FJ62: Bilstein shocks with OME

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ATXFJ

ATXFJ

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I searched this topic with no certain answer.

I see some of you guys run Bilsteins with Old Man Emu 2.5" lift springs and love the ride on and off road. My questions are, which Bilsteins are they? Can you provide part numbers front and rear? Do they require adapters to mount them correctly? Do they limit suspension travel?

:cheers:
 
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Whatever you do, take carefull measurements of the distance between the mounting locations with the suspension completely unloaded (as in up in the air) and the current shocks removed. Calculate the minimum distance by subtracting the distance between the axle and bump stop. Then buy your shocks by the dimensions. I cannot begin to elaborate on how many times I have seen parts guys produce the wrong shock based on the manufacturer's literature. Don't rely on it.
 
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I run bilstein 7100s with my OMEs. Way better ride than OME shocks, but I've custom tuned the valvestacks. For a relatively stock truck 255/70 valving would be the best starting point. I add a little bit more compression valving in the high speed section of my 255/70s up front. I think that the rebound up front could also use a little more in the medium speed section. In the back I'm running 275/60, which needs a little less rebound.

I used 8" remote resevoir versions with rubber adapter bushing. Others have used 10" short body, which might be available with a stud mount that works with our upper front frame mounts. In my case I cut the stock stud mount off and welded on a modified (shortened) Ford F250 mount.
 
5100 series are what I am running with my 2.5 OME. I only run them on road though, as the extended articulation of the suspension is right at the limit for these. I do love the ride though. If I am headed for a trail - the OMEs go back on.
 
lehiguy said:
Whatever you do, take carefull measurements of the distance between the mounting locations with the suspension completely unloaded (as in up in the air) and the current shocks removed. Calculate the minimum distance by subtracting the distance between the axle and bum stop. Then buy your shocks by the dimensions. I cannot begin to elaborate on how many times I have seen parts guys produce the wrong shock based on the manufacturer's literature. Don't rely on it.
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Can i use the OME shocks dimensions (compress/uncompress) for reference in ordering the Bilstein 5100?
 
Thanks for the replies. I made some phone calls to ARB USA and Bilstein. I got the front and rear shock compression and extension measurements for 2.5" OME springs on a 60 series. They said:

Front: 349mm/589mm (or 13.7"/23.2")
Rear: 357mm/582mm (or 14.1"/22.9")

I went with Bilstein's 5125 series valved 255/70. Since this series are all eye/eye mounting configurations and the front requires eye/stem, I bought two ManAFre's 4+ shock adapters for the front which reduces the shock compression and extension measurements by 1" (but not travel, travel stays the same). Rear shocks are eye/eye configuration so no adapters needed. I went with part #'s 33-185590 (front) and 33-185606 (rear).

Once I have it all installed, I'll report my results here.
 
Interested to hear the results. I have the OME 2.5 light load kit w/ OME shocks (the old version). I find the suspension a bit harsher than expected (my 3rd 60, so I'm not comparing to new trucks) and have wondered if the shocks are the culprit. I bought the full deluxe kit from MAF, so all the bushings are recent too. In particular, it seems to dampen and recover very quickly with some higher frequency oscillation afterward, rather than dampen and recover more slowly, which would be less harsh. Honestly, it's nearly impossible to drink a cup of coffee on a city street.

I run stock bumpers and stock load. I do have E class tires on 16" rims, so perhaps I could fiddle with pressure, but by my estimation, I'm running appropriate pressure. I have 31's on 15" rims for a while and had the same problem. I had an OME kit with OME shocks years ago on Range Rover and the ride improvement over stock was remarkable.
 
bklnfj60 said:
Interested to hear the results. I have the OME 2.5 light load kit w/ OME shocks (the old version). I find the suspension a bit harsher than expected (my 3rd 60, so I'm not comparing to new trucks) and have wondered if the shocks are the culprit. I bought the full deluxe kit from MAF, so all the bushings are recent too. In particular, it seems to dampen and recover very quickly with some higher frequency oscillation afterward, rather than dampen and recover more slowly, which would be less harsh. Honestly, it's nearly impossible to drink a cup of coffee on a city street.

I run stock bumpers and stock load. I do have E class tires on 16" rims, so perhaps I could fiddle with pressure, but by my estimation, I'm running appropriate pressure. I have 31's on 15" rims for a while and had the same problem. I had an OME kit with OME shocks years ago on Range Rover and the ride improvement over stock was remarkable.
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Yeah, this was the behavior that I saw with OME shocks. With my Bilstein 7100s this is gone. The truck is also easier to drive at highway speed, which I attribute to the tires spending more time in contact with the ground instead of hopping slightly over bumps.
 
