hi all,

i'm at the end of a stressful day. just figured i'd share something i learned the hard way.

i bought OME cs009s for the rear of my 88 Runner. these are the medium duty leafs. i also bought new shackles, and a complete bushing kit from Energy Suspensions. all of this from 4wheelparts local store.

i was going to self install, but it's just been too damn cold, and i needed this done by this weekend, so i bit the bullet and took it to an alignment shop to get them put in. 3 hrs labor = $250. ugh.

turns out, the ES kit comes with 4 bushings that are larger than the shackle bushings. these are for the front eye of the spring.

but the OME leaf has eyes the same size on both ends. essentially i should have bought the OME bushing kit, which i gladly would have if the 4wheelparts guy knew to advise me of this. i had no idea the OME eyes would be different than factory eyes.

anyway, i had to borrow a car, sneak out of work, drive out to a joint that had some bushings in stock, and found some CJ somethin' or others which was close. i took 'em to the shop and they grinded them down to fit.

now i'm being told the factory u bolts are a bit short for the size of the new leaf pack. another chunk of info that would have been nice to know in advance.

if i had to deal with this issue doing it myself on the ground, i would have been really unhappy. so the $250 became money well spent.

take the info for what it's worth. i just figured i'd share. i really hate running into an issue mid way through a job.

i'm gonna pick up the truck, drive it the weekend to settle the springs, then go back and change out those u-bolts, adjust the t-bars to level it, as i expect to have to go up, and then have it aligned. should be good to go.

have a good weekend y'all

 

Thank you for the information. Make sure to post some pics, as i'm looking to replace my well worn leafs as well.

 

add'l info:

you will need new U-bolts, because the new packs are 4 + 2 overload, vs. 3 + 1 overload i had stock. they're not long enough. another half inch would do it.

also, expect to deal with driveshaft issues. i changed my shackles, went to a 1.5 over stock length. this is actually shorter than what i had in there, which was a 9" hot rod shackle the p.o. put in to compensate for flat stock leafs.

but my geometry is apparently off as i have a terrible vibration happening. so i'm going to the driveshaft shop on monday.

sorry if you've seen this in my "help" post and it seems redundant; i was expecting this to be only an fyi thread for people searching OME leaf install info. i certainly was NOT expecting to be seeking help myself on what seems to be a d-shaft out of balance or U joints not at equally opposing angles now.