my thoughts on Old Man Emu Suspension

Sorry to join the conversation so late but.....
I see most of the veiws on Old Man Emu on this tread are to do with the shocks.... What do you guys think about the springs from OME? I'm in a position to get front and rear springs to lift my stock Puma 50mm and am (now) thinking about OME springs mated with Bilstiens or Konis. Any thoughts on this? Its mainly to hold the load of my bullbar and winch and hold weight in the back when I travel/tow. The added height will be to fit my new 255/85R16s better :D

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Originally Posted by thejonoaffair

Sorry to join the conversation so late but.....
I see most of the veiws on Old Man Emu on this tread are to do with the shocks.... What do you guys think about the springs from OME? I'm in a position to get front and rear springs to lift my stock Puma 50mm and am (now) thinking about OME springs mated with Bilstiens or Konis. Any thoughts on this? Its mainly to hold the load of my bullbar and winch and hold weight in the back when I travel/tow. The added height will be to fit my new 255/85R16s better :D

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the 50mm lift will upset the puma front driveshaft drive angles, you may well need to fit a double cardan joint front shaft to avoid vibrations.

I haven't had many issues at all with OME springs, the shocks however...:(

JC

I have got Emu's 767 +50mm up front. Been in for 4 year.
They have fine, no sag and very progressive in their rate.

They are matched with a pair f TF's Pro-sports +50mm front shocks.

Now for the list of additional parts to make it all work......

Double Cadon front prop shaft
New front sway bar brackets to lower sway bar to clear props shaft due to extra drop.
Front dislocation cones.
HD front shock towers
HD turret rings.
HD front spring retainers

If you use +50mm shocks the above kit is a requirement not a choice.

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Originally Posted by Drover

I have got Emu's 767 +50mm up front. Been in for 4 year.
They have fine, no sag and very progressive in their rate.

They are matched with a pair f TF's Pro-sports +50mm front shocks.

Now for the list of additional parts to make it all work......

Double Cadon front prop shaft
New front sway bar brackets to lower sway bar to clear props shaft due to extra drop.
Front dislocation cones.
HD front shock towers
HD turret rings.
HD front spring retainers

If you use +50mm shocks the above kit is a requirement not a choice.

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ARGH! That'd be right, its never just "Bolt these on and it'll be fine" is it!? Are the sway bar brackets bought or fabricated special? Where would be the best place to source all this from? Thanks for the info though!

johno...hows the affair.

mate it seems a bit pot luck I think with these pumas. Some have had a lot of grief, other a bit less, and some it appears none. Well in the suspension department anyway.

I have a set of Les Richmond "purple" in the front of mine. They are 50mm bigger than stock as they are actually RR rears. I mated them with Koni 90 +40 shocks. I don't seem to have any vibrations, still run the standard drive shaft, and have done 50K on the set up. With good articulation chucked in there to boot with no issues.

got me a bit confused.

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Originally Posted by thejonoaffair

ARGH! That'd be right, its never just "Bolt these on and it'll be fine" is it!? Are the sway bar brackets bought or fabricated special? Where would be the best place to source all this from? Thanks for the info though!

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Sway bar bracket were fabricated up, but a reasonable simple job.

The rest of the kit was from Terra-Firma hard ware, sourced from Sydney 4x4 Accessories. Link below

Terrafirma 4x4 Suspension Kits for Land Rover | sydney4x4accessories - sydney4x4accessories

After seeing so many troubles with Puma lifts I opted to leave my suspension at standard height.

I did however put HD 130 LR springs in the front to keep it at stock height after fitting the bullbar and winch, and put in a set of OE shocks all round.

I understand that shocks are very much a Ford v Holden type argument but I have had a fantastic run out of mine. After doing the Anne Beadell, Connie Sue, Plenty H/way (3 times), Gary Junction Rd, Wapet Rd, Talawana Track as well as the Gary, Gunbarrel and Mary H/Ways, the front pair had changed colour from bright yellow to glazed burnt black, but they still worked perfectly.

With so much low speed, high activity use, in high temperature areas….it was 47C one day…the heat build up had burnt the paint but as I say, they were still working perfectly. I am particularly impressed with the seals in them as after being subjected to such heat, there was no evidence of leaking at all.

I contacted ARB to ask the question and they flew a set to Alice Springs where their store swapped them over, just in case. Can not ask for better back up than that.

Het Nugget,

Hard to complain about that service. My Emu springs have been trouble free as well.

Contact you when get back home for the air box fitting.

Cheers
Grant

Thanks for all the info guys. I might just get a set of spings and shocks (not decided which yet) and get all the other "required" items ready to order if problems arise. I was speaking to my man at ARB Albury today and he got onto his man at OME and was informed that OME now do a long travel kit for the defender and this all includes longer Nitrocharger Sport shocks, coil packers, caster kit, sway bar and bump-stop spacers and notes that the front driveshaft MUST be replaced with a Double Cardan Joint..... Has anyone heard of them doing this? Perhaps OME is aware of the short shock problem???

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Originally Posted by thejonoaffair

.OME now do a long travel kit for the defender and this all includes coil packers, caster kit, sway bar and bump-stop spacers and notes that the front driveshaft MUST be replaced with a Double Cardan Joint..... Has anyone heard of them doing this? Perhaps OME is aware of the short shock problem???

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Coil packers ????

You just need dislocation cones ! $110 for the pair.

"Caster kit" I assume is just new off set bushes. If you want to caster correct then you need to buy caster correction arms 3 deg for 50mm lift, 6 deg for plus 50mm lift.

ARB or Emu what ever you want to call them are marketing to every 4x4 on the planet and pretending to the master of everything.

TerraFirma are Land Rover specific. Very reasonable prices and made for the job !

50mm kits (4 springs, 4 shocks - from $660)

Check their site, you will be surprised on the prices and very happy with the result.

Speak to Mark at Sydney 4x4 accessories, he will set you on the right path.

And they are a supporter of this site.