Off with the OME On with the FOR

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sailor

sailor

Jackass of all trades
10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Threads
179
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2,966
Location
Tsawwassen
I will never never screw around with a linear rate spring again. Frankie has come up with something very special with his Gen II complete kit. I daily drive a tank and a half a week with 150 lbs. of tools and like to wheel on weekends and take extended road trips. With my 5" OME lift I had awkward handling, poor emergency maneuver behaviour and a hard, punishing ride. When we went on our 4000 mile road trip this spring we took the Subaru because neither me nor my female command unit could stomach suffering in the LC. Now after biting the FOR bullet I can tell everyone here that that it is really that good. I may not have quite as much ground clearance as before, but the articulation and total axle travel is vastly improved. The highway ride, tracking, handling and emergency maneuvering is now awesome. I can now nail the brakes without worrying about unexpectedly changing lanes. I was considering selling the truck before but now am in love with it again. I have had a BJ 60 with 2 different sets of springs, 3 jeeps with god knows how many suspensions and a `zuki in the past.
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Good move, you'll definitely love your rig again :beer:
 
I wish i could afford that right now! I guess i will have to suffer w/ my ome for now till the funds become avalible.


Curious....do you mind If i ask how much it was shipped to bc?
 
aah demmit graham. now you got me 2nd guessing on whether to get this setup, or stick with my heavy/billie combo. i really just want more approach,breakover and departure clearance...but not at the expense of a punishing ride. were your shocks set at the softest setting? or midway? you only run 150# of tools, otherwise stock weight. ive only got sliders and a front arb, but i dont think its enough weight to put my truck into the 'sweet spot' weight range where the comp springs dont feel overly stiff. (rear carrier, sliders, winch, sub tank, drawers, rtt, etc make up what i think makes up an 'australian outback HD equipped 80). my ride now is slightly firm over abrupt bumps in the road, but nicely wallows over the wavier bumps..if that makes any sense. the back end is slightly softer than the front, due to my 5125s vs the bilstein HDs up front.

also, i think the lack of caster correction might attribute to the wonky feel you previously had perhaps? can anyone (nay maybe?) add some input? im looking to pick up sailors old setup, but ive got LT plates for CC. would that be enough to smooth out the problems sailor had with his comp springs? no adjustable ctrl arms or trac bars...which are probably necessary for this much lift? i agree that with multi link, everythings gotta be in line for it to act stock and not unpredictable.

regardless, i'll still pick up the springs at ateb tomorrow somtime. and mull it over.

:cheers:
 
It's good that you're happy with the truck and I'm even leanding towards the FOR springs as a great setup.

The one thing that should be mentioned is that you did NOT have a properly setup truck with the OME 5 Comp springs and you where not using them in the proper aplication. This thread is not a fair assesment of OME vs. FOR.
 
Bear- you are correct. However it would have cost more to bring my vehicle CLOSER to a proper setup by going piecemeal than taking advantage of Frankies R&D. Unlike some on this board, I can't afford to buy several setups searching for my ideal. Did you note that I daily drive almost 500 mi per week as well? A 5"+ lift is not (in my opinion) suitable for that kind of urban road warrior mileage. It is too high to lift my tool box, for one thing. I also like to drink coffee in my truck- not wear it. An 80, factory, has a smooth ride and safe predictable handling. I have driven the 4" and 6" kits offered by (courteously I will not mention names) and they didn't meet my standard of ride/handling quality vs. ability. They are too skewed towards height or off road or looks, whatever. Again- I said only that I was dissatisfied with my setup. I am not s***ting on any other manufacturer. This isn't my first LC or modified 4X4 either... Anyway we all know that if I go any further someone will chime in with a hyper agressive post about how his F350 powerstroke will pull my Duramax to hell and back! (lol!)
 
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Ive had the benefit of driving both set ups and agree that the FOR lift has much better ride quality - if thats what youre looking for. I was a little suprised when I first drove one as I never thought a lift could give an almost stock type ride. It gave me a little feel of a bit more side to side sway over off camber situations whereas Im used to more of a firmer feel. Personally, It doesnt matter enough to me to justify swapping lifts.

BTW - I caught your comment "When I ride with my female command unit" :lol::lol: Hilarious!
 
Nope, you were spot on. I should have been more specific in my OP, Thx. Bear!
 
I didn't think of it until his truck was in the shop. Sonny, you and Graham should have swapped rides at the last meeting to get the a feel for how his rides, and he could have gave his comparsion on how your suspension feels to his. It probably would save you the time of switching over, and finding out if you like it or not.

I think the caster correction bushings help a bit, I don't know what my truck would feel like without them, with the soft 6" springs. I probably have the same unstable steering feel, as Graham had before the swap. I kind of gotten use to it, until I get cut off, and have to make a manuver, while trying to slow down (not fun). I'm hoping the MAF 3" drop brackets help even more with the steering. The Rancho 9000rs shocks are great, I definitely feel the difference on the street and off road. I'm kind of wondering if putting adjustable air bags into the coils to help stiffen them a bit more? To see if they help with manuvering on the street, without sacrificing the off road feel.
 
true that lance...i was meaning to go for a quickie with graham...ah well.

i just picked up the susp from ateb today. also measured my hub to flare, and im right around 23.5 front, 24" rear". you sure your #s were at 24.5 all the way around graham? seems odd that my heavy + 1" front spacer lift thats supposed to only be 2.5~3" lift would give only 1" less hub-flare measurement than your setup which looks to be significantly taller than mine..anyway..

lets see some after pics! i can only imagine how creamy the ride is on the F.O.R setup. id imagine only slightly firmer than stock feel. whens the shakedown run?
 
24.5 front 25 rear. I think the fzj is lighter on the front than the HDJ. Sorry guys I cant find the camera. With the OME stuff when you turn a bit too sharp and drop the inside rear tire off the curb there was a jarring bang, with FOR there is a gentle, muted bump. I think that is irrespective of what other setup is done. Yep- the ride is pretty nice!
 
Hope your camera is found; would also love to see pics.
 
Here are some
1) before
2) after
3 FOR flex
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The second shows how stiff the OME was!
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Time for some 37's on that bad boy :grinpimp:
 
sailor said:
One step at a time Nay!
Click to expand...

The second pic above showing OME picking up a tire on a slight undulation is shocking. You really must be loving life now.
 
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