Interesting lift dilemmas, Opinions, uses.

[JeepCoMJ]

I do not buy from companies that resell. It's not to be offensive, but companies like Motion Offroad have done enough wrong by jeepers that I'm not interested in doing so.

Example: I am not buying Old Man Emu parts from jeepinbyal, ARB, rockyroadoutfitters, etc. Just my preference

Where on God's Green Earth is a link direct to OME's U.S. website? I cannot find it.

I appreciate what Tommudd has done for lifts with Jeepinbyal...but that website is terrible to navigate. click "jeep liberty lifts" and it goes to a bunch of blah blah about how he's helped people build this and that. I'm happy he does, but that's not the link I clicked.

Then click 02-07 lifts, and it doesn't even show tommudd's econo lift there. So I googled that.

All of the lifts I've seen, even the econo lift, have things I do want, and things I don't want. I just want to order up my coils and associated parts, struts, I'll measure and get my own air shocks for the rear, and given any driveline angle issues, I will make my own upper wishbone for the rear suspension, and SYE it. That, I have no problem doing.


I've got a set of 265/75R16 goodyear tires that are brand new that I'm going to put on my jeep...but only if I can make the lift cost me less money than a set of five 245/75R16 Yokahama Geolander A/ts.


Why you ask? The rig is going to have a Meyer DP 6'8" snow plow on it. All parts on hand to do so, and it will be there, despite that naysayers will say "oh, you can't plow with a uniframe, it will crumble" or "a plow isn't good for a uniframe" etc.

I've plowed with an MJ for years, with XJ's, TJ's, suburban's, duramax's, ford 7.3 trucks, municipal dumps, up to Cat IT's and 938 or bigger articulating loaders, and skid steers.

The plow I have is a quick-mount. I can mount or dismount in 47 seconds flat. Basically the way it works is snow falls, plow goes on, plows my driveway and cowpad in front of the barn, then gets put in warm end of shop and taken off. Occasionally I plow for a friend, but it's small residential, and uncommon, with under 2 miles of driving.

The jeep will hold up with nary a whimper to my uses for the plow.

It will have a small (300lb cap) salter on the hitch at various points as my driveway is gravel, and somehow plenty of idjits who come to me for snowplow repair (my winter business) have 2wd trucks.

Basically, I can put the plow on stock and buy the tires I want, or I can lift (which I want for year-round driving and occasional mild wheeling) and use what I've got. Either way, the cost for the lift has got to be no greater than $1100, because I can replace the tires I have with brand new rubber and rims for that or less.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Suspension Systems

It seems that they are owned by ARB. That being said, I'm not sure that they sell directly to the public, kinda like Fender and almost any other guitar company where you can't just buy from them, you have to go through a dealer (unless it's Custom Shop).

 

[tommudd]

This is funny as all get out
ANYTHING you buy almost has to come through distributors unless its from a small builder/distributor
Everything is listed on JBAs site just like lifts etc are listed on Boulderbars.com for the Frankenlifts etc

But good luck, become a distributor and then you can buy direct

 

[tjkj2002]

OME = ARB,same company.OME is the suspension part of the ARB company.You will also pay alot more ordering directly from ARB USA.

 

[JeepCoMJ]

OME must have been bought out since I've bought suspensions. Last time I did, it was a completely seperate entity.


Well, here's the basics of what I want then.

upper a-arms. don't care if they're JBA or not, though I have and like the JBA's on the other KJ. I'll probably buy them off a part-out.

3.5" front lift
same in rear, but I will be cutting .5" out of the coils. I'm putting air shocks in to make up for the weight of the salter, and want the front to sit .5" higher than the rear sits with no air in the shocks. This worked great in the MJ (leaf) and I will opt for it again as the .5" I cut out will be made up for with 50lbs pressure in the shocks when the plow is off, and 90lbs when it and the salter are on. it doesn't need to nose dive when i put the plow on it.


Weight of plow: 434lbs without mount. 500ish all told mount stays on vehicle
weight of salter: 334lbs loaded, 211 empty


I don't need any ball joint relocation stuff in the rear. Already don't like the upper joint design, am probably going to change it out to my own LCA's and 4 link it instead, sometime down the road. Not so much for flex as for reliability.


What is the cheapest bang for buck 3.5" front coil/strut combo I can buy?

What are the cheapest bang for buck rear 3.5" coils I can buy?

 

[JeepCoMJ]

Or, what lift to fit 265/75R16 with no rubbing. and ability to take on front end weight.

 

[tommudd]

ARB started OME always been part of it

But what you need with the weight is the OME CRD springs, of course then when the plow is off it will be a stiff ride , so then you're back to the OME927s for the front for $170 or so, 948 OMEs for the rear but neither will give you the lift you want. Only about 2.5 inches with no clevis lift or top plate etc
There are no springs available that give you 3.5 inches of lift. JBA has rear 4 inch springs but you wouldn't like them I'm sure

 

[yellocoyote]

As already said, nearly (if not) all the components are sold through distributors these days. I don't know how true it is now, but back when I bought all the parts for my current lift, I shopped around with various distributors. I saved a respectable amount of money by NOT buying everything in one place - springs came from one distributor, shocks from another, etc. I'm not sure if that's still the case - I'll find out once I start researching a lift upgrade next year. Doing a fair amount of online research worked out well for me.

