Old Man Emu setups on 1st gens

ok thanks, ill pull the leaf then adjust it because my ride height in the rear will change once again, father pointed out that at this point more pressure is being put on the front brakes which isn't too much of a concern because all my weight is upfront since I never tow anything. Appreciate it!

 

Hi guys, so I’ve read through some posts on this thread through the search tool. However couldn’t find the exact answers needed. So I’ve got a complete Ome setup, that is being installed as we speak. They complained that it appears that the axle will be moved too far forward. Obviously I’ve seen people talk about drilling a new hole, or going with a relocation bracket. I got a dblcab as well. I passed this on to the guys, and were trying to source out parts locally..

I’m just wondering, if this is such a big issue with ome, why the hell wouldn’t they a) include instructions outlining this, or b) include a relocation bracket? What seems to be the general consensus. Brackets, or drill out a new hole for the pin.
Thanks!

 

Don't mean to come across rude but I'd have someone else do it who doesn't complain and knows what they are doing. Seriously.
Better yet, consider doing it yourself. I had no experience whatsoever with lifts, but was able to install the kit just fine. Referenced multiple threads on here and the factory service manual. It's not rocket science.

Bottom line: You don't need to relocate anything and NO, there shouldn't be a problem with the axle after install.

 

I totally agree with you. This is the first time I’ve paid for someone to lift a vehicle. I work away 5/5 rotation and I dropped it off with the hopes that it would be done when I got back.. but COVID hit and hey lost a few mechanics so now they’re working on it while I’m home twiddling my thumbs lol..

 

Either they’re confused on what they’re doing or the wrong springs were ordered/delivered.

 

This.

I've never done a truck suspension swap before (I've done fronts on cars and they're basically the same) and I did it with ease using basic tools. You can do it, it's SUPER simple.

 

I have a very similar exhaust "mod"
The pipe rusted through right behind the muffler and fell off when I was cruising down a bumpy dirt road! Now it sounds much better than stock, and the tail pipe has zero issues with routing since it just isn't there at all.
I might make my own tail pipe at some point, but so far no issues resulting from the "rust modded and removed" tail pipe.

 

So my front eye bushings are creaking really bad and I’m going to replace them with (what are the good bushings again? Poly?).
Has anyone managed to replace the front eye bushing without having to remove the whole leaf pack itself?

 

Polyurethane bushings are the standard upgrade for rubber bushings on vehicles to get a slightly more firm ride and tighter suspension. Energy suspension makes tons for lots of different applications and there are other brands as well. Energy suspension tends to be the go to. You can find them on ebay.

I haven not tried to replace that bushing on mine, as they are fine. However, I was planning to replace the through bolt on the front eye. I figured that I would be able to use one bolt to push the old one out, then use the new bolt to push the "driver" out. Even using various jacks and shims to try to keep the spring in place so I could push the bolts through, there was just no way. The springs have way too much tension to stay in place while removing the bolt. So my guess is that you may end up finding it easier to just remove the whole leaf pack, replace the bushing and reinstall the leaf pack. You may be able to do that more easily and quickly than trying to just uninstall the front, remove the bushing which probably needs some decent force or perhaps hammering to drive out, and then reinstall. My two cents. Would love an update once you get it done. Good luck, have fun, happy wheeling!

 

I'm debating about doing the same thing. SUPER annoying that my leafpack started creaking after a few months. I really don't want to have to pull the entire pack off of the truck to replace the bushings.

 

Initially, Wheeler's shipped my OME packs with the OEM Toyota style front bushing. Of course I wasn't thrilled being on the POLY bandwagon. Pressed them out and went with Wheeler's front poly bushings (believe they are Daystar, not sure). Long story short, squeak city. @eon_blue can confirm that polys will sound like a tired old mattress going over speed bumps in the parking lot. If I ever muster the desire to rip back into the leaf packs, I'll be replacing those front bushings with the stock OE style rubber.

Just sharing my exp.

 

yeah poly bushings are a noisy upgrade really, no matter where you put them...my poly UCA bushings squeak, poly LCA bushings squeak, Poly leaf spring bushings squeak...all were greased before install with the right kind. It's just a fact of life with the poly upgrade (longer lasting than rubber).

Greaseable bolts where applicable will help some

 

You're getting squeaks from the SPC bushings? I haven't noticed any there - yet...

 

My old ones didn't until about 2 years in...just replaced the old ones with new ones and they're squeaking like banshees 1 month in, lol.

I really wish SPCs had greaseable bushing sleeves like the JBAs do. I'm definitely not going to pull them out again to grease them, SPC bushings have to be pressed in and are a pain.

I got them to quiet down some by dousing them in PTFE dry lube spray


I'm going to replace the arms entirely someday soon, when we had my SPCs out the inside of the bushing sleeves were getting pitted from water damage which sucks. But, they've lasted 5 years so it was a decent run I guess.

You can get a big discount through SPC on their brand new design if you send in your old ones, so I might do that.

 

So it sounds like my only hope of getting rid of this annoyance is by just getting oem bushings?

 

If you haven't tried greaseable bolts, I would try those. And use the right kind of grease for poly bushings, some people just pump regular black grease or red n tacky in there, poly bushings require that white/clear PTFE silicone based grease. It's sticky and messy as hell. And the proper way to do it is to loosen the bolts before pumping grease in so the bushings don't deform.

But, yes if you want a squeak-free as possible truck...poly is probably not the way to go. Its like uniball joints, you install them knowing they're going to make noise but you mitigate it as best you can. The added strength/reliability is worth it for some, not for others

 

So sounds like oem bushings with greaseable bolts would pair nicely together?

 

I'm not sure if that's a good idea for rubber bushings....someone else will have to chime in there.

poly bushings have the inner metal sleeve that is designed to rotate where the vulcanized rubber bushing sleeves don't, iirc. Not sure grease would be doing it any favors

 

Oh ok I see that makes sense thank you

 

Not to derail (lol), I don't remember the bushings being difficult to install then again the kit was fresh out of the box/new. We'll see what happens when I do end up replacing them. Did you replace with the revised bushing or the original specride bushing?