Falcon 3.1 SP2/ Clayton Off-Road

[Rmarks57]

I recently install the Clayton 2.5" Overland + with Falcon 3.1 SP2 Shocks.
Everything went great and was super impressed with the quality of parts.
But.... my Jeep Rides very rough on the Road! My tires are 37" SST PROs D rated and I am running 25-28PSI. I would say 100% harsher on the road than stock, especially at slower speeds. Rides decent on the trail.
I have a Fullsize spare and a LOD Destroyer bumper w/Carrier so I don't think the Jeep is too light.
I wanna say the shocks are just way too stiff. On the same bumpy roads my F450 rides better.
Curious if anyone else has had this issue with Falcon Shocks or Clayton Offroad?

My Complete Build:

2020 JLUR 3.6L
2.5" Clayton Overland Plus
3.1 Falcon SP2 Shocks
37x12.50x17 Cooper SST PRO D rated
Ect.....

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[Roky]

I recently install the Clayton 2.5" Overland + with Falcon 3.1 SP2 Shocks.
Everything went great and was super impressed with the quality of parts.
But.... my Jeep Rides very rough on the Road! My tires are 37" SST PROs D rated and I am running 25-28PSI. I would say 100% harsher on the road than stock, especially at slower speeds. Rides decent on the trail.
I have a Fullsize spare and a LOD Destroyer bumper w/Carrier so I don't think the Jeep is too light.
I wanna say the shocks are just way too stiff. On the same bumpy roads my F450 rides better.
Curious if anyone else has had this issue with Falcon Shocks or Clayton Offroad?

My Complete Build:

2020 JLUR 3.6L
2.5" Clayton Overland Plus
3.1 Falcon SP2 Shocks
37x12.50x17 Cooper SST PRO D rated
Ect.....

You’re not the first to complain about falcon shocks being too firm, if it was me I’d ditch the falcons and get some Fox 2.0s…….

 

[Rubi6mt]

Curious, does that shock have the SP2 adjuster on the bottom to rotate to the soft setting?

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

should have gone 3.3 so that you dial it to the softest setting.. even in that setting i heard its still rubicon-stock-red-shock level FIRM.

For ride quality FOX 2.0's are a better pair with Clayton springs (as they are slightly higher spring rate than stock/mopar/teraflex etc)

In the long run - Say 2 years of wheeling, the falcons will soften. My friend is on his 3rd year and they ride as soft as my Fox 2.0s. On the other hand monotube Fox 2.0s degrade past firs year where you will have plush ride but slightly more body roll when cornering.

#EverythingHasCompromises

 

[Rmarks57]

Curious, does that shock have the SP2 adjuster on the bottom to rotate to the soft setting?

yes, and I have them set to soft.

 

[Rmarks57]

should have gone 3.3 so that you dial it to the softest setting.. even in that setting i heard its still rubicon-stock-red-shock level FIRM.

For ride quality FOX 2.0's are a better pair with Clayton springs (as they are slightly higher spring rate than stock/mopar/teraflex etc)

In the long run - Say 2 years of wheeling, the falcons will soften. My friend is on his 3rd year and they ride as soft as my Fox 2.0s. On the other hand monotube Fox 2.0s degrade past firs year where you will have plush ride but slightly more body roll when cornering.

#EverythingHasCompromises

I ordered the 3.3 upgrade cartridge today. Hope that helps. The guy at Falcon said i just need to beat on them, they will break in.

 

[Hoppy Toad]

I had same Clayton suspension installed on my 2020 JL Unlimited Sport 3.6. My mistake, as Overland + is set up for camping and more weight. Also with Fox 2.0's. I replaced the coil springs with Metal Cloak dual rate springs and it made a huge difference on and off-road. Somehow, the springs ordered lifted me to 3.5" lol. Later switched to Falcon SP2 3.3 Fast adjust. Much better for off-road, set at soft. Medium for street, Firm for road trips. Also, 35" K02's C ply rating helps. Ride is much more compliant now. Expensive lessons learned.

