petethedog

$800 will have to do it for the time being. When I priced the OME on Northridge it went to about 1300 with the trackbars, control arms, links, brake lines... etc. I'd like to do it right the first time but ouch, thats 500 above what I had planned.

I probably wont go over 33s for a while... gotta have some road manners and the wife needs to be able to get in and out without dropping a dog or a kid.

I've always heard good things about OME.

nthinuf

I have the OME HD also, it's a great lift. But from this statement -

my opinion would be that you bypass a coil lift for now and just toss on a good leveling kit or 2" BB. You can run 33"s on these JK's with no lift, so 2" would be a good compromise lift height until you are ready to move up to a bigger lift (with all the other extra components) and 35's.

jeepmedic

I have 33's on my OME and it looks and rides fine. If you read the write up on Project JK that WOL wrote up, you will notice that control arms and brake line extensions, and even trac bars are not a necessity. ARB/OME also does not "encourage" these add ons in the install instructions.

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-...ation-write-up

nthinuf

Can't comment on how you use your Jeep, but for me, brake lines, bumpstops and control arms were a necessity.

The HD coils give 3-4" of lift, depending on vehicle weight, right? How low is the caster with that much lift height? To me, the flightyness, bump steer, and white-knuckled fun trying to keep it in my lane when I had to brake hard on uneven roads were definitely not what I would consider to be acceptable handling. And I would much rather tell someone what he may run into, and have him not need it, than talk him into a lift with no cautions whatsoever.

I've also got pics in my album over there showing the brake line bracket that was ripped off the frame, the coils that are fully stacked when flexed because there is no extended bumpstop in the kit, and the fender that could easily be ripped off from the tire contacting it. I can't comment on the 'necessity' of trackbars, as I installed them with the lift, but it sure would have been nice to have a heads-up on the rest of it before I installed.

As far as ARB not encouraging any add-ons - Did you realize that they sell a trackbar relo bracket for the this kit?
I also have an email from ARB's senior design engineer in Austrailia suggesting that I should, in fact, run extended bumpstops with the kit. He based that advice off of the pic of the stacked coil in my gallery.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, I would rather let people know what issues they may run into, than tell them they will need nothing else and have them find out the hard way, as I did...

river2c

I started off with a TF BB with new longer shocks and ran 33" tires which worked great. The TF BB comes with extended brake line brackets, extended bump stops, longer rear links, and a rear track bar bracket. When I decided to move up to 35" tires, I only had to purchase the OME springs and a front track bar. Later I added adjustable lower front control arms. The point is you can build in stages and not have to get rid of any lift components.

bigbellyfoo

Have a look in the sponsor section. Lots of great deals going on right now on lift kits. I got a quote of $730 shipped for a TF 2.5 coil w/ shocks AND a monster adj front track bar. Sweet!

petethedog

Are a lot of folks trashing the stock control arms when throwing on a OME 3 inch?

I do work my rig pretty hard but I try to be as careful as possible. The main reason I want to move to a coil lift instead of the BB is that 300 lb dirtbike on the back tends to make that rear end sag, HD coils are in order. I'll be on a 4 week trip out west with that bike on the back and while wheeling with a bike on the back aint the best, for me it's all about getting back into the places I want to set up camp...

petethedog

Also, thanks for replies... much needed advice.

nthinuf

It's not that we are trashing them, it's that the caster takes a nose dive after the lift, causing flighty handling/bumpsteer/etc. The stock control arms are not adjustable, so there is no way to correct the low caster without adding something. (I'll suggest again that you browse through the faq's. This section, in particular, in the suspension area. "Q: What is Caster? How much do I need?")

Ways to adjust caster:
-Cam Bolts - least expensive, but do a search and read through tons of feedback. (they have issues with slipping offfroad, and you will have to get the holes for them welded back up if you decide to go to adjustables in the future)
-New 'Fixed' Arms - Longer lowers and shorter uppers. Designed for a specific lift at a specific height.
-New Adjustable Arms - the preferred method. A single set of front adj's will hook you up. (upper or lower is your choice. Uppers are less expensive, lowers have a larger range of adjustability)

As mentioned a few times in other posts, get the lift and decide for yourself if you need to correct the caster...

petethedog

Ended up purchasing the TeraFlex 2.5 coil with shocks and an adjustable track bar and have plans for uppers and lower control arms.
quick question:
do i need spacers? I have a 08 unlimted rubi with stock 32s'
http://www.teraflex.biz/products/jk-...ters-pair.html