Opinions on Old Man Emu lifts

As stated above I am looking for opinions on Old Man Emu JK lifts. I am wanting to hear from those with actual experience from one of their lifts or anyone running their shocks. I would just like to hear your feedback and opinions.

I will probably eventually change my lift and this is on of the ones I am looking at. One of the reasons is that I had an Old Man Emu lift on a 2002 Liberty and it was great. The ride was great both on and off road and I had it on for 55,000 miles and it was still in great shape no signs of sagging or fatigue.
 

mds22

New member
I ran their shocks with RK coils and absolutely loved them, very smooth ride considering the stiffness of the coils. Definitely "long travel" as well.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I've installed and tested out their basic 2" lift and it offered a nice ride. You can see the write-up I did for it here:
http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-ups/old-man-emu-jeep-jk-wrangler-2-lift-installation-write-up

I've also installed and tested the kit that Northridge has for it which comes complete with long travel shocks, adjustable track bars, adjustable front upper control arms and sway bar disconnects. You can see the write-up I did for it here:
http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write...er-long-travel-lift-kit-installation-write-up

After doing long term testing with it, I personally would recommend against getting the HD coils as the ride they offered was just way too firm for my taste. Also, if you get this kit, you really should install some kind of front shock relocation brackets as the cans will make contact with your frame and get damaged by it at a full flex.
 

jedg

New member
I'll back up WAL ( like he needs it. ) about front shock relocation brackets. I am running OME shocks with RK coils. The shocks make contact with the frame without relocation brackets. I do like the shocks though.
 

RUBINOT

Caught the Bug
I've had my two inch JKU Old Man Emu lift on my 14 JK for the last year and couldn't be happier. The ride is great in the articulation is fantastic. This JKU lift gave me 3.5" of lift on the JK.

Mine is a bare minimum set up, springs, shocks, steering stabilizer and a few brackets, plus I added a JKS front adjustable trac bar. And it perfect for what I do. Add a few other mods to the suspension package, like rear adjustable trac bar, extended brake lines, quick sway bar disconnects and you really be happy.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the great responses. I appreciate hearing everyone's experiences and the review articles were great and very informative. As I mentioned in my original post I was really impressed with the ride quality and longevity both on and off road of the Old Man Emu springs and shocks that I had on a lifted Liberty.

My current ride is a 2012 2 door COD MW3 edition Rubicon. I am running an AEV front bumper with winch, an AEV rear Bumper with tire carrier and a hard top. I bought the Jeep used and it is set up fairly nice with a 2.5" Terraflex coil lift running stock Rubicon shocks with shock extensions. It also has adjustable lower front control arms and aftermarket rear lower control arms. I am very happy with the ride height (there is no sagging) but the ride is a little more stiff than I would like. I think part of the problem is the original Rubicon shocks with extensions (they have 31,000 miles on them) but I also think that the Terraflex coils my have a pretty stiff ride.

My Jeep is a Daily Driver that is sometimes driven for work like many of you drive to play. I am an Archaeologist and an Environmental Inspector and my work often takes me to gas pipeline right of ways that are under construction in the mountains of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. When doing inspection I remove the rear seat and carry a good bit of equipment in the back. I would also like to do both green and blue trails for fun. I might get into some more difficult trails once I get more used to this set up.

My short term plan is to get some new proper length shocks and a steering stabilizer. I would also like to install an exhaust loop and some limiting straps to try and maximize my flex within the limits of my stock drive shafts. Eventually I would also like to add adjustable upper rear control arms.

Long term I am still planning on sticking with a 2.5" to 3" lift with adjustable upper and lower control arms and probably different coils (I like the different spring rate options offered by Old Man Emu). I would eventually like to get aftermarket drive shafts as well.

I will have to spread my mods out over time as my budget is very limited.

Here are some current photos and this is about the ride height I will want in the end just better ride and better function:
IMG_0479.jpg IMG_0480.jpg IMG_0481.jpg IMG_0482.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0467.jpg
    IMG_0467.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 134
Last edited:
Top Bottom