100 too stiff after OME medium lift

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I went from mostly stock to adding the lift, sliders, front TJM bumper and winch all at once installed by Slee, and I barely noticed a difference in ride quality. Maybe a little less divey on the front end when hard on the brakes and a little more planted around corners, but generally speaking the ride did not degrade or change much from stock at all. I would think that means even the medium is suited to adding a bit more weight, as I obviously added a couple hundred pounds of weight to the truck at the same time as the lift. The clear choice is call Christo back and order a bumper or two and some sliders, and your truck will ride great! :)
 
OME tbars aren't what is causing the stiff feeling ride. No weight in the front of mine and the ride is nice. I had several family members complain about the ride when I had the OME shocks on and they all stopped complaining once I installed the Fox shocks. I am sure there other brands of shocks can give you a nice ride too but the OME's I personally thought were way stiff.
 
mcgaskins, I like the way you think, but I've decided this cruiser will remain a DD. If I need all the armor etc, there's other options to fire up around the house. But trust me, I like the way you think sir.
 
blue44 said:
Nope, but my boobs arent jiggling so that's a great sign
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thanks for the laugh, almost lost my coffee when I read that.

Was also thinking going OME lift but a fellow member who did it a while back and was not a fan of the jarring ride recommended just spacers for the rear and cranking the torsion in front. I did this over the weekend with new oem shocks and just got it aligned this morning and it rides pretty smooth even with e rated tires. It also seems to handle little and big bumps just fine. Figured at $40 a shock for oem ones if the ride was not good I would get something else but I am loving it so far.
 
coldwiz, At this point in the journey, I'll have to agree w you somewhat, but the tbars calmed down some of the bouncing/stiffness. Now I can better feel how stiff the OME sport shocks are. My drawback to the fox 2.0s thus far is that some folks say they are too mushy on the highway. I'm still interested though. I need more info and time to research Mud on shocks. The last 25years have been spent behind the wheel of various straight axle cruisers, so this is obviously new terrain to me, as of dec 2014. Thank you for your input.
 
AllFj80, Thank you for the info. I appreciate your input. Sounds interesting what you came up with. Thank you
 
I think one of the issues is to accurately describe what does not work and what does. Saying a shock is harsh does not really describe what is going on. Saying your boobs (or wife's girlfriends) does not bounce when going over an expansion joint might be better :)
 
I agree, but from what little I've read about Ironman, I would think they may be stiffer than OME, since their torsion bars are larger in diameter than OMEs. Just my initial thought
 
I don't know what you guys are talking about. I drove all the way to work this morning and didn't spill a drop!

 
sleeoffroad said:
Ride is a very subjective thing and we try our best to explain to people what to expect when purchasing a lift, but honestly it is difficult to convey exactly how it rides on the phone.

In general with OME you do feel more road feel. Much of that has to do with the Sport shocks and I believe low speed driving on roads that are bad with a lot of expansion joints. That said they do have a break in period and some of that should go away over time, but not completely. The issue is most other shocks that don't exhibit that behavior does not have enough dampening to control the vehicle properly at speed or when big ruts/holes are hit.

I doubt changing springs or torsion bars are going to make a difference. Our own shocks for the 100 does not drive like that, but they do come at a significant price difference. You are buying top of the line performance then.

The old OME Nitrocharger shocks were not like this but unfortunately the are not available anymore. The issue is to produce a shock at the right price point that will work. We might be able to do it in an emulsion shock, but it would still be over 2 times the price of OME.
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Key word "subjective!!" Had Slee do my 100 (see signature) love, love, love the solid ride, not harsh at all commuting. Now it does not feel like my LX570, but I have never spilled any drinks while driving. This is like discussing if a cup of coffee tastes good? I would suggest driving others 100 series with different setups and when you find one you like set yours up that way. Otherwise you are just throwing parts at it hoping you end up with something you like.
 
Friend talked me into 2.5 rears, which then became a full stage 2 kit....3 week wait time....

I was talking to my wife last night whIle I was driving her RX to dinner, and it reminded me of this thread.
I said I was hoping that the Icons would make the cruiser ride more like her RX....she laughed at me and said good luck....to which I responded that I just wanted it to ride MORE like her car....I'd be happy with it even riding more like my 10k lb truck!
 
okay so i chimed in earlier about getting my 100 back with ome lift and everything done and was worried about what you had posted here. well i am not worried about it being too stiff at all. in fact, i think it has settled in a little after 400 miles and i wish it was still stiff. I love it though. i am one extremely happy customer. what to do next???????????????
 
The right answer is change the weight of your truck.

Buying off the shelf "pre-valved" shocks that are presumably setup for certain conditions and vehicle wont be fun unless your situation matches that. Sure the OME medium (or whatever) might be close and livable for some, spot on for others and harsh for others yet. My observation is that most of the Aftermarket "kits" are assuming certainly level of weight related mods (bumpers,armor,etc) to the vehicle. If you throw on a med OME on a stock truck I would expect it to be harsh.

In my case I had to mod springs 4 times so at every step I had the right setup. The Radflo 2.5 I installed last year were always harsh right up to the moment I added all the bumpers and armor. Now everything works as it should.
 
OK, so the bottom line is that shock needs vary between Daily Driving and trails, and according to the weight. It seems like you deal, or buy adjustable shocks.

Can someone point me to an adjustable that works on a 100 Series that are not $600-800 each?
 
Lots of good input on here, so might as well throw in my opinion/experience.

Stock truck with OME 1.5" Heavy kit with Tbars from Slee. Loved the stiffness. My context: wide variety of properly lowered and braced cars. It reminded me of those days. Never driving luxury SUVs prior, it was soft and floating. Didn't help they were original shocks with 170k on them when I got it.

When there wasn't a full tank of gas and people in the car, yeah, a bit rough. Knowing I was going to get bumpers, sliders, fridge, drawer, bike rack for 4 bikes thrown on, I knew it wasn't going to last. The OME (med or heavy) kit was made for additional weight. Never spilled coffee though. Even prior to all the bumpers, fully loaded with bikes and people it was awesome.
 
On the front OME T-bars I have: front ARB, Warn Zeon 10k-S, Rigid 30", dual batteries, remote solenoid. On the rear 860(med) springs I have Slee dual swing with jerry can holder, and I leave my hi lift in place all the time. Split between the two I have White Knuckle sliders....

How much more weight would I need to smooth out the ride for these OME shocks?

My intended use is mostly rough oil field and ranch roads, which sadly is similar to our rough Houston city streets these days.

Normally, I would blame the spring rate, but I know I have put a significant load on the vehicle(the rear sagged noticeably after the bumper). From all the complaints/descriptions I've seen of OME shocks riding stiff, and after talking to Slee, I'm willing to try some of "them fancy jumpin' shocks", as he calls them. At the very least, I should get ride improvement in the front with the longer travel(already have TC arms and the OME shocks leave them with space to travel).
 
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