OME
Shocks and JKS Bar Pin
Eliminator Install
Why
this write-up:
So, here's the
deal, after searching like nuts over the Internet and
other forums, I've seen folks say that Old Man Emu (OME) shocks and JKS
Bar Pin Eliminators could be used
together even though JKS says
that they can't. This write-up will serve as a means to make them work
in conjunction with each other, as I was unable to find an actual
write-up, or how someone approached this combo!
My
Issue:
I've
had this
horrible clunking from the front and rear since I
installed the lift and finally figured out that it was the bar pins in
the shocks causing this issue. It sucks, yeah, I know, it's just noise,
but I imagine that it's causing more wear than necessary on the shock
bushings as the shock moves back and forth on every bump. So, when I
have the top off and doors off, all you hear is clunk clunk clunk down
the road!
The
Solution:
JKS
Bar Pin
Eliminators, which keep the shock from moving side to side
on the pin.
The
Problem with OME/JKS:
I
think they says
it's the pin being too large, but if you remember
installing your Bar Pins in those shocks in the first place, it was
just as much of a PITA as fitting this pin. I found another minor
easily avoided issue, which has to do with putting the bolts into the
BPEs, I'll point this out later!
Tools
Needed:
I always forget
to take a picture of this part, so off the top of my
head...
- Socket Wrench
- Open ended 13mm wrench
- 13mm socket
- 17mm socket
Installation:
I
am showing you how
to do the front, I would recommend following the
same proceedure for the rear, except the pin is at the top, not the
bottom of the shock as the front is.. I'm going to skip over how to
remove a shock, if you already have OMEs or are installing them, it's
easy, just remove the 17mm nut from the top of the shock and the 13mm
nuts from the bottom and squeeze the shock together and pull out!
Here is a picture of
the old bar pin, you'll
notice, I never installed the washers that would have helped a little
bit with my issue, but according to
'drack,
they are shipping weights
Not
that difficult to
remove these, you just gotta use the appropriate
leverage. I chose to put a little grease on the opposite side of the
pin I was going to pull through to help it "slip" out a little easier,
then using a screwdriver, make a "T" by putting the screwdriver through
the pin hole and pull while twisting. You could do the same thing and
push if you'd like! This was fairly easy and took a minute to do.
Here's a pic of
the new setup assembled sort of, just missing the shock:
Now, put some grease
on the end of the JKS pin
that you are going to push through the shock. Use plenty of grease,
even though it gets sloppy, it will make a huge difference in getting
that darn pin through! Place the pin where it needs to go and just
start pushing with your hand until it gets barely in, it will take a
few seconds to get it to feel like it's going... Then, use the "T"
technique to push the new pin in and give a good bit of pressure while
twisting.. It will go, trust me, again, it will take an intense minute
to do this!! If it's not "slippery" enough, add some more grease.
You
should be feeling
good about this now! Once you have the pin in the
hole with equal distance on each side, turn the pin so that the bolts
will go in sideways, rather than up and down. Here's the issue, the
bottom of the OME shock is sooooo big, that you can't fit the bolt in
the hole unless you do this. Maybe this is the other issue. Then put on
the squares that come with the pin and slide each bolt in each side,
and put a piece of tape on the bolt head, you'll see why in a second.
You
can now twist the
hole pin so that the bolts are up and down, this
should be easy as the inside of that shock bushing should be well
lubricated from all that grease you put on. I did this by hand easily.
Now,
compress the
shock all the way and quickly crawl under your Jeep
and as the shock decompresses, line it up on the bottom with your taped
bolts and the top with the top of the shock bolt.. You've successfully
kept the bolts in place now, so finger tighten the nuts onto each
bottom bolt, then remove the tape and tighted up the 13mm bolt/nut.
Also, put back on the top nut and tighten that puppy up as well. You
are good to go, you've just successfully proven JKS wrong!
Review:
I like them,
they don't clunk!!!!!!!!!! What more could I say??
Disclaimer:
You can
use these instructions however you choose, but I am
not liable for anything you do. Please feel free to link to them from
other sites, but you must get my permission first before copying them
off of this site to elsewhere.
Thanks and Enjoy!
Keith
