I took it to the shop and they actually let me help install it. There's really not much to it, but without a mix of pry bars and a lift I'd not want to attempt this at home. The long OME rear springs went in w/o incident. The fronts were smooth too, with the strut length being a little long than stock it takes some coaxing to get it in there. A word of advice, do not tighten the top bolts on the front strut setup, just barely screw them on, the extra movement will make getting the lower bolt in a whole lot less work. I'd also recommend a proper spring compressor, the machine type, the OME springs are so tightly wound I think it'd be dangerous to do it any other way. But it's finally done, I got sick of seeing those OME boxes sitting in my garage. All in all it cost me $190 w/ alignment, it really helps to know people in the car biz, one shop quoted me $700 for the install! I forgot my camera when I left the house this morning, if I had it I would have photo documented the entire thing. I will post pics later tonight of how it looks w/ the OME lift. I didn't want much lift at all, I hope it still fits in my garage w/ the roof rack on.

 

Nice, which OMEs did you drop in up front? I remember when I did mine, 881s with 1.75" of spcers, I had to disconnect the sway bar, and have one of my friends stand on the lower control arm, to get the whole strut back in. Twas a pain, but like you said, not that bad in general. Would highly reccomend doing the lift yourself as long as you are comforatble with a spring compressor for the struts.

 

I had 881's as well. We didn't have to disconnect the sway bar though. The shop dood just used a pry bar from the top of the spring to the top of the control arm. It lined up the lower bolt hole in just a minute or so. Yeah.. even their wall mounted spring machine was kinda scary to me, it's hard to imagine the energy stored in that compressed spring.

 

did you use the comfort or regular shocks? what springs did you use for the rear? how much lift did you get?

 

I used the regular shocks and medium springs. I got 2 inches of lift, maybe a little more, it looks way different.. I'll have the pics up in a bit.

 

I have changed them with both a wall mounted and a set of store bought coil compressors. The wall mounted is much safer and stronger (really nothing to worry about with those) so when I compress them with the store bought type I usually lay it on the ground and stand with my foot on the coil while using a ratchet to compress them as evenly as possible. FYI those front springs are about 500 lbs per inch so if you compress them about 4 inches you are playing with about 1 ton of force.....that's enough to be very careful in my book!

Definately post some pics when you get a chance.

 

im excited to see some pics

 

Damn, I had to compress mine about 6" to work in the spacer, that's some crazy force, I used an impact gun, so it's hard to really get a feel for it, but yeah, I was told several times not to mess around with a compressed spring(not that I would). Ohh, and ditto on those pics.

 

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111


I took my 4Runner all kitted w/ the OME stuff front and rear down some really rough fire roads today and it performed flawlessly! The ride was stellar! I could maintain a high rate of speed over rock and ruts. If you remember, the whole point of my OME upgrade was to be able to drive faster off-road, especially fire roads and jeep trails. I have to say I was completely satisfied. I can't speak as to how well the OME stuff handles hard core off roading, but I can say it handles bumpy off-road driving with ease.

 

 

PICS! detailed PICS!
zoom in on those sweet things...

 

guys, do ANY of you ever follow directions???

http://4rnr.net/suspension

scroll down and read the SECOND half of that page...

 

i WILL post my pics tonight, they came out good, still sitting on my home PC. I just can't believe that I waited this long to upgrade the suspension, this is my 2nd 3rd GEN 4Runner, so in the last 5 years of owning them I've been living in hell with the stock suspension. Seeing the stock rear springs off the 4Runner tells the story, they have very few coils and are just too soft, no wonder they bottom out constantly.

Now if only I could find a set of lightweight wheels/tires, less unsprung and rotating mass would be a huge benefit performance wise.

 

Never even saw that before, and I have surfed your page quite a few times(you sure you didnt just add that) j/k. Now I know for next time. Thanks for the link.

 

 

all talk no pics.

 

Here are some pics.. the first crappy ones are taken w/ my camera phone at the install.. I forgot my camera when I had it installed so it's the best I could do.







Next post will have the before and after pics!

 

BEFORE:







NEXT UP... AFTER PICS..

 

OK.. I will post better pictures soon.. my g/f bought a new SLR but it was raining when I took these so she was paranoid about her camera getting wet.... But you get the idea on the lift..







More to come soon with better lighting! Sorry for the delay all... I do love my OME install, it balanced out so well.. all told I spent about $700 including installation and balacing. Money well spent as the stock setup was crap!

 

About sagging.. it looks like if the rear of my 4Runner was to end up sagging it would actually level it out 100%. Keep mind as you can see in the pic there is a heavy hitch mounted bike rack back there too. So all in all the OME leveled out perfectly for me, I've towed with it and done some off roading so I am sure the springs are broke in now.