Quick recap:
98 TJ soft top no back seat Dirtworks back bumper 31 inch tires, Warn winch and Warn bumper on the front with dual yellow top Optima's for some background
A few months ago I did a OME 2" lift on my TJ, Originally I put the heavy/heavy springs and shocks on the Jeep. When I added the spacers front and rear that came in the kit. When It was finished it had a huge rake rear to front. I mean it looked like some crazy muscle car in the 70's but not in a good way, although I didn't look at it with Cragars.
It was really frustrating, so I talked to ARB, and they had me send pictures. A couple of days later they got back to me and told me that the rear of my Jeep had no weight to it and that is why the heavies were giving it too much rake, They said buy the lights for the rear and that should fix it.
I ordered new lights for the rear and it was still a little off but better, so I removed the OME spacers from the rear and it leveled right out. They mentioned that all TJ's are different, so when you put a lift on you may have to do a few times to get it right based on your options.
Well finally this leveled out nicely, and I was pretty happy. It rode nice and was level, but since then I have taken it out on wheeling day trips and camping trips either hauling a lot of gear or towing my RTT camping (trailer). When I load up the Jeep or tow the light springs fall on their ass. It was frustrating me.
I drive more regular driving then wheeling or camping, so I let it go for a while, but couldn't help but not be happy with it so I have been considering the Curry 4" lift because of all of the endorsements here.
I just purchased teh ZJ steering upgrade so I decided I want to get the suspension figured out one way or the other. I have been reading what others have had issues with with the OME so I decided to read some build threads, and I found @jjvw's (Shout out), and was inspired by his suspension choices in his build thread.
So here is what I ended up with today.
I changed out the rear lights back to the heavies springs then in the front I removed the OME spacer and replaced it with a 1.75 Daystar spacer in the front.
(Cycled the suspension too. The rear is spot on, the fronts are spot on too but could use an inch to keep the 31's out of the fender, but didn't have one on hand so it will go on next time I take it apart. Will stock up on a couple of Metal Cloak's for the next time)
So now to break it down,
I have OME 2" with front heavy springs, and heavy duty OME Nitro shocks, and a 1.75 daystar with the TJ stock spacer. In the rear I have OME 2" with heavy duty rear OME Nitro's with no spacers and it has about a 1/4 inch rake now.
I didn't take any pictures yet because I want to see how much it sags with my RTT on it loaded with my quad and see how much it sags. If it sags, I may take the rear apart again and add the OME spacers in the rear, but I want to drive it around for a couple of weeks and see how it all settles first. Once I have the final product one way or the other I will follow up with pictures.
So in wrapping it all up, reading @jjvw's he talks about buying springs for your jeep based on the set up rather than buying a kit. In the end, it may be a little more expensive, but the potential to have the right set up is better. I am a believer.
I am assuming with just a quarter inch of rake will not be enough for a load, so I am going to test it for the next few weeks and see how it looks, but one way or the other I think I am at the bottom or close to the bottom of this. Also it was a bitch of a day I did this in 106 degrees today. Yikes summer is coming!
98 TJ soft top no back seat Dirtworks back bumper 31 inch tires, Warn winch and Warn bumper on the front with dual yellow top Optima's for some background
A few months ago I did a OME 2" lift on my TJ, Originally I put the heavy/heavy springs and shocks on the Jeep. When I added the spacers front and rear that came in the kit. When It was finished it had a huge rake rear to front. I mean it looked like some crazy muscle car in the 70's but not in a good way, although I didn't look at it with Cragars.
It was really frustrating, so I talked to ARB, and they had me send pictures. A couple of days later they got back to me and told me that the rear of my Jeep had no weight to it and that is why the heavies were giving it too much rake, They said buy the lights for the rear and that should fix it.
I ordered new lights for the rear and it was still a little off but better, so I removed the OME spacers from the rear and it leveled right out. They mentioned that all TJ's are different, so when you put a lift on you may have to do a few times to get it right based on your options.
Well finally this leveled out nicely, and I was pretty happy. It rode nice and was level, but since then I have taken it out on wheeling day trips and camping trips either hauling a lot of gear or towing my RTT camping (trailer). When I load up the Jeep or tow the light springs fall on their ass. It was frustrating me.
I drive more regular driving then wheeling or camping, so I let it go for a while, but couldn't help but not be happy with it so I have been considering the Curry 4" lift because of all of the endorsements here.
I just purchased teh ZJ steering upgrade so I decided I want to get the suspension figured out one way or the other. I have been reading what others have had issues with with the OME so I decided to read some build threads, and I found @jjvw's (Shout out), and was inspired by his suspension choices in his build thread.
So here is what I ended up with today.
I changed out the rear lights back to the heavies springs then in the front I removed the OME spacer and replaced it with a 1.75 Daystar spacer in the front.
(Cycled the suspension too. The rear is spot on, the fronts are spot on too but could use an inch to keep the 31's out of the fender, but didn't have one on hand so it will go on next time I take it apart. Will stock up on a couple of Metal Cloak's for the next time)
So now to break it down,
I have OME 2" with front heavy springs, and heavy duty OME Nitro shocks, and a 1.75 daystar with the TJ stock spacer. In the rear I have OME 2" with heavy duty rear OME Nitro's with no spacers and it has about a 1/4 inch rake now.
I didn't take any pictures yet because I want to see how much it sags with my RTT on it loaded with my quad and see how much it sags. If it sags, I may take the rear apart again and add the OME spacers in the rear, but I want to drive it around for a couple of weeks and see how it all settles first. Once I have the final product one way or the other I will follow up with pictures.
So in wrapping it all up, reading @jjvw's he talks about buying springs for your jeep based on the set up rather than buying a kit. In the end, it may be a little more expensive, but the potential to have the right set up is better. I am a believer.
I am assuming with just a quarter inch of rake will not be enough for a load, so I am going to test it for the next few weeks and see how it looks, but one way or the other I think I am at the bottom or close to the bottom of this. Also it was a bitch of a day I did this in 106 degrees today. Yikes summer is coming!
