Old Man Emu setups on 1st gens

Mine look the same as well. Looks kinda like a W.

 

Ok here's some details about the dakars... and OME leaves in general.

They do not have a constant arc from front to back. They have a slightly "flat" spot at the center where the spring hits the spring perch. This is to keep the ubolts from having to force the springs to flatten as the ubolts are tightened. Less strain on the ubolts, no tension on the springs and they "seat" better against the spring perch. This contributes to the "wavy" look Monte pointed out.

OME spec photo


In addition the springs are designed to be nearly flat at static ride height. In Australia where they are designed, they are not meant as a "lift" spring but as an upgrade from OEM springs with better behavior on washboarded tracks in the outback. A flat or close to flat spring gives a much better ride over high-frequency bumps like potholes and washboards than an arched spring. This is the primary function of the OME leaf springs. They do provide some lift but it's primarily a stronger better riding upgrade to stock suspension.

For those wondering the AAL or the D6XL extra leaf for 1st Gen Tacomas should be the third leaf from the top when installed. This makes a HUGE difference in load capacity over the standard Dakar leaf packs.

The Dakars have two progressive overload leaves to limit the negative arch of the springs when flexed or loaded. Since they are designed to be nearly flat at static ride height, they will frequently go into negative arch. This is normal and how they are designed. The two overloads will keep them from compressing to the point of damaging them.

Someone pointed out that the OME shocks can contact the springs with the shocks in the stock Tacoma locations. This is true. You can see the body of one of the shocks in the photo I posted above that is dented.

As for why I relocated my shocks it was because the OME shocks were limiting droop. The springs would drop farther than the shocks would allow. I wanted to get all the travel I could as well as accomodate the ubolt flips I added that ditched the stock lower shock mounts. Keeping my shocks essentially vertical rather than angled inward like /\ keeps the truck more stable with less body roll in turns. The new location of the shocks like I have them allow for full travel of the leaves while still using OME nitrocharger shocks.

Here's the spring fully flexed to the overloads. This is normal.


Much better flex than before the shock relocation.

 

Why would you think they would bind? It not any different really from the stock set up. And having them closer to the center of the truck rather that closer to the wheels results in less lateral deflection or "lean" in the shock when flexed. Having the shocks farther to the outside is more stable however.

No binding happening.

 

Hmm, you have me considering relocating my shock mounts - given an alternate relocation to your setup with longer shocks, do you think there's any additional travel to be gained? I'm thinking about remote reservoir Icons with Dakars..undecided on the Dakar AAL right now.

 

Here's a pic of my rig. I picked it up just over a month ago and have just started throwing parts at it. I finished the OME lift this weekend and removed the swaybar. So far I'm pretty impressed with the ride. I'll get a better feel for everything after this weeks road trip. Gonna do some mild wheeling in Arizona.

 

Nice! 881 or 882? Is that a tg bumper?

 

Thanks. I went 883's since I plan on installing a winch later. I'm not sure who makes the front bumper. The previous owner had it installed and it uses a vertical brace that's welded to the frame. I'm not a fan but it'll work for now. I would have considered keeping it but there's no winch plate.

 

Can't wait to see what they're like with a plate bumper.

 

Man...I rotated my tires on Friday and had a nice warm garage all to myself and didn't do it haha. I need to find a good Allen wrench or something because I can't get the damn thing to budge. Just need more leverage I'm sure. Maybe next time I rotate the tires...

 

Heated garage?

 

Yep

 

Hey, me too! The heat's so good it hits ~120f.

in the summer.

 

Hey whats this Truck worth now it only has 70k on it, thinking of buy a Ford Raptor

 

I'm using all the travel the Dakars will allow. Longer shocks wouldn't make any difference at this point. Remote reservior Icons will work fine and handle heat better if you run a lot of higher speed trails that heat up the shocks, otherwise a good quality monotube shock will be adequate. If you relocate your mounts a 10" shock (like mine) can work just fine. Or you could do a 12" shock but your mounts might need to be different.

 

Would there be an advantage to relocating? I'm torn between ordering leafs and then measuring before shocks, or getting the Icons at 20% off this weekend (445 shipped) and then hoping the springs match.

 

The advantage of relocating is that a shorter shock can work and allow full travel. But the bigger advantage I think is that you can do a ubolt flip and gain clearance under the axles

 

I've done some researching but still can't find the answer, exactly how much travel does the ome nitrochargers give?

 

Nitrochargers are 10" travel shocks. Something like 10.135" IIRC

 

really?? i thought they were 9.135"...hmmmm..

 

I ended up ordering springs - going to limp along with stock shocks until I get measurements done (driving 2 miles each way to work - shouldn't break anything). You mentioned OME's rubbing the springs at full stuff - was that after relocating the lower mounts? I'm debating between relocating the lower mounts alone, or doing lower and upper (either to the top of the frame, or making a crossmember). It looks like you went the crossmember route; any recommendations?