OME lift advice

[Hollinger13]

I've read everything I can find. On many different forums. I'm looking at the ome lift for wife's tj. All eight control arms are shot, front track bar is shot. Looking at the super ultimate kit from dpg. Would be about 4000 after shipping and exchange. Would also have to drive 12 hours return to pick up at border and who knows what the duty will be at the border. This would be with the curry control arms. Could save 300 and go with the core 4x4 stage 3 control arms.
Or can get the ome hd lift, crown front and rear track bars and the crown control arm kit delivered to house for 2600.
Have no idea what to do. Some say need the adjustable arms, some say no. Some say need adjustable track bars, some say no. This is the biggest lift that will be on the Jeep ever. Will be running 31" tires max. Mostly on road, some off road, ie. fireroads, light trails, busting around property and muddy rutted roads.
What would the experts do? Thanks in advance

 

[Sancho]

$4k to run 31" tires is overkill.

Spend $1k.

Zone 4.25 combo kit. $600
- (just use the spring and shocks netting 3" of lift)
- use the rear trackbar relocation bracket
- maybe use mml if vibes occur

Get Rough country adjustable front track bar $150

Might need transfer case shifter upgrade $150.

If you need new control arms.... just buy a set from 4x4 core.

 

[deadbeat son]

I'm not an expert, but I recently went down this path and I'm happy to share what worked for me.

My starting point was an '02 TJ with 60k miles, 4.0L, MT, half doors, soft top, and no AC. I have the stock front bumper with Warn 8k winch with synthetic line and a 35 - 40 lb aftermarket steel bumper. This is just to give you an idea of weight. My stock control arms and track bars were perfectly serviceable, so I didn't need to change them, but I was willing to if needed for things to work properly.

I installed the heavy duty (933) front springs due to the winch, and light duty (941) rear due to the soft top, etc. I also installed OME's lighter valved shock option, 60046 front and 60048 rear. I also installed the OME rear track bar relocation bracket. Finally, I installed 1.5" rear bumpstop extensions. I didn't use any trim packers or spacers, just the springs, shocks, bumpstops, and track bar bracket.

On my particular Jeep, this resulted in 2.5" of lift both front and rear, which retained the factor rake instead of leveling it. I'm fine with this. The rear track bar bracket centered the axle and maintained the OEM geometry of the track bar. A certain salesperson asserted that this lift wouldn't work without an aftermarket front track bar. However, in my results, the front axle is offset by 3/8" toward the driver's side. To correct this and center the axle, I would need to move the axle 3/16" to the passenger side. That is such a minimal amount I decided it wasn't worth the cost or other tradeoffs that come with an aftermarket track bar. To date, the 3/16" difference has been imperceptible in use.

After installation, the ride was very stiff and uncomfortable. However, after getting some miles on the suspension and things settled in, the ride is very pleasurable. This could be because I didn't loosen my control arm mounts when I installed the new suspension, and the bushings needed to un-bind in their new resting place? I'm not sure if that's the reason or not, but it seems reasonable to me.

All in all, this ended up running about $1k, and has been a perfect setup for my needs. I have absolutely no qualms about the choices I made, and would choose the exact same options if I had to do it over again.

 

[Chris]

Want my advice? New factory replacement control arms, factory springs, .75” coil spring spacers, and a 1.25” Savvy body lift.

That will be all you need to run 31s and it will do so just fine with little money. In addition you’ll keep the factory progressive rate springs.

 

[IPerkWVU]

As someone with the OME kit, the shocks run a little firm for my tastes… if your putting 31s on it, no need to add the body lift either

I’d either pick up a set of their coil springs and rancho shocks or just their kit and live with their firmer riding shocks if you like that sporty feeling. If I remember right the kit came with a rear track bar bracket. Then just buy new Moog control arms.

 

[deadbeat son]

As someone with the OME kit, the shocks run a little firm for my tastes… if your putting 31s on it, no need to add the body lift either

I’d either pick up a set of their coil springs and rancho shocks or just their kit and live with their firmer riding shocks if you like that sporty feeling. If I remember right the kit came with a rear track bar bracket. Then just buy new Moog control arms.

Which shocks are you saying are too stiff? They have two valving options. Are you running the firmer or softer option?

 

[Irun]

$4K is absurd, even for BC.

For a little over that you could add:

Savvy Double Adjustable Arms
Savvy Body 1.25" Lift
Savvy Gas Tank Skid
H&R 1" Springs
Black Max Shocks
Savvy UA
JKS front and Rear Track Bars

That said, the above is overkill for 31" tires. This I know for a fact! The simpler $1100 version is:

H&R 1" springs
Savvy BL
Black Max Shocks
Stock New Arms
JKS Track Bar

You can easily run 31" tires with this combination and spend money on other useful mods!

