should OME lift be higher on the drivers side?

[md21722]

Hey all,

I went ahead and bought OME 934 springs and CS033RB rear springs intending to get about 20" between center cap and bottom of fender trim. I am aiming for the same lift as the budget boost that was on the Jeep when I bought it. ARB recommends removing 3rd leaf from the top for this so I did. Both springs were marked the same, no obvious different +, -, or o.

I did the rear first and right off the rear was 1/2" higher on the drivers side.

The OME 934 springs are labeled "A" and "B". The "A" is a bit taller and is supposed to go on the drivers side. I went ahead and put those in.

My front ride height is also 1/2" higher on the drivers side.

Front to back is identical, side to side.

Drivers Front 20.5"
Drivers Rear 20.5"
Passenger Front 20"
Passenger Rear 20"

Is this normal?

Or should I be pressing the vendor to give me another rear spring.

At this point I still have the rear spring/shackle bolts loose and the sway bar is disconnected. I still haven't touched the front control arm bolts. I plan on loosening those, bouncing the vehicle, and tightening everything back up. I'm not sure if its important, but before I started, the budget boost lift was 20" all around. It consisted of extended shackles in the rear, and coil spacers in the front. The Jeep came from the factory with the Up Country package.

I just don't want to be chasing my tail on this or accepting the vendor telling me its normal because they don't want to warranty a spring.

I've done plenty of suspension work over the years including replacing the rear leafs in my other XJ with Dorman's a couple of months ago. That turned out fine right off with even ride height.

Thanks!

 

[Hypoid]

Did you happen to put the coil springs side-by-side? Did you happen to notice one was a little taller than the other? The taller coil spring goes to the passenger side.

I had to do some reading on this board to find out the driver side coil mount sits a little higher than the passenger side mount. Thus, if you get the coils in the wrong location, the driver side will be a little taller. This will affect the rear springs also. Measure the front springs and go from there.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Not sure how often you have passengers and such, but your weight on the driver side over time will probably even it out.

 

[md21722]

The coils are definitely different lengths. You can see it if you put them side by side and OME says its 10 mm.

I have never heard of the spring mounts being different. I'm not exactly sure how to measure, but I put a tape measure from the ground to the bottom of the spring mount and seemed to be identical. I wonder if earlier XJ's were a bit different.

The thing for me is that I started in the back with the leafs. Jacked it up, took the old leafs off, and put the new ones on and when I set it back down I first noticed the 1/2" difference left to right.

It seemed like maybe the spring was at fault because the Jeep was at 20" all around when I started.

I drove the Jeep about 20 miles tonight and its still sitting the same.

I called ARB this afternoon to see what they'd say. At first they suggested that ZJ V8 springs aren't really made for the XJ and that one is higher than the other. I said I went with the 934s because I planned on putting a bumper and winch on, what about the 930's. They looked and said oh those are 10 mm difference too. Hmmm. They suggested a 10 mm spacer for the right coil, may have suggested swapping the coils, but mostly said to drive it 500-1000 miles and see what happens, but they'd make it right.

I'm not sure how much these springs really settle. Sounds a bit like junk science.

The 1/2" difference doesn't really bother me if its intended, but ARB USA left me with the impression that its not intended.

I can't figure out why they'd make a 10 mm difference side to side at least for the U.S. market unless its like Hypoid says. In Australia which is a RHD country, I think they've got the battery, exhaust, driver, and spare tire all on the right. I think the factory coils for XJ's are all the same height and I know my 01 XJ sits at 18" all around.

I'm more or less thinking a 10 mm spacer, or two springs exactly the same height, and a warranty replacement on the right rear leaf is what I need. Because the Jeep had nothing fancy to level it out before. Just a dumb old budget boost with 1-3/4" or 2" spacers and some extended shackles. LOL.

 

[md21722]

One other question, is there any likelihood that replacing the stock track bar with an adjustable that's a bit longer will have any impact on the ride height if the axle is shifted a little? Lift is about 2.5" so not that much difference.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

When you tightened your leafs/shackles and other suspension parts did you do it with the full weight of the vehicle on it's own weight on the ground?
The axle being slightly off-centered doesn't affect lift height to my knowledge. I do recommend a quality adjustable trackbar tho. IRO is the least expensive of the double sheer variety.

What Hypoid suggested, at least with the coils, have you tried swapping from side to side and see if it levels out or at least gets closer to even?
But, I believe that they will settle.

 

[md21722]

Yes I left the leaf spring bolts loose until I was all done, tires were on and floor jack and jack stands were put away. I also loosened up the LCA's. Sway bar was disconnected too.

It is a pain to keep compressing and uncompressing springs or swapping leafs. Id do it if I thought it would level it out but I'm just not seeing it.

Unless someone has a better idea, I'm
Using a McPherson strut compressor tool rented from autozone and don't have air tools. I think the noise would cause a noise complaint.

 

[lazyxj]

10 years ago, I installed a set of OME coils and springs. The printed instructions indicated the taller "A" spring was to go on the driver's side to compensate for the driver's weight.
I was never quite sure if this applied to left hand drive Jeeps or Australia's right hand drive models.
Fixed the problem by getting an ACOS, a handy device for leveling or changing the front ride height. It's been used a lot over the years.

Use an additional coil spring isolator to even things out.

 

[irish1371]

Ome has always made their spring thid way.

It is to off set the extra wear from engine torque transfer.

If I remeber right because they never seem to mention it in the directions, the higher front spring goes on the driver side and the higher rear on the pass side.

It has been years since I put an ome lift on my jeep but I loved it

 

[Hypoid]

I measured the coil buckets to axle tube on my project axle. I'm not seeing that nominal 1/4-inch difference from one side to the other.

 

[md21722]

Thanks for checking!