First I too am curious to see pics of your OME lift.
I haven't installed it yet, but as soon as I do, I'll post photos. I have to find a good time to do it with the kids being such a handful!
Did you buy heavies or lights?
I bought the HD springs, front and rear. Same ones I had on my old black TJ Rubicon before I went to the Currie lift.
Just to let you know I did buy OME Shocks for mine only because they offered a heavy duty for the front to go along with my heavy duty springs. I thought they may play nice together and they definitely do, although I cannot not compare it to the bilstiens. I am a bilsteins fan though. I run those on my Ram.
Yep, I'm only running Bilstein 5100s because I had them with my OME springs on my last TJ, and I loved the way it rode. That, and they were much cheaper than the OME shocks as well.
Also I wanted to clear something up. I am running the lights in the rear and the heavies in the fronts. I have 31" Duratracs and have bump stops extensions in the rear. I have no transfer case drop. Both my front and rear pinion angles are slightly off as you you know when lifting the truck. Also as you know because we have had this conversation I am running the crown control arms not adjustable.
I should be fine. I have a Rubicon which has a fixed yoke, so I don't need a SYE like non-Rubicon models do. I also ran this same setup on my black TJ Rubicon with the stock control arms and no transfer case drop, and it was 100% perfect with no vibrations whatsoever.
Here is the issues I am having:
Slight vibration on take off. Really not bad and a SYE will most likely take care of it, and is on my list, and at high speeds my steering wanders slightly. Both issues are livable, but I think will be fixed with adjustable control arms. I really want the Curries as you and others have mentioned they are the best but I really think they are overkill for mine and your applications.
Yeah, you need a SYE. You may actually be able to pair that with the stock driveshaft (like I have on my Rubicon), stock control arms, and be just fine with no vibrations. I mean that's how it was on my previous Rubicon and it was perfect. And of course, the only thing really different about the Rubicon models is that they have a fixed yoke, whereas yours doesn't.
A few days ago I believe
@Rob5589 posted these and I am seriously considering them. They come in different tiers from 1 - 4 with 4 having double Johnny joints. I am not sure if I even need those but they seem pretty reasonable so I wanted to pass this along to see what you thought.
https://www.core4x4.com/product/complete-control-arm-set-tj-lj-2/
I've seen these before, and they are nice! I don't think you need them with only a 2.5" lift, but at the same time, it is nice to have adjustable control arms, especially when they use Johnny Joints! If it's in the budget, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them.
Anyways. I think the crowns are OK, but to dial in your suspension, I think you will end up getting adjustable control arms.
I won't need adjustable control arms, which is one of the reasons I am staying mild with this build. Not to say I might not get them in the future if I have money burning a hole in my pocket, but I won't actually need them, just as I didn't on my old Rubicon. That's the nice thing about the OME lift when paired with a Rubicon!
Also after hooking up my trailer with the lights in the rear it pushed down my rear quite a bit, so I am considering putting the rear heavies back in even though they will give me an incredible rake again; again more need for an an adjustable control arm.
I would never have the light duty springs on mine. The weight of the rear bumper, plus two kids in the back (and sometimes a hardtop), it just wouldn't make any sense. The HD springs front and rear rode excellent on my previous TJ!