Saggy OME Leafs

Hi,

Which OME Leafs give the most lift?
JC1A or JC2A.
My JC2B are pretty saggy after 4000 Miles and i would like to change them against better ones.
Do OME´s other Leafs sag as fast as my current leafs?

Unless you've been using them really hard offroad, none of OME's leafs should be sagging after only 4K miles. Is this sagging at unloaded weight? These are soft springs and it doesn't take much weight to compress them (about 300 lbs will compress them an inch). If it is pure sagging, I'd get them replaced under warranty. Those aren't cheap springs for so little durability.

A soft 5 leaf pack like OME is going to suffer with any severe use...hence OME's decision to introduce the Expedition springs with an overload leaf to prevent inverting the springs at full stuff.

Nay

I haven´t loaded anything till now.
But today I loaded 200 lbs for testing, and they were compressed to a lower level than the stock ones.
And there is not much space left with 31s

Does the Overload Leaf means they are the Expedtion Leafs?

MarcoXJ said:

I haven´t loaded anything till now.
But today I loaded 200 lbs for testing, and they were compressed to a lower level than the stock ones.
And there is not much space left with 31s

Does the Overload Leaf means they are the Expedtion Leafs?

Click to expand...

An overload leaf is a thick flat leaf on the bottom of the pack with a much higher spring rate than the rest of the pack. The concept is that the softer main pack will compress under load to the point of the overload leaf, at which point the entire setup will stiffen considerably. This allows for a softer daily ride and good cargo carrying capacity.

Look at any fullsize pickup truck with leaf springs and you'll see what an overload leaf looks like. OME's expedition packs for the XJ have the overload leaf.

The downside is a major limiting of suspension flex. Fine for safari expeditions, but bad for serious fourwheeling.

I've said this before: I don't think OME is worth the $$$ for anything beyond their basic 2" lift. I'd get a set of 3" leafs from RE and go from there. Sounds like you need a stiffer spring rate to gain some resistance to compression as well as durability and enough clearance for 31" tires.

Nay

i was planning on getting the JCwhitney replacement springs for my '92 jeep that has 174,500 miles on the original springs ...... i dont want to lift to 3" just yet .... so in the mean time .... since i have a bit of a bad problem with spring wrap..i know it will get cured with new rear springs.....

the thing is should i go with the 4 leaf pack spring pack or the 5?

i then will possibly just adding a BB lift to my cherokee later or get that done too when i get the new rear springs...

i currently have Hellwigs helper's bar on the spring that is behind the axle... and it helps with the towing and such...... but for spring wrap......no they dont help.....

jcwhitney has the replacements for arounf 70 bucks... not a bad price...unless i can find someone on here that has lifted their cherokee and wont mind me buying their stock springs that they would junk anyway?????

thanks

I have been considering the OME 2" kit as well - my stock springs may be starting to give up the ghost at 208,000 miles. I tried the wheel center to bottom of fender flare measurement a couple weeks ago, and came up with 16.5" in the rear - about 1/2" shy of what (IIRC) Eagle has occasionally quoted as the correct stock measurement of 17" for non-Up-Country suspensions. I'm probably going to try the measurement again, but I do have some play in the rear suspension, and since the packs look sorta flat (though I need to verify this as well with a closer look), I figured that it probably wasn't worth putting new bushings into the original spring packs.

I liked the idea of the better-than-stock ride and only a 2" boost, since I'm not looking to put bigger tires on or anything. Just the "why replace when you can upgrade as well" line of thinking.

Nay - can you better define "using them really hard offroad" and "severe use" as you used them in your post? I was thinking about pricing the medium-level rating, but would the heavy-duty springs be better for a primarily road-used vehicle that sees occasional light wheeling?

Thanks,

Rob

what????

the JC2b is the 3" HD leaf.... it should have never sagged much..

the jc1a is the 3" softer leaf

the jc2a is 2" hd leaf

the jc1b is the 2" soft leaf ( most common for the 2" lift most OME buyers get.

might want to make sure of the ones you have...

for 99 bucks you can get the JCXL AAL for the OME leaves. It becomes the 2nd leaf and doesn't ride like the normal AAL.

Rob Mayercik said:

Nay - can you better define "using them really hard offroad" and "severe use" as you used them in your post? I was thinking about pricing the medium-level rating, but would the heavy-duty springs be better for a primarily road-used vehicle that sees occasional light wheeling?

Thanks,

Rob

Click to expand...

OME is perfect for your usage. I'm talking hardcore wheeling when I say OME can be prone to sagging. These are very high quality springs and should last you a long time.

Mostly onroad with moderate offroad and OME is a perfect suspension. Add some 30x9.5 tires and you have one sweet setup (or 235/75/15, which is about the same size).

Nay

That is much clearer, thanks. I haven't firmly decided what way I'm going (stock vs. stock UC vs. OME) just yet, but this relieves a significant concern that I got when I first read the thread.

Now, to find the time to get the darn price estimates...

Rob

poppabear said:

what????

the JC2b is the 3" HD leaf.... it should have never sagged much..

the jc1a is the 3" softer leaf

the jc2a is 2" hd leaf

the jc1b is the 2" soft leaf ( most common for the 2" lift most OME buyers get.

might want to make sure of the ones you have...

for 99 bucks you can get the JCXL AAL for the OME leaves. It becomes the 2nd leaf and doesn't ride like the normal AAL.

Click to expand...

My JC2B never gave me 3".
I think "A" is for the 3" Leafs and "B" is for the 2" Leafs.
"1" is for Medium and "2" is for HD.
This is what I have heared from a Dealer

you are correct... i miss typed...

poppabear said:

what????

the JC2b is the 2" HD leaf.... it should have never sagged much..

the jc1a is the 3" softer leaf

the jc2a is 2" hd leaf

the jc1b is the 3" HD leaf ( most common for the 2" lift most OME buyers get.

might want to make sure of the ones you have...

for 99 bucks you can get the JCXL AAL for the OME leaves. It becomes the 2nd leaf and doesn't ride like the normal AAL.

Click to expand...

corrected...

are there differences in spring rates between jc1b and jc2b leafs?
I thougt the only difference is the overload leaf
Perhaps I could remove the overload Leaf and add the JCXL Add A Leaf.

But they shouldn´t be too stiff.

the over load leave isn't "supposed" to affect the ride...(notice the quotes)

i do believe that the initial spring rate is the same .. but the 2b is progressive with the overload leaf.

so can I put the JCXL in the pack and remove the JCXL?