oh, nice.
I'm curious about using antiseize in bushings. I know it doesn't feel abrasive, but isn't it comprised of aluminum shavings? have you noticed any degradation?
definitely seems like it would last longer, and stick around, kinda like graphite.

I use graphite loaded wheel bearing grease on my poly bushings, Brush it onto the spring and shackle bolts before installing. Seems to last few years at first then over time the graphite residue builds up and it lasts longer each time. Light see if your rear springs are resting on the overload leaf. If so, that will stiffen the ride a lot. Adding a leaf in back to lift the rest of the leaves off the overload can help to soften the ride. Kind of counter intuitive, but the overload has a spring rate approaching infinity <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> so anything you can do to get off of that leaf will be an improvement.

that's what I was thinking. graphite's good stuff.

it looks as though the spring pack may indeed be making contact with the overload leaf, although, not at rest. I think I've read about some people removing the overload altogether.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the OME kit today. while I'm seeing a bit of improvement in addressing some basic issues, I think the rear leafs and front torsions are just too stiff for what I need. when I started thinking along the lines of what I could do here and there, what I could change, it just didn't make sense to replace some components and not others, so I just went for it. figure I'm getting too old to be driving a truck that beats me up on a daily basis. I could fix my truck, or keep paying the chiropractor...

planning to fully document the install procedure when I pick up the kit. thanks for all the info and suggestions, guys.

Thats exactly what antisieze from permatex is, its a blend of a bunch of stuff but i know it has tons of graphite in it.

I recall one time where a guy had done that on his '80s pickup, was really stoked with the softer ride and great flex, at least for a while. He was with our group on his first trail run and within about 2 miles on the trail, those springs wound up when he started to wheel hop on a steep climb, ended up in a nice S-shape, and his axle was resting on the bump stops. Luckily he had some extra long shackles with extra holes and was able to drop the shackle bolt down to the end and limp home. He ended up getting the springs re-arched and put the overload leaves back in. Those overloads do serve multiple functions, as an overload and that tall clamp in back is part of their anti-wrap feature.

Antiseize has metal and graphite in it. I think the newer stuff has moly disulfide grease in it as well.

picked up the OME suspension upgrade from IRON PIG OFFROAD in Fredericksburg on Friday afternoon. their shop is SICK SICK SICK!!! I'll bring my gear to get some good photos next time I'm up, but Jack, the Production Manager, says they spend a lot of time on http://www.ih8mud.com.

okay, so got the front end part of the install complete yesterday, and went ahead and did the rear shocks at least. I was going to put off the rear springs for a while pending nicer weather since it was rainy here last night and this morning, but it's cleared up now and I'm getting ready to head out to start.

first impressions with half of it done -- very promising. I went with the light kit. it feels good. handles bumps nicely, but still feels like a truck, which is a good thing. I do notice that it feels a lot looser than it did before. sloppy almost, but that's just because I've been used to my truck having practically NO suspension before. was having a good time yesterday afternoon driving all over town seeing how it feels over the spots that rattle me up pretty badly. and speed bumps -- I can drive over speed bumps like you're supposed to be able to in a truck

even without the OME springs on the rear, I still feel a really nice difference. the longer travel, softer riding shocks have really made a huge difference so far, as has getting those 25mm torsion bars off the front end. I think the OME ones are 23.x mm; yes, some fraction of a mm

here are some photos



Existing Rear Suspension Setup - Skyjacker Leafs with KYB Monomax shocks. Very stiff.


Front Shocks - check out the difference in length, and the shaft diameter on the OME (yellow)


Rear Shocks - again, note difference in length


Torsion Bars


The rear shocks shipped without the polyurethane bushings installed, so I had to do that. This was a pretty tough little job at first. Put some antiseize on them to help them slide in, but then they don't compress well, and they kept skipping. So I put the end of a ratchet handle through the bushing and then through the shock eyelet, lined everything up and gently worked them in with my foot.

Went out and started on the rear spring install this afternoon. got everything all installed except I only got TWO u-bolts instead of the required four. the new ones are actually longer by an inch or so to allow for the larger spring pack with added leaves and what looks to be two overloads, so I've got it all back together, but right passenger side is just sitting on the axle with no u-bolts. I'm dying to see how it rides now, but can you imagine spinning the rear end right off the truck?

Nice! Few Qs.
1 - what's up w/ the longer front shocks? Won't that increase chances of bottoming out, and have the shock compressed most of the time? I ran into this recently w/ some Bilsteins, listed as "for trucks w/ 3" lift". Which i have, due to BJ spacers and 26mm t-bars. However i couldn't compress them enough to fit in there, it turns out duee to the placement waaaay up inside the a-arms, the actual shock travel is very small retative to wheel travel... those longer Bilsteins are specifically for the bracket lift application.

2 - I see your exhaust is routed right in front of the shackle. Are you concerned about it getting pinched/squished if that side is compressed?

3 - curious to see your end shackle angle. Looks like the mount has been repainted - has it been moved?

I wondered about this as well when I put those KYB's on there the last time when I was trying to figure out lengths. frankly, I don't fully understand how it works. I vaguely recall it having something to do with length and piston stroke. I know very little about suspension systems, but would like to learn more. all I know right now is that it's cushier, and I'm even going to crank my bars up more. ARBUSA recommends setting front ride height to 1/3 upper bumpstop clearance and 2/3 lower. that's a lot of cranking. I feel like I've been cranked them a lot already, and I'm not even at 1/2 lower bumpstop. rim to fender clearance is 13-5/8.


you know, I used to wonder about this years ago. I asked around and no one really seemed to have any problems. I haven't either, but then again that's b/c my shackles hardly moved before I don't do any extreme off road driving, so I'm not sure I'll have much cause for concern, but I'll be watching out for it now that the shackles actually swing.

that said, I must admit to personal folly with my initial installation of the Skyjacker springs. I noticed this weekend that I had a good amount of corrosion going on at the bushing pin surfaces. like along the lines of an irregular 1/16" or so all around. that's a lot. ground most of it off with wire wheel and die grinder and lubed up really well with antiseize. I decided on antiseize, yes. not sure whether there'll be much difference between that or grease, but I like the fact that it stays around even if it dries up. I'll have to keep an eye on it though, because if it behaves like that on my spark plug threads and gets dry and crusty that's no good. I doubt it will though since it won't be exposed to that sort of heat.


the mount has not been painted; stock location. what you see there is spray lithium grease stains from a couple of weeks ago I notice that new springs put my truck up much higher than before. I really hope it settles at bit or I see myself pulling the 3rd to upper leaf as recommended by ARB. and this is the LIGHT set! just moving them around a bit though, I notice that they are very flexy and giving. I'm hoping there's some break-in. they're definitely not as stiff as a unit as those Skyjackers, but I suppose I should reserve that statement for when I actually get it on the road.

got the extra u-bolts on order, and am going to try to pick up a generic set from an OR shop here since I can't wait to see how it rides.