ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Maroon Monsoon on July 06, 2006, 12:33:43 PM
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old man emu struts are toooooooooo soft! my pro comp es 1000's are much much higher quality and absorb allot more than the raved about ome struts I have. the one thing I can say positive about them is the length, that's literally all I like about them and I'm pissed they cost so much. they are probably no better than oem as far as the stiffness and quality. I could have gotten a heavy duty napa brand strut and been better off as far as getting the ride I want but then I'd have a stupid stock length strut... someone needs to make a longer strut other than stupid old man emu!!!!!!
if I can find a different longer strut I am going with that over ome next time!
screw old man emu!
overated, overpriced crap!
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If it's from ARB, it's overpriced.
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friend of mine has emu leaf springs in his sammy, they are nice.
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The way the advertising reads they ride better because they are soft. Why is this not the case? Are they bottoming out too easy?
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I have OME struts on the Goblin and I like the way they ride. I will agree that they are over priced and I blew one out in only a couple months, but they warrantied it and sent me a new one and so far so good... Maybe you got 2 door struts for your 4 door?
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OME leaf springs are great. Probably same quality as other premium aftermarket stuff, but hey, you got to pick a brand sometime.
My ride quality improved immensely over stock springs.
Can't believe it would ride BADLY with new struts no matter who manufactured them as long as they are installed right.
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old man emu struts are toooooooooo soft! my pro comp es 1000's are much much higher quality and absorb allot more than the raved about ome struts I have. the one thing I can say positive about them is the length, that's literally all I like about them and I'm pissed they cost so much. they are probably no better than oem as far as the stiffness and quality. I could have gotten a heavy duty napa brand strut and been better off as far as getting the ride I want but then I'd have a stupid stock length strut... someone needs to make a longer strut other than stupid old man emu!!!!!!
if I can find a different longer strut I am going with that over ome next time!
screw old man emu!
overated, overpriced crap!
PM me if you'd like to sell them.
-Eric
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old man emu struts are toooooooooo soft! my pro comp es 1000's are much much higher quality and absorb allot more than the raved about ome struts I have. the one thing I can say positive about them is the length, that's literally all I like about them and I'm pissed they cost so much. they are probably no better than oem as far as the stiffness and quality. I could have gotten a heavy duty napa brand strut and been better off as far as getting the ride I want but then I'd have a stupid stock length strut... someone needs to make a longer strut other than stupid old man emu!!!!!!
if I can find a different longer strut I am going with that over ome next time!
screw old man emu!
overated, overpriced crap!
PM me if you'd like to sell them.
-Eric
LOL - I was just about to say the same thing.
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I agree they suck :'( I have purchase 3 complete sets for a samurai, yes they have a super soft ride, I guess thats why they bend so easily and get all twisted up >:(
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you mean to tell me that ome are the only longer struts available to us??? there has to be something off of some other vehicle that we could use?!?! even with a little modification to it???
mike
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you mean to tell me that ome are the only longer struts available to us??? there has to be something off of some other vehicle that we could use?!?! even with a little modification to it???
mike
I'm trying to find out if the struts that come with Calmini's 3" lift have a longer stroke.
And - options ARE pretty limited - that's why SAS is so popular. IFS isn't that bad at all - in fact - it offers some advantages over SAS, but.... SAS has a few dozen options out there - IFS doesn't *sigh*.
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No, Calmini struts are stock length.
As for OME, well they design a package for a certain job and in that application it works great. If you wish to play "mix & match" with various suspension components then you need to make decisions based on what YOU want and accept that the results may not necessarily be ideal. The Manufacturers design their components with certain load/use in mind with spring rates and valving to suit. You change the parameters and/or components and you're on your own. I run the OME struts with the Calmini lift and am very happy with the result but even so I am still going to be honest and say that my desired outcome may be different to yours and that that combo may not suit you. Did you pick them because they sounded good or because they would suit YOUR application?
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I plan on making a daily driver that I can take to the Rubicon. So - I need as much artriculation as I can get. Which is why i'm frustrated at the options out there - the spacers give lift - but they actually make the ride STIFFER, so artriculation is more limited.
