OME Time!

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I have an Ome HD 850/863 HD lift on my truck. I drive this truckl atleasdt 100-150 miles each day. It is my daily driver. I have ranch 9000x shocks which accomidates the in cab adjustable system. You would think great for a wife, huh:mad: :mad: :mad: What a piece. Easier to crawl under the truck and adjust for the trip. The system is full of leaks. If you have questions pm me an I'll explain. 3 different set s of techs worked on it and it still failed. Anyway, my consideration on lift is what are you going to be doing and what is your load going to be? Bumpers, winches, racks, etc... definately heavy duty. Good for a DD too. If your going to go bigger evaluate your load and driving conditions. I would like my truck bigger but realize that driving on curvy backroads for hundreds of miles each day, it just isn'tpracticle. I am still infavor of 850/863/. Upgreads are inevitable just like mods.
Teresa
 
fzj80kidpen said:
Alaska,
Glad you being persistant here.
I am all over the 850/860 combo.
Part of me wants to go with CDans recommendation of J's up front and heavy in the back for the additional height but I am concerned about entering the vibration zone as I have to armour currently. Looking forward to the bilstien #'s aswell.
Click to expand...

Here you go;

B46-1477 (front) & B46-1478 (rear)

I got them at the following place with free shipping;

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/shocks/search.html
 
Montana- why did you choose Bilstein over OME?
 
alaskacruiser said:
Montana- why did you choose Bilstein over OME?
Click to expand...

I rode in a few OME sprung 80's and did not care for the ride, it seemed "harsh". I have also owned other trucks with Bil's and liked the ride. I wanted something different as well

I was riding on rough dirt roads at speed and the ride was rough and seemed like we were bouncing. Same roads at the same speeds months later with my lift and the ride is much better, feels smooth, like the truck is absorbing the bumps and not bouncing off them if that discription makes sense:confused:

With all that being said, I know suspensions are complex and your springs/weight of the truck, terrain you are on etc all play a role in the ride. My point is that I really like my ride.

Lastly, I think you loose some droop as the Bil's are a little shorter then OME but I dont do any serious off-road stuff at this point and its my DD.

Hope that wasnt too confusing:)
 
Montana Cruiser said:
I was riding on rough dirt roads at speed and the ride was rough and seemed like we were bouncing. Same roads at the same speeds months later with my lift and the ride is much better, feels smooth, like the truck is absorbing the bumps and not bouncing off them if that discription makes sense:confused:

Hope that wasnt too confusing:)
Click to expand...

I am a little confused- the "bouncing" you're describing was on an 80 with medium OME springs and N73/N74 shocks?
 
alaskacruiser said:
I am a little confused- the "bouncing" you're describing was on an 80 with medium OME springs and N73/N74 shocks?
Click to expand...

The other guys 80 was actually running OME Heavy Springs front and rear, and OME shocks as well, which OME shock is what I dont know.

I also rode in another one which was OME Heavy Springs front, Medium rear and OME shocks, again, not sure which model shock.

Hope thats more clear
:cheers:
 
I am also running Billy monotubes on my truck for a lot of the same reasons as Montana Cruiser. It is generally a higher quality & better performing shock than most.
 
7. Can anyone tell me the overall height increase they got compared to an 80 with stock suspension using these spring combos (if you have heavy accessories like ARB, rear bumper, please list them):

- 851/860 (medium load)
- 850/860 (heavy front, medium rear)
- 850/863 (heavy load)

Still trying to determine if I need to strip off the roof rack.
 
alaskacruiser said:
Still trying to determine if I need to strip off the roof rack.
Click to expand...

You need to take it off and repair the paint damage and rust. Once you have it off, and see how much havoc it has created you won't want to put it back on.

-B-
 
bump.
 
Alaska,
This is the way I understand the loaded heights work out. Again I do not have a lift so double check.
- 851/860 (medium load) Loaded Front 2"/ Loaded rear 3"
- 850/860 (heavy front, medium rear) 3" / 3"
- 850/863 (heavy load) 3"/ 4"
Both the medium and heavy will level out with the addition of aux gas tank or loaded roof rack given that the bumpers front and back will cancel each other out as far as level goes. Others that actually have this setup please confirm or disagree.
 
I got 3" of lift front and rear with my 850/860 set-up before I put my sliders on.

So....

Slee Step-Sliders = 75 lbs each

Total slider mass = 150 lbs

Assume equal weight distribution ---> 37.5 lbs per corner due to sliders

850 rate = 220 lbs/in
860 rate = 220 lbs/in

(37.5 lbs) / (220 lbs/in) = 0.17 in suspension drop due to sliders on 850/860 combo.

You can do a similar calculation with other spring combos or bumpers & winch front and rear.
 
fzj80 and Fochdog- thanks! That was just the info I was looking for.

