Trail XJ/Cadillac

[cliffv]

Hi Everybody,

I'm in the process of putting together all of the parts for my XJ build and need a second opinion (other than my own) to determine if I'm on the right track.

I'm the original owner of my 1995 XJ Country, when my wife and I purchase it we immediately had a Rancho 3" lift installed with 31's and it's been that way since. I've reached a point, after 20+ years, that I'm a little tired of it feeling like it is "crashing" into bumps, dips, potholes, etc. both on road and off. I use my XJ as a daily driver 90% of the time and trail exploring, camping, shooting, hunting, etc. the remainder.
Current modifications include - the previously mentioned lift, adjustable trackbar, sway bar disconnects, 4:10's, locker in the front D30, SYE CV driveshaft, 8.8 rear with LSD, and that's about it.
So, after much reading, and contemplation, I ordered the following:

OME 2934 front springs
OME CS033RB rear springs
OME 60052L front shocks
OME 60053L rear shocks
Moog clevite leaf spring bushings (front and rear eye's)
new OEM style upper control arms (with rubber bushings)
new OEM style lower arms (with rubber bushings, gasp!)

I did call both DPG and ARB for suggestions and, on ARB's suggestion, I went with the 2934 front springs since I have an 8.8 rear axle with a U-bolt eliminator installed.
My preferred tire size is a 31x10.50r15 on OEM wheels but may step up to a 32" in the future. I have no intention of stepping up to a 33" at all.

So, did I do good in ordering parts to get a cadillac ride out of XJ? Anything else I should look into?

Thanks,

Cliff


vehicle in question

 

[SilicaRich]

I would say you did good. The OME springs and shocks complement each other, obviously, and will probably make a big improvement in your ride. I assume the Rancho lift is fairly old and likely had the old RS5000 shocks which had a reputation for being very stiff so expect big improvements

 

[Emorphius]

I have the hybrid DPG/OME and love it. Much better than anticipated, however I will be switching to bilsteins after the OME shocks are done. Doesn't ride like a Cadillac but dramatically better than the budget boost with Procomp shocks I was running previously.

 

[cliffv]

I would say you did good. The OME springs and shocks complement each other, obviously, and will probably make a big improvement in your ride. I assume the Rancho lift is fairly old and likely had the old RS5000 shocks which had a reputation for being very stiff so expect big improvements

Thanks for the confirmation. The Rancho springs and control arms were installed with about 2000 miles on the clock, I'm now up to 300k+ so, they're pretty much done.

I currently have Bilstein 5100's on it.

I have the hybrid DPG/OME and love it. Much better than anticipated, however I will be switching to bilsteins after the OME shocks are done. Doesn't ride like a Cadillac but dramatically better than the budget boost with Procomp shocks I was running previously.

I wanted to buy from DPG but had a hard time swallowing the $100 shipping charges. Once I got the part numbers that I wanted and confirmation from ARB I punched everything into Amazon Prime (free shipping), chose the vendors that weren't going to charge sales tax, and pulled the trigger.
Do you recall the part number for the front springs that he uses in his kit? Any particular reason for the switch from the OME to Bilsteins?

Regards,

Cliff

 

[jeep-N-montero]

While I never had OME parts on my Jeeps I wish I had, the OME suspension is the best thing I have done to the Montero and it rides far better than stock. An XJ with the OME setup and 31's will go a lot of places, even more so with the 4.10's. Stick with the OME shocks, the Bilsteins are a bit too stiff in my opinion.

 

[F40]

IMO the best thing to improve the ride on a lifted XJ is long arms. The steep control arm angle of short arms doesn't absorb bumps as well as long arms.

 

[SilicaRich]

Any particular reason for the switch from the OME to Bilsteins?

X2

About to switch from my 5100s to OME shocks, not that I didn't like my 5100s (loved them). I figured that pairing OME springs with OME shocks was the best route to go knowing OME's rep.

 

[-ND4SPD-]

IMO the best thing to improve the ride on a lifted XJ is long arms. The steep control arm angle of short arms doesn't absorb bumps as well as long arms.

This was the biggest difference on my XJ but I'm at 6+ inches which is a much steeper angle. At 3" I'm not sure it's as drastic of an improvement. I'd do the shocks first but if you're going to replace all the bushing just do yourself a favor & upgrade to the long arms then.

 

[Fanboy]

Hey that's clean😊 I'm back in love with xj and I'm looking for a stocker

 

[mtbxj87]

Softer springs, nice shocks, and run your tire pressures lower

 

[Mitch502]

replace your ball joints/wheel bearings too if you haven't recently.

