OME MD Lift Pics up!

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:28 pm

my black beach buggy lift is finally on! Old Man Emu MD lift all around, with front rocky road strut plates for about 1/2" extra lift in the front to lessen that front "rake" appearance. i gained a whole 3 inches from this lift (measured from ctr of wheel to fender rim) which will settle a bit im sure however now there's plenty of breathing room for my pre-existing larger 245/70/16 general grabber tires with spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers..no more rubbing with the lift, it's great. the new red jeepin al's upper arms gen 4.5 were painted black and installed and the holes for the upper a-arm pockets have been trimmed top and bottom to allow for maximum movement. new Moog lower ball joints were installed. the factory running boards were also removed for additional ground clearance. after the lift, it was sitting "toe out" however this was quickly fixed with a wheel alignment. all new hardware will be checked within 200mi along with another wheel alignment most likely. the overall ride quality has improved dramatically..it drives more like truck than anything..much more individual "give" in the suspension esp in the front. feels even, like a boat, when going over uneven terrain and it feels stronger upon entering sharp inclines. also cornering has remained sturdy-feeling, not top-heavy(the wheel spacers help this im sure.) anyway as promised..plenty of pics, and more to come in the coming weeks/mos. so take a look!....and thanks to all of you here at lost who've helped me learn everything about lifting a kj, you rock. :wink:

upper a-arm pockets trimmed top & bottom

right front lower ball joint replaced w/moog LBJs

left front lower ball joint replaced w/moog LBJs

post carwash.. i know, i know...but i just had to

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:29 pm

looks good! it is an amazing lift

PCT 1981 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:09 pm

Looks good. Be careful with nose bleeds up there.
Aloha

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:23 pm

Looking Good.........

KJ Taz · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:29 pm

The way a Liberty should look from the factory! Nice!

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:21 pm

Yo man she is LOOKING GOOD!
good job

Xodius · **Posted:** Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:00 am

Very cool. I cant wait for mine. Hey could you do me a favor and take a pic looking down the drivers side from the front? I want to see how far your spacers add.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:42 am

WOW! that turned out really nice!!! looks awesome!

DryBones · **Posted:** Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:46 pm

A arms neccessary or you just decide to do it all while having it apart? I am going to same route with the MD OME's but not sure about doing the A arms or LBJ's at this point.

Xodius · **Posted:** Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:38 pm

From what i have read the arms are not mandatory. I am getting the HD version by the end of the week.

KJ04 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:52 am

DryBones wrote:

A arms neccessary or you just decide to do it all while having it apart? I am going to same route with the MD OME's but not sure about doing the A arms or LBJ's at this point.

A-Arms are needed once you start pushing 3" plus, as the upper balljoints come in contact with the springs. If no contact, replace when yours go bad. They also help bring the alignment back in to spec..

KJ04 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:02 am

Scarlet, how does it feel having to put a leg up to get in now :?:

Looks like a whole different KJ now, way to go girl :!:

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:42 am

thanks! yeah this is def the way that it should have come stock..its much much nicer higher up 3inches!

(xodius, i'll try to get that pic u requested up today!)

as for deciding to go with the 4.5gen a-arms and new moog LBJs, im not sure if you were aware of this but the 02-03 liberty was all over the news a couple months ago regarding gov investigation into reports of the upper ball joints suddenly seperating from the wheel(yikes!right) causing it to collapse. while there were only 22 complaints filed (and how many of these vehicles were in fact lifted is unkown) The investigation involves more than 300,000 2002 and 2003 model year Liberty 4X4 SUVs..still pending..do a search on google for more info. So that, in combination with the 2 seperate prior recalls issued on the 02-06 liberty's LOWER ball joint failure (one recall in 03 and another in 06) i decided not to trust the liberty's IFS and thus upgraded to al's gen 4.5 a-arms as well as Moog lower ball joints. problem solved :wink:

Additionally...as I mentioned in my original post, once the lift was on it stood very "toe out" but because of al's a-arms it was easier to get back into alignment.(i say easier because even before the lift, it took quite a bit of time to get it into spec) Anyway keep in mind i have larger tires with spidertrax too...so that im guessing also helped in making it toe-out after the lift..

Xodius · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:30 am

eek, another recall for arms. Hmmm...maybe in a few more months then I will just swap mine out. What a PITA. Quick question, when you install the new arms do you have to do the trimming?

Also thank you Scarlet.

Dave08 · **Joined:** Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:17 pm **Posts:** 250

What height are you sitting at?

And mine was aligned fine with a OME HD w/ 1 conduit nut. No ball joint contact and the joints look good for the angles too.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:16 pm

Nothing better than a BLACK KJ and then being lifted, EVEN BETTER! Looks great and hope to see it one day!
Good job on choosing a lift, and now you are part of the OME congregation, go and spread the word. :lol:

was glad we could help with the "few" questions you had! :wink:

Tom

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:37 pm

ha ha, very funny tom :lol:

thanks

Here are those driver's view shots of the front and back Xodius...
the spidertrax add just enough width. in water/mud in the front it only sprays a little on the fender lip..nothing crazy

front......rear

qbracken · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:01 am

I am curious as to why you chose the General Grabbers.... Are you completely satisfied with them??

Xodius · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:25 am

scarletbegonias wrote:

ha ha, very funny tom :lol:

thanks

Here are those driver's view shots of the front and back Xodius...
the spidertrax add just enough width. in water/mud in the front it only sprays a little on the fender lip..nothing crazy

front......rear

cool thank you

SpankyKJ · **Joined:** Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:20 am **Posts:** 83

Congratulations on the new lift.

OME MD Lift Pics up!

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