A complete upgraded suspension system will offer the most satisfactory improvement in ride quality, control, handling and wheel travel. It is also the most expensive. Our premium suspension system is the Australian made Old Man Emu system. Old Man Emu has more Land Cruiser suspension experience than any other company in the world. Their suspension systems offer the highest quality upgrades for your Land Cruiser at any price. Man-A-Fre has the largest on hand inventory of Old Man Emu suspension products for Land Cruisers on the North American Continent, at the best pricing available.

Considered the bench-mark in Australian 4WD shock absorbers, Old Man Emus Australian designed and manufactured Nitrocharger low-pressure gas twin-tube units are available to suit almost every 4WD vehicle and application. Progressive, responsive and a real value, The legendary Nitrocharger suspension control units set new standards in ride comfort over any terrain and simply outperform the competition.

Now us Yanks have the solution from Down Under to make our Land Cruisers handle the barren wastelands of North America. Man-A-Fre is proud to carry the full line of Old Man Emu Suspension products. The Aussies love their Toyota Land Cruisers, the most popular off-road vehicle on the island continent, and the Old Man Emu suspension upgrades for FJ40, 60 and 80 models include smooth riding low-pressure Gas Charged Shock Absorbers, special rate coil springs, and specially designed leaf springs. Old Man Emu rear leaf springs are a true two-stage design providing a smoother ride with increased travel and no harsh bottoming. Springs are fully cambered to eliminate sag, and graphite coated with anti-friction pads and loose clamping of the leaves to assure smooth, quiet operation. Old Man Emu suspension components are designed to work together as a complete system, but individual components are available separately to meet your specific upgrade requirements.

Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Shocks

Why Buy A Set Of Four Shock Absorbers?
Its a simple fact of life that shock absorbers do wear out and should be replaced. Its also fact that a vehicle may be equipped with shock absorbers that were not designed to meet your requirements. Old Man Emu shock absorbers last much longer than original equipment units. They also reduce pitch and body-roll. OME shock absorbers will make your vehicle track and handle better. It will, therefore, be a safer vehicle and the ride will be more comfortable, regardless of whether your vehicle is brand new or a little older. But, for the best results, its strongly recommended that all four shock absorbers be replaced at the same time. Fifteen years experience in 4WD suspension, a strict policy of thorough development before introducing any new product and an extremely successful long-term involvement in off-road racing led to the production of this, Australias best shock absorber. Nitrochargers unique glacier bush, its teflon-impregnated piston-rod guide and teflon-banded piston eliminate metal to metal contact within the piston tube itself, thus reducing bore wear, friction and heat. New design multi-stage valves, including a seven-stage coil sprung compression valve and a four-stage coil sprung rebound valve, improve the Nitrochargers consistent performance characteristics, enhance its fine tuning capabilities and increase overall durability.

The Benefits Of Gas Pressurization
As the piston travels in a non-pressurized hydraulic twin tube shock absorber, oil passes through the base or compression valve to and from the outer tube, which serves as a reservoir. Part of the reservoir must be filled with compressable air to compensate for movement of the piston rod and its displacement of the shock oil as the rod enters (compresses) into the shock. This internal shock air can mix with the oil in the shockÕs reservoir, and actually foams with the oil under operation, drastically reducing the effectiveness of the shock absorberÕs damping valving and causes fading to occur. The OME Nitrocharger replaces the air in the shock reservoir of common low performance shocks with pressurized Nitrogen gas. A major component of the air we breathe, Nitrogen is a pure, inert gas, without the corrosive and unstable properties of Oxygen and Water Vapor which are also found in air. Use of pure Nitrogen gas in the pressurized OME Shock helps provide more consistent damping and prevents deterioration of the shocks damping oil and internal working components.

Low Pressure Versus High Pressure
Essentially, there are two basic varieties of gas shocks in common usage today: one is the low pressure twin-tube shock absorber, while the other is the high pressure De Carbon Principle mono-tube. High gas pressures are the norm in racing car shocks for high speed applications and short suspension on smooth roads. But the Australian on-road and off-road environments embody markedly different needs and, in the OME experience, there are two problems with high pressure shock absorbers. Under low pressure, the broader range of bottom end softness is able to be easily fine tuned. Such is not the case with the high-pressure approach, as the system is inherently stiffer, regardless of the setting. The degree of bottom-end softness dictates the level of comfort experienced while driving at low speed. Consequently, the low pressure system is more comfortable and more desirable.
The other problem is that the internal gas cylinder of the De Carbon principle mono-tube design has a shaft length shorter than the Old Man Emu twin-tube design. If an OME unit and a mono unit of the same compressed length are fully extended, the OME unit will extend further. On 4x4 vehicles, therefore. the OME unit will allow the axle to drop down further and gain traction, dependent upon suspension design. The walking effect of your 4x4 may be limited by the shorter traveling mono-tube, but not by the Old Man Emu Nitrocharger.