Calmini is the only kit I can see that has longer A-arms, but if the struts are still stock length, then the flex probably isn't much better than stock. The OME kit gives 2" of lift with their springs, but the A-arm is the same length... so... the artriculation should be about the same as stock.
The only thing I can think of is using Calmini's 3"er with the OME struts to get any kind of significant artriculation change.
No wonder so many people are going to SAS - none of the current IFS offerings are "real" lifts with any kind of good flex.
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don't want to sell them because as we all know they are th only longer struts made for these. they are too soft because they are considerably softer than my pro comp es 1000's. they don't absorb as much. I honestly don't mind the stiffer ride the pro comp shocks offer and wish the struts were a bit stiffer.
about the 2 and 4 door, I didn't know there was different ome struts for each. I only saw the same pert number for all track/kick/escudo/vitaras.
yea, good to know they will fix them with warranty if they blow because I drive on a washboarded gravel road to work every day.. has to give them a beating.
yea, some probably prefer the soft ride but for the price why not make them adjustable like rancho RS 9000's?
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out of curiosity, what is a set of the ome struts worth?
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about $275 with shipping aprox.. RIP OFF!
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I agree they suck :'( I have purchase 3 complete sets for a samurai, yes they have a super soft ride, I guess thats why they bend so easily and get all twisted up >:(
I am curious, did you use the speings spring over or under?
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my friend sagged out two sets of soft ride leafs from superlift or something like that for his YJ. he jumps it though. perhaps soft ride stuff just doesn't hold up
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spring over
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Calmini is the only kit I can see that has longer A-arms, but if the struts are still stock length, then the flex probably isn't much better than stock. The OME kit gives 2" of lift with their springs, but the A-arm is the same length... so... the artriculation should be about the same as stock.
The only thing I can think of is using Calmini's 3"er with the OME struts to get any kind of significant artriculation change.
The Calmini kit gains its extra front articulation from 2" thick strut spacers, these give 2" of additional travel and flex is around 45% better than stock. OME struts have 1 1/2" of extra travel, I tried OME struts with my Calmini kit but there is too much downward travel for the CVs.
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I love mine. I did have the sticker shock when I purchased them but love the ride. I realy like the softer ride of the OMS over the stock replacement cheap struts. I also kept blowing out the stock replacements and the OME's have held up for a couple of years now.
Zig
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spring over
Thats what I thought. I have been told that they will not work in a spring over config. They will do exactly what yours did every time. Spring under they are far superior to stock. It's too bad that whoever you got yours from did'nt explain that to you before you purchased, then replaced yours.
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I plan on making a daily driver that I can take to the Rubicon. So - I need as much artriculation as I can get.
Don't worry too much about max flex. Stability, predictability, and control are much more important. Here's a pictures of last year's Zukimelt rock crawl champ; notice anything?
(http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/images/rockstar_finale/rti11.jpg)
From the article:
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/feature_rockstarfinale.htm
In the archive
http://www.zukiworld.com/main_departments_archive.htm#technical
Good luck, Eric
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they are too soft because they are considerably softer than my pro comp es 1000's. they don't absorb as much. I honestly don't mind the stiffer ride the pro comp shocks offer and wish the struts were a bit stiffer.
When you say the OME shocks are too soft, what are you basing that on? Making the shock absorbers stiffer doesn't always result in better handling - even though it often feels that way to the driver.
Are the shocks lacking in low-speed damping (transitional response)? High speed damping (ride quality)? Do you notice the "softness" on the street, highway, off-road? Is the shock so soft overall that it's incapable of controlling the springs (ie the car is bouncing and wobbling all over the place)?
A simple "they're too soft" without specifics doesn't help the rest of us much.
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A simple "they're too soft" without specifics doesn't help the rest of us much.
I agree, a "soft" damping is what I like off road ... perhaps the original biatch is about the SPRINGS being used are too stiff.
If the complaint is "my lifted IFS with OME struts doesn't slalom very good" ... well ::)
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I plan on making a daily driver that I can take to the Rubicon. So - I need as much artriculation as I can get.
Don't worry too much about max flex. Stability, predictability, and control are much more important. Here's a pictures of last year's Zukimelt rock crawl champ; notice anything?
([url]http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/images/rockstar_finale/rti11.jpg[/url])
Exactly! I'd much rather have a nicely balanced rig with those qualities than some ramp champ.
