Where to buy OME?

I Plan to lift my 97 XJ 2" with an OME lift, full leaf packs.

Where is a good place to buy the lift?

Also, I've heard that the springs are great but the Doetsch shocks are also a good choice instead of the OME springs. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jeff-97XJ

I hear Dirk at DPG Offroad of is a good guy. No first hand experience myself though

- Kevin

I've ordered a few things from Dirk at DPG (www.DPGOffroad.com) and he was a great guy to deal with.

I would recommend the OME shocks over the Doetsch Tech shocks especially if you are getting the rest of the OME suspension.

I got mine from Dora at *****************.

I bought the full OME setup (leafs, coils, shocks) from Dirk at DPG. Installed it, per Dirks and ARB's direction, and the shocks are too short. Apparently the 1" shackle takes the shock to the full limit in the rear. I had to install the shackle to level the rake. Now, I have zero droop in the rear because the shock is fully stretched while just sitting there. They are all in Moab this week so I have to wait for support. I talked with ARB and at this point they are basically saying "buyer beware", I should have known. At this point I'm dissapointed because I'm a novice at this game and I simply bought what I heard was a great product and followed their setup advice. I have a feeling I'm going to get stuck with 4 OME shocks.

If anyone is interested I'll let you know if I get customer service - or the run around.

so it sounds like you have the 3" jc1a rear leaves and a 1" shackle. why the shackle again...?

rake is generally defined as the ass end being high... soooo you essentially made a 4" lift prob. closer to 4.5" with the shackle...and the shocks for the 2" lift has ~ 8" of travel so say 4 up and 4 down and subtract the 2.5 from 4" of down travel and you get 1.5" left..

remove the shackle and your ok... or you need the 4"+ shocks the N36L's.

so what the hell is up front if you have 4"+ in the back... ???

BTW Dirk is the King of customer service and you will have trouble finding someone say otherwise.

poppabear said:

BTW Dirk is the King of customer service and you will have trouble finding someone say otherwise.

Click to expand...

I give Dirk a big thumbs up....
I ordered an OME lift for my Grand from him and he is the best with customer service. Highly recomend. :worship:

I have a '96 XJ.

I ordered the 3" Deluxe XJ Cherokee Kit for $799 from DPG. The kit includes 4 OME shocks (N35 for the front and N36 for the rear), front OME coil springs (OM930), ¾ " front coil spacers, rear OME leaf springs (JC1A), and a set of JKS sway bar "Quicker" disconnects.

As far as I know, it's a good deal.

I am putting on an ARB Bullbar and winch. This is about 200 lbs, which would compress the 930 coils more than an inch. The 930's spring rate is 160 lbs. Therefore, I was coached by ARB to go to the 934 coil, which is a ½ " taller and has a spring rate of 180 lbs. Then when adding the front bumper and winch I wouldn't lose as much lift.

I put it all together, and my vehicle was higher in the front than in the back. ARB suggested I put taller shackles in the rear. I went with Teraflex shackles, which added 1" to the rear, and now the xj looks great.

But now my rear N36 shocks are completely, I mean completely extended. There is zero room for droop. The smallest bump causes a massive jolt and loud noise because the shocks can't extend anymore and slam against their internal shock stop.

It seems I need the N35L's and the N36L's. The "L" stands for long. I believe this should have been considered from the start because even if I take the shackles off, it means I would only have 1" of droop before the shocks reach their full extension. That's not right.

This is my very first experience with lifting a vehicle. Two months ago I knew nothing about suspension lifts. My setup is 100% based on the advice and direction from ARB and DPG.

Both Dirk and the gentleman that coached me from ARB are in Moab right now. I believe when they get back and we all have a chance to visit they'll make it right for me. Everyone was real helpful and nice, answered all my questions, and the learning/purchasing experience was great. I live in Seattle and even went to ARB Distribution center where the guy looked my xj and we discussed my objectives. They were great people to work with. I hope they have good follow through.

Also, the lift, even before the 1" shackles, created a serious driveline vibration. I had to put on a SYE (JB Conversions) and a new CV driveshaft (Tom Woods). Both DPG and ARB warned me of this, so I was prepared for the expense.

Any thoughts?

tim

I guess I got a good deal...

3" OME lift, used, came with the following:

4 gas shocks
2 full spring packs
2 coils

$250 for all


arty:

In response to the short shocks in the rear. Have you thought about moving up the lower shock mount on the axle to level with the axle. I did that on mine and gained 2.5" of shock back.

The bracket that I used is from Off Road General Store MFG. www.orgsmfg.com
or get them from www.kevinsoffroad.com
they are under fab parts. pretty cheap and shouldn't take that long to do. They do need to be welded on but I'm sure anyplace can weld them for you.
http://www.orgsmfg.com/product/rsm001.JPG
http://www.orgsmfg.com/product/rsm005.JPG

Are pics of them. I trimmed them up a little bit to be even more flush with the axle tube. Cheaper than new shocks and it gets the rock grabbers from the shock mounts. Juice

yeah.. a few thoughts...

1) the teraflex shackles are some of the longest out there.
I have them ( as well as the same 934's and JC1A's.) they measure 6.5" eye to eye which leads to 1.75" of lift since they are 3.5" longer then stocks... so there is the first problem...

2) did you use the 3/4" spacers in the front in addition to the 934's... that would yield almost 4" in the front. Which without the shackles would create a front high stance.

3) So now I am suprised that Dirk didn't give you the L shocks after the additions.

