheap

lol I used to stes of strut compressors as well and they were both bending still :shock:

as for the rear my dad stood on the brakes while I removed the old then we compressed the OMEs a little, have you ordered everything yet? if not I would go HDs and go ahead and do a small clevis since you already have it apart and I also added a rear upper isolater and I gained 3" front and rear and I LOVE the ride

Uttles · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:16 pm

Aha! That's great tommudd, exactly the kind of advice and instruction I need. I know for the front I will be doing a LOT of reading and printing from past posts.

Had I not asked I would have shown up at the shop with springs and struts in hand and no plates to install them with.

The tape is also a great idea.

Has anyone ever spray painted the conduit nuts with rust paint to help prolong their life?

Tires....I think I'll wait and get into those discussions (I think they have all been had) once I am ready. I Think the slight lift will make me want to go bigger...we'll see.

Uttles · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:20 pm

To jsc7002:

I have been on the HD / MD fence for a long time. After doing lots of reading I know I will likely never have a nice bumper. I also believe my stock springs are sagging pretty bad. So I think I will get what I want out of Medium. I know the HD's do run great from the experts on LOST, but I just don't do enough wheeling to warrant them.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:35 pm

conduit nuts will not rust so no need to paint them unless you want to hide them!! :wink:

Tom

darren/wayne · **Posted:** Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:23 am

tommudd wrote:

conduit nuts will not rust so no need to paint them unless you want to hide them!! :wink:

Tom

Newbie here, what are conduit nuts and where do you put them? Is this to raise the front and level out the Libby?

Thanks
Wayne

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:16 am

Conduit nuts are used to put between the bottom of the spring/strut and the clevis. The bottom of the strut sits down inside the clevis, by adding 2 or 3 conduit nuts it will raise the front some extra . You do not have to use the nuts but this way you know you have both sides the same plus they are cheap, 2 for a buck or something, need 2 inch ones found in the electrical supply section of any hardware store

hope that helps some Wayne !! And continue to ask questions :wink:

dloc_jeep_KJ · **Posted:** Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:33 am

tommudd wrote:

found in the electrical supply section of any hardware store

ie Lowes (the electrical section) :wink:

fdems · **Posted:** Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:13 pm

CONDUIT NUT

06 KJ Sport · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:19 pm

Can somebody post a pic of these conduit nuts inplace!! I am haveing a hard time picturing that :lol:

Old Man Emu Medium Duty Suspension Lift - Just Making Sure..

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