Why did I get 4" of lift from OME medium springs?

Finishned my first lift yesterday, only was supposed to be a 2" lift. Everything went too easy of course and now my rear end is sitting 4" higher than stock.

It mesures 21" from the center of the hub to the bottom of the fender, and just under 21" with 400lbs of crap in the back.

How long should these take to settle? Looks semi-stupid with my 235's, and I know I'll be getting crazy vibes from it.

If they are new springs give them a month or two and a few wheeling trips to settle.

put more weight in the back

If it was like mine the original springs had sagged down 2 inches from stock height. Mine sat low in the back when I bought it. The springs should add about 2 inches from where the original springs were when new. Therefore my 4 inch lift added more than four inches to the back.

How does it sit? Is it a lot higher in back or just a little more than the front?

It's a lot higher in the back, it's 4" over STOCK specs. I was sagged an inch, then the new spring got me back that inch plus four more.

I'm just hoping the vibes wont be too bad so I can drive it around, and I forgot to add I have a 70lb bumber on the back in addition to the weight.

measure form the top of the axle tube, to the bottom of the uni-rail just forward of the bumpstop. 6" is stock

Are your shackles popped in?

I am running these leafs also and they gave me a lot more lift than expected. I was looking for around the 4" mark and the rear was really high after install. I had a RE 1 1/4" shackle installed and ended up getting a 3/4" shackle to replace it. It sits almost flat now.

Took it for a test drive. Rides alright, not as good as I had hoped. It seems to really take care of bad bumps and rough roads though. I think the rear is really stiff.

Anyways, took all the weight out and its back up to 4". I'll measure the axle to the frame tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's a good 4" of lift. Surprisingly there are very little vibes. Shackle is find BTW, everything moves.

I'm going to look over my invoice from quadratec and give them another call. It's going to be a PITA to remove these, ship them, and then wait for new ones if I need to send them back as it's my DD. I don't think them settling 1.5" will happen within the next decade.

We shall see.

I installed the OME 3.5" springs 6 months ago. I have observed no sag and 4.5" of lift. I did install a SYE b/c vibes were horrible. I knew about the SYE going into this mod but intially tried it without just to see how bad the vibes were. Didn't "feel" the vibes as much as I "heard" them.
The ride is firm. I bought JKS boomerang shakles to smooth out the back but I'm reluctant to install them b/c the rear will sit even higher that the front.

did you tighten the leaf bolts with the axle in the air? might try loosening them and re torque them.

husker25 said:

I installed the OME 3.5" springs 6 months ago. I have observed no sag and 4.5" of lift. I did install a SYE b/c vibes were horrible. I knew about the SYE going into this mod but intially tried it without just to see how bad the vibes were. Didn't "feel" the vibes as much as I "heard" them.
The ride is firm. I bought JKS boomerang shakles to smooth out the back but I'm reluctant to install them b/c the rear will sit even higher that the front.

Click to expand...

What was the part number/where'd you buy them if you dont mind? I'm wondering if I got sent some 3.5" springs. The part number was CS034ra which is the medium 2" spring, but mistakes can happen. I'm upset I painted the leafs to prevent them from rusting for a few years up here. Will make it odd to warranty them I'm sure.

Yes, they were torqued with everything on the ground.

Well you could always swap to softer springs or remove a leaf to soften/lower the ride?

Just a thought.

Have you call the vendor?

My OME lift rode stiffer than I wanted until I added the front and rear bumpers, skid plates etc. The additional weight made all the difference. My additions are listed in my signature.

I just installed my 3.5" OME Dpg super ultimate. It does sit higher then 3.5 but with what I had its a huge improvement. (my entire suspension was shot bad shocks bushings broken leafs and worn coils. I'm happy with the ride it's stiff but we planned for when I get my bumpers and rock sliders.

To bwinter how do you like the JCR stage3 sliders? How is it getting in and out of the jeep. Mine is my DD. does the rail on it make it more difficult?

I was recommended the JCR stage 2 sliders for my DD. I believe the stage 3's angle up which, for some, make it a bit more of a challenge to enter and exit the truck 6-8 times a day as we do in our DDs. I like my stage 2's very much.

