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View Full Version : Struts: OEM vs Bilstein vs OME



07JeepXK
06-28-2012, 11:57 AM
I'm hearing alot of squeaking from the rear of my Jeep since I added the F-150 load levelers. Any ideas or thoughts to minimize this noise or am I just stuck with it?

Also, where are th ebest places and pricing to purchase the OME extended fron struts for the 2" lift?

The OME struts are the same exact measurements as OEM factory struts. There identical, just 10x better.

OK4wd.com or SA (talk to Knappster)

Matt
06-28-2012, 02:30 PM
X2.... OME struts are not longer. I personally measured them.

As for the squeaking, did the rubber sleeves on yours slide down to the bottom of the tube? These sleeves prevent the helper spring from rubbing against the tube which makes noise. I glued mine in place.

cprokopf
06-28-2012, 05:04 PM
X2.... OME struts are not longer. I personally measured them.

As for the squeaking, did the rubber sleeves on yours slide down to the bottom of the tube? These sleeves prevent the helper spring from rubbing against the tube which makes noise. I glued mine in place.

Would an extended length strut be beneficial with the lift?

paroxysym
06-28-2012, 05:51 PM
Best price I've found is kolak on JF. I'd look into bilstein HDs or Monroe sensatraks or reflexes- I've seen a couple guys run those and have decent results

cprokopf
06-28-2012, 06:18 PM
This just got more confusing. I've heard mixed things about the monroe front struts. I need soemthing to firm up the ride and work a little better with the lift.....if possible.

Matt
06-28-2012, 06:22 PM
Would an extended length strut be beneficial with the lift?

There's really not much benefit to be had on these vehicles by an extended length strut. Our IFS geometry is pretty much maxed out with our current strut travel. If you take off your front sway bar and fully extend your suspension you'll see that your spindle will already be hitting your strut (due to your spacer lift, it would be close to hitting with a spring lift), the CV's will already be at an extreme angle and the tie rod will be close to maxed out.

As a matter of fact, your spacer lift effectively acts as an "extended length" strut. One of the benefits I found with the OME strut/spring lift is that i eliminated that "over extended" condition from my spacer lift (i used to have the RC). So now when im offroad im not as worried about blowing a CV or busting my outer tie rod.

That's my $.02 anyways. :D

Matt
06-28-2012, 06:26 PM
This just got more confusing. I've heard mixed things about the monroe front struts. I need soemthing to firm up the ride and work a little better with the lift.....if possible.

Bilstein and OME struts will be more firm than Monroe; Monroe Reflex is an excellent shock/strut, used to install a lot of them at the shop. They'll firm up the ride over stock, but they're softer than others because they're targeted as a DD upgrade, not an offroad performance shock.

paroxysym
06-28-2012, 07:06 PM
This just got more confusing. I've heard mixed things about the monroe front struts. I need soemthing to firm up the ride and work a little better with the lift.....if possible.

OME is great but ideal with the OME coils. The bilsteins are a popular and less expensive upgrade for struts. You'll hear a lot of great things about them. Id go that route if I were you or check out the Monroe's if you plan on daily driving it a hell of a lot more than wheeling it.

07JeepXK
06-29-2012, 05:04 AM
OME is great but ideal with the OME coils. The bilsteins are a popular and less expensive upgrade for struts. You'll hear a lot of great things about them. Id go that route if I were you or check out the Monroe's if you plan on daily driving it a hell of a lot more than wheeling it.

I had the Bilstein stuts on my XK prior to the OME that I'm currently running and they were garbage. Both struts blew in less than 6 months!

paroxysym
06-29-2012, 02:31 PM
I had the Bilstein stuts on my XK prior to the OME that I'm currently running and they were garbage. Both struts blew in less than 6 months!

thats the first ive heard of that... what the hell did you do? lol

i wouldnt call them garbage..

Sal-XK
06-29-2012, 04:26 PM
thats the first ive heard of that... what the hell did you do? lol

i wouldnt call them garbage..

A few other XK owners on the other forum also had issues with them breaking rather early.

paroxysym
07-01-2012, 11:21 AM
A few other XK owners on the other forum also had issues with them breaking rather early.

no ****, havent heard about it..

but to get back on top the bilsteins arent a bad choice if youre looking for more on-road performance.

