Firm OME Sport shocks installed

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3rd Cruiser

3rd Cruiser

Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Threads
9
Messages
259
Location
Rowland Heights, CA
After 53,000 miles my OME Nitrocharger shocks finally gave out. Too much front end dive off road and severe cupping on the rear tires after the last offroad trip with a loaded rig. I was running the N133 and N101 firm shocks.

My favorite shocks for my cruiser before the lift were the Heavy Duty Bilsteins. With that in mind, I thought I would try the new OME sport shocks. I hoped they would eliminate the side to side sway better then the nitro chargers and would handle high speed offroad travel better. In particular the occasional hard hits from unexpected ruts and whoop dee doos encountered in desert travel.

The sport shocks are much different then OME Nitrochargers. They come with a heavy gas charge, much like the Billies, which quickly extends an un-restrained shock. Trying to re-compress them by hand is dificult. Once installed you immeadiatly notice that these are a very stiff shock.

Knowing that I was used to worn out shocks with little dampening left, I deceided to live with the sport shocks a while before I posted up my thoughts. But before I go on here is a picture of the sport shocks. Notice the silver bracket holding the shock in the compressed position. This is a front shock. (There I hope I've satisfied the picture police):D
P1130144.webp
 
I had been running the Heavy load nitro charger shocks and I was fairly happy with them on and off road until I recently installed my slee skid plates. I think the extra weight was too much for the nearly worn out shocks. I figured the Firm sports would be the way to go with all the extra weight my truck is carrying.

Since install four weeks ago I have driven surface streets, hiway (long and short distance) and offroad. On a three day trip to Pannamint Valley I had a chance to drive at speed on wash board and deeply rutted roads. In addition I drove over very rocky areas and had to rock crawl up a canyon over a number of dry water falls.

These are very stiff shocks. Around town they transmit all road irregularities to the driver and passengers. You feel every bump in the road. The same is true on the highway. Again you feel every bump in the road. I think Maniac expressed it very well in a previous thread and I quote " I also have the Nitro Sport shocks with the OME medium lift. Experienced the same improvements in handling as mentioned above. However I was not prepared for how stiff the ride would be. With the Bilstein shocks, I had no problem drinking a cup of coffee on my commute to work. Now, with the same coffee cup on the same road, I get dribbles and splashes all over the place." I concur and it looks like the issue affects both the medium and firm shocks.

Offroad the experience is the same at slow speeds you really feel every rock and rut. Speed does help, especially when you hit something bigger. With the nitro chargers 35mph was the sweet spot for cruising over wash board. With the sports, 45 mph is where everything smooths out.

The sports did well in handeling big ruts and bumps. I purposely hit a couple of larger potholes offroad at speed, and they absorbed the hit very well. They also did very well in the rock crawling section of our trip. We went up South Park Canyon in the Pannamint Mtns.

Comming off a rock ledge too fast can be a problem especially if the nose of the truck dives down and whacks something solid. This is where the stiffness of these shocks is a plus. There is no front in dive at all.

Sooo, IMO, if you lift and want a comfortable ride go with the nitrochargers. But rumor has it they might be discontinued. If you are looking for a heavily damped shock to handle a loaded turck over rough roads at speed, these may work for you.

I haven't had a chance to run the truck through any sandy washes yet to see how the Sport's handle the "whoop dee doos." This may be were they shine, we'll see.
 
Good report. Its too bad Fox Racing doesn't offer a direct bolt on solution for 100's...or 80's for that matter ;). I've got my Fox shocks tuned for a very compliant ride while taking on big, higher speed off-road hits with ease. Tuning for personal preferences and/or vehicle weight is a relatively easy process. Christo has been working on a shock solution for us...

Christo: Are you listening?!
 
The plan is to have the shocks on my truck for the Overland Expo and Moab and evaluate the drive then.

As for the Nitrocharger sport shocks, from feedback it seems like the firm shocks is to much for most people. We now offer all OME kits with the comfort Nitrocharger Sport shock and Firm only after we have discussed the application with the customer. Reports on the comfort is that they are closer to the old shocks.
 
sleeoffroad said:
The plan is to have the shocks on my truck for the Overland Expo and Moab and evaluate the drive then.

As for the Nitrocharger sport shocks, from feedback it seems like the firm shocks is to much for most people. We now offer all OME kits with the comfort Nitrocharger Sport shock and Firm only after we have discussed the application with the customer. Reports on the comfort is that they are closer to the old shocks.
Click to expand...

Good to hear/know (so you were listening ;p). A tunable shock is IMO the best way to go. This allows valving for each individual's driving style, load damping ability, etc.
 