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spring over
Thats what I thought. I have been told that they will not work in a spring over config. They will do exactly what yours did every time. Spring under they are far superior to stock. It's too bad that whoever you got yours from did'nt explain that to you before you purchased, then replaced yours.
Once again a product used outside it's originally designed for application and people complain that it is no good. I wonder why ::)
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Hi Team,
Got to agree with the "pradictabilty / stability" thing.
When I finished ZeusZuki ( Mk 1 ) I ended up with 700mm ( 27.5" ) of travel at each corner :o, but when I rolled over a crest at an angle (approx 45*) the truck had a tendancy to want to keep rolling over towards the down side. Basically nothing in the rear "hooked" up causing weight too stabilise the rig - eg: the whole rig just kept rolling over. This was not a very comfortable feeling for anyone not accustomed to it ;D , I just got used to it and gassed it a little to pull the back end over ( eg: allowed it to catch up ). This comes with experience and not many people who drove it had their driving up to this level of experience. Man that thing was so cool - just pissed myself at the comments i got from unsuspecting drivers ( read-victims LOL ).
Solution: Captivate the springs so they stopped dropping away from the chassis so easily and add a little more dampening to slow the rate of decent of the axle ( gotta love those Rancho's 8)).
Anyway - flex has its place but is not the "be all and end all" as Mr Hagens rig proves. But hell it sure is good for posing. Lifting wheels though beats flex any day if you want cool pics ;)
Long travel struts for Kicks/Vits/Escudos etc etc - watch this space. They are on there way but I am not allowed to say any more :-\. I wouldn't go rushing out to buy OME's right now that is for sure.
ZeusZuki.
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they are too soft because they are considerably softer than my pro comp es 1000's. they don't absorb as much. I honestly don't mind the stiffer ride the pro comp shocks offer and wish the struts were a bit stiffer.
When you say the OME shocks are too soft, what are you basing that on? Making the shock absorbers stiffer doesn't always result in better handling - even though it often feels that way to the driver.
Are the shocks lacking in low-speed damping (transitional response)? High speed damping (ride quality)? Do you notice the "softness" on the street, highway, off-road? Is the shock so soft overall that it's incapable of controlling the springs (ie the car is bouncing and wobbling all over the place)?
A simple "they're too soft" without specifics doesn't help the rest of us much.
sorry for the bad explanation. at higher speeds it wobles a bit since I took the sway bar off. that's what upsets me. they weren't too bad till then. can't put the sway bar back on because the threads in the frame are stripped but I like it more without the bar actually. haven't yet tried the highway with the sway bar off or with the lift at all yet. I'm sure it will suck on the hihgway with all the ruts since my camber is not fixed yet... not the struts fault there. I just wish they were adjustable so they could be realy soft or stiff depending on the conditions and the driver's preference.
about the calmini spacers offereing more travel I think that's only when flexing. and not 2 inches. maybe an inch or so. my stock struts were using all but about .5 inches of their travel if that and I could see it by looking at them. with stock suspension I have managed to hit my front tires on the inside of the front fender flares. I have wear marks there. for most stuff the full travel of the stock struts isn't likely to be used but almost when the sway bar is off and it's fully flexed I'm sure. ome struts are the way to go only because noone else makes a long travel strut. I want to add a calmini kit to my spacer lift. I would probably modify the axle drop brackets to acheive good CV angles at full droop and everything else
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Long travel struts for Kicks/Vits/Escudos etc etc - watch this space. They are on there way but I am not allowed to say any more :-\. I wouldn't go rushing out to buy OME's right now that is for sure.
ZeusZuki.
do keep us posted, me at least anyway. i'm hella interested...
mike
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Long travel struts for Kicks/Vits/Escudos etc etc - watch this space. They are on there way but I am not allowed to say any more :-\. I wouldn't go rushing out to buy OME's right now that is for sure.
ZeusZuki.
do keep us posted, me at least anyway. i'm hella interested...
mike
yea, I would buy a long travel strut made by ANYONE other than ome because of price allone. any cheap replacement strut can ride about as comfortable as ome I think
I hope someone has a long travel strut by the time I'm ready to replace... they have a few years to get the job done I hope
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about the calmini spacers offereing more travel I think that's only when flexing. and not 2 inches. maybe an inch or so. my stock struts were using all but about .5 inches of their travel if that and I could see it by looking at them.
