Marshal- So what you're saying is this, OME is more of a general lift with some pros and some cons, whereas, if you don't go OME you can maximize the potential with specific shocks and spring rates from the higher quality manufacturers?
So it's almost like ride control so you can adjust for your needs as they come like in your example with the fox shocks in front and the ICON overland springs in rear...but you end up paying more for it. You're a wealth of knowledge in this field and everyone appreciates it...but at the same time everyone hates it because it makes more sense to spend more money and have a better ride!! Damn you!
i wouldn't really say that the OME is a general lift. what you need to do is strike the boundary between lift and suspension. with OME you're moving into suspension. its easiest to define the differences as fry cook punk vs professional businessman.
you have your coil spacer lift, then you have full strut replacements which is physical suspension work. once you have that difference separated you can start to acclimate your mindset on all the dozens of sub categories. how i see it is Toytec's bilstein lift is your base setup. yes it costs more than the old man emu, but thats because its a "coil over". then you have your old man emu setup, which is a tried and true performer but it has its limitations as I've gone over earlier. after that you're moving into hard core suspension dynamics. this is when you are moving past factory design perimeters.
your standard Old man emu front strut is using a "2.0" steel cased shock. there really isn't anything special about it if you're comparing it to your standard nitrogen charged damper. ah, now see i threw another word in there; damper. a shock absorber is a damper, and a damper is a shock absorber - however it falls into the same process of boundary that we previously used to separate a lift from a suspension.
there are two different types of dampers, twin tube and monotube. twin tubes are literally dampers in the fact that all its doing is shifting oil through a specific sized hole to simulate resistance. these dampers when compressed, don't return to their normal positioning. this is the standard among cars. however there are some brands that on their 'performance' packages like ford's FX4 or GM's Z71 or even the Jeep rubicon's that come from the factory with mono tube shocks. these mono tubes are built JUST like the OME Nitrocharger shocks, except slightly smaller. they way they function is that the the oil inside of the shock is in an emulsion with nitrogen gas. these shocks have internal resistance outside of the transfer of fluid. these shocks return to the normal extended position. these are your OME shocks, bilstein 5100's etc
now we move into real shock absorbers. these are the big boys with the internal floating piston. they're the same theory as the mono tube shock, and for the most part the same construction, but on a much larger scale tailored for performance situations. these shocks are the ones that use the 5/8's and 1/2" shock shafts, whom are aluminum bodied, rebuildable and are charged with 200PSI of nitrogen. these are big boys.
your Icon, fox and all the other brands that make a set for the front of the 4Runner's are using 2.5" shock bodies. this means larger piston, more oil, more nitrogen, larger surface areas. more capacity to exceed in demanding environments and tailored specifically to the vehicle.
so now we've separated the difference between the damper and the shock, and we already know that a coil over is nothing more than an adjustable strut thats self contained.
now you can parts match.
so in a sense, it is ride control - but not to the point of what you're inferring. you are literally controlling the ride. not in a sense of adjustability - but physically taking control of it. you are its master. thats the part matching. there isn't any reason to settle for linear rate coils, even if they do work well and come stock. these different parts can work smarter and harder for you, because of modern science and engineering. yes they do cost more, but what does that cost equate to in the end. is it lower or higher?
i'll run an example here. we'll use strut X vs coil over Y. strut X uses a linear rate coil spring made for several models of vehicles, the suspension on your 4runner shares components and a similar weight so ultimately it will
work. so you end up adding a heavy *** front bumper and winch combo to the front of your vehicle and the springs sag 3/4 of an inch in an effort to hold the new weight. so now you have to spend 200 bucks plus your time and getting a spring compressor to change out these springs to the next higher spring rate set. you're good to go now, with new linear rate springs.
coilover Y has progressive rate springs, and its adjustable. the shock is made and tuned specifically for the weight and center of gravity that your vehicle has, plus its coil springs are matched the same way. more than likely the coil and the shock were also frequency tuned to work together. so you add that same heavy bumper and winch combo. you sag 5/8ths of an inch. why? because the lighter rate coils on the coil over could not handle that weight, but they're still working; the heavier rate coils below it are now supporting part of that weight. no big deal. below those coils are even heavier rated coils which are going to work
with the shock to control compression and rebound. plus if you really want to get that height back, all you need to do is lift the vehicle off its own weight and grab your handy dandy spanner wrench and tighten. you're not further compressing the coil, you're changing its mounting point. so now you're back to sitting at the same height, with nothing lost.
that same system works on the rear suspension, then when you start tying in the fact that the front and rear suspensions work together - then you start mixing sway bars into it.
a long winded conclusion comes to this. a proper suspension requires every point to be considered. when you make a change to one thing, it affects other things - and all that needs to be addressed. i bet half of you never even considered that without a rear track bar, your axles thrust angle is going to be all ****ed up. its more than just lifting something.