 

[tommudd]

Most all springs are pretty much the same price anymore no matter where you buy them, only difference is shipping at times.
My first lift came from 3 different places, 2nd lift from two.
Now shocks you can save a bit by sourcing from places like shockwarehouse.
Only issue there is if you have a problem harder to get refunds/replacements etc. Fighting with them currently and not getting anywhere :whymewhyme:
Lesson learned

 

[VAhlene]

I was in a similar situation doing my lift. I would have rather ordered directly from manufacture but that would have been a lot more money. I honestly was not a fan of Jeepin by al, I know they have done a lot for the KJ community and they do offer top notch parts but I feel as if when I spoke with them they didn't really want my purchase and were not very helpful. I could have caught them on an off day and I plan on doing business in the future with them for a arms and top plates but OME can be bought for cheaper elsewhere. Like yellow said its cheaper to peice together your own lift from different vendors.

 

[tommudd]

Just curious
where you are finding OME springs cheaper
I stay pretty much up on spring and shock pricing and seems that most I find are in the 160-163 for fronts and 163-167 for the rears
or was just a couple of weeks ago

 

[yellocoyote]

I got all my stuff back in 2010 - I'd have to go and dig for receipts. I didn't order from any of the common distributors back then (nothing from JBA till I got UCA's). I haven't started researching for the upgrade yet - probably won't until after the first of the year.

 

[Luke]

I just went for the most expensive method I could find ... :happy175: ... but I have to say they (AllJ's) made up for some of it in long distance calls helping me

 

[JeepCoMJ]

I won't need customer service, unless parts don't get to address. moot point to me.

 

[tommudd]

Customer service comes in a whole lot more than one thinks

But I'm wondering about your buying habits
Where do you buy gas and oil, where do you buy replacement parts ?
Where do you buy food?
Everyday we have to buy things that are not manufactured right in the backroom and carried out front to you.
Just curious more than anything why you don't want to deal with any company when buying springs. Funny thing is OME under the ARB umbrella has someone manufacture the springs, then they are shipped to a sister business here in the US, then onto whoever. So in fact they are going through many hands even if you were to buy from ARB out in Washington

From being in business I just find this an interesting discussion

 

[VAhlene]

I got mine springs from 4x4connection at $150 a pair back in February of this year, must have lucked out looking on their website now its $167.

 

[tommudd]

I got mine springs from 4x4connection at $150 a pair back in February of this year, must have lucked out looking on their website now its $167.

I used to get most OME springs from 4X4 Connection and OK4WD both had good service etc back in the 05-08 range then started with the don't have will try and get soon. Pricing from them was cheaper than buying from ALLJs which I originally started buying from.
Anymore pricing is pretty much set by ARB/OME with not much room for great deals

 

[JeepCoMJ]

Customer service comes in a whole lot more than one thinks

But I'm wondering about your buying habits
Where do you buy gas and oil, where do you buy replacement parts ?
Where do you buy food?
Everyday we have to buy things that are not manufactured right in the backroom and carried out front to you.
Just curious more than anything why you don't want to deal with any company when buying springs. Funny thing is OME under the ARB umbrella has someone manufacture the springs, then they are shipped to a sister business here in the US, then onto whoever. So in fact they are going through many hands even if you were to buy from ARB out in Washington

From being in business I just find this an interesting discussion

I agree with customer service doing more than one thinks.

...but I'm a guy that unless it's fubar'd before it's installed, eaten, etc. I am not ever going to call for warranty for something like, say, powder coat failure on coil springs or rough ride.

I don't call for "how to" information. The information provided with the parts is all that is necessary, and even then, it's not something I typically need. putting together a coilover and installing a spring is the most abhorrently basic process imaginable to me.

I have FSM's etc. for things necessary such as rebuilding an engine, fluid specs, etc.

food and all I buy what I want from whatever place is most convenient. I don't much care about the content...not picky, it goes in one end comes out the other.

parts/maintenance stuff, whoever is cheapest except for sensors and brakes. Those are ALWAYS OEM for me, I will not buy a lesser product because they fail sooner.

And yes, I'm a weird fellow.

I know most springs are manufactured at the same place. OME i've always been impressed with. I buy my MJ springs from Hellcreek, who actually manufactures them. great people to deal with, and aside from purchasing, customer service is not necessary.

 

[tommudd]

I agree with you to a point one of the reasons I find this interesting. Last several new vehicles I bought were never back to any dealership. I buy one and it never goes back. Only warranty I ever had was coil spring breaking on a 76 F-150 a month after I bought it new off the lot. just happened to be the Service Manager at the dealership at the time and had one of the guys take care of it.
My KJ was shipped to West Virginia , where I bought before they had ever serviced it or looked it over. So its never been in a dealership either I have even done the recalls myself on the ball joints and rear lower control arms