 

[Clayton Off Road]

I recently install the Clayton 2.5" Overland + with Falcon 3.1 SP2 Shocks.
Everything went great and was super impressed with the quality of parts.
But.... my Jeep Rides very rough on the Road! My tires are 37" SST PROs D rated and I am running 25-28PSI. I would say 100% harsher on the road than stock, especially at slower speeds. Rides decent on the trail.
I have a Fullsize spare and a LOD Destroyer bumper w/Carrier so I don't think the Jeep is too light.
I wanna say the shocks are just way too stiff. On the same bumpy roads my F450 rides better.
Curious if anyone else has had this issue with Falcon Shocks or Clayton Offroad?

My Complete Build:

2020 JLUR 3.6L
2.5" Clayton Overland Plus
3.1 Falcon SP2 Shocks
37x12.50x17 Cooper SST PRO D rated
Ect.....

Hey Randy,

Those are definitely on the more aggressive/stiffer end of shocks, and we highly recommend only running them with their SP2 setting always in the soft position. This is the adjustment that can be made by twisting the piston to the left or right, so make sure you have all 4 shocks set to the soft position. The only part of the lift kit that would cause a harsher ride would be if there was some sort of bind occurring, so just make sure all of the control arm and track bar jam nuts were not torqued or tightened until the vehicle was back on the ground under its own weight, this way none of the bushings are under pre-load.

Reach out to us if you need any further assistance!

 

[Clayton Off Road]

I had same Clayton suspension installed on my 2020 JL Unlimited Sport 3.6. My mistake, as Overland + is set up for camping and more weight. Also with Fox 2.0's. I replaced the coil springs with Metal Cloak dual rate springs and it made a huge difference on and off-road. Somehow, the springs ordered lifted me to 3.5" lol. Later switched to Falcon SP2 3.3 Fast adjust. Much better for off-road, set at soft. Medium for street, Firm for road trips. Also, 35" K02's C ply rating helps. Ride is much more compliant now. Expensive lessons learned.

Hey Douglas,

The Overland Plus kits actually use the same springs as the rest of our kits, the only difference between say the Overland Plus and the Premium system is the joints/bushings used. Metal Cloak does use a lower spring rate when it comes to their coil design, so it may just be that was the type of ride you were looking for, but ultimately we get a lot of great feedback on our kits either with any set of Fox shocks, or the Falcon 3.3 shocks adjusted to their softest setting. We design all of our coils to eliminate a little bit more body roll/sway for a more controlled feel.

We usually do not recommend the 3.1's or even really the 2.1's with our kits as Falcons are on the more aggressive side of shocks and there just isn't enough adjustability with some of the lower-cost models to get them soft enough.

 

[dpike]

I had falcons and didn't like them at all either swapped to Fox 2.0s they were much better on the road. Rancho rs9000s are pretty good for road use too.

 

[winojoe]

I recently install the Clayton 2.5" Overland + with Falcon 3.1 SP2 Shocks.
Everything went great and was super impressed with the quality of parts.
But.... my Jeep Rides very rough on the Road! My tires are 37" SST PROs D rated and I am running 25-28PSI. I would say 100% harsher on the road than stock, especially at slower speeds. Rides decent on the trail.
I have a Fullsize spare and a LOD Destroyer bumper w/Carrier so I don't think the Jeep is too light.
I wanna say the shocks are just way too stiff. On the same bumpy roads my F450 rides better.
Curious if anyone else has had this issue with Falcon Shocks or Clayton Offroad?

My Complete Build:

2020 JLUR 3.6L
2.5" Clayton Overland Plus
3.1 Falcon SP2 Shocks
37x12.50x17 Cooper SST PRO D rated
Ect.....

I'm running the same. Clayton 2.5" Overland with Falcon SP2 3.3s. I installed the setup in August and don't think I can tolerate this any more. Ride is so stiff.

