Old Man Emu: Questions, Answers & Pictures

I've only got about 12K kilometers on them so they aren't exactly worn out, though the thought crossed my mind. It might be easier to just buy new shocks.

 

No idea. Been really difficult to find info or photos of them. I hope it's for a set, as realistically they should be a $5 part. I'm a little disappointed with the lifespan as I've got under 20k miles and 5 years on the shocks.

 

I know what you mean with the mileage, I have even less than that but 20 years on the shocks. There is a place down the road from me that is an OME dealer so I called them about an hour ago to get availability and pricing, They said they have been an OME dealer for years and today was the first time they had a call for OME bushings...and that I was the second one calling them. Apparently someone else here in town needed some as well. They said he had bought a new shock, popped out the bushing which has the part number molded into it and then had them order new bushings off that.

I'll see what they say but I may just end up getting some new sdhocks, especially if they are that pricy. New shocks for my Land Cruiser are $120 each.

 

Just adding to this page because I've had the Dakars and then switched to Dobinsons due to the Dakar leaf pack not cutting it. Below are the details...

I recently switched from OME Dakars (CS047R + aal for 8 leafs total) to the Dobinsons 112-R pack with the 113-R aal (for 8 leafs total) and am very happy with how this turned out. My truck runs at least 6900lbs loaded so she's a heavy girl. Front bumper and skid plates are aluminum and the rear bumper w/dual swing outs (33" tire, 40L fuel and high lift) and sliders are steel. The Prinsu rack has an awning, Maxtrax and a gun case with recovery gear in it. Front is lifted approx 2.25" from stock. I may have been alright with just the 112-R packs but I still have room to add a few more camping items an will be pulling a small inflatable boat in the future. If you need a heavy duty leaf pack for your application, consider Dobinsons as a better option to the Dakars at 2/3 of the price of Deaver Expedtion stage 3s.

Truck with the Dakars (below) is completely unloaded (nothing in the bed).

Truck with the Dobinsons (below) is fully loaded approx. 6900-7000lbs.

 

I'm going with the same kit (installing Thursday) most folks seem to have mixed feelings on the 886s. Seems you and I are running a similar set up with a camper shell plus an ARB bumper. If you can hold out for some heavier armor I'd say stick with it for a bit then see how they act. Maybe even a winch in the front would help out? Either way. If you still have the issue once you add some more weight you should try ripping the 885s instead. That should help out. Keep me posted!!

 

Finally got parts stuck to the new rig! Full ome med kit. Got about 3inchs all around, with center bumper and x20 winch. I was on the fence on which way to go. Im glad I went ome! Ride is amazing!

 

Thanks for the response. That's kind of what I have decided as well, if I am going to be spending the money, I may as well spend it on some armor and equipment and see if that helps. It's not such a bad place to be in when you need to add weight to your vehicle, I could do that all day if I had the money. Good luck with the install and expect your truck to ride pretty stiff before things settle!

 

I was going to go with the heavy load options, but it sounds like without a decent amount of weight I might need to go with a medium load set up. Did you end up adding any more weight and see a difference?

 

If you have a heavy steel bumper with a winch or skid plates in the front, and a heavy constant load like a camper or bumper in the rear, you should be fine with the heavy load setup. If you are planning on doing these things in the future, I would go with a medium duty and change out springs when the time comes.

I purchased the heavy duty set on a stock truck thinking I would add weight and it would plush out. What I have since found is that it takes a hell of a lot of weight to compress the springs enough for a smooth ride, right now I would guess I am sitting at the top 1/4th of my strut travel, meaning I have limited down travel and I constantly top out the metal stops on the inner shock reservoir, giving me a loud, and often jarring, "clunk" on most speed bumps/obstacles off-road, and that is with a ARB bumper. Before the bumper it was even worse.

The rear is much of the same, I have a fair bit of weight back there now with a camper shell, rack, 33" spare, and drawer system so its improved a ton since initial install.

What I have noticed is that when I have a passenger with me my ride is slightly smoother and I am not topping out the shocks nearly as much, which tells me that the more weight I add (sliders, skids, winch, etc.) the better my ride quality will be.

