FJ62 - OME Lift Installed! (1 Viewer)

[SAR_Squid79]

Well the install went pretty well. This Cruiser has been a California car for its entire existance, so there was no rust, no corrosion, and all the 20 year old nuts and bolts came off like butter. The only exception was the rear driver's-side spring. The pin that goes through the spring perch had to be cut out, but that was the only hiccup.

I guess the pin had bonded to the rubber bushings, and that S.O.B. wouldn't let go for anything. After pounding it with a hammer for about 2 straight hours, I decided to break out the grinder. 30 minutes and two 5" cutting wheels later, I was back on track.

As I said before - I got the Ultimate Light / Medium 2" - 3" Lift Kit (Part# ED60ULM) from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters.

The kit came with:
2 - CS003F Front OME Emu Dakar Leaf Springs
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - N88 Front Nitrocharger Shock Absorber [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - CS017R A Rear OME Emu Dakar Leaf Spring[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Driver)
1 - CS017R B Rear OME Emu Dakar Leaf Spring - (Passenger)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - N94 Rear Nitrocharger Shock Absorber[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]4 - SB1 OME Poly Spring Bushing Kits[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMEGS2 OME Greasable Front Shackle Kit (triangular)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMEGS1 OME Greasable Rear Shackle Kit[/SIZE][/FONT] (triangular)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - OMEGP1 OME Greasable Pin Kit[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMESD24 OME Steering Stabilizer[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]4 - OMEU51 OME U-Bolts & Nuts[/size][/font]
[SIZE=-1]4 - OMEU59B OME U-Bolts & Nuts[/size]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OME Center Bolt Spacer Kit[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Fit over rear leaf spring centering pins)

The install was very straight forward. At first I was confused by all the parts, and wanted to make sure I knew what went where . . . Once you get underneath the truck, you see that there's really only 1 way to install everything. The new shoes are Toyo Open Country A/T's - size: 285/70/17 on 17" Toyota Sequoia alloys.


I took measurements before and after:
(All measurements are from the ground to the bottom edge of the fender)

BEFORE:​

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Front:
Driver: 32 7/8"
Passenger: 33"​

Rear:
Driver: 31 5/16"
Passenger: 31 1/8"​

AFTER:​

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Front:
Driver: 36 3/4"
Passenger: 36 1/2"​

Rear:
Driver: 38 1/2"
Passenger: 37 15/16"​

More Pictures!

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...It turns out that HiLuxer was correct and I just ordered 2 sets of 1.5" wheel spacers from Marlin Crawler. Hopefully I'll receive those by Wednesday. The truck was okay for the drive home from the shop, but at full lock the Tie Rod does contact the inside of the wheels. Also on the drive home I learned that I need an alignment BAD! I'll take care of that tomorrow.

 

[LCOwner]

Nice wheels too

 

[EOE_overland]

That looks nice! I've been thinking about putting an OME on my 62. How's the ride quality?

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Considering that the suspension I took off was the original suspension, the ride quality for me is WAAYYY better now! The old suspension was pretty worn out, and the cruiser was riding like Uncle Buck's car... Now it feels like I think it should. Not to hard - not too soft. I'm really happy with it.

 

[rdublt1]

Looks really good man. Did you loose a passenger in all the installation madness?!!!

 

[wengejor]

hey that looks great!

 

[PhilC64]

Damn I missed this post before I posted in your other thread!

Nice job! Looks good and you'll like the ride more after the springs settle. You might want to get a new set of TRE's before you do an alignment. It made a world of difference on mine.

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Did you loose a passenger in all the installation madness?!!!

Nope - My copilot is sitting on my lap as I type this!

Damn I missed this post before I posted in your other thread!

Nice job! Looks good and you'll like the ride more after the springs settle. You might want to get a new set of TRE's before you do an alignment. It made a world of difference on mine.

Thanks for the heads up on the TRE's. I put off the alignment for now. I hope to be able to pick up one of the Tie Rod kits from either Cruiser Outfitters of Man-A-Fre. The Cruiser Outfitters kit is a little cheaper, but Man-A-Fre says that theirs is OEM Japanese parts. . . any recommendations there?

Tie Rod End Kits

Cruiser Outfitters

 

[Tyler Durden]

Great looking rig.

 

[PhilC64]

I went with Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. I got the Japanese Triple 5's from him, the same that Man-a-fre offers. It might be a couple of dollars difference but I can depend on Kurt.

 

[rdublt1]

Can't go wrong with Kurt. He'll tell you if what MAF has are better than his.

So back to the lift & new tire size- Have you noticed much power loss with the bigger tires (assuming you have stock gearing)?

 

[euclid]

Great info for folks considering a suspension upgrade. FAQ'd

 

[JLH911]

Nope - My copilot is sitting on my lap as I type this!



Thanks for the heads up on the TRE's. I put off the alignment for now. I hope to be able to pick up one of the Tie Rod kits from either Cruiser Outfitters of Man-A-Fre. The Cruiser Outfitters kit is a little cheaper, but Man-A-Fre says that theirs is OEM Japanese parts. . . any recommendations there?

Tie Rod End Kits

Cruiser Outfitters

That box from C.O. looks rather "Chinese" to me. I'd e-mail or call them to find out for sure. I'd got with original Japanese parts all the way.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

That box from C.O. looks rather "Chinese" to me. I'd e-mail or call them to find out for sure. I'd got with original Japanese parts all the way.

That box from C.O. says Made in Japan right on it

I'm very selective about the parts I sell

 

[tigerfan2468]

sharp rig! enjoy the OME kit!

 

[JLH911]

That box from C.O. says Made in Japan right on it

I'm very selective about the parts I sell

Great! Glad to hear that...do you have any in stock because I need some now

 

[SAR_Squid79]

That box from C.O. says Made in Japan right on it

I'm very selective about the parts I sell

Awesome, Kurt! I'll be ordering a set of those VERY SOON!

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Took a few poser pics today. Technically it's Off-Road . . . off pavement, anyway...

​

 

[PhilC64]

Looking good SAR! Did you get your alignment issue addressed yet?

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Yes. I am still going to replace all the Tie Rod & Drag Link ends, just for GP. They don't seem to have much play in them, if any, but I believe they are the originals from 1990, and they're all leaking a little bit of grease.

As for the alignment, the issue was a terrifying one, but has now been resolved. I just thank God that I didn't drive the cruiser very much last week, and drove it VERY CONSERVATIVELY the few times that I did drive it.

It turns out that the previous owner had the wrong lug nuts on the truck (wrong thread pitch), but I guess they were tight ENOUGH with the last set of wheels. But when I put the new wheels on and re-used the old lug nuts, they were not tightened down all the way, and I guess the rear tires were floating around on the lug studs. This translated to what felt like a steering or alignment problem. I didn't discover the problem until I went to put the Marlin Crawler wheel spacers on, and found that the lug nuts were not right.

It really scared the hell out of me to think what a catastrophe that could have been. But it is fixed now, and everything feels good.