OME / ARB 861& 862 setup....

[baselfish]

howdees all...

just finished with my ome / arb 861 & 862 springs replacement.

for the uninitiated - these are the oem replacements - yielding a reported ~.75 lift
(no castor correction needed)

am running these with toyota shocks and the OME SD24 steering damper

#1. ride comfort and handling is indeed markedly improved.
these springs are much much beefier that stock - and the ride and cornering is much better.
#2. installation was at most a job - having super tall / heavy jack stands to thusly support your LC via the frame rails was helpful - as you will have to max out you jack (~20") to gain full droop
(and you will need to remove your tires). no special tools are needed - 17 mm, 14mm, 12mm sockets
should cover shoxs, sway bars, and brake line brackets - borrowing another jack from your neighbor too will be helpful - as you balance out support of your axle. some videos show you taking out upper track bar bolts - i did not need to do such - absolutely no need for spring compressors .... again the biggest issue will be attaining "full droop" in your home garage - again tis likley you will need to max out your jack and max out your jack stand - mine are ancient steel beasts i inherited (likely 15+ tons) - would indeed highly recommend such (12 tons) - if you are going to support the LC by the frame rails. asdie from the saftey factor - you will need the height. fronts and back springs are equal to work on - neither more difficult.

heres the video for good reference -

#3. you will likely get springs noted as "A" and "B" - there is much debate on what goes where -
as OME is an aussie company - "A" can be for the drivers side - but down under - the are LHD cars
so is then in the USA "A" on our driver side (RHD) or the passenger (LHD) side ???

in the end - was able to find a obscure blog / technical note from ARB - the recommended setup is
A / B up front and B / A in the rear - at "A" spring is apparently noted to be a bit taller and doing the reverse setup front to back - counterbalances the springs.

Now ARB also provides a big caveat - in that this is there best suggestion - and that after 6 months one should check the settling and height of you LC and make adjustments from there - either by moving springs about or adding in there isoloater / spacer. I did not add the isolater and so far my rig appears to be balanced - with the height of the top of my rim to the bottom of the fender well / flare being 30 mm in the front and 31.5 mm in the rear.

in summary - excellent quality - noticeable improvement in ride and handling - cost is cost -
OME / ARB products are top line so $170 / $340 is what you are going pay - keep in mind they are heavy as fux - thus why i went through 4wheel parts - free shipping to the local store.
am indeed very pleased and can check another off the checklist of the forever LC rebuild / repair / replace....

anyone in the bay area (especially south bay) who needs / wants help with this - feel free to hit me up.

cheers all....235k and rolling....


bf

 

[sdouglassjr]

My kit should be here Tuesday, pretty excited to get it on the truck and see the changes. I'm going with the OME shocks instead of the OE shocks. Thanks for that video link as well.

 

[popstar]

This is my experience with thise springs: I got about 2.5 inches of lift per side from the stock setup. My stock springs were extremely saggy. Before the swap, I had about 1 inch from the axle to the bump stops. Now I have about 3.5. I also used ARB 25mm spring isolators on all 4 corners. My truck did not have them when I got it, and not only would I bottom out on anything but the most gentle speed bumps, but I would also hear a metallic clanging sound from the lack of isolators in the front. If you're going for a stockish look and for anything except hardcore wheeling, I feel these springs are the perfect balance of lift, performance, and comfort. My truck is also stock with no aftermarket bumpers or sliders/armor. In the future, when I will get bumpers and armor, I will probably get stiffer springs.
Also, upgraded shocks may benefit your ride quality and flat cornering. I got the bilstein yellows (4600 series if I recall) but I feel that an even firmer shock (like the silver bilstein 5100 series) would offer me more articulation, and a firmer ride. It all depends what you prefer and what you desire from your truck.

 

[popstar]

This is my experience with thise springs: I got about 2.5 inches of lift per side from the stock setup. My stock springs were extremely saggy. Before the swap, I had about 1 inch from the axle to the bump stops. Now I have about 3.5. I also used ARB 25mm spring isolators on all 4 corners. My truck did not have them when I got it, and not only would I bottom out on anything but the most gentle speed bumps, but I would also hear a metallic clanging sound from the lack of isolators in the front. If you're going for a stockish look and for anything except hardcore wheeling, I feel these springs are the perfect balance of lift, performance, and comfort. My truck is also stock with no aftermarket bumpers or sliders/armor. In the future, when I will get bumpers and armor, I will probably get stiffer springs.
Also, upgraded shocks may benefit your ride quality and flat cornering. I got the bilstein yellows (4600 series if I recall) but I feel that an even firmer shock (like the silver bilstein 5100 series) would offer me more articulation, and a firmer ride. It all depends what you prefer and what you desire from your truck.

