Coilovers or OME suspension for Towing

rockkrawlin4x4

rockkrawlin4x4

New member
Evening Guys,

Eventually looking to upgrade my stock suspension to 2.5-3 inches of lift with 35s on a 4 Door Manual Rubicon (AEV front/rear bump w/tire carrier). Currently, I tow an offroad trailer (8'x6'x4') that is about fully loaded 2,000lbs with 300lbs (350/3500 being jeep limits) tongue weight whenever I go "overlanding" in Anza Borrego/Mojave/Death Valley. Currently, I get sag with that I correct with airlift bags. They work, however I dont really consider them a long term solution and I'm looking to eventually lift the jeep. Couple thoughts come to mind such as OME HD (330lb constant load coils) or coilovers if they can have the preload set around 300lbs to compensate for the tongue weight (if this is possible?). I do a lot of offroading without the trailer so looking to find a good suspension overall. Any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated....in terms of tongue weight, it's pretty set due to the construction and placement of a 260AH battery which I would prefer to not move FYI. Thanks.
 
If you don't care about how shitty your ride will be, those OME or AEV coils will keep your Jeep "looking" not so saggy when loaded up. Believe me, I speak from experience.
 
Why not just stick with the air system? Otherwise you’re going to end up with Springs or coils that are too firm when you have no trailer or two soft with a trailer. With the air, you can easily adjust based on your needs (I assume you have a compressor).
 
wayoflife said:
Me personally, I would definitely invest in coil overs. Set them up with the spring rates that you want.
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Gotcha. I've been looking at EVO's stage 3 with Front and Rear coilovers and adj arms for a while but I dont see much in terms of selecting spring rates. I'd look to have them install it if I went that route, is that something they'd be able to accommodate in shop? I'd imagine the rear would be slightly higher than the front (which is fine) ?
 
fiend said:
Why not just stick with the air system? Otherwise you’re going to end up with Springs or coils that are too firm when you have no trailer or two soft with a trailer. With the air, you can easily adjust based on your needs (I assume you have a compressor).
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If you’ve ever run air bags, you’d know it rides like shit too.


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fiend said:
Why not just stick with the air system? Otherwise you’re going to end up with Springs or coils that are too firm when you have no trailer or two soft with a trailer. With the air, you can easily adjust based on your needs (I assume you have a compressor).
Click to expand...
I'm worried about the long term usage with the bags. Knock on wood, I haven't had one blow but that would be my fear when inflated (I usually have them around 30 PSI offroading with the trailer). I do like the adjustability of them however, albeit the ride isn't the greatest.
 
rockkrawlin4x4 said:
I'm worried about the long term usage with the bags. Knock on wood, I haven't had one blow but that would be my fear when inflated (I usually have them around 30 PSI offroading with the trailer). I do like the adjustability of them however, albeit the ride isn't the greatest.
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It’ll last a long time. I did it for years. Ride just sucks.


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fiend said:
Not in a JK but I drive a 4x4 F450 box truck with air suspension. The ride seems ok to me, for what it is. But it’s obviously much heavier than a JK.
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Oh yeah, on a truck like that, it’s fine. It’s the biggest reason why I tried it on my TJ and JK after. Not the same thing... not even close.


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wayoflife said:
Me personally, I would definitely invest in coil overs. Set them up with the spring rates that you want.
Click to expand...

But if you have to choose coils/shock, what will be your choice ? EVO , Rancho or what ? I'm in same kind of situation but already have OME HD 2.5 kit since 3 years, find it ok but I know it could be lot better than that, just don't know what to choose since I can't really try something else.
 
rockkrawlin4x4 said:
Would it be unreasonable (in terms of ride quality) to find/customize coilovers with the spring rate sufficient for a 300lb load in the rear?
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You could get something like the EVO bolt on coil over kit and get it with whatever spring rates you wanted. Lots of people including myself had or have done this to achieve a great ride and one that can still support a greater amount of weight. It's just not the cheapest way to go.

Bruduc said:
But if you have to choose coils/shock, what will be your choice ? EVO , Rancho or what ? I'm in same kind of situation but already have OME HD 2.5 kit since 3 years, find it ok but I know it could be lot better than that, just don't know what to choose since I can't really try something else.
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For me personally, I prefer to run a soft, single rate coil and make up the weight difference with coil spacers. I've done this in the past with EVO Plush ride coils and was very happy with my ride quality. Dual rate, triple rate or even variable rate coils will do a good job of holding up the weight but the soft side of the coil will almost always go solid or bind under the weight and that will leave you riding on the firm side of the coil - in other words, leaving you with a harsh ride.
 
Thanks Eddie, I will have to try something different than what I have now at some point. EVO seems the way to go, but I wish that there's a kind of a comparable charts of springs from different companies so we can see where our system is compared with other, knowing ride comfort is suggestive, but at least wish one is soft or hard.
 
Bruduc said:
Thanks Eddie, I will have to try something different than what I have now at some point. EVO seems the way to go, but I wish that there's a kind of a comparable charts of springs from different companies so we can see where our system is compared with other, knowing ride comfort is suggestive, but at least wish one is soft or hard.
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The problem is, the easiest way to make a coil provide lift is to make it have more resistance - make it firm. What's hard is to make a lift coil that's soft and comfortable without having it bow under load. This takes a lot more R&D and that isn't cheap. EVO has done this research and their Plush Ride coils are about as soft and as comfortable as they get BUT, they will sag under a heavy load. Again, when I ran them, I just compensated for the sag with a set of coil spacers. I don't know if they still do but Rancho used to make a set of really comfortable single rate coils as well. Way back in the day, Full Traction made really comfortable coils as well but their customer service has been lacking lately and I don't know if I'd recommend them today.
 
wayoflife said:
The problem is, the easiest way to make a coil provide lift is to make it have more resistance - make it firm. What's hard is to make a lift coil that's soft and comfortable without having it bow under load. This takes a lot more R&D and that isn't cheap. EVO has done this research and their Plush Ride coils are about as soft and as comfortable as they get BUT, they will sag under a heavy load. Again, when I ran them, I just compensated for the sag with a set of coil spacers. I don't know if they still do but Rancho used to make a set of really comfortable single rate coils as well. Way back in the day, Full Traction made really comfortable coils as well but their customer service has been lacking lately and I don't know if I'd recommend them today.
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That's what I'm running and fully loaded they will sag a lot. They ride is comfortable I just need to get my "new" shocks installed which will help a lot. I may have to switch to 4" plush rides then as I think my 3" springs may unseat with 3-5" travel shocks and rock star skids installed.

I agree their customer service went down hill since a certain individual left..;). When he was there he was a great help during my install.
 
Bruduc said:
But if you have to choose coils/shock, what will be your choice ? EVO , Rancho or what ? I'm in same kind of situation but already have OME HD 2.5 kit since 3 years, find it ok but I know it could be lot better than that, just don't know what to choose since I can't really try something else.
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For the OME HD 2.5, what was your experience like ride quality and sagging wise? How much weight did you have in it if it did sag at all. Thanks.

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