8/9/2001
WARNING! Using OME long travel shocks in conjunction with a Daystar, AllPro or possibly Revtek lift may allow the IFS suspension to overextend causing damage to the CVs and balljoints. Cornfed type spacer lifts that do not provide additional travel are completely safe to use with OME shocks. I have not experienced any problems even after severe off road excursions but the potential is there.
Having said that, let me tell you how nice these shocks are. I ordered these shocks from http://www.petersoffroad.com and they arrived the next day drop shipped from Seattle. For the front I used N91SC (Nitrocharger model 91 Strut Comfort). For the back I used N86C (Nitrocharger model 86 Comfort). The reason I chose the soft valving is because my truck is usually unladen and I drive many freeway miles.
Here is a picture of the two struts side by side. The OME (top) has at least 2" more
travel. It is built very sturdy compared to the stock Tokico. It is a twin tube design and
comes with polyurethane bushings. Installing these struts was more problematic for me
because I already have a 1.5" Daystar lift (The spacer is 1" thick). See my lift page here. This made the
newly assembled strut unit ~3" longer than stock when trying to install it. AllPro makes a 2" spacer that has the
same effect so I refered to their page for hints on installation. Basically I had to
remove the lower balljoint from the spindle via four bolts to get things stuffed in. I am
hoping that since AllPro has gotten away
with lengthening the strut unit 2" that I will too. I am crossing my fingers that the
balljoints will be ok at full extension. The lift is still 1.5" though. I am waiting
for things to settle before I decide if I need another alignment.
Similarly, the rear shocks are much beefier than the stock ones. They also have about two
inches more travel and this is a very welcome addition since my spacer lift was extending
the stock shocks pretty good. You must also extend the handbrake bracket or the cable will
bind. I have also discovered why my ride got somewhat stiffer after the spacer lift. Now
that the factory shocks are worn out, I can see how they are designed. In the center of
their stroke, the factory shocks are very soft. At the outsides of the stroke, they are
very stiff. The spacer lift forced the shock to operate in the stiff section. When the
truck was laden, the shock moved into the soft section and with all the weight was then
too soft. The rear shocks were so worn that off road the truck would skid sideways on wash
board roads. On pavement, they were no longer able to dampen the axle movement properly
and thus the axle would also bounce somewhat uncontrolled. This translated into a rougher
ride on the street. For some reason the new shocks came with mounting hardware that didn't
fit the shock. Even the nut was the incorrect size. Fortunately, the old hardware was in
good shape and fit perfectly.
First impressions with the new shocks
are a resounding thumbs up! The ride is much smoother but not as smooth as the day I drove
the truck off the lot. These shocks dampen much better than the stock ones can on a truck
that is lifted and has larger tires now. Driving a familiar circuit of pavement and
freeway I notice that many bumps have magically disappeared. It is always difficult to
describe something when there is nothing wrong with it. All I can say is the ride is
smooth and not firm or mushy. Just right. Heavy repetitive freeway seams can still be felt
at certain low speeds. At 65-70mph they pretty much go away. Ride height in the front was
initially very high with the CV boots folded pretty heavily like in the picture. The front
has leveled out quite a bit after a couple of hundred miles and the CVs are back to their
normal (lifted) position.
Here is a rear picture taken at Calico and a front picture taken in Panamint. Rear sway bar is connected and I can pass obstacles that previously required engaging the locker. The shocks have a low speed bypass valve that allows them to articulate quickly. The shocks have a housing that is about an inch longer than stock. This produces about two inches more travel at the shock with one inch in the housing and one inch in the longer rod. The rear axle can still compress all the way to the hard bump stop on the frame. After having the shocks on for about six months, they have softened up a bit. The closer to a stock ride they are, the happier I'll be. For an update, see my Camburg Page.
My brief article at 4x4wire http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/4Runner/tech/suspension/lars.htm