Question For OME Users

[Desert Cowboy]

Hello everyone-

New to the forum, just bought an 04 Sport. I would like to eventually put a winch bumper up front but I hear I might have to put a heavy duty suspension on. How does one ride with the heavy duty old man emu suspension? Does it sacrifice the ride quality, is it a must have addition or would the medium duty work?

Thanks

 

[HB 4X4]

Hello everyone-

New to the forum, just bought an 04 Sport. I would like to eventually put a winch bumper up front but I hear I might have to put a heavy duty suspension on. How does one ride with the heavy duty old man emu suspension? Does it sacrifice the ride quality, is it a must have addition or would the medium duty work?

Thanks

Depends when you want to do these said mods. If you are going to do the bumper and lift at the same time, then yes you will need the heavy ones. If you are going to lift it now, and add a bumper/winch somewhere down the line, then medium now, and heavy later will work. Heavy without the added weight will ride INSANELY stiff.

 

[Erich]

If you put on an ARB bumper with the winch, you will need to get the heavy load OME package up front. I have an ARB bumper with a warn 9000 winch, the shop tried the medium load package; however, the front springs completely compressed. BTW I have the medium load on the rear. You will notice a definite change in handling. You must remember you are raising the vehicle by 2-2.5

 

[Photog3]

Re: Re: Question For OME Users

Depends when you want to do these said mods. If you are going to do the bumper and lift at the same time, then yes you will need the heavy ones. If you are going to lift it now, and add a bumper/winch somewhere down the line, then medium now, and heavy later will work. Heavy without the added weight will ride INSANELY stiff.

I agree.

I do not have the bumper & winch, and therefore use the medium springs. When we finally get a bumper & winch, I will order a pair of the "heavy" springs at the same time. The springs are not expensive.

I would not use the heavy springs without the bumper & winch, and I would not use the medium springs with the bumper & winch. Those are just bad combinations.

Medium springs in the rear works for most people, until they add a tire carrier/bumper, with fuel, water, and other trail gear.

 

[teampwr2]

I use The Ome Heavys On Front and rear ...The ride with These Bumpers Is Fookin Awesome !!!! It rides like a pillow

 

[Desert Cowboy]

How do they ride with the medium springs compared to stock on lets say a road with lots of bumps at about 20 mph?

 

[Photog3]

The factory springs & shocks are great for paved roads and forest service roads.
When you start carrying a load and driving on washboard roads is when you will notice the improvement with the OME. The factory springs just can't support much of a load.

Some folks like the ToyTech and Donahoe rear springs, with a little lift & 15% more stiffness.

That would be OME up front and ToyTech or Donahoe in the rear. This is a little bit softer ride than all OME.

Also; when you install the OME springs up front, leave off the swaybar, and see how it feels. The stiffer OME springs make up for the swaybar, and it reduces the harshness of bumps in the road.

 

[Desert Cowboy]

Brian

Brian-
What are you running?

 

[retco]

On another forum it says Brian is running
OME 885 front
OME 895 rear

 

[Photog3]

On another forum it says Brian is running
OME 885 front
OME 895 rear

I did say 885. But they are actually the 884's. I have corrected the other thread. I went back through my notes, and the 884 is the one I bought, as it works best for a V6 with stock bumper.

Rocky Road Outfitters lists the 885 as the Medium Load spring; but other info suggests the:
884 is Medium
885 is Heavy
886 is Extra Heavy (dropped from production)

 

[Desert Cowboy]

V8

I failed to mention I have the V8 in mine. I was ready to order my OME lift from rocky road today but they said I will only get 1" of lift out of it with the V8. I would still like to go with OME but not sure now. Does anyone know what tire size would fit with the OME lift with the V8? Now I am wondering if it would even be worth it to go with OME for only 1". Is there anything else a guy can do with the ome to get another inch out of it?

Sounds like the mediums are the way to go until I get a bumper.
How do they ride with the medium in the rear when it is full of camping gear? Most often I drive on a descent dirt road to my camping spot, drop my gear and go from there, so I really don't think I would need the heavy springs at all.

 

[Photog3]

I don't know what they were smoking.

For the V8 you will want to get the 885 front springs and 895 rear springs. You will get at least 3" front and 2" rear lift. Mine was a little more than that, until everything settle in a bit (spring seats, bushings, etc.).

REAR:
Stock rear spring rate is 180 lbs/in, and 14" free length.
The 895 spring rate is 260 lbs/in, and 15.25" free length.
The 896 spring rate is 318 lbs/in, and 15.25" free length.

The 895 is 1.25" longer, and it takes more weight to compress it 1". These will provide at least 2" lift at the rear.

To compress the 895 springs 1", you would need to load the rear with 520 pounds of gear.

To compress the 896 springs 1", you would need to load the rear with 636 pounds of gear.

FRONT:
The OME front springs are all the same spring rate (590 lbs/in), but they each have different free length, providing different amounts of pre-load in the strut assembly. The 885 is 10mm taller than the 884, and will provide an additional 500+ pounds of support, at the same ride height as the 884. That is why it is recommended for the V8 or a V6 with a bumper & winch.

Note: 590 lbs/in sounds like a lot; but the front suspension is cantilevered. The tire moves 2 inches for the spring to move 1 inch. So the spring needs to be twice as stiff, to hold the same load as a rear spring.

 

[retco]

Great info Brian. Yeah the part #'s differ from web site to web site. Christo Slee at Slee said the med spring is now the 885. I'm gonna order the 885 and 895 next week. Anythings gonna ride better than 3/2 spacer w/ factory shocks that I'm currently running.