SUSPENSION INSTALLATION

Having air tools and a vehicle lift will no doubt make any suspension installation faster and easier. Since many vehicle owners do not have access to these items, we chose to install the suspension at a home garage with basic hand tools and a few essential items. Was it a pain? Not really, it can be done in a day. There were a couple of challenges, but it is extremely straightforward. Essential items needed include a good pair of jack stands and a good floor jack capable of securing the vehicle at an altitude which will allow the axles to be lowered enough to get the new longer springs in place.

The shocks are among the easiest items to replace. For the front shock, a good trick is to slide a box end wrench over the upper nut and hold the top pin with vice grips.

The floor jack we used provided 18 inches of lift. You will also need a set of metric sockets, "T" series star sockets, breaker bar, torque wrench, steel drill bits up to 1/2 inch and a few other odds and ends. A second set of deep metric sockets would speed the process. Taking careful measurements before the installation and afterward will let you know how much lift you have obtained and if adjustments need to be made to level your Jeep.

Old Man Emu provides you with a great worksheet to document these measurements before and after the installation.

Removing nine bolts is all that is required to remove and replace the front springs. For older vehicles, spraying all the bolts the night before with penetrating oil will greatly ease the process. Before raising the Jeep, remove the lower track bar bolt and "nut on a stick", the top sway bar nuts and the lower shock absorber bolts. Lift the vehicle and place the jack stands under the frame. This will allow the axle to be raised and lowered using the floor jack. Ok, you got me, I did not count the lug nuts in the nine bolts statement earlier. Yes, you need to remove the tires and wheels so add ten if you must. Each spring has a retaining clip on the bottom coil with one bolt holding it in place. Remove these clips and lower the axle.

It's good to keep a fresh tube of anti-seize compound handy for the duration of the install, especially for those parts you may want to upgrade or replace in the future. Also, Lock-Tite is good to keep around for those parts that you don't want getting away from you.

Pay careful attention to what is happening to the brake lines and axle
breather tube. You do not want to stress these items as your axle is now moving lower than it would under its designed maximum articulation. You can disconnect the axle breather tube and remove the brake line retaining clips if they appear to be stressed. With the axle lowered, the stock springs were easily removed. Note that Old Man Emu also designed their springs to be corner specific. What this means is they took into consideration the difference in driver and passenger side vehicle weight and designed the springs to compensate for the difference to ensure a level and stable ride.

The springs will fit either side so look for the identification label on each so you don't get them mixed up. To install the new springs, a helper stood on the end of each axle to gain the last 1/4-inch of droop necessary to fit the springs in place. With the springs in place, we replaced all the bolts removed except the track bar bolt and reconnected the axle breather tube.

The Warn winch was used to help align the bolts within the suspenion - not really what the winch was intended for but certainly serving its purpose.

The track bar was 1/8 inch away from lining up with the mounting bracket. This is normal when lifting a Jeep with a five-link suspension. Once the tires are back on and the vehicle is resting on the ground, you may enlist the aid of a friend to push against the driver's side of the Jeep while you work the bolt into the hole. We chose to wait until the installation was complete and use the front mounted winch to move the Jeep in our favor and align the hole.

We found it best to raise and secure the rear before removing any bolts. Since the axle will need to drop further than designed, it is possible the rear drive shaft may place stress on the transfer case tail shaft. The transfer case housing is aluminum and the rear seal is rather fragile so we disconnected the rear drive shaft at the pinion yoke as a precautionary measure. We disconnected the shocks, sway bar and tack bar and lowered the axle again checking brake line and breather tube stress. The stock springs easily slipped from their positions and allowed us to remove the bump stops.

Lowering the vehicle onto the ground will allow the track bar to line up a bit closer than with the rig off the ground.

The polyurethane portion of the bump stop is simply pulled from the receptacle. A single bolt holds the receptacle in place. Set these aside until you have completed the track bar bracket installation. The track bar bracket was the most challenging part of the installation.

Manipulating the height of the axle allowed us to find enough space between the gas tank and the factory bolt to remove the track bar bolt. Disconnecting the passenger side of the track bar enabled us to free the driver's side. It was also much easier to align the new bracket's bolts by disconnecting the driver's side upper axle control arm. Using the stock bolt to hold the bracket in place, the two additional bolt holes were step drilled.

Once the bolts were torqued to spec, we reinstalled the upper control arm and the track bar was aligned into the new bracket with minimal resistance. The bumpstop spacer provided was inserted between the receptacle and the frame and the factory bolt was used to hold it in place. On all of the bolts removed, we put a small amount of anti-seize on the threads. This will greatly aid in their removal for future upgrades or repairs.

Installing the new springs required the same standing on the end of the axle procedures as the front. Once the springs are in place, replace all the bolts and torque to spec. We reconnected the rear drive shaft and noted that the rear axle breather tube was stretched to its limits under full articulation. By adding a 6-inch piece of 3/8-inch fuel hose and a small brass sleeve, we provided some extra length.

Crawling the local trails, the Old Man Emu suspension gave us a greater and more responsive stance over the terrain.

The final step was to install the transfer case lowering spacers. Before doing so, we test drove the Jeep to see how bad the vibration would be. Due to the short rear driveshaft, almost any amount of suspension lift will cause some vibration. Sure enough, vibration occurred during acceleration in first and second gear. Not too bad, but any vibration is unwelcome and will cause premature wear of driveline components such as the drive shaft.

The spacers are easily installed by supporting the transfercase skid plate/crossmember with a floor jack and removing six bolts. The spacers go between the crossmember and the frame and Old Man Emu supplied longer graded bolts to make everything fit back together.

PERFORMANCE

The ride height was increased 2.75 inches in the front and 2.5 inches in the rear. Our TJ no longer looks like a low rider. It sits level and appears proportional to the larger than stock tires.

We had another lifted TJ owner hop into our rig for an independent opinion; by the end of the ride, he reported the OME suspension to be a more plush and responsive suspension than his, which was made by "some other manufacturer."

On the daily commute, the TJ rides as smoothly as stock with more control over surface irregularities. The same two irregularities mentioned before are overcome more rapidly by the suspension. The suspension absorbs the shock quickly without causing pitch and roll of the body. Off-road, we confidently disconnected the sway bars and stuffed the 31-inch BFG Mud Terrains in the fender wells to test the articulation and clearance. There was plenty of clearance and we could probably get away with 32s in the future. Another TJ with a competitor's 3-inch lift kit was on the trail and an independent tester evaluated the ride quality of both vehicles. He reported the Old Man Emu was a much smoother and better riding suspension.

If you are considering a suspension upgrade but are concerned that the bug may bite you to go higher and bigger in the future, you can easily add a coil spring or body spacer to achieve added tire clearance. The Old Man Emu suspension does everything it claims and lives up to the reputation it has earned. Sales@ARBUSA.comwww.arbusa.com

Old Man Emu
Telephone (202) 264-1669
www.arbusa.com
Sales@ARBUSA.com