I was refering to the older style Track/Kick. Thats interesting that your model uses more of its strut travel, it implies that it has more front suspension travel in stock form.
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sorry for the bad explanation. at higher speeds it wobles a bit since I took the sway bar off. that's what upsets me. they weren't too bad till then. can't put the sway bar back on because the threads in the frame are stripped but I like it more without the bar actually. haven't yet tried the highway with the sway bar off or with the lift at all yet. I'm sure it will suck on the hihgway with all the ruts since my camber is not fixed yet... not the struts fault there. I just wish they were adjustable so they could be realy soft or stiff depending on the conditions and the driver's preference.
So you lifted it, removed your swaybar, haven't fixed the alignment since the lift and are blaming the struts for the wobbly ride at higher speeds, although you haven't even been on the highway yet. This sound right? I'm just trying to understand your complaint... Get the alignment fixed and the wheels balanced and check the wheel bearings. Make sure they are not worn... See how it drives after this and report back...
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i'm with digger on this one ..and kinda had the same problem .. i didn't do the wheel alinment after i put mt 1.5 spacers in.. just dringing to the shop and back.. about 5 km, i could tell a differance , ecpessaly when i hit tar llines or small bumps . she would jump all over the place,, got a wheel alingment ,and changed the ball joints. and it was like night and day....
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well, it goes perfectly striaght but the camber makes it a bit touchy. I forgot that I've had it on the highway lifted but not without the sway bar yet. it's been about 65 or more with no sway bar and doesn't do too bad. it's not all over the road by any means in my opinion. it will be even better when I get it alighned which I'm arranging. it just seems like the struts are too light duty for it. when I got the new rear shocks all the wobbling from the back was 100% gone. helped it a ton, now that it's lifted the front did that but not quite as well. without the stiffness the sway bar offers they kind of seem to not work as well. if they were adjustable that would solve the problem mostly I think. I do think some of my problem may very well be the crappy camber but this is added unsureness on the road after that.
not going to sell the struts or even think about it. I would buy another set for the exact reason I bought this one... nobody else makes a longer stut for these.
about the travel, you could be right there. i think I just slammed on it hard enough to compress the crap out of the bottom out pad though. I have tried to wheelie it stock and managed to hit the stock size tire on the inside of the flare.. I had no idea it would travel that far... I was in complete shock when I saw the marks on the tires and the rubbed off paint on the flares.. very proud of it too.. I don't try to wheelie anymore which is probably a good thing
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Hagen won the Rock Rage again yesterday... :D
Flex is REALLY not all it's cracked up to be. The more I drive my IFS, the less I become concerned with flex..
I followed MANY flexy and expensive rigs all over the Badlands these past two days..
guess what..
My little NON-FLEXY, low riding rig went MORE places than they did. With less tipping, and less trouble. I even climbed a few rocks.... ;)
SO... you gotta ask yourself what you want. Do you want a capable rig that will go places?? or do you want to score at a RTI contest?
Purpose built rock crawlers might need flex (but if you take Hagen's rig into consideration, maybe not...lol) But trail rigs certainly don't. A rear locker, and a selectable front locker, or a twin stick TC would be WAY more useful on a trail than flex.
This weekend sealed it in my mind... bring on the flexy sammys, I will follow you , and even help tip you back over onto your wheels after you roll it. Time after time I ran through obstacles that had sammys either tipping, or almost tipping... but the Turtle just went through flat. Sure it would pick tires up.. but so what? I have other tires pulling me along.. and it was LOW and FLAT and STABLE..
Screw super flexy... WAY overated, and not stable for shit. I leave my sway bar on too :o
I don't like cresting an off camber, say, onto my drivers front tire, and having it FLEX and pick up my passenger rear.. When I put down a front tire on an angle.. I want it stiff enough to hold me in a stable position, with less weight transitioning, and less roll danger...
Make sense? if not, you don't trail ride on trails like I do..
and the Turtle keeps amazing me...
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MM- get your camber fixed!!! Even with the sway bar removed it will ride tons better once the camber is right. With the camber off, it causes all sorts of weird handling quirks. I think you may actually LIKE how the OME struts ride once you fix that camber...
