Suspension Conundrum...Please help me decide. (1 Viewer)

[jzilla]

Hi everyone,

Been a while since I posted...

On my nice BJ60 I have a Belton suspension set that is 16 years old this August. The ride is awesome, the height is great etc. no complaints.

Two years ago I acquired an OME suspension set (told it is 10 years old) for $200 which I recently sandblasted, painted and rebuilt with all new parts including stainless steel bolts and pipes for the wraps.

The plan was to install the OME on a beater BJ60 which I started doing as you can see in the photos.
After recently finishing rebuilding the OME front suspension I thought to myself why not put the OME on my nice truck?

My only concern is I am not sure how it will ride as I have never had OME and also I am not sure how the springs will sit with the extra weight of my bumper and rear tire carrier.

Right now with the OME rear springs installed on the beater there is an extra 0.5 inch between the axle and the frame compared to my nice truck with the Beltons.

Anyways, thoughts?

Should I put the rebuilt OME on my nice truck (which I intend to not drive in the winter time)? Sorry the photos are kind of messed up...Some are doubles not sure why...

The freshly painted suspension is the OME and the rustier suspension is the Beltons on my nice truck.

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[jzilla]

Come on guys! 95 views and not one opinion? Please help me out here...

 

[Mace]

If you like the belton suspension why would you swap it out?

 

[OSS]

Exactly.
If you want prettier springs, wire brush & paint the ones already on the truck. There's zero reason to swap them except for the appearance of surface rust.

 

[jzilla]

If you like the belton suspension why would you swap it out?

Because I am a perfectionist...Also wondering if the OME would give a nicer ride? I have never used them before.

 

[jzilla]

Exactly.
If you want prettier springs, wire brush & paint the ones already on the truck. There's zero reason to swap them except for the appearance of surface rust.

I have never used the OME so I have no idea what they would ride like. And yes prettier springs would be nice on the prettier truck...Would satisfy my OCD

 

[georgebj60]

Good to see you back on here! But I'd be in the camp of "if it ain't broke"...

I see a lot of threads on here of people complaining of uneven height after putting on new OME springs. Your truck sits pretty level as I recall, so I'd be afraid to change it. Though I can understand the temptation....

 

[OSS]

Sometimes it's just best to avoid the cheese in the mouse trap ...no matter how tempting it smells )

 

[php74]

Have done OME on my rigs and I think they’re great. That’s why everyone else compares their stuff to OME IMO. I use the soft ride (standard or medium or whatever they call it, can’t remember) but don’t have any heavy add-ons. Can’t go wrong with getting a new suspension for sure. I’ve not had any uneven or leaning issues.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Two years ago I acquired an OME suspension set (told it is 10 years old) for $200 which I recently sandblasted, painted and rebuilt with all new parts including stainless steel bolts and pipes for the wraps.

Those SS bolts-did the wraps come with the springs or did you add those?

To your question: No, I wouldn't swap out your Beltons.

 

[jzilla]

Those SS bolts-did the wraps come with the springs or did you add those?

To your question: No, I wouldn't swap out your Beltons.

The wraps came with the springs but I upgraded the rusty steel bolt and and spacer with stainless.

 

[jzilla]

I appreciate everyone's replies so far...hmm maybe I will just leave it and see how the ride is on the beater first...It will be a winter truck, so it will be interesting to see how long this heavy duty primer I painted the springs with lasts. As someone said I can always remove the Beltons and rebuild them at some point although they don't have the inter-leaf wear pads like the OME does (not sure how much of a difference those make?).

 

[jzilla]

Good to see you back on here! But I'd be in the camp of "if it ain't broke"...

I see a lot of threads on here of people complaining of uneven height after putting on new OME springs. Your truck sits pretty level as I recall, so I'd be afraid to change it. Though I can understand the temptation....

Yes it sits quite level, although there is more arc on one of the rear Beltons which makes the truck lean a tad.

 

[CaptClose]

Just like women.... The grass is never greener on the other side. If you like your current wife, Would you trade her for an unknown woman that just has a fresh coat of makeup? It’s a crapshoot at best. You’re already more than happy with what you got. Don’t screw with the chemistry now.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Those OMEs look pretty light in the rear. Even the mediums have 2 overloads.

The nice part is though, you can infinitely tune the OME spring pack with their long add-a-leaf that's specific to OME and sold by Cruiseroutfitters and likely others. I just rebuilt my spring pack with one of these overloads making my medium springs heavy springs, and if that isn't enough, another can be added for even more capacity.

So in the end, I'd run your good tuned and painted springs in the "good" truck and put the older suspension under the snow beater.

 

[jzilla]

Those OMEs look pretty light in the rear. Even the mediums have 2 overloads.

The nice part is though, you can infinitely tune the OME spring pack with their long add-a-leaf that's specific to OME and sold by Cruiseroutfitters and likely others. I just rebuilt my spring pack with one of these overloads making my medium springs heavy springs, and if that isn't enough, another can be added for even more capacity.

So in the end, I'd run your good tuned and painted springs in the "good" truck and put the older suspension under the snow beater.

So you actually don't agree with all the others? Any photos of what you did anywhere?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

No photos, but just imagine big black springs with overloads and an extra leaf! They are heavy as heck and it's an effort to move them around.

In the OME world you go from light to medium with 1 of these, medium to heavy with 2, and Diesel Heavy with 3. Pretty easy to take the pack apart, add the correct leaf (with that particular OME shape, flat in the middle) and re-assemble.

I can take photos if you want, but it's going to be several days as I'll be out of town.

 

[jzilla]

No photos, but just imagine big black springs with overloads and an extra leaf! They are heavy as heck and it's an effort to move them around.

In the OME world you go from light to medium with 1 of these, medium to heavy with 2, and Diesel Heavy with 3. Pretty easy to take the pack apart, add the correct leaf (with that particular OME shape, flat in the middle) and re-assemble.

I can take photos if you want, but it's going to be several days as I'll be out of town.

Photos would be great! No rush. Thanks!