OME heavy kit question. How to take a leaf out to soften the ride???

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Roberto

Roberto

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Threads
729
Messages
3,000
Location
Always on the Run
So I bought the OME deluxe heavy kit for my BJ42 with grand dreams of packing it down like a mule and traveling the universe which is never going to happen and want to soften the ride and wondering if taking a leaf out of each spring will soften it up since it is my DD? If so, which leaf should I take out of each spring? Any advice is appreciated.

thanks
Rob
 
I removed leaf's from my brand new suspension after trying for a year to break them in and get a soft ride that way with no success. In the end it was fairly easy to remove a leaf so I would have done that from the get go if I had known better. From reading online, the general consensus is to remove the longest leaf that is not tied into your shackle mounts. You can either remove the entire leaf from the truck one at a time, or do what I did, and disassemble each corner leaf while on the truck. This was the easiest approach for me since I didn't have to deal with the shackle bolts or messing with the axle location.

I may actually do this again, for one big reason, and that is that my leafs are already showing rust between each leaf. I recommend that you pick up some of this stuff and layer it between each leaf as you reassemble.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Leaf-Spring-Liner-with-Lip-1-3-4-Inch,2079.html

To be clear, I haven't bought the liner yet, so I'm not sure if the width dimensions are correct for our trucks, so YMMV and do some measurements before you buy.

The longest leaf that isn't tied into your bushings is the leaf directly below your shackle mounted leaf. This means you'll need to remove the ubolts, remove the leaf centering bolt, remove the leaf hold down clamps (if you have them) and then pull all the leafs off that corner until all your left with is the top most leaf, then delete the longest leaf, reassemble that corner (with the delrin liner between each leaf) if you decide on that route, and then do the next corner.

Unfortunately, you won't know how much each leaf effects the ride until you reassemble and drive it for a few days, so it's going to be a trial and error sort of thing. Other folks will say to never do this and just buy the correct softer leaf applications (deleting a leaf causes more stress on the each leaf that is left over then it was originally designed for and you may end up cracking a leaf that is left over from not having the correct amount of leaves), but the way I figured, this is a cheap (free) option to try before you shell out more money and I don't hardcore rock climb my rig so I felt it was worth the risk.
 
Thank you. I believe there are more leafs in the OME heavy kit than my orignal leafs. I wanna say my originals were 6 leafs per corner?

Rob
 
If I remember correctly, I removed the 3rd and 4th leaf (counting from the longest leaf that attaches to the shackles) on my OME heavies on the rear. Made a good difference in the ride ( haven't driven it much yet but the test ride was good)
 
The amount of leaves isn't as important as the tensile strength of each leaf. I think I removed the 2-4 leaf, and had 7 on my ironman 4 inch lift to start with. If I did it again or redo it, I may just add those back in and remove the top most leaf under the shackle and see how much of a difference I get. You'll most likely have to trial and error it, but what I read on mud is that the leaves closest to the shackle cause the most tension, so removing the leaf closest to the frame will give you the most bang for your buck on softening up the ride.
 
I called ARB and asked the same question. He told me to remove the leave 2nd from the bottom which is a short leaf on my heavy kit.

Day and night difference. The shorter the leaf the stiffer the leaf is.

In my opinion I don't think most people should ever buy heavy. Way over kill and compromises the ride even when loaded down.
 
Reply from ARB Tech this morning!

"Yes you are correct. The heavy springs are the lights with an overload. You will want to remove the 3rd or 4th from the main leaf on the front; you will see they are the same length. On the rear you will want to remove the 3rd leaf down.


Hope this helps.
 
Bringing this thread back from the dead...

I bought the OME rear heavy springs with plans on removing a leaf, as these threads suggested.

This is the most informative thread I found, but here it says one ARB tech recommended removing the "3rd leaf down" (which I read as 3rd from the top). And another tech said "2nd from the bottom".

3rd down would be a full length leaf, and 2nd up would be a short leaf.

My rig has a hard top and is usually lightly loaded, but occasionally I'll have a RTT and/or pull a little trailer and needs to be firmed up quite a bit. Too much sway!

Anyone have some real-world experience removing leaves from these spring packs, and can offer a suggestion?

Thanks!

OME heavy.webp
 
I removed the 3rd down (long leaf) on my OME heavy's. I like the way it rides now. Not sure what shackles you will be using but if you're using the ones that came with the OME kit (stock length) I would recommend going to a 2" longer than stock shackle. Makes the OME heavy's ride better.
 
Great! Thanks for the answer. I've already got extended shackles so should be good to go.

How did your pinion angle end up? Right now I've got shims, but might be able to delete those? Would be nice to get it right on the first try.
 
My pinion was good when I first set it up. I did notice however that after the springs settled I had to re-adjust. With my extended drive train (GM 65.T diesel, 4L80e, 203, splitcase) I ended with a 6º shim. I'm working on replacing my semi-float axle with a full float from a 78 FJ45 pickup and have to redo the spring perches due to rust, so I'm planning on welding the new ones at the right angle and get rid of the shims.
 
That really help, thank you.
I'll eyeball the pinion angle before I torque everything down. Might save me some work.
:beer:
 
Try to get your pinion correct. A few degrees can make a difference in the vibration you're going to feel. Once I got mine right again, it made a world of difference. Made my 40 more enjoyable to drive.
 
Thanks for the info guys.

Real happy with these OME rear springs. Bought the OME heavy rear springs and took out a leaf, third down from the top. I ended up using a 6deg shim to get the U-joints lined up just right. I used my existing extended shackles, maybe 2" longer than stock, and it doesn't look like I'll need to trade them for anti-inversion shackles.

I haven't driven it far, but it seems like it gives a nice progressive spring rate. Nice and smooth cruising, but you can feel it firm as the rig leans around corners, which is what I wanted. Also, I expect the load capacity to be much improved.

Happy camper...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom