The Ala Carte Lift - TJM Coils, MAF Spacers, Doetsch Shocks, Slee Caster Bushings (1 Viewer)

[Roldan]

I've been deliberating on a lift for some time but was ready to pull the trigger after seeing a few posts on the TJM coils. The 30mm MAF spacers have been on the truck for some time so I left them on the truck to get around 3" of lift. It was also mentioned in a few posts that OME L's are in some opinions ideal for a standard 2-2.5" lift so I knew I did not want the TJM shocks due to the extra 30mm of the spacers. I went with Doetsch 8350SS for the front and 8350 in the rear because they were highly recommended by others on mud and they are inexpensive enough where I can experiment with different lengths if need be. These are 15.50" closed and 26.50" open.

I bought the Slee caster bushings because they are advertised as "hi-flex" online though the person I spoke to there said that wasn't necessarily the case. I still bought them, as I was curious and they offer roughly the same amount of correction as the OME bushings. I received four bushings but was expecting six since there are separate "frame side" and "axle side" kits listed online. I only needed the four that I received so it's not a big deal, just a bit confusing.

There are still a few things yet to be addressed. I have not yet selected a steering stabilizer, need to space the front sway bar, and probably need to get an extended rear brake line in case the rear suspension reached full droop. I'm still undecided on which steering stabilizer to buy or if it is even necessary to change it. For reference, total cost of the springs, shocks, and bushings including freight was $730.

The front required a spring compressor.

Left OME 850/860, Right TJM

Right OME 850/860, Left TJM

Left OME 850/860, Right TJM

Both have the MAF 30mm spacer. My Cruiser is about .5" to 7/8" lower than the OME 850/860. Mine is also a bit heavier in the front due to the second battery.

Out in the snow at Evans Creek.

 

[Cruisin']

Soooooo... How's the ride? Particularly compared to the OME 850/860 setup on the other rig in the pics. I assume you have driven or ridden in both so you can give some feedback as to performance both on and off road. I'm running that OME setup and am very happy with the ride, but would love to hear how your Ala Carte setup is working for you!

 

[Roldan]

The ride is at least as good as it was with the stock components on roads. A stock ride was my goal so I'm happy with it. I haven't ridden much in the OME Cruiser as both lifts are fairly recent and the owner is out of town often so I can't really compare them. Hopefully we'll be able to get both rigs out on the trails before they close for the winter in mid-December. I did take mine out to the trails last weekend and it did seem to handle rough surfaces better than before the lift.

 

[Roldan]

So, it appears the right rear shock has blown. Based on the pictures below should I adjust the lengths at all when ordering a replacement? The right rear is off the ground and I think the left rear is rubbing slightly.

8368 is the next size up at 29.50 open 17.0 closed versus the 26.50 open 15.50 closed of the current 8350.

 

[Ebag333]

If you run a 17" compressed length shock, you'll either need to drop bump stops (costs up travel) or change the shock mounts to give more room. Part of it depends on the tire size you run, but with 35" tires most will have about 16" of room, making a 15.5" shock about perfect.

I wouldn't run the 17" shock myself unless you got the time to burn fabbing new shock mounts. The other issue you'll have is with no body lift there's no a ton of room to raise the rear shock mounts up, you might squeeze an inch out of it but even with that you might end up needing to lower the bump stops a bit.

Since the 15.5" shock gives you 11" of travel, and the 17" shock only gives 12.5" of travel, you're doing quite a bit of work for only 1.5" more travel. If I was going to go through those lengths (and I did), I'd fit a 14" travel shock on the rear.

 

[Roldan]

Thanks, that helps a lot, I'll be sticking with the 8350. Currently running 285s but am looking to go to 35s in the near future.

 

[LandCrawler]

so less than a month and one of these shocks had blown??