Old Man Emu (OME) Suspension Install w/ 2.5" YJ Wrangler Springs

Old Man Emu (OME) Suspension Install w/ 2.5" YJ Wrangler Springs

I finally saved up the money and purchased the OME springs for my jeep.  I did a lot of research on suspensions and everything pointed to this as one of the best, if not the best suspensions for CJs.  Doing the YJ conversion gives an extra half inch on the width, allowing the front springs to ride a little smoother.  The OME brand is just icing on the cake with added ride quality.

I looked into all the kits out there and decided to piece out all the parts to make sure I got the best quality parts I could find.  So far I have spent just over $1100, which I think is better that the kits due to the quality parts I purchased.  The only two parts I have not purchased yet are the shocks and the shims because I will not know which size I will need for both items until I get a little further along in the build.

Below is a list of the parts I am using for this suspension conversion.

Here are the parts after I received them in the mail.  Ignore the yellow OME bushings.  I ended up returning those because the hangers came with their own bushings.  I just had to buy a set of daystar main eye bushing which was half the cost of the OME bushings.



It never fails that you get your new toys and are excited to work until........you run into different problems that set you back.
The first thing I noticed was that the bumper was preventing the front hangers from sitting flush to the frame, so I removed the bumper to fix the problem.

The bumper is held on by a few bolts that were a tad rusty.

The tab on the underside of the bumper is the area that was getting in the way of the new hangers.

I carefully used my angle grinder and cutoff the tab until it was flush.  

I then realized that I forget to remove the bracket off the steering box.  This bracket is bolted between the front hanger on the driver side and the frame.  

I wanted to clean up and paint the bracket, which means I had four very rusty bolts I had to remove.  Three were easy to remove with some PB Blaster and a torch, but had to drill out the fourth.
(I did not take a picture of all of that because I was not very happy dealing with more rusted bolts.)

Once I removed the brackets I sandblasted them and painted them with some Eastwood Chassis Black.  This bracket will be bolted onto the front driver's side of the frame, which I will get to later.







It was now time to put the springs on the rear axle.  Since I was working alone, I had to get creative with the jack.  The spring meets the axle, then the spring plate meets the spring.  The plus symbol on the OME spring faces front.  The spring plate bolt faces the front inside.

The u-bolts are then installed to hold it all on.  

Bolts are torqued down.  I also used some blue Loctite on them.



Both springs installed.

I then installed the new M.O.R.E rear hangers.  Here is a picture of the new hangers next to the old.  You can see how the new hangers are a lot more durable than the old ones.





The rear hangers are bolted on with new 7/16th grade 8 bolts and torqued down with some Loctite.  I also installed the bushings in the hangers after packing them with some grease.  These are the bushings that came with the hangers.

New M.O.R.E shackles are then installed.

It is amazing how much larger these shackles are from the originals.

I then put the new bushings in the spring main eyes.  As I mentioned earlier, I originally purchased the OME bushings but then returned them for the Daystar bushings because they were much cheeper.  The main difference in the two are the groves that hold the grease.  The Daystar bushings have the groves on the inside, which I was happy with.

I rolled the axle under the frame and used the jacks to help me lower the frame.

The springs are installed on the rear shackles first.

Then the main eye onto the frame.

All torqued down with more Loctite and finished up!

I had to throw in a few shots of my son helping me with the Jeep.  I was only two years older than him when my dad purchased this jeep.
He needs to put some hours in if he wants to drive this.

Now it is onto the front axle.







The first problem I ran into was that the u-bolt for the drivers side did not fit the spring plate.  Not sure why the driver's side spring plate was made with the wider holes.  The passenger side needs the wider holes so that the u-bolt can fit over the differential housing, but not the driver's side.

Some easy cutting and grinding solved the problem

Done.  Now the u-bolt will fit.  I did put some paint on the bare metal to prevent rust.

The 2nd problem I ran into was this with this bracket.  This bracket goes onto the axle so that I can hook up the steering stabilizer.  The problem was I could not find it.  This is an old picture from when I removed it.  I think I might have sold it when I sold the old springs on craigslist.

I searched all the aftermarket stores and found out that this part is not sold anywhere, but luckily an extremely nice guy on Jeepforum.com sold me a used one that was in good shape.  I cleaned it up and repainted.

The bracket is installed on the driver's side spring facing the front of the Jeep.  

I used the same method with the rear axle.  With help from my jack, I installed the springs and spring plates onto the axle.  Since I am using rear springs on all four corners of the jeep, the front of the springs (with the plus symbol) actually faces the rear.

Springs are on and all the paper from the packaging is cleaned off.  Its now ready to go onto the frame.

....But first I need to put the steering box bracket and the hangers on the frame.

Here is the location of were the hanger and bracket will go.

The hangers are designed for proper placement for my jeep, but the hole on the hanger that goes over this bolt was a little off.  All I had to do was cut and grind off the very edge of this bolt and put some paint on the bare metal.

Installed the bracket, hangers, and shackles all with new grade 8 hardware.

These two bolts are for the bracket.


Had to do the same with the passenger side (minus the steering mount bracket)

Done.

I then installed the new bushings on the springs and rolled the axle under the frame.  I again used these two jacks to help me lower the frame to the hight I needed.

The steel sleeves needed to go into the front bushings.  I lubed them up and then used this pipe clamp to help me get them in because it was a tight fit.

I lined the shackle up to the hangers and torqued it all down with some Loctite.  I then went around and greased all the shackles.

Done and done!  Just had to put the old tires on.  (Don't worry.  I will eventually replace the tires and wheels).

Ladies and Gentlemen.... We have a rolling chassis!!!  (I have been waiting for this for a long time)

I rolled it outside to let the girl see some sunlight for the first time in five years.  This was a big milestone for me!

Here are a few before and after shots:

Before

After





Before

After