Old Man EMU

[Jason@Stage3]

I used to work at a Ford dealership and still ordered from stage 3. You'll get a better deal through them for the ARB kit

That's not necessarily true. If his dealership is already set up with one of the big WDs, then they may be able to get it cheaper.

That being said...

Stage 3 would be the place to get it if I was not a Ford dealer and have a wholesale supplier so I am getting a pretty good deal and actually the HEAVY kit is cheaper than the standard.

...we do have a wholesale program on select items if you/your dealership want to apply.

This industry is weird.

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[KVOFTN]

I used to work at a Ford dealership and still ordered from stage 3. You'll get a better deal through them for the ARB kit

I ordered the ome kit!
Would you mind taking a height measurement from the front and rear?

 

[Frenchy]

I ordered the ome kit!
Would you mind taking a height measurement from the front and rear?

I can do that soon

 

[Frenchy]

Alrighty so to start off my driveway is not level and is probably messing with these measurements. This is to the top of each wheel well as close to center of each wheel.

FL: 37.25 inches
FR: 38.25 inches
RL: 40.6 inches
RR: 40.4 inches

This is with a full tank and the driveway is lower on the drives side so it is most likely shifting most weight to the drives side.
On level ground the measurements are much closer.

 

[KVOFTN]

Alrighty so to start off my driveway is not level and is probably messing with these measurements. This is to the top of each wheel well as close to center of each wheel.

FL: 37.25 inches
FR: 38.25 inches
RL: 40.6 inches
RR: 40.4 inches

This is with a full tank and the driveway is lower on the drives side so it is most likely shifting most weight to the drives side.
On level ground the measurements are much closer.

Wow that’s pretty level. The picture is deceiving. Your looks much taller in the rear.

 

[Frenchy]

Wow that’s pretty level. The picture is deceiving. Your looks much taller in the rear.

It is taller in the rear overall. Stock there is about a 3 inch difference from front to rear. The Old Man EMU takes about 1 inch of that away. Also part of my height is from the bigger tires but I will still say you will not be disappointed.

 

[Aragorn]

How does the Old Man Emu lift kit compare to the stage 1 leveling kits from Fox and Icon? They are comparably priced, despite the OME kit including all new leaf springs and other rear suspension parts.

It could be just an optical illusion from the pictures, but the eye test suggests the OME coilovers and shocks are less beefy than those from Fox and Icon, even their stage 1 kits, respectively.

@Stage3Motorsports, perhaps this is a good question for you guys. How does the OME lift kit compare?

 

[Frenchy]

How does the Old Man Emu lift kit compare to the stage 1 leveling kits from Fox and Icon? They are comparably priced, despite the OME kit including all new leaf springs and other rear suspension parts.

It could be just an optical illusion from the pictures, but the eye test suggests the OME coilovers and shocks are less beefy than those from Fox and Icon, even their stage 1 kits, respectively.

@Stage3Motorsports, perhaps this is a good question for you guys. How does the OME lift kit compare?

I personally cannot say on how they compared to both Fox and icon. I say this because I have never run fox or icon before. Now I'm not going to badmouth either of the two companies because I know for sure that Fox does make good stuff and I wouldn't doubt that I can make some good stuff too. Now you're probably wondering about the strength of the old man emu. I can tell you right now that it has more than enough strength for the normal off-roader. I myself do go Offroad a fair bit on just Trail exploring with my truck. As I've already mentioned in a few other comments before the suspension does very well. The suspension what's engineered in both the United States and Australia. With that being said I think it is an awesome kit. The leaf springs are definitely different than the factory and that's because it's a old conventional style multi Leaf pack versus the parabolic single leaf spring that Ford has from the factory. What I really like about the fact with old man you know is you get way more flexibility in the rear versus other companies which I'm sure icon is one of the few since they do offer a lift kit is you get more flexibility instead of the same as stock when you just put blocks on. There was one Trail not too far from me that I ended up doing the whole teeter totter when I was stock. After I put on the old man emu lift I went through that same spot and didn't have a problem whatsoever. If I would have had the fox kit or something else it's really hard to say because I wouldn't have changed the flexibility in the rear. Because the sway bar still connected in the front you're still limited on how much flexibility you're going to truly get in the front.

Something I will also state is that old man emu shocks are twin tubes. To my understanding everyone else is using mono tubes. I will not argue that mono tubes are very nice shocks overall. To my understanding the reason old man emu went with twin tubes is because if a shock does get damaged on the outside chances are it will only mess with the outer tube and still allow the shock to travel smoothly through the inner tube. On a monotube if the shock is to get damaged it's possible to shock won't be able to travel through the tube because the tube itself got damaged. To me it makes sense but then again to each their own.

Something else to consider with old man emu vs. Fox. The fox kit is only a leveling kit. The old man emu is a lift kit. If you want to go off-road it would be on your best interest to get a lift kit. Why might you ask? Simple you get more clearance overall. If you only level the truck and still go off road there is a good chance you will hit things on the trail towards the back of the truck. Now that doesn't mean you're not going to hit anything when you have a lift. You just have a much lower chance of hitting things when you have a lift.