07JeepXK
07-02-2012, 06:11 AM
thats the first ive heard of that... what the hell did you do? lol

i wouldnt call them garbage..

Oh they were garbage. I was running them with the BDS spacer lift and both struts blew out leaking oil everywhere in less than 6 months time. I off road a lot more now with my OME then I did with the Bilsteins and the OME shocks havent blown yet and they have been installed for 18 months. Its funny though because I installed rear Bilstien 5150's at the same time and they also were shot after several months. OME 1 - Bilstein 0

Matt
07-02-2012, 06:14 AM
One of you mods should break out the strut replacement conversation into its own thread so its not burried in here.

07JeepXK
07-02-2012, 06:23 AM
Done!!!!!

TrialByFire
07-02-2012, 07:58 AM
I have the Bilstein HD struts also and wouldn't recommend them for serious off-road with the Hemi. Mine are shot also.

AJeepZJ
07-03-2012, 05:31 AM
no ****, havent heard about it..

but to get back on top the bilsteins arent a bad choice if youre looking for more on-road performance.

That's because input from XK's is seldom available outside of this site. Despite being on the same drivetrain, the Bilsteins perform a little better with WK's, even if the Bilsteins aren't on par with OME and other applications. I would speculate because of the differences between gross vehicle weight, weight distribution and how the suspension handles the shift in weight offroad.

Assume Hemi Trim
Curb Weigh(lb) - Weight Dist(%) - F/R(lbs)
XK 5169 - 44/56 - (2274/2894)
WK 4719 - 54/46 - (2548/2170)

Matt
07-03-2012, 06:06 AM
Or the XK guys are more hardcore wheelers than the WKs on the other forum...... boooooya. :p

stites-xk
07-03-2012, 06:30 AM
Or the XK guys are more hardcore wheelers than the WKs on the other forum...... boooooya. :p

Lol

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

AJeepZJ
07-03-2012, 09:33 AM
Or the XK guys are more hardcore wheelers than the WKs on the other forum...... boooooya. :p

No no, thats absurd, haha. Hardcore WK's know to go with at least an OME lift :P

Matt
07-03-2012, 09:42 AM
No no, thats absurd, haha. Hardcore WK's know to go with at least an OME lift :P

And there's a lot of WKs over there who praise the Bilsteins.

Thanks for proving my point! Hahahaha (TUJ rules, Xk or WK makes no difference. :) )

cprokopf
07-03-2012, 10:54 AM
I'm shopping for front struts and several sites list their front WK struts "with 2" lift" or "without lift". Why is this? It concerns me and I don't want to order the incorrect part. Please help.

Matt
07-03-2012, 10:59 AM
I'm shopping for front struts and several sites list their front WK struts "with 2" lift" or "without lift". Why is this? It concerns me and I don't want to order the incorrect part. Please help.

Are you looking at complete sets of shocks/struts? The ones for lift may come with longer rear shocks.

Some more specifics would help. What website? What brand? Are there separate part numbers listed?

cprokopf
07-03-2012, 11:23 AM
Are you looking at complete sets of shocks/struts? The ones for lift may come with longer rear shocks.

Some more specifics would help. What website? What brand? Are there separate part numbers listed?

I already installed new F-150 MLL on the rear. Now I need front struts.

The JBA option for OME front struts says "w/ 2" lift" http://jeepinbyal.com/prod-OME_Front_Strut-721.aspx
I also saw this on another site but I don't have time to find it now.

Matt
07-03-2012, 11:30 AM
That's just JBAs terminology. Generally that strut is used with the OME 2" lift springs. But the strut itself is the same size as stock struts and OME even advertises them as an upgraded replacement to stock vehicles.

cprokopf
07-03-2012, 01:01 PM
I just ordred the Bilstein struts. Thanks again for helping me. Now the next question, do I install the blue dust sleave or not?

