old man emu, what gives???

tighttrailxj · Nov 3, 2003

I am installing my 5.5" lift and old man emu shocks. I already put the shocks on the rear and am wondering if they were even the correct shocks for the truck. The top mounting ears where not installed, the bottom hole had a sleeve that was the wrong size, and the very top of the shock housing rubs on the underside of the body. Without access to a press, I would not have gotten the top thingamajig installed. It was oval and the bushing was round with shoulders on each end. I have never seen a shock sold without that part already pressed in. What gives?

TOZOVR · Nov 3, 2003

tighttrailxj said:
I am installing my 5.5" lift and old man emu shocks. I already put the shocks on the rear and am wondering if they were even the correct shocks for the truck. The top mounting ears where not installed, the bottom hole had a sleeve that was the wrong size, and the very top of the shock housing rubs on the underside of the body. Without access to a press, I would not have gotten the top thingamajig installed. It was oval and the bushing was round with shoulders on each end. I have never seen a shock sold without that part already pressed in. What gives?

Many companies send the shocks without the pins installed.

What is the number on the shocks?

h.curtis · Nov 3, 2003

tighttrailxj said:
I am installing my 5.5" lift and old man emu shocks. I already put the shocks on the rear and am wondering if they were even the correct shocks for the truck. The top mounting ears where not installed, the bottom hole had a sleeve that was the wrong size, and the very top of the shock housing rubs on the underside of the body. Without access to a press, I would not have gotten the top thingamajig installed. It was oval and the bushing was round with shoulders on each end. I have never seen a shock sold without that part already pressed in. What gives?

Yes, I just went through this. I installed my 5.5 lift and put OME's shocks on. They didn't come with bar-pins and I reused my old ones. This is NOT the way they should come...period. They really are not the correct shock, but are a shock for a ZJ. I have been told I will get the correct bar-pins at some point, but so far I have seen nothing.

Now, if I read your post correctly, you may have gotten the bar-pins and they should press in and have a clip to hold them in place. You are telling me they hit at the top. If that is the case I may no know what that noise is when I go over bumps.

I must say, I am not happy with the OME's shock set up. They ride good, but I prefer the Trailmaster shocks I had before.

Curt

Ron Hyslop · Nov 3, 2003

My OME shocks came with the bar pins and snap rings in a plastic bag in the box with the shocks.

tighttrailxj · Nov 3, 2003

These shocks came with no pins, no bag, no hardware. the number on the boxes fo the rear were N40L. There was no clip to hold in the "bar pin", but the bushing did get larger on each side of the shock housing. This caused the problem when pressing it out. I hope that shoulder keeps the setup centered. Just for s$$$ and giggles, I asked my local parts guy to show me an original replacement shock, and all the hardware was already installed. How can a manufacturer sell this setup w/o the proper way to mount it?????? I also had to press out the metal sleeve in the lower mounting hole, but at least that was easy. I hope these shocks are worth the trouble and money.

h.curtis · Nov 3, 2003

The problem is you have the same shocks I do. They are for a Grand, not an XJ. The reason they use the Grand shocks is because you have the same lift as I do, the RE 5.5. The N40L is the only shock OME makes that can handle that lift correctly as far as travel. I have NO clip on my old bar pins that I took off my old shocks so they are just floating around. I am not happy at all with this and was told I would be sent some bar pins and clips for the shock. That was over a week ago. I will be calling today to see what the deal is. As it is right now if I was going to get the RE 5.5, I wouldn't (so called) upgrade to the OME shocks. I would look into a different shock to use.

Curt

Ronbo · Nov 3, 2003

tighttrailxj said:
These shocks came with no pins, no bag, no hardware. the number on the boxes fo the rear were N40L.

Just for s$$$ and giggles, I asked my local parts guy to show me an original replacement shock, and all the hardware was already installed. How can a manufacturer sell this setup w/o the proper way to mount it??????

Because the N40L as mentioned above, is designed for the ZJ. They don't use the XJ style barpin mount and don't need extra hardware, like the OEM XJ replacement shocks you looked at.

