Old Man Emu kit

[MOAK]

Hello all, been a while since I posted up, but I do need some advice. Last month I finally purchased an OME suspension for my 04' Rubicon. The retailer berated me for three things. He insisted I needed wheel spacers because of roll over issues,,, that I needed a 1" motor mount lift to align drive line angles,,, and that the OME pan hard relocation bracket was just junk, and I needed to purchase whole new arm. I should clarify, the OME kit replaced a 2" budget boost, so when unloaded the jeep sits only 1/2" higher than it did. I have driven it now for a month, and absolutely no driveline vibrations, nor does the angle look bad at all. As far as wheel spacers, hey, I've been driving high center of gravity vehicles all my life. The retailer suggested 1" spacers 2" up = 2" wider to maintain stock center of gravity. Yikes,, the 1" body lift, the safari racks, the jerry can racks, and any other storage we have above the frame blew our stock center of gravity out long ago.. as far as the pan hard relocation bracket, I seriously doubt that OME is selling junk that will fail me. I almost didn't purchase the kit from this un-named retailer, but the price was nearly $100 less than the big box retailers, and I was able to get different spring rates for the front and rears. Any thoughts? Am I full of poo? Oh and by the way,, this suspension is by far and away much better than I anticipated. When empty it doesn't really ride any smoother than stock, but it does ride cleaner, and does not wallow out while cornering. With any weight at all, or with my trailer hooked up is when it really shines, smoother, tighter, cleaner, wow!! I should have done this years ago...

 

[Bigjerm]

I mean I can see his logic on the wheel spacers but I dont see your lift height as being so tall you are in some great danger. Besides, you could flip a low center vehicle over depending on how you drive.

Do you have a belly up? With a stock skid I dont see it.

sent from my dumb phone

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Was this "unnamed retailer" Rocky Road Outfitters by chance? Wouldn't be at all surprised if it were, they are a bunch of idiots sometimes.

 

[MOAK]

No Belly up,, and not Rocky Road, I spent about 5 minutes on the phone with them, didn't take long to figure out what they were up/in to.. ,)

 

[Hawkz]

I have the OME heavy 2" lift under my 03 Rubicon and I'm very happy with the ride like you. When the Jeep is empty, it does ride a little stiff, but I just figured that was a good excuse to keep more gear in it. =)

I did my install in the garage, so I didn't have to mess with any shops. I get what they are saying about COG but it sounds like they were trying to up-sell you.

 

[Judoka]

Hey, I think you are in real danger here. I say scrap that mess you have created and just buy a brand new Rubi from me!:wings: Seriously though, I think that half of the reatailers and "experts" in this game are just full of it! Your equipment is never good enough, and you are just not as experienced as THEY are. The truth of the matter is that you have just not gotten tallented enough at taking pictures on the side of the highway that make it look like you are on some great "expedition" somewhere! If the rig runs well, and you dont feel any vibratios...and OME said it was ok to run it like that, shake off the doodoo that they were trying to feed you.:smiley_drive:

 

[Idahoan]

I ran a lift that size on my 03 rub with 265s on stock rims. Never had a problem in the 160k miles I put on it. Oh... And I drive mostly off road for a living

I hated the look of the tranny spacers that my kit came with that kit so I made a new driveline with cv joints.

I think if your running 35s you might need 1 1/2" spacers to minimize rubbing. Not too concerned with the stability a few inches might gain you.

 

[X-plorenow]

It is unfortunate that their is a lot of misinformation in the market.

OME makes top notch stuff, there are no issues with OME pan hard relo bracket. You also do not need to run a motor mount lift / spacer. On the TJ's the only major driveline concern on lifted vehicles is the slip yokes in the T-case. It is often recommended, not necessarily required, to run a SYE.

Wheel spacers would only be required if you had some rubbing. If you are planning on replacing your wheels any time in the near future get them with an offset rather than running spacers if you want. Spacers are cheaper but offset wheels are better and safer.

Good luck!

Hello all, been a while since I posted up, but I do need some advice. Last month I finally purchased an OME suspension for my 04' Rubicon. The retailer berated me for three things. He insisted I needed wheel spacers because of roll over issues,,, that I needed a 1" motor mount lift to align drive line angles,,, and that the OME pan hard relocation bracket was just junk, and I needed to purchase whole new arm. I should clarify, the OME kit replaced a 2" budget boost, so when unloaded the jeep sits only 1/2" higher than it did. I have driven it now for a month, and absolutely no driveline vibrations, nor does the angle look bad at all. As far as wheel spacers, hey, I've been driving high center of gravity vehicles all my life. The retailer suggested 1" spacers 2" up = 2" wider to maintain stock center of gravity. Yikes,, the 1" body lift, the safari racks, the jerry can racks, and any other storage we have above the frame blew our stock center of gravity out long ago.. as far as the pan hard relocation bracket, I seriously doubt that OME is selling junk that will fail me. I almost didn't purchase the kit from this un-named retailer, but the price was nearly $100 less than the big box retailers, and I was able to get different spring rates for the front and rears. Any thoughts? Am I full of poo? Oh and by the way,, this suspension is by far and away much better than I anticipated. When empty it doesn't really ride any smoother than stock, but it does ride cleaner, and does not wallow out while cornering. With any weight at all, or with my trailer hooked up is when it really shines, smoother, tighter, cleaner, wow!! I should have done this years ago...

 

[Jim K in PA]

You're fine Don. Wheel spacers are for clearance, not stability. I have been running the OME Heavy/Heavy 2.5" lift for over a year now on my '05 LJ and it is great. With respect to the rear track bar bracket, the bracket is fine. The only thing I did was actually weld the bracket rather than rely solely on the bolts. I am sure the big OEM bolt and the smaller added bolts are plenty, but I did not want any movement that could work harden the stock bracket it mounts to. I ran with just the bolts for a few months before I welded it, and nothing appeared to have moved.

 

[Melissas6570]

Its a very good kit. I just installed a 2.5 in. HD on a 00TJ. I did the 1.25 in BL and 1 in MML. I also added adjustable control arms. I changed wheels to a rim that has 3.75 inch back spacing. Its very stable and rides great.

 

[Krink545]

I been running OME's suspension on my samurai since 98 and now on my 05 LJ, OME Heavy, with 16" procomp wheels on cooper 265/75-16 ST/Maxx since last year both with ARB bumpers & winches and have never had any issue's with ride or performance. I remember when wheel spacer's were illegal back in the 70's and 80's in Virginia, I know they are better made now,USA one's that is , but I'd never run them. The OME on my LJ has trim packer's front and rear, would proberly run a 1" spacer in the front if I was to do it again, did install adjustable sway bar ends for the front, rear trackbar bracket worked just fine for me and I drive 2 miles of dirt road everyday. There is no better suspension for on & off road than the OME, I have taken several 700 mile trips in my LJ and its no problem on the interstate or on the trail

 

[MOAK]

Hey, thanks every one for confirming my thoughts on what is needed to install this OME suspension. I did a lot of research, and then, to have a self proclaimed "expert" tell me I was wrong, and I needed a ton of other stuff just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think he realized he was talking to a 59 year old dude that does all his own work.. Once he understood where I was coming from, he backed off a bit. I'll be hard pressed to purchase from him again, but this time the $100 less than the big box retailers was worth the expenditure of my patience.