Hope this info helps you

 

[KVOFTN]

How does the Old Man Emu lift kit compare to the stage 1 leveling kits from Fox and Icon? They are comparably priced, despite the OME kit including all new leaf springs and other rear suspension parts.

It could be just an optical illusion from the pictures, but the eye test suggests the OME coilovers and shocks are less beefy than those from Fox and Icon, even their stage 1 kits, respectively.

@Stage3Motorsports, perhaps this is a good question for you guys. How does the OME lift kit compare?

I shared your concern about the shocks and struts. I really wanted to change the rear leafs as I feel the stock ones are just not that great. The bottoming on mild bumps, the roll etc...
I have only found OME to be offering a rear leaf for the Ranger maybe I missed something??

After pricing what just the rear leafs would cost to buy individually vs buying the kit I opted for the kit and will run their set up to begin with. If I do not like the shocks/struts one is really not out much if you should go with another shock setup. I think one would only need the front struts and I would likely go with EIBACH 2.0.

 

[Jason@Stage3]

How does the Old Man Emu lift kit compare to the stage 1 leveling kits from Fox and Icon? They are comparably priced, despite the OME kit including all new leaf springs and other rear suspension parts.

It could be just an optical illusion from the pictures, but the eye test suggests the OME coilovers and shocks are less beefy than those from Fox and Icon, even their stage 1 kits, respectively.

I haven't been in a truck with an OME kit as of yet, so I can't tell you much from experience. On paper, the included shocks will likely be outperformed on a damping front by most coilovers and shocks. The Nitrochargers are Twin-Tubes and they just don't have the cavitation resistance or rebound as a monotube shock, especially once you get into larger diameters.

They're still a big improvement over stock, and depending on what you're doing with the truck, they may be all you need. If you're just looking to do the occasional trail ride, camping trip, or overland trip, the OME packages are probably one of the best bang-for-your-buck suspension upgrades currently available.

If you are going to be off-roading at speed, though, you should probably go with another option or hold out until ARB releases BP-51s for the Rangers.

 

[egilbe]

I would think the BP-51's for the ROTW Rangers would be a pretty close fit to NA Rangers, but I could be wrong on that.

 

[Aragorn]

I haven't been in a truck with an OME kit as of yet, so I can't tell you much from experience. On paper, the included shocks will likely be outperformed on a damping front by most coilovers and shocks. The Nitrochargers are Twin-Tubes and they just don't have the cavitation resistance or rebound as a monotube shock, especially once you get into larger diameters.

They're still a big improvement over stock, and depending on what you're doing with the truck, they may be all you need. If you're just looking to do the occasional trail ride, camping trip, or overland trip, the OME packages are probably one of the best bang-for-your-buck suspension upgrades currently available.

If you are going to be off-roading at speed, though, you should probably go with another option or hold out until ARB releases BP-51s for the Rangers.

Thanks for the response! That is helpful. Based on other vehicles BP-51 kits, what is the likely price ranger for future ARB BP-51 kits for the Ranger?

Also, Jason, do you have any thoughts about adding the rear OME leaf spring kits to a truck that has a Fox Stage 1 leveling kit? First, just your general opinion on pairing the two. Second, the issue of rear shock travel: I know the Fox kit says the new rear shocks can "handle 1.5" rear leveling", but the OME rear leaf spring kits increase the rear suspension height anywhere between 1.7-3.1" of rear lift. Does that mean I would need new rear shocks with either of the two larger OME rear leaf spring kits?

 

[Jason@Stage3]

Thanks for the response! That is helpful. Based on other vehicles BP-51 kits, what is the likely price ranger for future ARB BP-51 kits for the Ranger?

Looking at the Tacoma BP-51 Kits, you'd be in the $3400 range.

Also, Jason, do you have any thoughts about adding the rear OME leaf spring kits to a truck that has a Fox Stage 1 leveling kit? First, just your general opinion on pairing the two. Second, the issue of rear shock travel: I know the Fox kit says the new rear shocks can "handle 1.5" rear leveling", but the OME rear leaf spring kits increase the rear suspension height anywhere between 1.7-3.1" of rear lift. Does that mean I would need new rear shocks with either of the two larger OME rear leaf spring kits?

With the 1.7" leafs, you most likely wouldn't have an issue, especially if you have some weight on the rear that keeps ride height down a bit.

If you're going with a 2.2" or the 3.1" kit, you would probably have some problems with overall travel unless you are running an whole bunch of weight in the rear on the regular. That extra height during a full axle down travel would probably break something.

If you are planning on running the 2.2" or 3.1" kit, I would strongly recommend running a resi rear shock of some sort to get that extra stroke.

 

[Frenchy]

I would think the BP-51's for the ROTW Rangers would be a pretty close fit to NA Rangers, but I could be wrong on that.

You won't be wrong on how it's going to be a close fit but they're still differences from the ranger in the United States and across the world. That's why it took a little bit for us to get the Nitro charger kits

 

[KVOFTN]

I had to grind my little alignment pin off to make it fit in. After that I was good

Did you have to put that shim back in? I do not see any instructions from ARB. Looking at you height measurements seems like one would not need to put that back in??

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