8. As for OME N73/74 shocks, does anyone have anything good/bad to say about them vs. Bilsteins in addition to what's already been said? (Search isn't working right now)
 
alaskacruiser said:
fzj80 and Fochdog- thanks! That was just the info I was looking for.

8. As for OME N73/74 shocks, does anyone have anything good/bad to say about them vs. Bilsteins in addition to what's already been said? (Search isn't working right now)
Click to expand...

My narrow viewpoint on OME is this: you stick with the base kit, all OME components engineered together as a system, or ditch OME all together and head straight for Slee's 4" lift. OME was never designed to be that tall, it isn't their market, and I would never pay the premium $$$ that OME commands to piece it together when everything else stays stock.

If you look on Slee's page:

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/80_suspension.htm

You will see that the stock replacement suspension uses the same shocks as the 2.5" medium lift. What this means is that those shocks are simply extended on the 2.5" lift at static load height, and you have more up travel in the shock and less down travel.

So what to do? Buy the stock replacement suspension, see how tall it is per your garage issues, etc, and then add an inch of coil spacer if you want or need it. The big issue is always the shocks in terms of keeping properly designed up and down travel for even flex. Since all of the options you are looking at are going to use the same shocks, start with a smaller coil and work up rather than hoping a tall coil doesn't cause driveline and garage clearance problems.

Nay
 
alaskacruiser said:
fzj80 and Fochdog- thanks! That was just the info I was looking for.

8. As for OME N73/74 shocks, does anyone have anything good/bad to say about them vs. Bilsteins in addition to what's already been said? (Search isn't working right now)
Click to expand...

Bilstein shocks are very good shocks, IMHO better quality then the Monroe manufactured OME's. The stock bolt on Bilsteins are very short for a lifted truck, they will ride well on the road, but flex will suffer offroad. Bilstein makes some very nice longer shocks, but they are for generic applications, so mounts need to be fabricated. The OME N73/74 shocks are bolt on and sized for a lifted 80, the only ones available in the US? Longer shocks, up to a point, will get you better ride and traction offroad.

Boston Mangler's rig with OME shocks, note the rear axle angle, wheel droop.

DSC_5597.jpg


Rob's with OME L's.

2-13-2005_9.jpg


Phil's with 14" Bilsteins.

12-11-2005_4.jpg
 
Nay said:
My narrow viewpoint on OME is this: you stick with the base kit, all OME components engineered together as a system, or ditch OME all together and head straight for Slee's 4" lift. OME was never designed to be that tall, it isn't their market, and I would never pay the premium $$$ that OME commands to piece it together when everything else stays stock.

If you look on Slee's page:

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/80_suspension.htm
Click to expand...

Tuning your setup with OME parts works well. OME suggested setups are rated for constant load in the rear, if your not going to have that load the rear will ride higher. Choosing a slightly taller spring for the front will make it more level.

Slee's 6" kit uses OME L's, so in your opinion that's outside of the recommended setup, but still recommend going with it?

Nay said:
You will see that the stock replacement suspension uses the same shocks as the 2.5" medium lift. What this means is that those shocks are simply extended on the 2.5" lift at static load height, and you have more up travel in the shock and less down travel...
Nay
Click to expand...

The stock shocks have additional travel when the suspension is bottomed on the stops, shorter than they need to be. OME N73/74 are sized closer to the bottomed length, so have more extended length without having to move the stops. You don't lose travel with them, only gain, this is why they will work with stock springs. The OME L's are longer yet, requiring the stops to be spaced down to protect them, you loose some spring compression travel, but the longer shocks allow much more axle travel.
 
Tools R Us said:
Slee's 6" kit uses OME L's, so in your opinion that's outside of the recommended setup, but still recommend going with it?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't, personally. If I thought I needed a 6" lift, I would want mount locations and shock that would allow a lot more down travel. If the stock shock has ~10" of travel, and the L shock has ~11" of travel, using the L shock on a 6" lift means you have extended it 5" over stock and have left yourself with a huge amount of up travel - not good if you are planning the big meats to go along with that big lift because the suspension motion is too close to the body.

This is reflected by the 6" lifts with 35" tires - 35's could be run on a 2.5" lift with some tuning. My 33's are puny in those wheel wells on 2.5" of lift - it is stock proportions due to stock shock travel just like the taller lifts with 35's.

I think an 11" to 12" travel shock is about right for a 6" lift if you can use all of the travel. I'd want the axle mounts raised so I had about 5" of up travel and 6" to 7" down (which would require swaybar work to achieve...not saying this would be easy).

All things being equal, a 4" lift and a 6" lift shouldn't be using the same shock if you want larger tires because the range of suspension motion has not changed - you just have less down and more up.

We'll need a swaybar solution before I'd touch that much lift - I just haven't yet seen the suspension travel advantage without custom work and the shocks tell the entire story.

Nay
 
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