Long story short, if I had to do it again I would go the 885 route as @BigMack mentioned, and a medium duty leaf pack. I'd rather have a properly setup suspension, which softens out overtime as more weight is added then go heavy duty preemptively and suffer a poor ride quality. The mods are not coming as fast as I had thought and I have dealt with the consequences of my decision for some time now.

 

I have been thinking the exact same way; why not just go with the heavy since I will be adding parts? Makes sense it is too stiff without the proper weight added. I think I'm going to go with the medium load then replace the springs/leaf pack like you suggested as I add more weight. Thank you for this info! This is really helpful.

 

Glad I could help, I think you'll be much happier with the medium setup. Its really not much money or work to change out springs, plus you could sell your old ones for a decent price and recoup some cost. Good luck with the install and make sure to post a picture when its done!

 

Tried searching already but no luck. Anyone know why headstrong lists the medium duty dakars as lifting a 2nd gen 2.75" and a 3rd gen 2"? Both my old 2nd and new 3rd gen measure at about 22" hub to center in the rear

 

What size tires you running? I have pretty much same setup but in silver and looking at OME med kit. Any other pics?

 

Only this other one so far I'm running a 265/75 dura tracks for now. Looking into some 255 when they become available again.
Good kit. Only "problem" I'm having is full droop it hits kinda hard. Upper control arms might be the issue haven't really checked yet. Otherwise I'm pumped on it. Rear bumper comes next week. Hopefully the med kit holds up. If not I'll add a leaf.

 

Ordered a medium kit for my truck ~3 months back. Still eagerly waiting for it

 

Where is everyone buying their OME kits from? I'm seeing kits ranging from the basics (shocks, struts, coils, leaf packs, hardware) to strut assembly, diff drop kit, carrier barring drop, extended brake lines, UCAs, etc. Any advice on what is necessary vs a good idea to replace while installing the kit? I don't wan to buy a kit and turn around and have to purchase additional parts if another kit has everything I will need.

 

In Canada, I ordered as a package from Wheelers, 886/Dakar HD. Three of the four packages made it to BC within a week, the fourth, UPS sent to Chicago is is delayed a week behind the other items.

 

I purchased from @HeadStrong Off-Road, they personally looked over everything before loading it in my truck for me (I opted to pick up instead of pay for shipping), they actually found a faulty coil which was replaced right there on the spot no questions asked. They had great customer service and were able to help answer a lot of my questions. Regarding some things you'll want to look at replacing, it depends on how many miles you have on your current suspension and how hard you drive. It looks like you have a third gen so I am assuming you probably have less miles than I did when I replaced my suspension. Other things I replaced were:

• ECGS bearing - This is a must for all lifted Tacomas to eliminate a vibration and possible failure in the drivers side needle bearing.
• U-bolts - Everytime you remove your leaf springs, whether to add a leaf or replace the whole pack, you need to replace these as they have constant high stress load on them.
• UCAs - If you are lifting more than 2" these are essential for moving caster forward to accommodate your lift (and fit bigger tires) as well as making sure the UCAs clear the coil under full droop. I went with SPCs and I would highly recommend them.
• Carrier Bearing Drop - This is usually included and it is important as it corrects your driveline geometry after a lift. Its a super easy install and very cheap.

Optional upgrades would be extended brake lines, remember OME coils are stock length, meaning you will get minimal if any additional flex, meaning your stock length brake lines are just fine. Another optional add-on would be a diff drop, I didn't go with one and I suggest you do the same, it's not necessary for a 2-3" lift and it reduces ground clearance, which is why you are lifting in the first place!

Finally I will say please do yourself a favor and order the assembled coilovers. I ordered the struts and coils separately thinking I'd save myself a few bucks using a spring compressor from autozone. After 4 hours of using air tools and bending the living hell out of the spring compressors worried I would kill myself, I gave up and took it to a local shop, I ended up saving like $20 but it cost me 4 hours of my time and a few years off my life, and I still have the stock hardware because you reuse it if you assemble yourself.

 

I just ordered from wheelers for my old 4runner, they had it in stock and and I had them assemble the coils/shocks and it came within a week. I would've ordered from headstrong like I did for my taco suspension, but they didn't have it in stock unfortunately when I ordered a few weeks back

 

This was extremely helpful! I will reach out to them to get a quote! My 2019 only has 12k miles, but I plan on off-roading on weekends and building this into an overland vehicle for road trips and camping. Thank you for this info!