Old Man Emu setups on 1st gens

Original spec ride. I guess they weren't too bad, but definitely not as easy as leaf spring poly bushings that you just put in by hand. I had a friend do the bushing on my SPCs because he had a press, I just remember it took some time to get them in there (kept wanting to slip off the arm, bend sideways, etc.). They're a real tight fit

Not to mention to get them out again, you can't just pop them out you have to cut 'em out

At least with leaf spring poly bushings, if they get real noisy they are relatively easy to pop out, grease up, and pop back in.

 

Just want to share that I've had my full 882 OME suspension with Total Chaos UCA's for a few weeks and I'm reporting no issues and lots of smiles. Went hard offroading with my buddy using a twin locked Jeep on 35's and I did remarkably well and damn did the truck feel comfortable.

 

I just drove 1000+ miles and the leaf pack is the nosiest its ever been. REALLY annoying to be dealing with this when I have less than 10,000 miles on this leafpack.

Would greaseable bolts help with the front poly bushing you installed? Do they make OEM style rubber bushings that work with the DAKARS?

 

The main eye of the Dakars should be the same size as the OE leaf springs, so I would assume the OE rubber bushing would fit. But don't 100% quote me on that

Dakars tend to squeak between the leaves as well so it's not always the bushings that are the issue.

Really there's no such thing as quiet leaf springs if you wheel your truck, dirt gets between the leaves and they are just going to make noise. But I totally understand how Dakars can get really annoying. Mine were like banshees

 

Any consensus on longer boots for the 2.5" OME lift. I did Dakar leaf springs a year ago and about to add shocks and coils up front and shocks in the back.

I am really hoping that with the lightest, regular length spring up front, that I am not going to get too much lift. Expecting about 2.5 right off the bat and hoping to settle down to 2" or so based on what everyone here has posted for their personal experience.

I have ordered OME boots so that I can do a full CV axle service while I have everything torn apart to do ball joints, I really don't want to have to take the whole front end apart again in a month to swap boots.

So, go OME and preprare to slide the boot if needed after a few weeks? Or go longer boots? Seems like I am right on the cusp.

Any disadvantage to boots that are longer than needed? Seems like they would simply cover more of the center shaft but should be possible to set their length so that no boot fins are rubbing. Does that sound accurate?

Thanks for any final input on this everyone. Waiting on parts and looking forward to transforming my truck handling in a week or two when all parts and tools have been accumulated!

 

@eon_blue you mentioned off road problem solvers for upper boots, I haven't been able to get their website to load at all. Are you still able to navigate to their website? Do they still exist?

 

I sprayed down my pack including in between the leaf pack with tri flo grease. It helped cut down on the squeaking a ton.

 

It does help but Tri Flo is a dry lubricant and doesn't last long. I use it on everything though because it works well, even if for just a short while.

WD40 and others like white lithium get all gunky over time and make it worse

 

I'm not sure what you mean by off road problem solvers? We talking for the upper control arm boots or the inner cv boots?

 

sorry, I meant to say off road solutions. You posted this link: https://www.offroadsolutions.com/products/high-angle-inner-cv-boot/
for inner CV boots, and every attempt to get to their website fails. Wondering if you have a way to get to the site or perhaps a phone number for them or any information about whether or not they are still in business. Thanks for any inf
ormation!

 

The link works for me, just clicked and it pulled up the page. Took a min to load

 

excellent, good to know, must be a problem with my browser or something. I have been having all sorts of internet problems lately so it is a bit tough to tell where the problems are. At least now I know their site is working, just need to figure out how to get there...thanks!

 

just tried to pull up their site on my smartphone, went right to it, no problem at all. Perhaps the fact that my computer is 10 years old is starting to catch up with me...

 

Get rid of the HDD and put an SSD, problem solved.

 

Sad to report, my laptop is equipped with an SSD, so that is not the solution for me in this case. Any other suggestions? Perhaps if I didn't live 11 miles from nowhere...

 

Ah damn. You said 10 years and I assumed it was an old pc/laptop with HDD.

 

Since every vendor is sold out of the OME kit, is there one recommended over another to put it on backorder with?

I'm going the whole kit route with 881s and an add a leaf in the back since I have a camper shell and usually 200lbs of tools in the back

 

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I just got my order shipped from Wheeler's offroad. There was a bit of a delay, so I am guessing they were waiting on some of the OME equipment to come in. I had talked to Cruiser Outfitters down in Utah, and they said they could put the package together for me but were waiting on some of the equipment from OME as well, so perhaps OME stuff has been delivered. My initial call to Cruiser's was great, very knowledgeable staff there. First call to Wheeler's was the same. I placed my order with Wheeler's because they offered 10% off a first time purchase as well as free shipping, that was a pretty significant savings. Second call to check something with Wheeler's and I got someone on the phoen who seemed very new and did not have nearly the knowledge that the previous associates at both Wheeler's and Cruiser Outfitters had. I also really like Slee Offroad down in Golden CO, but they are a better option for me when I happen to be in Colorado. Definitely very knowledgeable. At this point, perhaps call them all and see if anyone suddenly has what you need in stock based on this recent shipment that came in. cheers.

 

Thank you, I appreciate first hand experiences