OME Questions

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:42 pm

I’ve got 60,000 on my suspension and I have some questions about replacement options. I’m looking into a full OME suspension – shocks and springs. I’m thinking about the Med rated springs but I’m not sure if I’d do fine with their light duty springs.

My goal is get 1 to 1.5” of lift. My Jeep is my DD. I want a bit of lift but don’t want to risk highway safety, driveline failure or big hit in mpg’s – yes I know I didn’t get a Jeep for great mpg’s. I don’t want to sacrifice on road suspension comfort. You can see from my signature I have about 150—175 lbs in skid plates and hitches. I don’t have or plan to get bumpers, or a winch. I usually have just myself and the wife in the Jeep. When I go wheeling I’ve usually only got about 50 lbs of tools in the trunk. Also – I’m not planning on replacing my tires any time soon as they are about 2 years old and still have more than half their tread left. I’m currently using Firestone Destination AT’s 245/70/16 (love ‘em.)

So can anyone tell me about the OME springs shocks. How is the on-road driving experience? Improved? Stiffer? Softer? Does it bobble a bit more (left and right.) Does it lean more in the turns? Does that lean get deeper and deeper and the turn and speed increases or does it level out at a certain point and is that “certain point” comfortable (in terms of safety comfort) or does it take some time to get used to (as in – you don’t feel safe at first but you get used to it?) What sort of a mpg loss can I expect if any?

Finally, if the OME lift is going to be greater than 1.5” is my only other option to just do a clevis lift and use a stock suspension set up?

Thanks!

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:07 pm

the OME MD would be the way to go if you don't plan on bumpers, it would be perfect for the setup you're describing

handling wise, it's a big improvement, the lean is less, the sway is less, the stability is better, overall it's simply a better suspension than stock, and it won't sag to pieces

pair the ome coils with bilstein, rancho or ome shocks and you should have a suspension that will last the lifespan of your vehicle and still be riding just as good as it did when you put it on

now, you said you have 60k on the suspension, not sure if that is the total miles of the vehicle, but with any suspension change, driveline angles do change and new rear ujoints may be in order depending on the condition of the stock ones

the lift should net you between 1.5 and 2" of lift which is fine, it shouldn't murder your cv's, if it does, more than likely there was already a problem in that department

as with any IFS regardless of lifted or not , just keep an eye on the uca's and you're good to go

Zack A · **Posted:** Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:48 pm

Plus 1 on the u-joints. Mine went out about 2 months after putting my life on. Other then that no problems.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:01 pm

yea the rubber seals around the caps on mine quickly turned into 'melted balls of rubber" lol

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:50 pm

Agree with above if you don't want much lift, (OME 926s)
would not go the light duty OME 925s at all same as stock rate

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:16 pm

Yup, 60,000 miles on the KJ as well. So can I assume that the U-joint will fail after putting on a lift? Or is it only a 10% chance or something like that? Or is it a total toss up and know one knows what the odds of failure after adding a lift are?

What is the cost of replacing a U-joint at a shop and what would the cost be if I did it on my own? Is it something I could do with basic tools or would that be over my head? (I have basic workshop skills. Most of my DIY mechanic work was done on motorcycles – gears, clutch re-build, tires, chains, replacing shocks – everything’s a lot easier on a bike.)

Regarding the UCA’s do I just need to check to be sure the shock is not making contact or is there more to it? I’m under the impression that with JUST and OME set up I won’t need to add bump stops so I shouldn’t need to worry about the UCA’s – is that correct or am I wrong about that?

Can anyone give me an idea of the mpg hit I’d take? Thanks for the responses so far!

TexasRock · **Posted:** Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:59 pm

Some don't fail per say... some are just rusted in the factory ride height position, so when you lift your KJ it protests loudly due to the different angle. People replace them for a better angle.

Zack A · **Posted:** Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:08 pm

Mine were rusted in. We ended up having to heat up the heads and beat them out. After that it was just a matter of banging the new ones in. It was a headache for me because everyone I had talked to made it seem very easy and it was just the matter of knocking them out. I used A LOT of BP Blaster which helped.

But now that they are changed I have no vibration or sounds from the driveshaft

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:13 pm

should only be a 1 or 2 mpg hit on the fuel mileage

ome says ya dont have to run extended bumpstops with just ome springs - however.. i did, and would continue to suggest bumpstops as a 20 dollar insurance

and yeah, the ujoint will make itself known in most cases

mine made it about 7500 miles before making itself distinctly noticeable, and zack's discription is right on the money, the caps basically form rust at a particular angle, you change the angle and it starts chewing through the rust and trashes the bearing

they can be a pain.. but they aren't always spray everything down with PB a few days before you plan to change them, then squirt them again 30 mins before ya plan to do it

some are harder to get out due to rust and what not

DryBones · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:43 pm

you guys complaining of U joint failure running the medium OME springs or the HD(with or without a Frankenlift)? I've never heard of anybody having any problems with the medium or light OME coils. Don't scare ther guy away with horror stories that may not apply to his situation. I also don't see how a small lift, running the same tires will affect your MPG's.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:48 pm

I never lost any real mileage until I went to the 265-75s

kskj · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:26 pm

I'm running 927s and ranchos and did not notice any change in mileage when I installed them. But I do run 245/70/16s on the street. But when I put on the 245/75/16 MTR'S for a off road trip I do loose a couple of miles per gallon. I still have the original u joints at 157,000 miles.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:59 pm

OK, these are good answers and what I was looking for. I'd still like to see more responses as it'll help me better gauge any issues I might be faced with.

So it seems like the mpg's shouldn't be effected so long as I keep the same tires. I'm sure the added wind resistance will hurt the mpg on the highway millage a little bit - especially at higher speeds. For the most part I'm not driving over 70 to often so I can handle that.

Costs...

The Rocky Road site say's it'll run me about $825 with shipping before tax to get the springs and shocks front and rear left and right.

A new U-joint should be less than $20.
Bumpstops - $20 each

Will I need any other parts? Can I re-use all of the mounts for the springs, shocks and struts or will I need new parts for those as well? Will I need any special tools? If anyone has a link for a write up on how to do all this that would help too!

So all in if I do the work on my own I'm looking at roughly $900 before taxes. Is there anything else that I might have trouble with down the road as a result of the lift (1.5” – 2”) that will end up costing me more money? I really want to be sure that if I go down this road that I'm fully aware of any extra costs. From what I've read on LOST I should be fine with the brake lines, the CV joints should be OK. Is there anything else I'm missing?

For comparison purposes does anyone know what type of pricing I'd be looking at if I had a shop just replace the original equipment with stock parts? I'm thinking it would be maybe $600 - $800. Thoughts?

STINGN · **Posted:** Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:05 pm

just dont put a roof basket up top or lights...i was getting maybe 1 MPG less on my frankenlift...but once i added the basket, my aerodynamics went out the window

but its a Jeep not a sports car

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