I finally got around to installing the OME 861/862 springs and 10mm spacers I gave myself for Christmas. The install was super straight forward... used the Slee instructions and did the whole thing on 3ton jack stands in my driveway in about 3 hours. I had a couple of observations and lessons from the process though.
For starters, it would be super helpful if your craftsman floor jack doesn't fail during the first spring install. Garbage. Second, I ended up not disconnecting the front sway bar. I had plenty of axle droop to get the spring out, so no big deal. I did notice the sway bar bushings were pretty distorted when the axle was at full droop, so I'd probably disconnect it next time just to save the poor ancient bushings. The rear springs were a little more problematic. It's crucial you have tall enough jack stands back there. I didn't and ended up using some pretty unsafe methods to get it done. The worst was trying to find a stable place to put the bottle jack between the axle and frame, especially on the passenger side. For me, the jack was pressing up on a rubber bump stop, which squirmed a ton and ended up spitting the jack out at me, no less than 15 seconds after I shoehorned the new ome spring into place. The cruiser slammed down on the jack stand (which wasn't tall enough so the frame had lifted off of it when i was separating axle from frame) and trapped the spring in place before I had a chance to position it correctly. It's close enough though. Learn from my mistakes please!
The springs themselves are awesome! The ride is not harsh at all. It's actually smoother than before, unlike some others who have stated the heavys up front are too harsh without extra weight (which I don't have, btw). No new vibes or squirrely castor issues on the highway.
I ended up netting about 1.5" all around. Before I was between 19.5" and 20", after I'm at 21.5" everywhere but rear diver's side, where I have just over 21". Keep in mind I threw the 10mm spacers in there. It looks perfect to me, and I plan to get 265s in the near future.
One more thing, I ended up going with Mud advice and put the B spring on the rear passenger side. This conflicts with the Slee advice which says to put B springs on driver's side front and rear. I'm sitting almost perfectly level, so no complaints here.
Pics attached proving it happened. The one on the side of the road is before, other two are after.
For starters, it would be super helpful if your craftsman floor jack doesn't fail during the first spring install. Garbage. Second, I ended up not disconnecting the front sway bar. I had plenty of axle droop to get the spring out, so no big deal. I did notice the sway bar bushings were pretty distorted when the axle was at full droop, so I'd probably disconnect it next time just to save the poor ancient bushings. The rear springs were a little more problematic. It's crucial you have tall enough jack stands back there. I didn't and ended up using some pretty unsafe methods to get it done. The worst was trying to find a stable place to put the bottle jack between the axle and frame, especially on the passenger side. For me, the jack was pressing up on a rubber bump stop, which squirmed a ton and ended up spitting the jack out at me, no less than 15 seconds after I shoehorned the new ome spring into place. The cruiser slammed down on the jack stand (which wasn't tall enough so the frame had lifted off of it when i was separating axle from frame) and trapped the spring in place before I had a chance to position it correctly. It's close enough though. Learn from my mistakes please!
The springs themselves are awesome! The ride is not harsh at all. It's actually smoother than before, unlike some others who have stated the heavys up front are too harsh without extra weight (which I don't have, btw). No new vibes or squirrely castor issues on the highway.
I ended up netting about 1.5" all around. Before I was between 19.5" and 20", after I'm at 21.5" everywhere but rear diver's side, where I have just over 21". Keep in mind I threw the 10mm spacers in there. It looks perfect to me, and I plan to get 265s in the near future.
One more thing, I ended up going with Mud advice and put the B spring on the rear passenger side. This conflicts with the Slee advice which says to put B springs on driver's side front and rear. I'm sitting almost perfectly level, so no complaints here.
Pics attached proving it happened. The one on the side of the road is before, other two are after.