EDIT:
10mm OME Spring isolator*

 

[ppc]

#3. you will likely get springs noted as "A" and "B" - there is much debate on what goes where -
as OME is an aussie company - "A" can be for the drivers side - but down under - the are LHD cars
so is then in the USA "A" on our driver side (RHD) or the passenger (LHD) side ???

I think you got the terminology Bass Ackwards. US is LHD, down under is RHD. It is all from the perspective of seating in the driver's seat and looking forward.

 

[vegasfj40]

This is my experience with thise springs: I got about 2.5 inches of lift per side from the stock setup. My stock springs were extremely saggy. Before the swap, I had about 1 inch from the axle to the bump stops. Now I have about 3.5. I also used ARB 25mm spring isolators on all 4 corners. My truck did not have them when I got it, and not only would I bottom out on anything but the most gentle speed bumps, but I would also hear a metallic clanging sound from the lack of isolators in the front. If you're going for a stockish look and for anything except hardcore wheeling, I feel these springs are the perfect balance of lift, performance, and comfort. My truck is also stock with no aftermarket bumpers or sliders/armor. In the future, when I will get bumpers and armor, I will probably get stiffer springs.
Also, upgraded shocks may benefit your ride quality and flat cornering. I got the bilstein yellows (4600 series if I recall) but I feel that an even firmer shock (like the silver bilstein 5100 series) would offer me more articulation, and a firmer ride. It all depends what you prefer and what you desire from your truck.

I have a 95 with saggy springs and I was planning on doing the same set up that you have done. Do you have any pics of your truck?

 

[riffman12]

Let's see some pics baselfish! I'm in the bay area and considering the same setup.

When i go on a trip I have a roof rack, 170lb roof tent, full size 33" spare underneath + all my gear and the thing rides so low in the back.

I'm just wondering if the same spring setup will hold that weight without squatting as much + a possible future arb front bumper

 

[kevsta]

Let's see some pics baselfish! I'm in the bay area and considering the same setup.

When i go on a trip I have a roof rack, 170lb roof tent, full size 33" spare underneath + all my gear and the thing rides so low in the back.

I'm just wondering if the same spring setup will hold that weight without squatting as much + a possible future arb front bumper

they will cope with that weight fine I would think. here's my before and afters, 861/2 with 15mm spacers rear and 20mm front, and about 200kg onboard permanently, with rack and drawers / tools.

before

after

adding another 90kgs of dogs into the rear doesnt really sag the OMEs, although as the rears are only mediums, another 300kgs of floor tiles in the back did overpower and sag her a couple of weeks back.

fully agree on ride and handling though, whole new world from the old tired OEM springs. Im also on OEM shocks currently but have some Pedders 0-2" heavy duty waiting to go on next time I get round to getting her up in the air..

 

[greentruck]

Let's see some pics baselfish! I'm in the bay area and considering the same setup.

When i go on a trip I have a roof rack, 170lb roof tent, full size 33" spare underneath + all my gear and the thing rides so low in the back.

I'm just wondering if the same spring setup will hold that weight without squatting as much + a possible future arb front bumper

The sweet, flexible set-up is to add air bags in the rear for supplementary lift. That way you have the capacity when needed, but can dial it back when it's not. Coils are pretty sensitive to additional weight, leading to a wider variation in ride height when loaded past the design parameters. You want to be able to get the ride height adjusted with additional weight to also help driveline angles stay optimal. Plus a coil rated to carry the extra weight loaded will mean a pretty rough ride when it's unloaded.

This is our rig, fully loaded, with the OME 861/862 combo. While it looks pretty level, it's actually squatting just a bit. Don't have air bags here (yet), but this is where you'd add a little air to get some more downward travel, which is also helpful on the trail

 

[Cass007]

I am thinking the shop that installed my setup went A/B - A/B with A being used on the pass side. My truck looks slightly leaned to the drivers side when sitting flat ... ugh

 

[vegasfj40]

Just called my local 4 wheel parts store and they told me the 2862s are on backorder. They wont have them available for 2 months.

 

[popstar]

Just called my local 4 wheel parts store and they told me the 2862s are on backorder. They wont have them available for 2 months.

I got my springs and spacers from Amazon. They arrived within a week or so.