Old Man Emu Lifted Coil Springs

As standard original equipment coil springs are prone to sagging (especially at the rear) and therefore cannot satisfactorily carry increased loads, Old Man Emu designs aftermarket coils to restore the ride height of your 4WD vehicle. When matched with OMEs specially valve coded range of Nitrocharger shock absorbers, the increased suspension travel results in im-proved off-road performance, better towing and load carrying capabilities and enhanced ride and handling characteristics. Old Man Emu lifted coil springs lift 50mm or approximately 2 and are available in either constant or variable rate to suit the specific performance requirements of particular app-lications. Manufactured to exacting standards, OME coils are shot-peened for a longer life, fully scragged and load-tested to ensure optimum quality and durability. Constant rate coils are acceptable on the front of most vehicles, when the correct spring and shock combination is fitted. However, constant rate coils are not acceptable in the rear, as they produce a harsh ride when un-laden and a comfortable ride only when laden (loaded). For this reason, OME designs variable rate coils which provide both and excellent ride, whether laden or unladen, and the much needed load carrying capability.

Old Man Emu Lifted Leaf Springs

Old Man Emus polypropylene greasable anti-friction pads and graphite impregnated grease reduce friction and prevent corrosion at the leaf tips, where pressure is the greatest. Without this attention to detail, inter-leaf friction is greater and the ride becomes correspondingly harsher.
Old Man Emu Lifted Leaf Springs lift 50mm or approximately 2. Loose clamping of the spring clips provides correct control, preventing squeaking and scoring of the tension side of the main leaf and avoiding stress creation. An essential safety feature of properly designed springs is the military wrap designed to provide added safety.
The incorporation of flats in the springs reduces the likelihood of sag occurring. A spring without a flat is subject to deflection when curvature is pulled from its center, as it adopts the shape of the flat axle seat.
All OME leaf and coil springs are fully scragged and load-tested to ensure that the finished product meets the required specifications. Scragging is the process of subjecting the spring to a load greater than that which will be experienced in service. After scragging, all Old Man Emu springs are subjected to a preset load and checked to ensure that the amount of deflection is within the required limits of plus or minus 3mm.
Attention to spring design eliminates sag. Leaf lengths are calculated to ensure that the spring is uniformly stressed as possible. Inappropriate lengths will concentrate stress in one particular area and will cause premature sagging or breakage.
Old Man Emu two-stage springs are fully cambered and designed as integral units, so sag is eliminated. There are no cheap fixes to load or ride problems. A system is definitely required, where the spring is designed to relate to the shock absorber, of course Old Man Emu offers such a system.
Also, it is important to note that a spring can be reset only twice before the steel loses its spring characteristics. The addition of a helper leaf on the bottom of a single-stage spring also has limitations, as its usually not compatible with the original spring and picks up too late for load carrying performance.
When a vehicle is lifted to achieve greater suspension travel, two very significant changes occur beneath the vehicle. Firstly, the driveline angle changes, as does the relationship between flanges on the differential and the transfer case. If this change is too great, then driveline vibration and accelerated component wear will occur.
Secondly (and especially on coil spring vehicles), lifting the vehicle causes the front axle to rotate, which affects caster and camber angles, if the change is too great, the steering and handling will be adversely affected. OMEs engineers are very much aware of these potential pitfalls and take every precaution to ensure that lift is confined within safe limits.
 

1) We highly recommend consulting one of our sales advisor or technical advisor to match the appropriate shock absorbers to your spring selection, or for assistance in selecting a spring application to suit your specific driving needs.

2) 5 & 10mm trim packers are available to adjust height of each individual corner of vehicle.

3) Models built after 8/91 add 20mm to lift heights shown.

4) Lifting a vehicle may require use of extended brake lines or relocation of brake line mount.