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yea, there are a few quirks. it's funny when the steering wants to stay maxed at low speeds. got used to it being touchy at times... tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get the camber bolts from the alighnment shop since boondox messed up my order and get it alighned asap. I might like the ome's after that.. I won't change my mind about them being overrated though.. I think.
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I'd definately be in the market for some longer struts that didn't cost an arm and a leg. These BDS strut extenders aren't all they're cracked up to be.
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yea, I was going to buy the strut extenders but decided not to compromise cause I could more than afford the ome struts. now that I did that I might as well have spent an extra 500 and bought a calmini lift instead which pisses me off. I spent more than I wanted to because of them but oh well, it's already done.
I got strut extenders anyway because the order was messed up but I really don't want to use them. I think strut mount spacers are a MUCH better solution although nobody has broken anything because of strut extenders as far as I know
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Personally I think the strut extenders are a great thing and properly made, they're the best solution to the problem. Screw them on snug and slip the now longer strut back on where it came from and whalla, you're done. No messing with anything else in the suspension. If you can change your front struts you can install the extenders.
However BDS doesn't seem to have a handle on quality control and product finishing. Consequently you hear the stories of them not fitting right and requiring cleaning and grinding of both them and the struts. Then there's someone like me who slides it on half way, thinks, ooh, it'll go the rest of the way... ::)
One stripped out strut rod on an otherwise perfectly functioning strut later... :P
I just wanna get this thing done. I'm about done with dinking with this GV. It's been way to much trouble for a not quite 3-year old vehicle.
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yea, you've been working on that GV for quite some time now. I did my lift in a weekend and fixed what we messed up on the front axle the next weekend with the help of a friend who knows quite a great deal about axles
I agree that the extenders are nice and simple but on a first gen I seen no point cause it's so easy to flip a strut mount and space it but on a first gen spacing the mount looks like quite a task because of that strut bar but I think I could manage to make a new one if I wanted to.
even though my strut extenders that I didn't order fit, they don't thread to great. I know what you mean on the quality control.
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Yeah, on a first gen I'd flip the strut mounts for free instead of buying the extenders. Now if someone gave me a set of extenders or they showed up in the mail accidentally I'd use them no problem.
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Yeah, on a first gen I'd flip the strut mounts for free instead of buying the extenders. Now if someone gave me a set of extenders or they showed up in the mail accidentally I'd use them no problem.
yea, but the ome's I ordered were already here
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...and you don't have a first gen.
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yea, I like my 2nd gen a bit better than 1sts as well but I like the boxy styling of a 1st gen a bit more.
think my alighnment will make my struts much better, I'll let you all know
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I am running a set of KYB struts and shocks on my 4 door with 2.5" coil spacer and I like em.
the shocks are a bit firm for the light rearend on a kick but compared to the stock struts and shocks the KYB is a much much firmer ride. Remember your wheel width too. It's all part of the equation.
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yea, I want wider offset wheels or spacers but I can't do it for a while. that would soften the ride a little which would be good but I would imagine the strut letting it bounce a little more. the coil spacers made the front and a little stiffer but those ome's don't quite soak everything up like the pro comp shocks. got it alighned today and what a hige difference. the ome's work much better now but still let it wobble a tadd. not nearly as much though. they are overrated and still a bit too soft. i think the strut needs to be stiffer and the coil needs to be softer. wider offset wheels and someone other than ome making a longer strut would solve the problem but I like it allot more now and I'll leave it other than getting new meats.
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Hagen won the Rock Rage again yesterday... :D
Flex is REALLY not all it's cracked up to be. The more I drive my IFS, the less I become concerned with flex..
I followed MANY flexy and expensive rigs all over the Badlands these past two days..
guess what..
My little NON-FLEXY, low riding rig went MORE places than they did. With less tipping, and less trouble. I even climbed a few rocks.... ;)
SO... you gotta ask yourself what you want. Do you want a capable rig that will go places?? or do you want to score at a RTI contest?
Purpose built rock crawlers might need flex (but if you take Hagen's rig into consideration, maybe not...lol) But trail rigs certainly don't. A rear locker, and a selectable front locker, or a twin stick TC would be WAY more useful on a trail than flex.
