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Leaning after OME lift

R

ResurreXJion

NAXJA Forum User
Location
N.E.PA
I installed an Old Man Emu 2.5 medium lift on my 1996 2 dr Cherokee about a month ago.

Now that it's "settled", it sits crooked all around. It is about a half inch lower on the drivers side (front AND rear) than the passengers side.

I have OME 930s on the front, and CSR034A's on the back with all new OME shocks, steering damper and JKS adjustable track bar. Everythings been torqued to spec, and it looks fine from underneath. I Just had it aligned 2 weeks ago, and it RIDES and STEERS excellent....., but its PURE HELL to look at considering the money and labor I've got into it.

I contacted ARB/USA (ome) about it, and they said the front springs (930s) have different spring rates. So, to check, I went and jacked the front end up behind the LCA until the front end sat level. .....The REAR was STILL half an inch off!

ARB/USA has run out of answers. Ive been wrenching for a long time and I cant figure it out. Other "experts" are scratching thier heads.......

So, anyone else have this problem, or know how to fix it?

Thanks,

Tom
 
The front springs should have been labeled left and right, or "a" and "b". The taller spring is supposed to go on the drivers side.

You might try loosening the bottom leaf shackle bolts on both sides, jumping up and down on the back, then tightening them up again.

Do you weigh over 300lbs?:spin1:
 
nates94xj said:
The front springs should have been labeled left and right, or "a" and "b". The taller spring is supposed to go on the drivers side.

You might try loosening the bottom leaf shackle bolts on both sides, jumping up and down on the back, then tightening them up again.

Do you weigh over 300lbs?:spin1:
Click to expand...

You know man? I swear to GOD they were the same height and werent labeled differnetly, as I'd heard this is the case with OME springs while I was installing them (with no directions.) .......but dammit, I do believe I'll be swapping springs tommorrow night.

....and no, not 300. TOO-FITTY. and '6 "4. Thats why I bought a damned TWO door, so my big azz could fold up in there all comfy-like. .....Too fat for my rig? I think not.

I GOTTA fix this or Im going to never sleep again. Considering shim packs and extra coil spring spacers if the side-to-side swap doesnt fix it.

Thannks 4 the quick response.
 
Maybe they are not a different height, but they are supposed to be side specific springs.

Mine sits a little higher in back. I have the HD leafs and I only added one coil isolator to the front, so I'm going to have to add another spacer. You're not the only one rewrenching your OME lift. For the price, a little instruction book and a sticker would have been nice. cheers
 
swap your front springs....doesnt hurt to swap your rears either....

I did the same thing, didnt realize the coils were side specific, put them on the wrong side and it was off - something REAL noticable....
 
Apart from checking your coils and ensuring that the A-spring is on the driver's side and the B-spring on the passenger side, also check your leafs. You mentioned that you have the CS034RA springs. In the US it seems common practice to fit two A springs in the rear, but elsewhere they fit an A and B in the rear (similar to the front) with the A having a little more free camber height and going in on the passenger side. I had this setup way back when I first started lifting my XJ and it was sitting level.

Here's some "instructions" from the OME catalog:

OMEguide.jpg


OME.jpg


OMEleafs.jpg
 
I found my drivers side rear (on a RHD vehicle, so rear right hand side when viewed from behind) settled lower. This seems to be a common theme with Old Man Emu lifts on XJs over here, the thinking being that torque application (axle wrap) increases the problem. Both my rear springs are 'A' springs too (I didn't know about 'B' option springs at the time).

The front sat quite even (less than 1/4" difference) with OME 934 coils. The A spring on the drivers side as per instructions. Being a RHD vehicle and Old Man Emu being Australian designed (also RHD) I followed the instructions but do recall advice to swith the coils if fitting on a LHD vehicle??
 
Thats not axle wrap, but i get what you mean, its the body torquing to one side when you get on the gas....

Has anyone ever tried OME935 or OME936 coils on an XJ? They are the Front Springs OME makes for a WJ....
 
English XJ, how much total lift did you get with the 934 coils?
 
Hmmmm....the instructions above seem to apply to export vehicles...so the "drivers's side" is the right side....
 
So "A" goes on the right and "B" goes on the left? :)
 
Did you torque the spring bolts WITH it full weight on the springs? It is common for people to tighten the spring bolts unloaded while it's still in the air. The bushings only have so much torson rotation available before they just bind.

Assuming the bolts are not rusted to the inner sleaves already (why I put anti-seeze on my bolts), loosen up the four spring bolts with the XJ on the ground. Bounce it a couple times and let it settle to normal ride height. Then, without lifting the XJ, tighten the bolts. This puts the bushings at a nutreal point for the inner sleeves.

Hope this helps as I have not had any problems with mine and they have been in a year now.
 
JNickel101 said:
So "A" goes on the right and "B" goes on the left? :)
Click to expand...

Not sure. On a RHD vehicle the driver's weight and the torque effect of the engine is on the right hand side and therefore it is easy to see why the "A" springs should go on that side. On LHD vehicles it is less of an exact science and I guess one has to make a call as to what will cause the vehicle to lean most to one side, the driver's weight on the left or the torque effect to the right. If you do a lot of town driving where accelerating away from stops are done often it will put more stress to the right that if long distances are travelled on the freeway. In the same sense if you have a quite a heavy driver, then that might be cause enough to put the "A" springs on that side...
 
JNickel101 said:
English XJ, how much total lift did you get with the 934 coils?
Click to expand...

About 3" when first installed, quickly settled to 2.5" and finally to about 2.25" after 18 months with winch + mount and some more serious offroading.
 
I helped a buddy with a TJ OME 2.5" lift and he has the same issue with the front of the jeep being uneven. He hates it. Frankly, if I had the same issue I would be pissed too. The instructions that came with the lift were followed and the correct coil was installed on the correct side. Just sits a uneven.
 
I've had my 3" HD kit since last May and have had no problems. The rear sat about .5-1" higher for a couple of months after, but has finally settled after wear and flexing. It is perfectly level all the way around and I would say its about 2.75-3" now. BTW, the coil labeled "A" goes on the driver side, "B" on the passenger's. You would have to have a third eye to be able to tell that one coil is taller than the other...
 
My 2.5" OME is down on the right side (looking at the back)
It's driving me mad, I will loosen everything, jack it straight,tighten and go from there.
 
You know i see alot of this talked about no matter what brand lift you have I have run into the same thing on my MJ and to correct I used extra spring isolator and that brought me level.
 
I read on one site that sells OME that they are aware that OME usually supplys there sets that way, and this particular company actually packages pairs themselves so that if desired, they can supply two matching springs. (https://www.expeditionexchange.com/ome/indexsprings.htm) They deal in Land Rover stuff but I would imagine the same applies to the whole product line. As listed in the post above from the catalog, they intentionally package in a slightly uneven state so as to compensate for constant load of driver ect. Short of buying another matching spring you will likely have to shim to get it there.
 
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