Old Man Emu 80 Series Competition Series Coil Springs (1 Viewer)

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Kurt at cruiseroutfitter has had them for a while.
 
They are on the ROTW 95Eighty's truck ...
 
couple questions
-are the 3" competition coils stiffer than the OME heavy coils?
-would the 4" comp coils be a replacement for J springs or are they J springs?
 
I heard these are more for dedicated trail rigs FWIW...
 
FirstToy said:
couple questions
-are the 3" competition coils stiffer than the OME heavy coils?
-would the 4" comp coils be a replacement for J springs or are they J springs?
Click to expand...


I called man-a-fre and here's the response i got from them.

These are definitely a heavier spring rate than the "J" or "heavy version.
No they are not "J" springs and they are not replacing the "J"s. I'll have the actual spring rates shortly for the competition coils. Standard version rates for heavies are 850(J) 220 lbs linear, and 863(J) 250 lbs linear.
The wire on a 863J is .7585" thick
The wire on a 422 is .7905" thick
 
snakesource said:
... I'll have the actual spring rates shortly for the competition coils...
Click to expand...

Or you could just read the info on Kurt's site linked above? The comp springs are 280-300 lb/in.
 
I did a search and found out that I have been running them since last fall.
 
thanks for the links

looks like they have a much higher spring rate 52.5 (300)compared to 38.5(220) (850, 850J)

altho the rear springs seem to be pretty close to the 863/863J (280 vs 250)
 
They sound good for heavy rigs that want to maintain a 4" lift.
 
I have them and been running them for a few months now.The ride is not bad but it certainly helps to have some extra weight in the back to improve it. Get them from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters.Great service!
 
FirstToy said:
thanks for the links

looks like they have a much higher spring rate 52.5 (300)compared to 38.5(220) (850, 850J)

altho the rear springs seem to be pretty close to the 863/863J (280 vs 250)
Click to expand...

Before getting too excited, I think the word "Competition" may be something to explore. A few years back, OME was having problems, at least in the Jeep world, of springs that rode wonderfully onroad but didn't hold up to the stress of harcore rock crawling very well (we call this "leaning" or "settling" here). So they came out with a heavier duty setup and called them "Expedition", which compromised that nice soft road feel while commanding a premium for better offroad durability.

"Competition" sounds to me like a replacement name for "Expedition". Which is fine, but once you get away from an OME system where you just bolt it all on and it was designed to work as a kit I've never been able to find the justification in buying OME springs (or shocks) as other companies can do better at that price point because of the reduction in middle men and a true focus on rock crawling suspension development and testing.

All of which is to say I'd buy Slee's 4" or 6" springs and other necessary parts before buying a very high spring rate OME "Competition" spring unless I had the specific need of the severe load carrying capacity at a taller lift height.
 
Nay said:
..."Competition" sounds to me like a replacement name for "Expedition". Which is fine, but once you get away from an OME system where you just bolt it all on and it was designed to work as a kit I've never been able to find the justification in buying OME springs (or shocks) as other companies can do better at that price point because of the reduction in middle men and a true focus on rock crawling suspension development and testing.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, interesting approach. I don't think OME will argue the fact that their suspensions are not developed with "rock crawling" in mind, that being said I don't think the 80 was developed with that in mind either ;). I'de argue that others can do better at that "price point" after all there is a reason that OME has been around so many years and continues to grow, expand and innovate... and its not due to biases dealers ;) They have a legitimatly great product that satisfies many, many customers. We've been selling OME products for 10+ years now... I can guarantee we'll be selling their stuff in another 10 years too :cool:

Nay said:
..."All of which is to say I'd buy Slee's 4" or 6" springs and other necessary parts before buying a very high spring rate OME "Competition" spring unless I had the specific need of the severe load carrying capacity at a taller lift height.
Click to expand...

Your definition of "severe load" might be different than mine. I've found that even midly equipped 80's can benefit from the increased spring rate of the OME Comp coils... Racerdave can be your prime example.... As I mentioned before, they are not a "rockcrawling" suspension company... then again radius arms, track bars and short links don't come to mind when I think of a rock-crawler either.