07JeepXK
07-03-2012, 04:14 PM
Blue dust sleeve???? Any reason why you didn't go with OME other than the price difference??

paroxysym
07-03-2012, 06:45 PM
Any reason why you didn't go with OME other than the price difference??

its a WK thing, you wouldnt understand LOL

as for the whole bilstein/OME discussion... im learning and seeing more that the bilsteins are holding up and are the strut/shock of choice for a WKer just starting out lifting their rig or daily driving their rig. personally being as my current bilsteins have maybe 20k on them and one half ass wheeling trip on them- im planning on running them with a set of OME MD springs. why MD? i daily driver her, im not adding skids galore or any other extra weight- just want a solid and balanced ride. according to kolak, bilsteins are more of a performance shock, where as an OME shock is more off-road oriented with a higher extended length than the bilstein.

Matt
07-03-2012, 06:48 PM
its a WK thing, you wouldnt understand LOL

Lets test those Bilsteins out!
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showthread.php/1925-Rausch-Creek-Wheeling-8-11-2012

:cool:

07JeepXK
07-03-2012, 08:19 PM
I thought they both had the same extended length

Matt
07-03-2012, 10:42 PM
I thought they both had the same extended length

They do have the same extended length. Kolak is pushing a bit of bad info there. Except if the bilsteins are shorter than stock.... but I doubt it.

07JeepXK
07-04-2012, 06:50 AM
They do have the same extended length. Kolak is pushing a bit of bad info there. Except if the bilsteins are shorter than stock.... but I doubt it.

No. They are the same..

Matt
07-04-2012, 07:17 AM
Lol I know, that was a bit of sarcasm on my part.

cprokopf
07-05-2012, 05:52 AM
I decided to go with the Bilsteins for two reasons. 1) I've had a couple lifted Wranglers (CJ and a YJ) with Bilsteins and never had a problem. 2) The OME is a little more expensive and I don't really wheel much with my WK. If I do start wheeling I will invest in the 4" lift and everything will need to be replaced anyway.

paroxysym
07-05-2012, 06:20 AM
I decided to go with the Bilsteins for two reasons. 1) I've had a couple lifted Wranglers (CJ and a YJ) with Bilsteins and never had a problem. 2) The OME is a little more expensive and I don't really wheel much with my WK. If I do start wheeling I will invest in the 4" lift and everything will need to be replaced anyway.

good point... if i start seriously wheeling my WK ill be saving for a JBA 4" LOL

cprokopf
07-05-2012, 06:49 AM
.......or buy another Wrangler or XJ. There are some impressive rigs on the market due to the economy. I've thought long and hard about buying a few really well built rigs for sale around St. Louis.

cprokopf
07-13-2012, 12:42 PM
My WK is in the shop as we speak having th efront struts replaced. I just received a call that the lower bolts will not break loose and they are concerned the bolts may break. If so, I will have to have lower control arms replaced. This is happening on both sides. They are currently soaking the bolts in hopes of breaking them free. Anyone else have this issue or know of a solution?

cprokopf
07-13-2012, 01:28 PM
I just got a call and they cannot get the bolts to free up on either side. Can someone shed some insight into this? I wouldn't have thought the front struts would be that difficult to replace. My WK does have 110k on the odometer and these are the stock struts.

07JeepXK
07-13-2012, 01:29 PM
Never seize the new bolts and you won't have that issue ever again. If you need new lower control arms get them from rockauto.com cheapest you'll find them. I wish I was there cause I'd get em out!

cprokopf
07-13-2012, 01:30 PM
I was told lower control arms are another $350 each. That will not be happening! This was suppose to be an easy replacement.

07JeepXK
07-13-2012, 01:38 PM
I was told lower control arms are another $350 each. That will not be happening! This was suppose to be an easy replacement.

I paid $170 per from rockauto. They have a cheaper pair for $120 per side. It is an easy replacement. They are just not familiar with the common issue of the stuck fork bolt in the lower control arm

cprokopf
07-13-2012, 01:41 PM
Do you have an idea for breaking the bolts loose?

07JeepXK
07-13-2012, 01:51 PM
How much experience do they have with a torch? Its possible to heat up the bolt enough without ruining the bushing in the lower control arm. Then you can put the nut back on the end of the bolt and pound it through. You will most likely need a new strut fork bolt and nut but that's cheap. I have done this and it worked fine.