I sorry to say I don't recall the part# on my rear OME 3.5 springs. I will check if there are numbers on the leaf pack. I do remember ordering the medium duty front springs and med. duty rear leafs.

dcampbell98XJ said:

To bwinter how do you like the JCR stage3 sliders? How is it getting in and out of the jeep. Mine is my DD. does the rail on it make it more difficult?

Click to expand...

I like them. They do angle up compared to the stage two style and I thought that would keep them closer to the XJ body. I am about 5' 10" and my leg does rub against them a little when getting in but it does not affect me. I think stage two would be better if someone wanted to use them as steps. My MIL uses them to step into the Jeep.

After getting very frustrated trying to find reliable information on OME leaf springs while researching my own purchase, I feel an obligation to add what info I have for future searchers. It's definitely best to always use part numbers for OME springs, because currently there are no less than three "medium load" leaf springs in the ARB catalog.

I found this list fairly helpful:

OLD MAN EMU-CS034RA (OMEJC1A) 5 leaves in pack, 148lbs/inch s.r. 230mm (9.055") free height= Average lift of ~3"
OLD MAN EMU-CS034RB (OMEJC1B) 5 leaves in pack, 148lbs/inch s.r. 205mm (8.07") free height
OLD MAN EMU-CS035RA (OMEJC2A) 4 + 1 overload, 137/257lbs/in s.r. 235mm (9.25") free height
OLD MAN EMU-CS035RB (OMEJC2B) 4 + 1 overload, 137/257lbs/in s.r. 210mm (8.27") free height
OLD MAN EMU- D22XL (OME Add A Leaf) ~ 1" lift on top of their lift packs

Click to expand...

But unfortunately it's outdated. When I called ARB, the person I spoke with was extremely helpful because he informed me that they were re-introducing a couple leaf spring part numbers that had been discontinued for a few years. Here are the current leaf springs in the catalog:

The "A" or "B" denotes taller or shorter free heights, respectively. The "034" leaves are 5 leaf packs. The "033" leaves are 5 regular + 1 overload leaf packs. The "035" leaves are 4 regular + 1 overload leaf packs. From photos I've seen of CS035RA, the overload leaf is fairly flat, or curved down slightly, which leads many to fear catching them on rocks or branches. The overload leaf on CS033RB is curved upwards and seems to fit quite nicely with the rest of the pack. I can't imagine having much of a problem catching it on things.

Clearly ARB considers a "medium load" to be quite a lot of weight. I saw reports of CS034RA giving anywhere from 3" to 4" of lift. I saw reports of CS035RA giving a similar 3" to 3.5" of lift.

I ended up purchasing CS033RB, which I feel was perfect for my application. I don't do any rock crawling, but I do a lot of camping trips down rough roads with a very heavy load of camping gear. The overload leaf means that I would worry about folding the XJ in half before I'd overload the leaf springs. I also find I love the ride both loaded and unloaded, when paired with Bilstein 5100 shocks.

The CS033RB springs ended up giving me just shy of 4" lift in the back (unloaded), even with a Detours Slimline rear bumper and a 31" spare on the carrier. Clearly more than the 2.75" they list in the catalog. This is after a year or so and several camping trips.

Hopefully someone finds at least some of that helpful. I know I would have. :cheers:

I put on CS034RA's a few months back with brand new oem bushings. This was going on my jeep with my jks extended shackles (I think they're jks) and HDO relocators as well as new shims and ubolts.

After 1 trip out, the 34RA springs are warped to hell. They are sagging bad and causing my axle to wrap pretty good. OME has already send out new warranty springs. After talking to a tech though email somewhat extensively, I've gone with CS035RA springs. Supposedly, the overload spring will prevent any future wrap.

I must say that I'm satisfied thus far with their CS. I'm a little perturbed, however, that I have to pay to have the still new bushings pressed out of the 34ra's and into the 35ra's as well has go through the trouble of installing them.

Well, they've been on for a week now. I just took all of the weight out of the back and they're at 3.5". I'll give it another three weeks and hopefully they come down more.

Shackle angle is great with all of the weight in the back(2.5" lift) and there are no vibes.

Without the weight the shackle is closer to straight and I get vibes.