TOZOVR · Nov 3, 2003

h.curtis said:
The problem is you have the same shocks I do. They are for a Grand, not an XJ. The reason they use the Grand shocks is because you have the same lift as I do, the RE 5.5. The N40L is the only shock OME makes that can handle that lift correctly as far as travel. I have NO clip on my old bar pins that I took off my old shocks so they are just floating around. I am not happy at all with this and was told I would be sent some bar pins and clips for the shock. That was over a week ago. I will be calling today to see what the deal is. As it is right now if I was going to get the RE 5.5, I wouldn't (so called) upgrade to the OME shocks. I would look into a different shock to use.

Curt

I'd hesitate to bash the shock when the issue is not in the unit, but in the delivery of the pins....

I understand being annoyed, but to question the superiority of the OME damper isn't sound thinking.

h.curtis · Nov 3, 2003

TOZOVR said:
I'd hesitate to bash the shock when the issue is not in the unit, but in the delivery of the pins....

I understand being annoyed, but to question the superiority of the OME damper isn't sound thinking.

I wouldn't say I am bashing the shock in general, but this shock isn't the correct one for an XJ with a 5.5 lift. So far the shock itself is ok, but if you are getting the 5.5 lift I wouldn't get the OME shock until they figure out how to use it on this lift. I discussed this with another member of this forum and he has been waiting for many months for these bar pins. That tells me they are still not sure how to use these shocks on this aplication yet. I could be wrong, but if you are getting the 5.5 then just be aware you may have this problem. Shocks SHOULD come with the hardware to install them.

JMHO of course,
Curt

TOZOVR · Nov 3, 2003

h.curtis said:
I wouldn't say I am bashing the shock in general, but this shock isn't the correct one for an XJ with a 5.5 lift. So far the shock itself is ok, but if you are getting the 5.5 lift I wouldn't get the OME shock until they figure out how to use it on this lift. I discussed this with another member of this forum and he has been waiting for many months for these bar pins. That tells me they are still not sure how to use these shocks on this aplication yet. I could be wrong, but if you are getting the 5.5 then just be aware you may have this problem. Shocks SHOULD come with the hardware to install them.

JMHO of course,
Curt

You are correct, and the shocks usually do. I've sold countless kits to customers utilizing the OME LTs and they've been very satisfied. It's just in the last few months that this issue has cropped up.

Phil · Nov 3, 2003

h. curtis
Shocks SHOULD come with the hardware to install them.

But we go back to the fact that these are ZJ shocks. To me, these shocks DO have the proper hardware to install them...in the vehicle they are supposed to go on. It's vaguely like pulling a 14bolt, it's not ready to go under your Jeep, but that doesn't mean it wasn't set up right for the vehicle it was made for.

Of course, I don't need the bar pins for my N40Ls, my truck came stock without bar pins in back.

h.curtis · Nov 3, 2003

Phil Weeks said:
But we go back to the fact that these are ZJ shocks. To me, these shocks DO have the proper hardware to install them...in the vehicle they are supposed to go on.

NO they DON'T come with the proper hardware, if they are selling them for an XJ which is what they are doing to me and several other people on this NG let alone people that don't have a computer or on here.

I suspect this is an OME problem. As TOZOVR has stated the shocks usually come with proper hardware. Now they don't. This is a problem. If you sell shocks for an XJ they should supply the correct hardware to install them. I really don't know what else to say. Just because the shocks are for an ZJ means nothing to me. I was clear I owned an XJ.

Like I suggested, you may want to look at different options if you are going with a 5.5 and OME's.

Curt

TOZOVR · Nov 3, 2003

Or get JKS BPE's (and yes they DO work with OME shocks..ask me or Dirk how we know....

)

But You are right, the should come with them.

Bear549 · Nov 3, 2003

Here is what I did to solve the problem. I pounded the bushings out of the bottom mount of the shock since the mounting post already has been turned down for the stock shocks. Then I took my sway bar brakets from the top of the leaf packs and used them as pin eliminators. Works great and no money invested.

old man emu, what gives???

tighttrailxj

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