Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Shocks Lifespan?

I've had the OME struts, 881 springs, and shocks on my truck for not quite 3 years now. Probably about 30k miles on the set. I was going through my truck and lubing the chassis, inspecting bushings, etc. and noticed that the bushings in these shocks are completely shot. I've noticed a bunch of really bouncy feeling and lots of clunky noises when I'm driving on road. When I get off road, I drive pretty hard and these shocks did fantastic for a while, but now I fear they are just worn out. Everything else suspension related is in great shape and relatively new (UCA, LCA bushings, leaf spring bushings and shackles, steering rack & bushings, etc.)

For those of you running this OME setup, what kind of lifespan are you experiencing? I would expect shocks under normal use with a little offroad use would last around 50k and I'm not even close to that.

I'm trying to decide on whether to just replace with the same OME shocks or upgrade to a full coilover setup. I'm not sure if the more expensive King or Icon would be worth it.

What do you guys think?

 

Can't put a life span on anything. It comes down to the owner usage.

 

Of course. I realize I use my truck a lot harder than many people. I am hoping to find some feedback from others on how long their setup lasted and how they were using it. I suppose I didn't make that part clear in my post.

 

I’ve had to replace my bushings on the front about every 20-25,000 miles.
If you off road your truck at all they aren't going to last.

The shocks themselves have lasted for a while. I replaced the fronts at 63,650 miles. They still worked okay but I waited too long on the bushings and the holes ovalized.
When I got the new shocks there was a difference but it wasn't huge.


The rears are at 79,250 miles. They don't bounce when you press down on the truck but I'm sure I could benefit from new shocks back there.

My truck is fairly heavy at 5800 pounds. The OME's do well but they aren't designed for the weight I carry. It's not my daily driver so it's either seeing highway or it's on rough dirt roads ranging from wash board to mild crawling. The suspension takes a beating.

My next set of shocks will be something tunable like Kings or Fox. My truck is too much of a fat ass to use off the shelf suspension. It handles like a covered wagon.

One thing I've always noticed about the OME's is that on fast wash boards in the desert they stop working so well after about 45 minutes. I think the oil inside cavitates. I carry and IR thermometer and check the shocks from time to time. They don't get super crazy hot but they get very very warm.

 

I mean, the bushings are fairly easy to replace. The bushings don't necessarily mean the shock is worn.

Even on my Kings, I had to replace the misalignment spacers mid way between the 1st and 2nd rebuild.

 

Well, I suppose just replacing the bushings is easy and inexpensive. When you replaced your bushings where did you order them from? I'm having a difficult time finding part numbers for them though. The ARB part numbers are OMEB15 and 110-110-122 but googling those part numbers bring all kinds of crazy results that are not really applicable.

 

I’ve ordered them twice and each time has been a pain.

I ordered some from this eBay store last March.
https://www.ebay.com/str/fourwheeldrivehardware?ssspo=8PEHzwL3Riu&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=JscMVoj6QnS&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

but the don’t appear to have any.

I found these but the price is absurd.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1753725768...scMVoj6QnS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY


Maybe try emailing tech@arbusa.com

Edit: I also attached the ARB catalog for whatever reason.

 

I'm in the same boat (6 years but only 20k miles) and have put off ordering them as I can't find someplace to order them that looks like you're actually going to receive the correct part for a reasonable price. In my mind these should be <$10, but I can only find them for 2-3 times that, and I'm assuming that only gets you the one bushing.

Here's what a google search turns up. I tried ARB dealers, but no one seemed to have them.
https://autoplicity.com/11161560-arb-110-110-122
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184804508602
https://www.carid.com/arb/ome-shock-bushing-mpn-110-110-122.html

 

Haha, yeah, that's exactly the type of stuff I found. No way to determine if I'll actually end up with the correct parts. I ended up ordering the ARB OME bushings from Summit racing because at least their pictures matched, but sheesh, that is a TON of money for a few little pieces of rubber. My plan is to measure them when they get here then order poly bushings direct from Energy Suspension to match the sizes. This will end up being about $12 instead of $75.

If that doesn't work, or if I end up having a hard time pressing the bushings out of the front shocks, then I'll just give up and buy new front shocks.

 

If you wouldn't mind, let me know who you end up ordering from and if they send the right part. I'd also be interesting if you make any headway going the poly bushing route. It's a little disappointing that these fail well before the life of the shock, and egregious given the price they charge to replace them.

 

After I measure the ARB parts from Summit, I'm going to order direct from Energy Suspension here. It's the only place I've found that sells the universal bushings.

 

If you don’t mind sharing which bushings from energy suspension.
I would gladly send you some money to help cover the cost of the $100 ARB bushings.

 

Meh. I'm just going to return them, but thanks for the offer.

 

That’s an even better idea!

 

Well bugger. I can’t find any energy suspension bushings the same size as these OME bushings. But now that I’ve got the correct parts, the rear bushings are not that much more than ES, and with the metal outer sleeve on the front bushings, the $20 each price isn’t too bad.

I measured the OME bushings.
front bushings including metal outer sleeve to press in -
1.395” OD
.554” ID
1.543” sleeve length
1.22” bushing length
Rear bushings -
1.490” max outer diameter
1.25” min outer diameter
1.507” length

 

Bummer

I took your measurements and sent them to sales@energysuspensionparts.com

 

Energy Suspension responded with:

I had to use our universal line of polyurethane 2 piece bushings. They are not exactly the same dimensions you sent me. They will have to be modified to fit. Here is a link to the first bushing: 9.9483. The dimensions are shown in the details box. It would have to be modified. For the rear bushing you said the outer diameter is 1.25 or 1.49? is it a hour glass shaped?

https://www.suspension.com/9.9483

 

Cool. The rear ones are hourglass shaped. It's a little hard to tell in my crappy picture.

 

Oh, those are for the rear shocks. I forgot those are hourglass shape.

 

I just found this. It has a search feature.

https://www.suspension.com/universal-bushings.asp