I have had good luck with Skyjacker Nitros. I buy them off the shelf via the dimentions. They provide the best ride and control of the many different shocks I have tried and I like the lifetime warranty. Oddly, the Skyjacker Hydros were very harsh in comparison, I tossed them. ProComps proved fairly harsh as well, but it has been years since that experiment.
 
Well, I thought I'd give an update. The OME spring and Bilstein shocks combo are miles ahead of my previous setup which was stock springs and Rancho shocks. However, I don't have my Bilsteins up front yet. The stem-to-eye shock adapter I bought from Man-a-Fre has a much larger diameter stem than stock. Does anybody know if there is an adapter that won't require drilling or resizing the truck stem locations?
 
ATXFJ said:
Well, I thought I'd give an update. The OME spring and Bilstein shocks combo are miles ahead of my previous setup which was stock springs and Rancho shocks. However, I don't have my Bilsteins up front yet. The stem-to-eye shock adapter I bought from Man-a-Fre has a much larger diameter stem than stock. Does anybody know if there is an adapter that won't require drilling or resizing the truck stem locations?
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I believe Bilstien sells them, at least PolyPerformance has it listed with the 5150s.

I have 2.5" OME leaves and put in 5150s. I really like it both on road and off. I have a lot of body roll though so want my front sway bar back in and also to add an FJ62 rear sway bar.
 
I had to drill things out to make the 4+ adapter work. Then I got to buy a new big wrench. ;)

Go with a Bilstein stem as suggested.
 
After reading this post I decided to order the 5125 shocks valved 255/70 and in the exact length ATXFJ purchased as I also have a OME 2.5 lift. I have been wanting to put Bilsteins on my 62 for quite a while but didn't take the time to figure it out as they don't have a direct bolt on. I also ordered the Man-A-Fre 4+ shock adapters for the upper front conversion from post to eye. These adapters don't really work good, mounting bolt is way too big. Im sure you could drill out your mount but it seems way overkill and I don't really want to modify the mount by drilling it out.

I found Poly Performance has these adapters that I think will work much better. Poly Performance JEEP/TRUCK & BUGGY :: Shocks & Accessories :: Shock Mounting Kits :: Synergy Suspension Universal Shock Stem Adapter for Jeep TJ, XJ, JK, YJ, ZJ - 4X4 Off-Road Parts, JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CNC Brakes,

I ordered them and will post how they work when I get them.

Also it should be pointed out you will have to change the eye bushings on the 5125's. They come with 5/8 ID bushings and our trucks need 3/4 ID. I ordered these from Energy Suspension Energy Suspension 9.8108 Bump Stops - Shock Eyes - 98108 Hopefully they will work as well.
 
I guess I'll add, I plan on running a simple shock hoop one day (behind 100s of other mods todo), and I am comfortable with basic fab jobs, so this kind of issue doesn't bother me as it would have in the past. Welding = freedom/confidence.
 
I have had this combo for a few years. I used a eye to pin adaptor from Superior Engineering. The ride is great, very happy with it. The thing that doesn't exactly work is that with the pin to eye adaptor, the shock mount is effectively 50mm lower than standard, meaning that with my setup the shock bottoms out (need longer bump stops). Extended my shocks are right on though. I used BE5-6253-H5 8.6". Rears are spot on.
 
chris0222 said:
After reading this post I decided to order the 5125 shocks valved 255/70 and in the exact length ATXFJ purchased as I also have a OME 2.5 lift. I have been wanting to put Bilsteins on my 62 for quite a while but didn't take the time to figure it out as they don't have a direct bolt on. I also ordered the Man-A-Fre 4+ shock adapters for the upper front conversion from post to eye. These adapters don't really work good, mounting bolt is way too big. Im sure you could drill out your mount but it seems way overkill and I don't really want to modify the mount by drilling it out.

I found Poly Performance has these adapters that I think will work much better. Poly Performance JEEP/TRUCK & BUGGY*::*Shocks & Accessories*::*Shock Mounting Kits*::*Synergy Suspension Universal Shock Stem Adapter for Jeep TJ, XJ, JK, YJ, ZJ - 4X4 Off-Road Parts, JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CNC Brakes,

I ordered them and will post how they work when I get them.

Also it should be pointed out you will have to change the eye bushings on the 5125's. They come with 5/8 ID bushings and our trucks need 3/4 ID. I ordered these from Energy Suspension Energy Suspension 9.8108 Bump Stops - Shock Eyes - 98108 Hopefully they will work as well.
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Thanks for the links! Let me know if you have any problems.
 
chris0222 said:
Also it should be pointed out you will have to change the eye bushings on the 5125's. They come with 5/8 ID bushings and our trucks need 3/4 ID. I ordered these from Energy Suspension Energy Suspension 9.8108 Bump Stops - Shock Eyes - 98108 Hopefully they will work as well.
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Actually you can get the 5/8s over the pin without to much effort. I simply greased them up and convinced them to go on with a BFRH. :D
 
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