Old Man Emu 2 inch lift kit quality

I just wanted to comment on a recent experience I had with two separate lift kits. I am hoping that my feedback will possibly help others deciding on a similar kit.

Truck: 2001 Xtra Cab, 2.7, 4x4, auto, 190k miles.

A few weeks ago, I had the 2 inch OME full suspension lift kit installed, to include rear leafs. To make a long story short, I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the lift kit. The rear leafs seem fine, no issue there. But the springs and shocks seemed like super poor quality. After only having the shocks on my truck for a little more than a week, they looked like they were 3-4 years old. The ride quality was terrible (way too rough and bouncy), but to be fair, I did not have any extra weight on the front at all. The spring was the lightest that they make for my truck. Also, BOTH front and rear shocks made a loud "popping noise" whenever I would hit or turn into some type of bump. It was awful. I was told by the installers and OME that this is normal (something about a metal to metal bump stop). For the type of money that this kit costs, I should not be hearing sounds like that with normal every day driving. I never took it off-road, and frankly didn't feel comfortable due to the quality.

I swapped out the OME suspension with the 3 inch Toytec/Boss set up. What a difference! Smooth as butter. Feels great on road and even better off road. Literally a night and day difference between the way the truck handles. No weird sounds at all. I couldn't be happier. It was exactly what I was looking for.

My disclaimer is that this is purely my opinion. I understand many people have various OME set ups and are extremely happy. I personally have some OME rear springs on my wife's 4Runner, and they are great. But, I was extremely dissatisfied with the set up I had on the Tacoma. The Toytec/Boss setup from Eibach was exactly what I was looking for!

Now, I just have to wait for the ARE topper I ordered to come in!

 

For your rear springs, did you do an AAL or OME Dakars or something else? What did you think of them?

 

Subbed

 

OME Dakars. They are fine. No issues so far. They are a bit stiff, but expected. I am adding an ARE Camper so it should work out perfect.

 

Which OME coils did you have up front?

The pop or click noise from OME springs is common, I had that too on mine when I had 881s. Every speed bump or bump in the trail would make it happen

 

2.7 4x4 with the Toytec 3" lift coils?

Hope you like changing axles a lot.


Ive got OME 880 coils on my 2.7. They gave me 1.75" of lift just as advertised. Trouble free in the 2 years Ive had em.

 

Just a reminder

 

Took the spacer off that came with the kit since I have a 2.7 to compensate for the lighter weight. Came out perfect. Love the ride.

 

The tiny little 1/4 spacer? That doesnt do much. Lets see some pics of those axle angles please.

 

881s up front. I felt they were rough for the 2.7 but I I also don't have any weight up front either.

My main issue, and the reason I canned it, is due to the constant popping from the front and rear shocks (wasn't the coils) whenever I turned into any type of bump or driveway.

I personally felt the Eibach kit was a big upgrade. However, opinions are like assholes. Everyone has them.

 

No the coilovers they sell have 2.5 inch springs with a half inch spacer to get a full 3 inches. I removed that due to the weight of the 2.7 versus the 3.4. Worked out perfect.

Installed a diff drop as well.

 

Mkay. All Im saying is that even the manufacturer doesnt recommend it on 4 cylinder trucks. You do you.

Did it align okay? Do you have new upper control arms?

 

Talked to the guys at Eibach before I bought. They recommended what I got, minus the spacer. I got between 2.5 and 2.75 inches up front. Looks great.

It aligned perfect. The tech was awesome.

No UCAs yet . However, I am getting the SPCs soon. ARE topper next week.

 

This is interesting. I have the same popping noises on the front and rear of my OME kit. It took a year for it to start making this noise partially because I only drive it 5,000 miles a year.
I thought maybe it was my inner tie rods, but this makes complete sense. And so does the stiff ride. May try icon coilovers instead.

 

Do you still have your sway bar on? Popping over bumps is something that bad links tend to do. A lift kit just magnifies the issue. Mine did this after I lifted, replaced the links and all was normal again.

The rear likely is the OME Dakar springs. They are notoriously noisy springs.

 

Good call.

At first I thought it was the leafs. It wasn't. Turned out to be both front and rear shocks Swapped out and sweet as butter now!

 

Sway bar is still on. I've read on here of people putting washers between each leaf to minimize noises.

 

I realized a year ago that there is no solution that lasts to fix squeaky/creaky leafs. Ive had mine out 4 times trying to fix the issue. I get at best about 3 weeks of silence before the noise is back. I just live with it now.