This weekend sealed it in my mind... bring on the flexy sammys, I will follow you , and even help tip you back over onto your wheels after you roll it. Time after time I ran through obstacles that had sammys either tipping, or almost tipping... but the Turtle just went through flat. Sure it would pick tires up.. but so what? I have other tires pulling me along.. and it was LOW and FLAT and STABLE..
Screw super flexy... WAY overated, and not stable for shit. I leave my sway bar on too :o
I don't like cresting an off camber, say, onto my drivers front tire, and having it FLEX and pick up my passenger rear.. When I put down a front tire on an angle.. I want it stiff enough to hold me in a stable position, with less weight transitioning, and less roll danger...
Make sense? if not, you don't trail ride on trails like I do..
and the Turtle keeps amazing me...
I think what it comes down to is that flex on a 4x4 is like HP on a street rod. The bragging rights go to the numbers, if you have more of something you want to brag about it.
Now sometimes a 500 hp street rod gets dusted by a 300 hp sport car with better power to weight or better power delivery to ground etc.
And sometimes a 4x4 with four feet of articulation gets pulled out of a ditch by a stock tracker.
The point i think is that there are applications where flex is very important, like in the middle of a pile of rocks where a three tire balancing act can result in a see-saw move that adds too much intertia to your rig and over you go bang bang bang to the bottom. In that situation yeah you want ever tire to drop as far as it can until it hits something solid, so that you can saftley move the weight of your rig along without worrying about a disasterous weight shift.
Now for trail riding like Quaddawg does its probably a lot more usefull to have all four tires pushing at whatever they are touching when they are touching, if one of them is floating along, well that doesnt lead to disaster. Its also helpfull if your armored so you dont catch something on a branch or rock and render all your locked diffs useless as you throw mud.
Lastly it is probably helpfull in all off road situations to have SOME lift and SOME flex, but it is not neccesary to have 14" of lift and 36" of flex. In general I would guess that enough lift to clear some 31" tires, and enough flex to let the front tires climb up an obstacle and still deliver some grip.
P.S. if i ever get some lockers and give up keeping trogdor pretty im going to go trail riding with Quaddawg and embarass him..... :-)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/815000-815999/815975_33_full.jpg)
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I love OME struts. I would have a set in the rockstar if I could afford them. I had them in my orange rig and my previous rig also. I have a few failures but I think it was more a result of flying. What kind of lift do you have? Do you have the original coils? Also do you have a V6 or 4cyl, auto or manual, and aftermarket bumpers? The reason I ask is I have found my best IFS performance from the stiffest coil possible. If your rig was a V6 auto with some aftermarket accessories (weight) that could be more of your problem. I would also like to see a stiffer strut available though.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
At one point if I recall correctly you swapped in some OME #962 coils in the front. Was this with your widened front ? Did you add spacers to these? If so how much? What was your setup at the time? How much lift? Was it with the OME struts and strut spacers?
Cheers,
CJ
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P.S. if i ever get some lockers and give up keeping trogdor pretty im going to go trail riding with Quaddawg and embarass him..... :-)
Everybody has to have a dream... 8)
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I love OME struts. I would have a set in the rockstar if I could afford them. I had them in my orange rig and my previous rig also. I have a few failures but I think it was more a result of flying. What kind of lift do you have? Do you have the original coils? Also do you have a V6 or 4cyl, auto or manual, and aftermarket bumpers? The reason I ask is I have found my best IFS performance from the stiffest coil possible. If your rig was a V6 auto with some aftermarket accessories (weight) that could be more of your problem. I would also like to see a stiffer strut available though.