I would suspect that they will send you the correct L shocks. I speak from experience in that they work well with the 934's and JC1A's.

They compressed length of the two shocks is very close so a 3" lift will still work with the L's.

yeah I would suspect the 96 to have driveline issues.

see my page ... I have the same components and just added the JCXL OME aal for the JC1A's. Along with the teraflex shackles I am sitting at ~4.75" in the rear and 4.5" in the front with 934's and a 2" spacer and no factory isolator.

Good Luck.

Thanks juicexj24 and poppabear.

Juicexj24, lowering the shock mount sounds like a good idea. I’m curious, was there any change in your ride when you lowered the mount? I wonder why the shock mount is so low to begin with? It makes sense to get rid of things that will snag rocks. I just wonder if it is lower to create some kind of leverage for strength or support.

Poppabear, yep, those teraflex shackles did measure out to 6.5”. I thought maybe I got a different set than the ones you were referring to, so I measured them, and they are 6.5”. Interestingly, before I put them on the wheel well flare measured at 35”, and is now right at 36”. So, I thought I only got an inch of additional lift from the shackles. Come to think about it, I bet the shocks were limiting the height being fully extended like that.

This is the first time I’ve used an internet forum. From what I’m reading I wish I had known about naxja earlier. Seems like many people know their stuff!

Here’s my setup:

Front – OME 934 with a ¾” spacer and the original factory isolator – what ever height that is.

Rear – OME JC1A with the teraflex shackles and a 4* shim.

The front shocks seem fine, not sure if it’s the preferred setup, but they’re not fully extended at rest. I’m not sure how much stretch they have left.

Should I be running the long shocks on the front and back?

Thanks for your previous posts and additional thoughts. Also, great homepage. I had to laugh at the picture where you said, "oops" and your bumper corner was gone. Looks like you've been to some neat places - now that's what I want to do!

tim

Y'all got me worried now, I have pretty much the same setup that's setting here till I get a free day to do the install. 934's, JC1A's, RE greasable shackles bought mine from Stage West and he sent me the same shocks - M35 & M36's. How much will bar pin eliminators gain me? I doubt enough from what I'm seeing here. I can do the bottom shock mount relocate, no problem other than finding the time to do it. Maybe I should hold off and get the "L" shocks instead?
Waiting to hear about the fronts and if they are too short as well...
Mike B.

Ya know, according to poppabear the compressed length of the standard OME shocks and the long ones are the same. I don't know how going with the longs could hurt. More travel seems better me, gives you a little more freedom either direction.

The Techies at ARB e-mailed me these answers about shock length that I asked them about.


Do the N35C and N36C shocks have measurements for compressed and
extended lengths?
N35C = 22.36" extended; 13.7" compressed
N36C = 22.13" extended; 13.46" compressed

What are the measurements for the N35L and N36L shocks?
N35L = 26.69" extended; 15.43" compressed
N36L = 24.49" extended; 14.41" compressed

yep those look right. Anything 3" plus the L's work better then the regulare OME shocks.

FYI the rear shock mounts raise not lower the mount.

what did you do about the trackbar?

I now buy all of my OME stuff from Dirk at DPG, and I can tell you firsthand that I would buy ANYTHING that guy sells because he keeps your best interest as a Jeeper and a consumer ahead of his profit margins.
Handle one thing, your customers, and the profits will follow.
Dirk understands this and I would rely on him in a heartbeat.
He could raise his prices by 15% for all I care, as the extra $$$ is worth the lack of headaches you get by dealing with him.
Hasta.

I also heartily recommend Dirk.....and don't mind paying the extra freight (Vancouver, BC) when I have a guy on the other end of the phone who I trust.

Can't understand why anybody who is netting 3"+ suspension lift wouldn't go for the "L" shocks. Assuming that you're adding a suspension lift to accomodate larger tires, you're going to be limiting your up-travel in any event, so get the benefit of more droop.

Definitely, if you're going to add an ARB bumper and a winch up front, get the 934 coils. I have them, along with a 2" poly spacer and the stock isolater - nets me a touch over 4" in the front. When I was running the 930's, I was onto the bumpstops on most descents....SLAM!

1986xj said:

Y'all got me worried now, I have pretty much the same setup that's setting here till I get a free day to do the install. 934's, JC1A's, RE greasable shackles bought mine from Stage West and he sent me the same shocks - M35 & M36's. How much will bar pin eliminators gain me? I doubt enough from what I'm seeing here. I can do the bottom shock mount relocate, no problem other than finding the time to do it. Maybe I should hold off and get the "L" shocks instead?
Waiting to hear about the fronts and if they are too short as well...
Mike B.

Click to expand...

No one yet has said if the fronts seemed too short with the 934's.... was hoping to call and try to get these exchanged in the AM...
Mike B.

1986xj said:

No one yet has said if the fronts seemed too short with the 934's.... was hoping to call and try to get these exchanged in the AM...
Mike B.

Click to expand...

As stated: if you're adding 3" or more of suspension lift then get the long-travel shocks and adjust your bumpstops (probably just in front; the rears should be fine) to prevent the shock from being the bumpstop. The part number shouldn't have an "M" in it at all - the OME Nitrocharger shocks are N35 (front) and N36 (rear). The long-travel version adds an "L" to the end of the part# to designate the longer shock.

The LT shocks will allow your axle to drop 'til your stock UCA's, brake-lines or trackbar bind.