My OME BP-51 Experience

[propain]

Purchased and installed ARBUSA OME BP-51 bypass shocks fronts and backs in 2017. Two years ago the front passenger coilover/shock was leaking bad so ARB replaced the shock under warranty.

Now the replacement BP-51 bypass shock they sent me is defective, the spherical bearing is shot and the truck squeaks like a dirty h00ker on a bad spring mattress.

I contacted ArbUSA, they told me I'm on my own because they don't warranty replacements. How can they not warranty a brand new shock they sent me as a replacement, or did they send me a damm rebuild.

 

[propain]

There is no doubt a design flaw in the OME BP-51 Bypass shocks. The spherical bearing rubber O-ring gasket does NOT SEAL properly. This allows water and dirt to accumulate behind the rubber o-ring washer which then RUSTS the snap ring behind the rubber o-ring. The amount of RUST surrounding the spherical bearing rusts so bad it seizes into the bearing and is hard to remove, all this rust causes the bearing to rust/seize to the shock itself.

So you have the snap ring seizing against the bearing, and the bearing seizing to the shock itself.

You must turn that vice really hard to pop out the seized bearing. So hard you think the shock would crack. That's how stuck it was, no amount of wd-40, etc would loosen it up.

OME better go back to the drawing board and seal up these bearings or else YOU TOO will be replacing them real soon.

 

[propain]

Here is a video on how to identify the squeaky sound and the fix to get rid of the squeak.

 

[wish]

Thanks for the YouTube link, I’m facing the same issue with mine. ARB sent me the replacement parts, however, install is on my own dime…so, I’ve come to just live with it. If there’s anyone else in the DC metro facing the same issue and has the skills/tools to tackle this job I’d be pretty stoked to learn something new and make it worth your time and effort.

Good luck to anyone else who has been chasing this sound!


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