Does that mean there will finally be bolt in Fox Shocks for the 100 or am I missing something?
 
pman said:
Does that mean there will finally be bolt in Fox Shocks for the 100 or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Not to steal his thunder but Christo has been working on a directly bolt-on gas charged shock with remotes for 80 and 100's. As you can imagine it does take a while to fully test a product he'd put his name on...and I fully respect that.

Based upon the demo units I have seen it should be a real winner of a shock system for those that don't want to go the custom route. Should be fully tunable and rebuildable similar to Fox. Having said that I assume he will supply them already valved for a specific weight range and driving style and/or offer tuning/valving kits for others with unique needs.

Like all high performance parts I wouldn't expect them to be in the OME price range. But they won't perform like an OME either ;)

Christo?
 
i really need to get my OME firm sports installed so I can throw my two cents into these whole conversations. with all the steel on mine i think it should be just perfect, till slee hooks me up then i'll be golden ;)
 
spressomon said:
Not to steal his thunder but Christo has been working on a directly bolt-on gas charged shock with remotes for 80 and 100's. As you can imagine it does take a while to fully test a product he'd put his name on...and I fully respect that.

Based upon the demo units I have seen it should be a real winner of a shock system for those that don't want to go the custom route. Should be fully tunable and rebuildable similar to Fox. Having said that I assume he will supply them already valved for a specific weight range and driving style and/or offer tuning/valving kits for others with unique needs.

Like all high performance parts I wouldn't expect them to be in the OME price range. But they won't perform like an OME either ;)

Christo?
Click to expand...

That helps, but are they actually Fox shocks like what Darren has in OZ? Or are they something else?
 
1loudLX said:
i really need to get my OME firm sports installed so I can throw my two cents into these whole conversations. with all the steel on mine i think it should be just perfect, till slee hooks me up then i'll be golden ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah Loud, stop driving your truck all over the country having fun and get the sports installed. ( Can you tell I'm jealous?) It would be nice to hear other opinions about these shocks.

My going from worn out shocks to these makes the comparison a bit difficult and probably magnifys the harsh ride issue. So get them on and post up.:D
 
3rd Cruiser said:
Yeah Loud, stop driving your truck all over the country having fun and get the sports installed. ( Can you tell I'm jealous?) It would be nice to hear other opinions about these shocks.

My going from worn out shocks to these makes the comparison a bit difficult and probably magnifys the harsh ride issue. So get them on and post up.:D
Click to expand...

meh, maybe i'll just drive out to colorado in a couple weeks and have slee do it for me :flipoff2:
 
Yeah rub it in. Sound like an expensive shock install, but that may not be a bad plan. Visit Slee and ride around in a vehicle with the sport shocks. If you don't like them, trade your un-installed shocks for the sport comfort shocks. Starting to wish I wasn't an early adopter and could try the comforts.
 
3rd Cruiser said:
Yeah rub it in. Sound like an expensive shock install, but that may not be a bad plan. Visit Slee and ride around in a vehicle with the sport shocks. If you don't like them, trade your un-installed shocks for the sport comfort shocks. Starting to wish I wasn't an early adopter and could try the comforts.
Click to expand...

Hell, I'd love to gain 2" travel in the back. Want to trade for some fresh billies :) , I'd say 1K miles on them, haven't seen any wheeling (been sitting in a college parking lot the past month not really moving, other than the late night food run)





:D
 
sleeoffroad said:
The plan is to have the shocks on my truck for the Overland Expo and Moab and evaluate the drive then.

As for the Nitrocharger sport shocks, from feedback it seems like the firm shocks is to much for most people. We now offer all OME kits with the comfort Nitrocharger Sport shock and Firm only after we have discussed the application with the customer. Reports on the comfort is that they are closer to the old shocks.
Click to expand...

Hey C.S....do they have these new Sport Shocks for the 80-Series? An N74L equivalent?
 
Last edited:
2000UZJ said:
Hell, I'd love to gain 2" travel in the back. Want to trade for some fresh billies :) , I'd say 1K miles on them, haven't seen any wheeling (been sitting in a college parking lot the past month not really moving, other than the late night food run)
:D
Click to expand...


Thanks for the generous offer, but I have my old set of Bilsteins sitting in the garage. May put them on the front and see what it rides like then.
 
ShottsUZJ100 said:
Hey C.S....do they have these new Sport Shocks for the 80-Series? An N74L equivalent?
Click to expand...

I've seen your n74L setup and I like how much it flexes with the addition of a spring retainer. I may be going with this setup as well
 
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