Old Man Emu setups on 1st gens

Lol, not good.
Its actually amazing how many people dont pay any attention to bumpstops or understand the need for their presence...

 

I might have to try and figure out how to mount them like you. Looks really clean.

 

Those arent mine! Thats stumblestacks pictures. Ill be doing it that way though!
All you gotta do is buy the energy bumps and drill a hole into that piece you circled and simply bolt those things on. Take you less than 10 min!

 

Ooh no I thought you were someone else I think. Someone had them on a plate that went under the U-bolts. I'll try and find it.

 

I know what you meant, you were referring to the fella that put them on the leaf packs.

 

Yessir

 

Super easy, just make sure those brackets on the frame aren't bent or corroded. It's gotta be straight so the leafs hit the bumpstop at full stuff or it's worthless. Put your frame up on jackstands and floor-jack the rear tires to full stuff to make sure the leafs contact the right spot before you drill. use a styrofoam coffee cup and a zip tie to mimic the height and position of the bumpstop so you know it's going to match up.

 

If going that route youll need to do some mods on the bumps. Have to cut the mounting stud off then drill it out so the center pin on the leaf pack can go inside of it. Then cut/trim the sides of the new bump off to accomodate the spots for the ubolts to go so they can secure the new bumps in place.

They were made to be used as in the pics stumblestacks posted though, not on top of the leaf packs.....but.....it does look a lil cleaner i guess done like you mentioned, mounted to the leafs.

I would personally just stick with mounting them to the frame....no modifications needed.

 

Ha yeah probably smart. Seemed like a good idea.

 

I agree that it looks better with the bumps mounted on top of the leaf pack. I decided to go with frame mounted for easy r&r. If you rip off your leaf-mount bumps you have to un-bolt your shackles, etc, etc...I just get a new set of 4.5" bumps off Amazon for $40 and bolt those little pigs back where they belong. Takes 3 minutes once the holes are drilled, versus messing with u-bolts.

 

I didn't mean un-bolt your shackles, just u-bolts.

 

Agreed! Looks a lil better but for ease and convenience, frame mount em..

 

ARB warrantied 2 sets of Dakars for wearing out too quickly?!

 

Not wearing out to quickly, just completely failing after a couple months. In retrospect it was my fault for not putting on extended bumpstops. I owe the warranty service to Adam at High Rolling Customs in Reno. He vouched for me on the failure and dealt with ARB directly. ARB covered parts and labor for him to replace them and he's the one that clued me into the importance of matching lift with equal height bumpstops. He also did the welding for my sliders and bumper, did my diff rebuild, clutch replacement, winch and lights...best full service/fab shop in Reno in my opinion.

 

^^^yeah i was surprised to see you got em warrantied too! Pretty cool though! You must of really pushed them poor springs to and way beyong their limits to kill em like you did.

 

The best thing about those energy bumpstops is how soft they are when they compress. They engage and absorb without that jarring impact that you get from solid bumpstops. As with everything in the world off off-road mods, your suspension needs are regulated by how you use your truck. I have to maintain a balance between wheeling capabilities and towing my camper. If I didn't need the stiffness for towing I would ditch the AAL and go with soft leafs and hydraulic bumpstops. And long travel front end, and air lockers front and rear, and more credit card debt...

 

Weird I havnt used bump stops in the rear of mine since they broke off the first year I had them in. I do get that sickening twang sound when they go full inverse and hit the frame but iv never had one stick inverted. Iv noticed they have gradually given less lift and sagged, even broken a leaf before but never catastrophic failure like that.

The only time I have seen something related to a leaf spring travel issue is always inverse shackle related and would not be stopped by bump stops.

 

I was curious if those bumps were nice and soft or not. Good to know! Ill definitely get myself a pair of em here soon. I was worried they'd be bout rock solid!

 

stumblestacks - are these the one's you're referring to?

$106 Energy Suspension 9.9104R Universal Bump Stop

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspen...=1-16&keywords=ENERGY+SUSPENSION+BUMP+STOP+3"

 

These are even cheaper:

$44 Energy Suspension 9.9143G 3-1/8" Bump Stop Set

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspen...&sr=8-10&keywords=energy+suspension+bump+stop