 

[cliffv]

In Conclusion

So, after much reading, and contemplation, I ordered the following:

OME 2934 front springs
OME CS033RB rear springs
OME 60052L front shocks
OME 60053L rear shocks
Moog clevite leaf spring bushings (front and rear eye's)
new OEM style upper control arms (with rubber bushings)
new OEM style lower arms (with rubber bushings, gasp!)

I did call both DPG and ARB for suggestions and, on ARB's suggestion, I went with the 2934 front springs since I have an 8.8 rear axle with a U-bolt eliminator installed.
My preferred tire size is a 31x10.50r15 on OEM wheels but may step up to a 32" in the future. I have no intention of stepping up to a 33" at all.

So, did I do good in ordering parts to get a cadillac ride out of XJ? Anything else I should look into?
View attachment 347389
vehicle in question

A follow up for those following along. I received all of my parts and performed the installation in about 6 hours (not counting breaks, swearing, and looking for tools) sitting on my garage floor. I consider myself a pretty decent shade-tree type mechanic capable of doing 98% of the work on my vehicles but, in this case, I kinda wish I would have had someone else perform the upgrade!
Tearing the front end down was pretty easy but trying to install the control arms was a challenge (using a ratchet strap helped a lot), followed by trying to installed the new springs - bigger challenge (using a spring compressor is not only a pain in the butt but, also pretty scary knowing how much energy is stored when a spring is compressed!). The rear spring installation is pretty straight forward except when trying to get the center-pin lined up with the spring mount. Installing the shocks weren't much of a challenge and, since the lift is pretty small, no brake line modifications were necessary.

Lessons learned:

As previously mentioned, I have an 8.8 rear axle with a U-bolt eliminator setup - with the previously installed springs (rancho 144148's) there was a little tire rub on the spring clamp, not enough to be a problem but enough to rub the paint off of the clamp. With the new OME springs installed, the spring clamps are not crimped on but bolted in place. When I pulled the Jeep out of the garage and drove it down the street I could hear something rubbing in the rear. I pulled back into my driveway to find that the bolt used to hold the spring clamp together had cut a nice 3/16" deep groove into the inner sidewall of one of my tires.

So, not only do I have to replace the tire now, I needed to add wheel spacers to clear the spring.
In the front, I was happy to replace the poly bushed Rancho lower control arms and replace with stock, rubber bushed, lowers but, while I had tire rub with the Rancho control arms, it was barely noticeable because they were rectangular tubes. The new lowers I installed are stock stamped replacements so, now when the tires rub the control arms I can definitely feel/hear every tread block rubbing against. I'll probably be ordering a set of Rusty's LCA's in the near future.

The Ride:

All I can say is that I love it! It's as smooth as I expected with a little bit of a kick coming from the rear. It does have a bit of a "stink bug" look

but, I should be able to correct the rear end 'kick' and stink bug look by removing the extra leaf installed on the OME packs.
I am also getting a bit of a rear driveline vibration but, as previously mentioned, I should be able to fix it by removing the extra leaf or by installing a degree shim to correct my pinion angle.

Conclusion:

Love it. Highly recommended. Would definitely do it again!

Thanks for reading,

Cliff

TL/DR -- installed lift, happy with ride, couple of issues that were easily resolved.

 

[HHXJ]

How did the stance come out with the extra leaf removed? Did you use a spacer for the front coils? How much lift did you end up with? Sorry for so many questions but I'm thinking about going with the same springs and want to stay around 2.5" and want a comfortable ride. I'll probably go with 30x9.50's

 

[Mr_Miyagisan]

Pretty old thread so you might not get an answer from the OP.

I have a similar, if not the same spring pack from OME in the rear of my XJ. I purchased my setup from DPG, the pack is meant for a 3.5" lift. Removing the extra spring netted me 2.75" lift in the rear

I have OME 2.5 front springs with just one spring pad/isolator installed with the spring.
Tires are a 245/75r16 duratrac, Goodyear list the actual size as 30.8" tall

 

[HHXJ]

Yeah, I knew the thread was getting old but figured I'd try. Thanks for the info! I've had my 98 for over 12 years but haven't driven it much the past 5-6. The suspension is needing replacing and decided instead of going oem that I'd give it a little lift to improve the stance. Everything I'm seeing is that OME gives a it a good ride.

What size front pad did you use and how much lift did you net up front? Trying to figure what setup to maintain a level stance since I've read that the rear leafs are producing higher results. Yours appears to be pretty level.