First off, nine times out of ten, lift manufacturers don't take weight ratings into consideration - That is, for some reason, they don't beef up their products for those of us who plan on carrying a lot of weight around.
Second, there is a snowball effect that begins taking place the higher you lift a Jeep. Jeeps have short wheelbases and, therefore, not a whole lot of driveline to play with. When you get up into the 4"+ range, you're looking at replacing control arms, driveshafts, transmission components, etc. Then, you've got to have the bigger tires to fill up those wheel wells. When you have a puny little Dana 35 rear axle like mine, the horror stories of axle shafts snapping on speed bumps at the mall with the slightest little twitch of a 35" tire tend to get to you (Yes, that's an exaggeration... mostly).
Third, it seems that most lift manufacturers look more at raising the vehicle than they do at improving ride characteristics. I guess as long as people are willing to sacrifice handling and on-road performance just so they can cram more meat in the wheel wells, there won't be much change in this respect.
When you look at all of these factors, an Old Man Emu suspension "upgrade" looks more and more appealing. Replacement OME coils generally yield on average 2.5 inches of lift over stock, and they are the only lift kit out there that I know of that is marketed as an upgrade that results in an improved ride both on and off road. Additionally, Old Man Emu is about the only suspension manufacturer out there for whom I've heard no legitimate complaints. I decided to bite the bullet and ordered a "Deluxe Package" that Dirk at DPG Off Road put together consisting of OME heavy duty coils, OME shocks, OME trackbar relocation bracket, OME rear bumpstop extensions, along with a JKS 1.25" body lift, JKS 1" motor mount lift, and JKS "Quicker Disconnect" front swaybar disconnects. As of this writing, I've only installed the OME coils and relocation hardware. Installation of these components was pretty straightforward. I had changed the springs out on the Dodge before, so I pretty much knew the basics of the procedures and what to expect. The toughest part of the OME install for me was the trackbar relocation bracket. A lot of folks complain about the drilling of additional holes here being the big headache, but for me, it was actually fitting all the new nuts and bolts that wore on my nerves. I finally got it, though, and everything went together perfectly. I'd recommend reading any of the number of write-ups out there before installing the Old Man Emu suspension, especially if you've never done anything like this before. I've got a few linked on the Jeep Links page, so check 'em out.
One thing to keep in mind is that the OME coils are side-specific. That is, one front spring is taller than the other, and the same goes for the rear. Old Man Emu comes out of Australia where they drive on the wrong side of the road and there's no steering wheel where it's supposed to be, so the springs are labeled as if you'd be putting them on a right-hand-drive vehicle. There's a lot of confusion going around out there as to which spring goes where, so I had Dirk at DPG clarify this for me. He assured me that the taller front spring goes on the driver side (to compensate for the weight of the driver) while the taller rear spring goes on the passenger side (to compensate for the torque the motor puts out). This worked out great for me.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there is a chance you will experience driveline vibrations after raising your suspension. Some folks experience vibes, other don't. I did. I did not purchase the Old Man Emu transfer case drop kit. I went into it knowing that I could use ½-inch flat washers as an alternative, and as of this writing, I currently have three washers added to each transfer case skid plate bolt. I can still feel some slight vibrations, so I may add one more washer to each bolt to see if that will completely eliminate the vibes. Four ½-inch washers measure at approximately ½ of an inch in thickness when stacked. As I stated earlier, I also purchased a JKS body lift and JKS motor mount lift. Installing the motor mount lift should alleviate any excessive driveline angles and allow me to remove the washers from the transfer case skid. (Update: I installed the motor mount lift, and this took care of my vibrations.)
Now lets talk about the Old Man Emu shocks. I installed the coils a few days before replacing the shocks, as the shocks were shipped separately and came a little later. I began installing the shocks literally minutes after they were delivered. Let me tell you, they bring the whole Old Man Emu system together. Now, I noticed an improvement after just installing the coils, but I couldn't believe just how much nicer the ride is with the OME shocks installed. The whole system takes whatever bump you can throw at it and barely flinches. I now understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to the hardcore advocates of Old Man Emu.
Update 21 March 2004: I finally got around to installing the JKS 1.25" body lift. It was a fairly straightforward process that simply involved loosening all of the body mounts (11 total), removing the bolts on one side, raising that side of the body with a Hi-Lift jack just enough to slip the body lift pucks in, lowering that side, and moving on to the other side. New hardware was included and installed as the pucks were placed. Everything was tightened down to redneck torque specs after everything was lowered back down and aligned. There was nothing complicated about it, and it only took about an hour. I didn't mess with the transfer case or transmission linkages, although I'll need to test out the 4wd to determine whether or not it needs adjustment. I also didn't need to mess with the fan shroud since it was "trimmed" after installing the JKS motor mount lift.
Note: In the third column of pics below, the Jeep is loaded down with a winch, Jeeperman rear bumper and tire carrier, and nearly every tool I have (which I normally carry with me in the Tuffy cargo drawer), excluding floor jack and jack stands. I'd say the OME suspension is handling the weight rather nicely.
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