OME Suspension Upgrade FINISHED

Topics relating to Lift Kits, Suspension, Steering...

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NVSteve
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Postby NVSteve » Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:44 pm

Fofiddy wrote:2) ARB/OME F'd up and failed to do their homework on the US model. Take your measurements and compare them to ARB's expected #s.
I don't know. The guys on the PCoA forum are claiming close to 2" after (immediately after) the OME install, which sounds like what we've been getting. The only difference is that most of those guys are running really small tires compared to our 265/75/16s. I'm not a betting man, but I'd wager that there is no difference with the suspension between the Oz (Spain?) Pathfinders and ours.

I'm going to give mine a few months. If I notice anything odd with the driving, I'll take it back in. No matter what, I'm going to try Firestone next time since they sound like one of the better places.

Keep us posted with the alignment problems.


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Fofiddy
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Postby Fofiddy » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:08 pm

NVSteve wrote: I'm not a betting man, but I'd wager that there is no difference with the suspension between the Oz (Spain?) Pathfinders and ours.
I can't refer to where I read it cause it was so long ago but I have a real gut feeling there is a difference due to the differences of road surfaces or in Oz's case lack of what we in the states would consider passable roads. We are Spoiled, except for PA (81 is 200 miles of rumble strip as far as I'm concerned)

I'll post my Firestone results later just because there is some cutting and pasting involved. But the difference between 1.15 degrees off and .94 are nominal. I haven't had a chance to drive in the wet since the alignment but of the high speed driving and cornering I have done so far have been significantly improved.

Steve make sure to post your alignment sheet.

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NVSteve
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Postby NVSteve » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:52 pm

Fofiddy wrote:I can't refer to where I read it cause it was so long ago but I have a real gut feeling there is a difference due to the differences of road surfaces or in Oz's case lack of what we in the states would consider passable roads.
I'll have to look around when I get the chance. I thought Spain supplied Pathfinders for Australia, which means they are coming off the same line as the European models. The pictures I've seen, or at least the close-ups of the Oz suspension, look just like ours. I also vaguely remember seeing that ARB pretty much imports all of their vehicles to Oz before the vehicles are ever available there. I thought they did the same with the Pathfinder, in which case it wouldn't have been one of the Pathfinders made for Oz. Probably one of the British ones, seeing as how they still don't have the steering wheel on the correct side of the car.
We are Spoiled, except for PA (81 is 200 miles of rumble strip as far as I'm concerned)
You aren't alone. I'd even venture to say the west is worse because we typically go from one extreme to the other throughout the course of a winter's day. That just rips up the roads.
I'll post my Firestone results later just because there is some cutting and pasting involved. But the difference between 1.15 degrees off and .94 are nominal. I haven't had a chance to drive in the wet since the alignment but of the high speed driving and cornering I have done so far have been significantly improved.
Yeah, please post them when you can. It's nice being able to see a number of different results from all of us.
Steve make sure to post your alignment sheet.
I will. I don't know when I'll get the next alignment done, but I will absolutely post my results, and I'm expecting them to be better than the last round, or so is my hope.

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socal4x
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Postby socal4x » Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:10 pm

UPDATE:

I will be picking up the Pathy tomorrow. I went by the shop today with the printouts of the alignment specs you guys posted above (much thanks!). They said at that point they were close, just the VDC kept going off on hard corners. Visual inspection leads me to believe that the OME kit is gives about 1/2" over the Rancho, it looked good. Also, I had noticeably less camber than with the Rancho. I left them with the understanding they were going to tweak everything to get it working.

As of 5 pm today, they are telling me everything is working great, and that the problem they were having was that the computer for the Hunter alignment system wants to always default to spec., so it takes a really experienced alignment tech to "think outside the box", and when they are used to front only alignments, this requires alot of road tests, and experience....we'll see. I pick it up tomorrow, so time will tell. I'll post results and alignment specs as I get them.

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socal4x
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Postby socal4x » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:39 pm

Okay....so far, so good. I picked up the Pathy today, and it seems they did a good job. No noticeable alignment issues. The truck now sits noticeably higher than with the Rancho kit, and the ride is much, much better. I took the truck on a spin down a local canyon road. Only time the VDC went off was when I was far exceeding the recommended speed through the corners (which, I guess is what its supposed to do?). The taller profile lends itself to more body roll.

Will post pics and alignment specs when I get a chance.

