OME HD springs vs. OEM U-bolts

[littlefoot]

FYI - The front end of the P-zuKY-1 is hanging in mid air at the moment because It didn't occur to me the OME HD springs would be that much thicker than stock.  The two extra leaves (fore & aft) add 3/4" to the hight of the spring pack.  The stock u-bolts only have an extra 1/2" of thread. 

Extended u-bolts on order...

Project - dead in the water!   

[spyder0069]

So pull a leaf. 

It will soften up your ride and unless you're sporting alot of added weight it should be fine.  I had the 3" lift springs from trail gear and those things were solid.  After pulling a leaf they rode much better.  I'm RUF with CJ's in the rear now.  After pulling my suspension apart 4 times in the last month trying things out I think I finnally satasfied with the ride.   

[littlefoot]

Thought about that.

Pull one now, then put it back later if I need it (after I install bumpers etc.). The extra leaf in the front fits kinda funny anyway.

Hmmmm.  I'll have to sleep on that.

[littlefoot]

OK. Since the Sami is running relatively light right now (mostly stock), I decided the Med Duty setup will probably work fine.  At least I'll have the extra spring leaves to "refresh" or beef up the springs later.  This was my original plan. I'm not sure how I got sidetracked.

I had to add a leaf in the front (to make it HD) so that one's a no brainer.  I'm not entirely sure, however which leaf to remove from the back.  There are 4 primary leaves & 2 secondary (overload) leaves.  My first instinct is to pull the smaller of the secondaries.

Anyone running Medium Duty OME rear springs?  How are the spring leaves set up??

Hope to get back on it this afternoon.  Could really use some input before lunch.

Thanks!

[spyder0069]

I don't have the OME springs but have played around with several combinations.  Basically you don't want to go below a 4 leaf spring pack.  Pull the overloads and you should be fine.  As long as you end up with positive arch in the end you'll be ok.  Then the next thing to deal with is bumpstops (you'll have to visit this issue either way).  If there is no overload in a leaf pack I would just remove the smallest leaf.  Make sure to be safe when you unbolt the springs.  I put vice grips on them initially, pull the bolt, put a foot on the top of the springs for pressure and then slowly open the vice grips.  Even safer is to put the whole spring in a bench vice, pull the bolt and then uncrank the vice.