ARB OME suspension feeling stiffer than usual

[Ge23ev]

Hey guys
I swapped out my original suspension on my 2015 2.7L 4x4 with the ARB Oldman Emu suspensions at 2500km and I've loved every second so far and it feels great and smooth.
Right now I got 14000km on it (12k on the new suspension) and the last couple of days I've felt it's become stiffer than usual and more jumpy on road bumps and kind of like the original factory suspension.
Is this something natural like something to do with the weather getting colder and something temporary?
Should I take it to the dealership to take a look at it or should I just wait it out and it will go back to the way it was???
I've checked the shocks and they look fine with no leaking or anything unusual.

[lukestoyzx]

Didn't pump ya tyres up or anything did ya?! I fit OME for a living, take it to whoever fitted it and ask them to check it out.

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[Ge23ev]

Didn't pump ya tyres up or anything did ya?! I fit OME for a living, take it to whoever fitted it and ask them to check it out.

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

I haven't. I'm running bfgoodrich all terrain ko2. One of seems a little deflated. I'll take a look at the tire pressure and give it some more time. If it didn't solve itself I'm going for a check up

[Mud Dog]

It's a matter of fact that most of the ride comfort is in the front suspension but the rear also plays a part. The front struts wont just stiffen up unless something has gone seriously wrong with the shocks, which is highly unlikely with the mileage you've given, as is the possibility of there being problems with the control arm bushes. This makes me think that the problem is more likely to be the rear leaf packs - there are Teflon slider pads between the blades, but dirt and muck still get in there and the blades don't slide over each other as smoothly. You would do no harm by cleaning it out and lubing it.

To do this, just separate the blades at the ends one at a time with a large screwdriver (be careful not to damage the Teflon pads) and blow out with compressed air. It's not necessary but easier if the weight is off the springs (jacked up onto stands on the chassis). Once done repeat the separation exercise and lube with dry graphite powder. There are two main schools of thought here regardless of manufacturer recommendations, one is the dry lube and the other is grease (graphite MS grease). With grease you can blow out and lube at the same time (you won't be blowing away the powder). Personally I preferred the grease option, which I would do every 10 to 15 thousand km's depending on how much fouling there is. Even at such regular intervals I could notice a difference in the smoothness of the ride after each 'service'. Shackle and hanger pins (there are 3 on each side) should also be greased periodically.

[lukestoyzx]

X2 I separate, clean and grease mine each service. Once you know how it only take ten minutes. We have a massive problem were I live with stiff and squeaky leaf packs.

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[LouisZ]

Hi,

What setup do you have on the Hilux?

Ie is it standard? Any Aftermarket bumpers, extra permanent weight?

What part numbers was used?

[Ge23ev]

Hi,

What setup do you have on the Hilux?

Ie is it standard? Any Aftermarket bumpers, extra permanent weight?

What part numbers was used?

i have the OME suspension with r34 rear leafs (the soft ones) with trd 17" rims and bf goodrich allterrain k02 265/70
everything else is original

so no extra weight .

the car was very smooth this is just the past couple of days

[Ge23ev]

It's a matter of fact that most of the ride comfort is in the front suspension but the rear also plays a part. The front struts wont just stiffen up unless something has gone seriously wrong with the shocks, which is highly unlikely with the mileage you've given, as is the possibility of there being problems with the control arm bushes. This makes me think that the problem is more likely to be the rear leaf packs - there are Teflon slider pads between the blades, but dirt and muck still get in there and the blades don't slide over each other as smoothly. You would do no harm by cleaning it out and lubing it.

To do this, just separate the blades at the ends one at a time with a large screwdriver (be careful not to damage the Teflon pads) and blow out with compressed air. It's not necessary but easier if the weight is off the springs (jacked up onto stands on the chassis). Once done repeat the separation exercise and lube with dry graphite powder. There are two main schools of thought here regardless of manufacturer recommendations, one is the dry lube and the other is grease (graphite MS grease). With grease you can blow out and lube at the same time (you won't be blowing away the powder). Personally I preferred the grease option, which I would do every 10 to 15 thousand km's depending on how much fouling there is. Even at such regular intervals I could notice a difference in the smoothness of the ride after each 'service'. Shackle and hanger pins (there are 3 on each side) should also be greased periodically.

thanks for the great reply
i did go a little mudding last week and havent washed the underside of the car yet. could it be because of the dirt maybe getting in there ? becasue it was smooth as before the first couple of days then it kind of stiffened .

do you know of any video instructions that show how to clean and lubricate the suspenion? im fairly new to mudding stuff .
i know i have to clean the underside because of rust issues but i didnt know it could affect the ride comfort

[Ge23ev]

X2 I separate, clean and grease mine each service. Once you know how it only take ten minutes. We have a massive problem were I live with stiff and squeaky leaf packs.

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i did do a little mudding last week.
do you know any video instructions or have any how to's to clean and grease the suspension ?
im not getting sqeaky leafs though just stiffer ride and jumpier . pretty much like the original shocks since my OMEs are really comfy

[Mud Dog]

I don't know of any video footage - never looked - but it's quite simple. Just take some or all of the weight off the springs, use a large screw driver or any other lever with a fairly sharp end and wedge it between the individual leaf ends, just enough to separate them, blow it out and push some grease into there. Just work your way through one at a time - as Luke said, it doesn't take too long.

The shackle and hanger pins are a bit more tricky - ideally one should have greaseable pins, then it's just a case of pumping some grease into the nipples. If it's standard pins, you have to remove, grease and replace one at a time. Jack it up so that the wheel is just free of the ground - that way the suspension doesn't drop down too far once a pin is removed and it's fairly easy to relocate the pins once cleaned and greased.

Give it a go, it's not rocket science.