Edit: Spend another $200 and you can do the ZJ steering conversion. Also, I'm not sure how shipping plays into these numbers?

 

[JMT]

Either post #2 or #4 or the second option in post #7

$4k is extravagant, unnecessary for your uses.

Any of these other options would ride better than the OEM kit from DPG because those shocks are going to be rough.

I would do what @Irun said,

H&R 1" springs (or a 1" spacer)
Savvy 1.25" BL
Black Max Shocks (or Rancho 5000X 0-2")
Stock New Arms (definitely stay with new stock arms, not aftermarket)
JKS Track Bar (probably not even needed, your axles will only be slightly off and probably not even noticeable)

 

[kiwi]

I went with the OME 2.5” lift with Rancho 5000x shocks and a rear track bar bracket. All of that cost 600$. No vibes, nothing else needed. And i’m running 32’s (But they’re BFG so they actually measure at like 30” LOL)

 

[Hollinger13]

Thanks for all the input. Wife likes how it sits with just the 31's on it. Just picked it up from the tire shop. Went with Yokohama geolander g003.
If I go with new stock arms, what is recommended? From dealership is 1250 for all new arms. Crown and omix-ada is about 600.
They no longer make the Mopar springs so would have to go after market as well on those.
Once you get things shipped to Canada, with the exchange and duty's, prices skyrocket.

 

[Hollinger13]

Want my advice? New factory replacement control arms, factory springs, .75” coil spring spacers, and a 1.25” Savvy body lift.

That will be all you need to run 31s and it will do so just fine with little money. In addition you’ll keep the factory progressive rate springs.

Can get crown or omix-ada for half the price of Mopar ones. Don't mind spending the extra money, but will it be worth it?
They don't make the factory springs anymore. Any others you could recommend?

 

[kiwi]

Can get crown or omix-ada for half the price of Mopar ones. Don't mind spending the extra money, but will it be worth it?
They don't make the factory springs anymore. Any others you could recommend?

Most people here recommend the “Buy once cry once” mentality. So yes i’d probably go mopar. And as for springs i believe H&R is the next best spring for basically stock height.

 

[Tangerined]

Thanks for all the input. Wife likes how it sits with just the 31's on it. Just picked it up from the tire shop. Went with Yokohama geolander g003.
If I go with new stock arms, what is recommended? From dealership is 1250 for all new arms. Crown and omix-ada is about 600.
They no longer make the Mopar springs so would have to go after market as well on those.
Once you get things shipped to Canada, with the exchange and duty's, prices skyrocket.

Checkout Rockauto.com. Can get a full set of Moog control arms shipped for around 400 CAD.

 

[Chris]

Can get crown or omix-ada for half the price of Mopar ones. Don't mind spending the extra money, but will it be worth it?
They don't make the factory springs anymore. Any others you could recommend?

The Moog springs I believe are reproduction factory springs.

 

[Sancho]

Have you spoken to Dirk at dpg yet? Good guy.

He will probably steer you to his OME starter kit for $1200 ish usd.

 

[deadbeat son]

Can get crown or omix-ada for half the price of Mopar ones. Don't mind spending the extra money, but will it be worth it?
They don't make the factory springs anymore. Any others you could recommend?

If she’s happy with the stance and doesn’t care about a lift, that saves you from opening a whole can of worms. An OEM spec refresh with Moog parts from RockAuto or similar may be worthwhile if your stock parts are worn.

 

[Hollinger13]

Most people here recommend the “Buy once cry once” mentality. So yes i’d probably go mopar. And as for springs i believe H&R is the next best spring for basically stock height.

Ok. I'll get them ordered up this week. Would you also recommend Mopar for the track bar? It's shot too.
Sorry, just got the jeep last week and am working through all the needed maintenance.

 

[kiwi]

Ok. I'll get them ordered up this week. Would you also recommend Mopar for the track bar? It's shot too.
Sorry, just got the jeep last week and am working through all the needed maintenance.

Yes since you don't need an adjustable then Mopar should be good for that as well.

 

[deadbeat son]

Ok. I'll get them ordered up this week. Would you also recommend Mopar for the track bar? It's shot too.
Sorry, just got the jeep last week and am working through all the needed maintenance.

I’m a big advocate of OEM parts. But before spending that kind of money, I’d recommend spending some time searching this forum for some discussion of using high quality aftermarket OEM replacement alternatives. Make sure the cost of OEM is warranted in your use case.

 

[Irun]

I’m a big advocate of OEM parts. But before spending that kind of money, I’d recommend spending some time searching this forum for some discussion of using high quality aftermarket OEM replacement alternatives. Make sure the cost of OEM is warranted in your use case.

I'm with @deadbeat son here. There are some places to use Mopar parts and some places you don't.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C5403G/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.moparwholesaleparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-track-bar-52088432
Which one would you pick?