OME Struts

[colinmacdon]

I had an OME lift put on in Jan '08: Med springs front and rear and NS131 struts up front and the 132L in the rear. I took it to a mechanic (read stealership) to investigate a squeaking noise (like rubber on rubber, bushing??) and clunk sound that had developed in the driver side strut area. It is very noticeable while driving at slow speeds (10km/h) over choppy pavement, and I can even reproduce it by pressing all my weight over that corner and rocking up and down. I have less then 12,000 miles on the struts and the mechanic claims the struts are "done". Needless to say I didn't take the $750 price tag they offered to replace the front struts, and I will be taking it to a mechanic friend to take a further look. My question is what are people experiencing in terms of the life of the front OME struts? Or is there anything else that these noises might be? Searching the forums, for "clunk" and "squeak" wasn't to effective. Thanks guys/gals.

 

[ptsb5a]

Colin, I can appreciate your delima, I've been to Regina often enough to know that the streets there aren't any better than Moose Jaw or Cold Lake. That said, I've a pair of Rusty's shocks, just rebadged OMEs with over 100K kms on them and they are still good. Believe me, I wasn't easy on them. Check the sway bar end links or the clevis to control arm bushings. The clevis to control arm bushings on my KJ were toast and made one hell of a racket. Look under the front and see where the clevis bolt is in relation to the bushing center. If the bolt looks like it's sitting at the bottom half of the bushing, I'd be game to say that the bushings are toast, not the shocks.

 

[colinmacdon]

Thanks for the help. Yes the roads are terrible here. I am going to get my buddy to take a look tonight and I will try what you suggested..

Colin, I can appreciate your delima, I've been to Regina often enough to know that the streets there aren't any better than Moose Jaw or Cold Lake. That said, I've a pair of Rusty's shocks, just rebadged OMEs with over 100K kms on them and they are still good. Believe me, I wasn't easy on them. Check the sway bar end links or the clevis to control arm bushings. The clevis to control arm bushings on my KJ were toast and made one hell of a racket. Look under the front and see where the clevis bolt is in relation to the bushing center. If the bolt looks like it's sitting at the bottom half of the bushing, I'd be game to say that the bushings are toast, not the shocks.

 

[Mangate]

I have had this clunking, exactly under the conditions you describe, for some time now, but have not pinned it down. About two weeks ago I fitted an OME lift the same as yours, plus AL's A-arms. I got the squeak , although only on one day, now it's gone quiet. As others have mentioned in different posts, you need to spray some silicone lubricant on the sway bar bushes (the ones at the front, under the radiator).

The clunk was not present for the first week, but has now returned. I did suspect the clevis to LCA bushings, and even bought some replacements. The rubber in them is definitely squashed, but it doesn't look to me that it is sufficient to cause the clunking. I also only have about 40 odd thousand miles.

 

[tommudd]

Check all of the bolts including the top plate bolts, have seen them loose as well.
I've seen ones with 75-80000 miles and no problems. Not OME but my Ranchos lasted over 100,000 miles. I would look everything over real well before going the front shocks are bad route.

 

[Mangate]

Colin, I can appreciate your delima, I've been to Regina often enough to know that the streets there aren't any better than Moose Jaw or Cold Lake. That said, I've a pair of Rusty's shocks, just rebadged OMEs with over 100K kms on them and they are still good. Believe me, I wasn't easy on them. Check the sway bar end links or the clevis to control arm bushings. The clevis to control arm bushings on my KJ were toast and made one hell of a racket. Look under the front and see where the clevis bolt is in relation to the bushing center. If the bolt looks like it's sitting at the bottom half of the bushing, I'd be game to say that the bushings are toast, not the shocks.

Ian, did you change them yourself? I see the Miller tool recommended by Chrysler costs $271, the threaded rod alone is $72. Is there a suitable tool at a cheaper price, that won't fall to pieces?

Would something like this do the job?
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-ball-joint-u-joint-c-frame-press-service-kit-38335.html

 

[ptsb5a]

Ian, did you change them yourself? I see the Miller tool recommended by Chrysler costs $271, the threaded rod alone is $72. Is there a suitable tool at a cheaper price, that won't fall to pieces?

Would something like this do the job?
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-ball-joint-u-joint-c-frame-press-service-kit-38335.html

I have a strut/spring compressor mounted to the wall at the shop. Think it says Monroe on it, could be wrong. I'll take a pic of it next time I'm there working on stuff.

Crap, I thought you were talking about the spring compressor. For the bushings, I torched the rubber out and used an airhammer with a tailpipe cutting chisel on it to get the metal sleeves out of the LCA. I did use a press very similar to that to get the new bushings in. It worked quite well. I put a 2.5"x2.5" piece of 1/4" plate against the LCA to help drag the bushing through. When it got to the plate I used the dies provided in the kit to finish the job.

 

[DirtyKK]

I would venture to guess the sway bar link bushing also. There aren't any extended links made for lifted Liberty's, wiith the exception of JBAs quick discos, so there is extra stress on them.

 

[colinmacdon]

OK, I had a friend take a look at it. Struts show no signs of being "done", no evidence of leaks (past or present). Took a look at all the bushings, and all appear to fine--no excessive deterioration and the bolts are nicely centered in the bushings themselves (no slop). Took it for a test drive over some huge rounded speed bumps, and the Jeep is nice and controlled and is rebounding properly. We took the battery out to access the four bots to the strut plate and all are nice and snug. We ran out of time last night but next step is to actually pull the strut/spring assemble. My friend took a guess that it could be the be top bolt on the strut itself that is loose, causing the strut to slip around where it connects to the top plate. Does that seem feasible? The Passenger side makes no noise at all.

 

[yellocoyote]

Did you try tightening the swaybar links, as suggested above? That's the first place I go when the suspension on my jeep starts making noise. Most of the time, that's where the problem is.

 

[colinmacdon]

Did you try tightening the swaybar links, as suggested above? That's the first place I go when the suspension on my jeep starts making noise. Most of the time, that's where the problem is.

I will try that. We just inspected the bushings, but didn't tighten those.

 

[colinmacdon]

Took it to another local mechanic. It was just the top strut mount bushing. It was worn so the strut was just rattling around.