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USMCPathfinder
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Postby USMCPathfinder » Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:17 pm

So I got the OME Suspension lift installed a few weekends back and have given it approximately 1200 miles to allow it to settle in. I've driven on some dirt trails and some aggressive terrain. I can definitely tell that the ride is much improved over the OE SE-Off Road suspension. All in all, I'm looking at the following lift results on my ride.
Driver Front: 1 3/8"
Passenger Front: 1 4/8"
Driver Rear: 2 6/8"
Passenger Rear: 2 5/8"

Went to Firestone this morning to get the wheels aligned and here are the results. Apparently the technician couldn't get the right rear within specs. However, I got the lifetime wheel alignment deal there, so I'll take it back in a few weeks to see if it still can't be placed within specs.
Image

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Fofiddy
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Postby Fofiddy » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:37 pm

Outstanding Marine.
What year is your path? The reason I ask is I have an 05 with roughly 48k of salt, mud, and whatever other NE muck that could have potentially fuzed the bushing sleeve to the camber bolt on the lower link. It's a possibility that those of us who can't get the rear spot on or remotely close might be running into this same scenerio. I went with the Firestone Lifetime too, good choice. I did notice that your specs seem to be using an older software, an auto tech recommended I go to a place with the Windows based software that looks more like Ragpoa and Blink's printout. Supposedly it's more accurate and lessens the chance that some momo screws up the alignment.

Good news is I finally received my new lower links from courtesy today I'll take a few shots of the bushing in the LL and post them later. Bad news is this weekend I have a DNX8120 to install, my GFs brakes require a looksee and a Stag to attend and recover from. So swapping out the LLs might be a little rushed, put off, or outsourced. Speaking of stags, Whats with the little illustration rear the rear Camber/Toe spec's? Looks like Tara Reid's Frankenboob.

All that being said after over 2k has been put on the vehicle some body roll has returned. Regardless of those of you who may disagree I feel the rear lift could have stood to be .5- .75" lower with stiffer charecteristics after the initial compression.

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USMCPathfinder
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Postby USMCPathfinder » Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:51 pm

I've got an 05 SE-Off Road. Right around 31000 miles on it.

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pdslug
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Postby pdslug » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:23 pm

I ordered the OME suspension today! I'll let everyone know how it goes. I also think I will get the RockyRoad supersliders. USMC - what did you replace your running boards with?

Thanks

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pdslug
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Postby pdslug » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:33 pm

One more thing on the OME. I've noticed most everyone is getting quite a bit more lift in the back than the front... has anyone done anything to try and level the truck? raise the front an additional inch somehow??

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NVSteve
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Postby NVSteve » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:02 pm

pdslug wrote:One more thing on the OME. I've noticed most everyone is getting quite a bit more lift in the back than the front... has anyone done anything to try and level the truck? raise the front an additional inch somehow??
If you read all the posts buried in this thread, you'll see that someone fixed this by ordering the heavy duty for the front. According to ARB, it's exactly the same as the medium except that it is taller. Sure wish I would have ordered it instead.

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USMCPathfinder
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Postby USMCPathfinder » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:41 pm

I built myself some sliders with the help of a friend. I'll have pics of the build and installed product in a few.

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socal4x
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Postby socal4x » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:00 pm

pdslug wrote:One more thing on the OME. I've noticed most everyone is getting quite a bit more lift in the back than the front... has anyone done anything to try and level the truck? raise the front an additional inch somehow??
Mine turned out perfectly level...mediums in the front. I'll post pics soon, I've been lazy.

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Fofiddy
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Postby Fofiddy » Fri May 09, 2008 10:13 am

OK so I finally had the time to have my new lower links put in.


Image

Problem solved.

For those of you unable to get your alignments up to spec especially in the rear; It could be your cam bolts have frozen to your bushing sleeves in the rear lower links. Thats the situation I ran into and finally after 2k and lots of waiting I can finally breathe a sign of relief.
solution you'll need the following (I got mine from Courtesy parts so their prices are listed):
part number:
08918-6441A Nut $.99 x 2
54559-1Z600 Disc Eccentric $3.81 x 2
551B0-EA500 Rear Lower link complete $30.92 x 2
55226-7S001 Pin-Arm $8.61 x 2

So all you folks out there thinking of swapping your Pogos for the OME kit. It looks like doing it sooner might prevent the situation I ran into; waiting till I was at nearly 46K to swap my suspension.
Chief complaints? Could use some airbags in the back or maybe the heavy load rear springs (as long as they don't have more lift) for my personal preference. Do understand I had the airbags in the rear set to 20psi for the previous 15k and they did an admiral job. I feel sometimes there can me a little too much sway in the rear around corners at higher speeds. but I'll reserve that judgment after I have a chance to to some high speed testing. The only noticeable drawback I've experienced with this setup is bit of pull and an almost rubbery sensation in the steering when crossing freestanding water at high speeds.

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NVSteve
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Postby NVSteve » Fri May 09, 2008 11:00 am

Wow, everything on your report is so nice & green! Did you throw on the parts yourself, or did Firestone do it?


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