I've watched some reviews on YT and it's sort of funny. Some reviewers are reporting "1" is too soft for highway driving and 2.2 is just right. ARE YOU KIDDING? 1 rattles my teeth out lol.

The shop that installed my lift assures me they tightened down the control arms while the jeep was on the ground and they assure me the shocks are set to the "cold" (soft) setting. I might take my Jeep back and watch them loosen the bolts and retighten on the ground. Ditto for the shocks.

I hate to ditch these expensive shocks, but I got to be able to enjoy my Jeep.

BTW my Jeep is a 2024 Rubicon 4xe.


I'm going to call Clayton this week and see if we can do more troubleshooting.

 

[Hoppy Toad]

I had the same exact setup and issues. I switched to Metal Cloak dual rate springs, a huge difference. Another fellow offroader also switched to Metal Cloak and also is very happy. I run the same shocks, I run 2 front and rear in the city. If the roads are bad, I run 2 in front and 1 in the rear. For road trips, I run 3 all around. Off road, I run 1 all around.

 

[Clayton Off Road]

I'm running the same. Clayton 2.5" Overland with Falcon SP2 3.3s. I installed the setup in August and don't think I can tolerate this any more. Ride is so stiff.

I've watched some reviews on YT and it's sort of funny. Some reviewers are reporting "1" is too soft for highway driving and 2.2 is just right. ARE YOU KIDDING? 1 rattles my teeth out lol.

The shop that installed my lift assures me they tightened down the control arms while the jeep was on the ground and they assure me the shocks are set to the "cold" (soft) setting. I might take my Jeep back and watch them loosen the bolts and retighten on the ground. Ditto for the shocks.

I hate to ditch these expensive shocks, but I got to be able to enjoy my Jeep.

BTW my Jeep is a 2024 Rubicon 4xe.


I'm going to call Clayton this week and see if we can do more troubleshooting.

Hello!

When it comes to pairing our springs with any of the Falcon shocks, the first thing we always have customers check for is that the SP2 setting is set to the soft option on all 4 shocks. Having any of the shocks set to the firm option is way too much for our kits and does not usually result in optimal ride quality.

Usually, when the 3.3s are set to the softer setting we get great feedback on this pairing, and this has become just as common of a setup as the Fox 2.0 shocks with our kits. The other thing you really want to make sure of is that you are not experiencing bind anywhere, which usually results from having any of the control arms or track bars tightened while the Jeep is still on the lift/in the air. Because our system uses return-to-center bushings, this results in bushings that are constantly under load and will lead to ride quality issues, which can be especially noticeable with firmer shocks.

Always happy to help out and troubleshoot over the phone as well! Again this is definitely a very popular combination with our kits so I'm confident we can help you out and get everything feeling the way it should!

 

[dcm80401]

I'm running the same. Clayton 2.5" Overland with Falcon SP2 3.3s. I installed the setup in August and don't think I can tolerate this any more. Ride is so stiff.

I've watched some reviews on YT and it's sort of funny. Some reviewers are reporting "1" is too soft for highway driving and 2.2 is just right. ARE YOU KIDDING? 1 rattles my teeth out lol.

The shop that installed my lift assures me they tightened down the control arms while the jeep was on the ground and they assure me the shocks are set to the "cold" (soft) setting. I might take my Jeep back and watch them loosen the bolts and retighten on the ground. Ditto for the shocks.

I hate to ditch these expensive shocks, but I got to be able to enjoy my Jeep.

BTW my Jeep is a 2024 Rubicon 4xe.


I'm going to call Clayton this week and see if we can do more troubleshooting.

I have a 2022 4xe Rubicon that weights about 6200# (About 40# heavier in the rear) Running 2.5" Metalcloack springs and control arms. Fox 2.5 Performance Elite Series with the Accutune Duel Sport Tune.

I love this setup. Firm but not harsh. I basically run two different settings for highway use. No body roll at all. Most get the Adventure Tune which is more for road use. I have no experience with it.

Just my experience.

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