Mike
it's a 2.5 V6 manual trans with a brush guard/bumper that's not even 40 pounds I bet. never noticed a difference with it being on or off. I have boondox coil spacers and pro comp es 1000's in the back and a few things done so things don't hang up back there. the coil spacers seem to have stiffened the front coils to where they don't seem to match the back and with no sway bar in I get some of the feeling like the front isn't doing much but it will fully flex just fine when it has to and I just today found out I should have extended my front bump stops as well as my back ones (which I still need to do). maybe stiffer rear coils would fix that problem. the ome struts are working much better now that it's alighned but I still wish there was a stiffer strut availiable. they almost do what I want them to do but they are just a touch too soft it seems to keep all the front bouncing from happening. they stop almost all of it, but of course there is a little which upsets me a tadd but only with the sway bar off. haven't taken it out wheeling with the lift yet but I imagine the struts doing just great out there.
still think they are over priced, and a bit overrated. they may do better on a 4 cyl
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Hi Mike,
At one point if I recall correctly you swapped in some OME #962 coils in the front. Was this with your widened front ? Did you add spacers to these? If so how much? What was your setup at the time? How much lift? Was it with the OME struts and strut spacers?
Cheers,
CJ
Yea I did have the 962 OME coils. A 962 is the V6 GV auto 1 1/2 inch lift coil. I had a completely customized setup though. Dan runs the 962s in the Pornstar With a 1 inch spacer and it is widened. It rides terrific. He is also running OME struts.
Mike
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Thanks Mike. Just looking at options for my V6 lwb Sport. Thinking about swapping the Calmini springs out for something else, maybe even get some customs made up. I run the OME struts with the Calmini spacers and am looking to do your widening mod and rear rotation on this one.
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I want to add a calmini 2.5 kit to my spacers and use ome struts with the strut mount spacers. the only problem is the more I drive on these struts the softer they feel and the more tipsy and bouncy the ride seems to get. I think I am going to put my sway bar back on
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i think i smell a challenge...lol
P.S. if i ever get some lockers and give up keeping trogdor pretty im going to go trail riding with Quaddawg and embarass him..... :-)
Everybody has to have a dream... 8)
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My money is on Quaddawg!
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My money is on Quaddawg!
same here. quad seems to have lots of experience and a well built, capable rig
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Can the moderator set it up so that the word "overrated" gets automatically changed to something else, cause it's getting used ridiculously in this post.
OME struts with strut extenders with calcrappy stuff? You think you've got problems now, wait until you start changing cv's every time you go out. The dude just before mentioned the OME struts gave him too much down travel with the calmini stuff, so why would you think strut extenders would help you?
Make sure you have the N103S struts cause they superceeded the N31S, which were softer for the 4cylinder models.
It sounds like you may need to get some MATCHING coils for the struts. From what i know, OME struts and shocks are designed to match/compliment the coils that they're paired with. Shocks wear out quicker than springs, but springs still do wear out, which is why every suspension kit for sale (with exception to spacer lifts) sells springs when they sell new struts and shocks.
BTW, i think struts are overrated. I prefer to drive without them. It squiggles down the road a bit, but once you get used to it, it's like driving a calmini 3" kit. You hardly feel the bumps over the vibration of the front end scraping against the ground as you drive...
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I have strut extenders but they are sitting in my tool box. I didn't order them and have no intension on using them. you misread a bit there. I only saw one part number for the ome strut that was supposed to fit any ifs suzuki 4X4. I'll check and make sure I didn't get the softer N31. that could be the problem
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OMEN103S is the item number rocky road said they are. I am thinking if I were able to get a thinner than stock sway bar it would help a bit with the wobling on the road and still allow full flex. anyone have any ideas?
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Are the upper strut mounts still in great shape? You shouldn't be having problems with this setup.
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Are the upper strut mounts still in great shape?  You shouldn't be having problems with this setup.
they seem to be in great shape, I don't even have 70k miles on it yet
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Make sure you have the N103S struts cause they superceeded the N31S, which were softer for the 4cylinder models.
ARB haven't had the N31S struts since 2004 so in theory you will always be getting the N103S struts unless someone has old stock around or you are buying used.
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Make sure you have the N103S struts cause they superceeded the N31S, which were softer for the 4cylinder models.
ARB haven't had the N31S struts since 2004 so in theory you will always be getting the N103S struts unless someone has old stock around or you are buying used.
yea, the struts aren't that bad, it's just a woble here and there. I think having the sway bar off makes the suspension a little to active for those particular struts. I think I'll just live with it. they don't do to bad on corners. I corner flat with no sway bar because of the new shocks and struts. the coil spacers did stiffen the front end I believe too so that's probably a part of it. Yea, can't have it all, it's either this or a stock length strut with an extender or mount spacer, I'll stick with ome