I would love to be able to compare them to a Slee 4" or 6", or the FOR springs, but I've never seen either of them publish their spring specs to date. Please enlighten me if you know specs on either so we can actually use some quantitative numbers to discuss this qualitative subject ;)
 
Oh and lastly... the best thing about 80 Series, is their ability to be built in a modular fashion. In my experience there isn't a "one size fits all" approach to any vehicle, especially an 80 that has so many different outfitting configurations. I've set up guys with front 4" comps & rear heavies, front J's & rear 3" comps, front J's & rear heavies, etc, etc, etc, etc... The options are endless when you have literally 7 front spring options & 8 rear spring options... just front Old Man Emu, combo those with the other manufactures out there and you have a whole lot of tuning you can do to your suspension. Some guys have no front bumper, some have a rear only, some have a freezer, roof rack, you get my drift ;)

The best answer... is there is no right answer ;) Different strokes for different folks ;)

PS, I just rang FOR about their spring rate, the nice gentleman I spoke with didn't know so I'de still love to know if anyone out there does.
 
cruiseroutfit said:
Hmmm, interesting approach. I don't think OME will argue the fact that their suspensions are not developed with "rock crawling" in mind, that being said I don't think the 80 was developed with that in mind either ;). I'de argue that others can do better at that "price point" after all there is a reason that OME has been around so many years and continues to grow, expand and innovate... and its not due to biases dealers ;) They have a legitimatly great product that satisfies many, many customers. We've been selling OME products for 10+ years now... I can guarantee we'll be selling their stuff in another 10 years too :cool:

Your definition of "severe load" might be different than mine. I've found that even midly equipped 80's can benefit from the increased spring rate of the OME Comp coils... Racerdave can be your prime example.... As I mentioned before, they are not a "rockcrawling" suspension company... then again radius arms, track bars and short links don't come to mind when I think of a rock-crawler either.

I would love to be able to compare them to a Slee 4" or 6", or the FOR springs, but I've never seen either of them publish their spring specs to date. Please enlighten me if you know specs on either so we can actually use some quantitative numbers to discuss this qualitative subject ;)
Click to expand...

I don't disagree at all - OME goes for the heart of the market and by and large they do a very good job of it across a wide range of vehicles. But what they do well is kits that stay within stock geometry and provide moderate lift and an upgraded suspension. The minute I have to address all of the geometry issues of a taller lift, I am doing one of two things: a) buying a kit where the company has worked all of that out, or b) prototyping my own suspension.

What shocks do you recommend for the 5" competition coils? How about the 3" competition coils? Or J coils? If it is the same shock, do you think that is optimal given the huge variance in spring rate and significant up/down travel differences in lift height? The idea of L shocks = one size fits all simply disconnects the concept of dampening requirements from the springs themselves, not to mention the differences in suspension travel and lack of optimizing tire size by increasing lift without changing your shocks.

OME hasn't given us anything to create a "competition" suspension other than these so called "competition" coils to use with the same old shocks on a whole bunch of different lifts. Yawn.
 
Nay said:
...What shocks do you recommend for the 5" competition coils? How about the 3" competition coils? Or J coils? If it is the same shock, do you think that is optimal given the huge variance in spring rate and significant up/down travel differences in lift height? The idea of L shocks = one size fits all simply disconnects the concept of dampening requirements from the springs themselves, not to mention the differences in suspension travel and lack of optimizing tire size by increasing lift without changing your shocks.

OME hasn't given us anything to create a "competition" suspension other than these so called "competition" coils to use with the same old shocks on a whole bunch of different lifts. Yawn.
Click to expand...

I've never recommended a single shock for every application, as the relationship between spring rate and the dampening coeff. is all relative to the weight of the vehicle its installed on, no two ways about it. Now I'm sure you set up a free body model to determine the critical dampening coefficient needed for each vehicle, I'll be honest, I don't :p, rather I rely on systems that have worked in the past to determine the best fit for each setup. The truth of the matter is there are great components available from different vendors that when used in combination can be one of the best solutions.

You can call them "so-called" and degrade them as much as you want... doesn't bother me... but I would love to at least know some facts (aka specs) that back up the fact that they are no better than coils already on the market. From my point of view they have been an improvement for many already... some that were currently using coils other than OME too ;)
 
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