Has anyone tried the new MetalCloak reservoir shocks? How do they ride?

[Yellow Cake Kid]

Has anyone tried the new MetalCloak reservoir shocks?

How do they ride?

Do they make you go fast(er) on the washboard?

Asking for a friend.

Sponsored

 

[Metalcloak]

Great question OP... thanks for bringing it up. We have just started fully shipping orders so there is not a lot of customer feedback yet, but we are excited to see how the community likes them. - Matson

 

[TTEChris]

Following as I’m interested for our 2dr.

 

[3TV]

Interested in this as well.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Ordered a 3.5 game changer with them this afternoon. Hopefully @Metalcloak can get it shipped to my shop (Fat Bob’s Garage in Utah) within a week or so so I can get it installed in time for EJS.

Happy to circle back and give initial first impressions, once I’ve got some time on them.

 

[Plan d]

I was also interested until I read they used digressive valving and you can get a set of Fox Elite 2.5 DSC for about the same price or less. Still you never know how they will work with your set up until you try then.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/...elite-series-2-5-front-and-rear-shock-package

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digressive-vs-linear-vs-progressive-pistons-shock-valving/

 

[3TV]

Thanks for the link to the article. From Accutune's article:

Summary:
Digressive shocks are bad at small bumps and large bumps, but good at handling and g-outs. Progressive shocks are good at small bumps and big hits, but bad at handling and g-outs. Linear shocks provide the best all around performance. At AccuTune Off-Road we design the shape of the shock curve to provide the performance you want on the type of terrain you will encounter. The result is curves that are slightly digressive, linear, or slightly progressive to deliver the some of the benefits without all the drawbacks.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

The article is well written, but IMO fails to account for the different driving conditions shocks are used for.

At low speed crawling, such as most of us Jeep owners use our rigs for, a digressive curve is not likely to lead to a harsh ride over small bumps because the speed of suspension compression won’t be nearly as high. I seriously doubt any significant harshness will be noted. Enough so that I laid down some serious cash for these new MC shocks. But I’m counting on the compression curve to resist bottom out on ledge drops etc, and to help keep my vehicle higher in its travel in those situations to make me less likely to bash the under carriage on the edge of the ledge drops in Moab that I’ve struggled with with the stock suspension.

I come from a background in high level mountain biking. I’ve done 45mph down some of the jeep roads in Moab on my bicycle. At high speeds the name of the game is linearity for most of the suspension stroke, with proper rebound damping tuned to keep the wheels glued to the ground in order to maximize traction and stability, with a nice bit of progression tuned in at the end of the suspension travel (either via the frame linkage design, or a good air shock) to resist bottoming out when you hit the odd bit of trail jank or want to jump off an obstacle etc. I live, eat, breathe suspension curves and tuning with bicycles. But the thing is, at very low speeds, they all ride about the same.

Bonus for these MC rocksport blacks is that they have compression tuning so I expect to be able to fine tune any harshness in rock crawling situations should I need to, but I don’t anticipate that anyway. I’ll probably be left fiddling with the dials but only to fine tune what I expect to be a good ride.

If I was into desert running, I’d 100% be looking for something with a progressive curve; but in my mind that’s not really what I want for rock crawling.

 

[Plan d]

@Rubi SoHo Did you talk to anyone at MC when you ordered your 3.5 GC? When I talked to them they told me the rocksport red was equivalent to #1 position on the blacks then each click up is about 25% stiffer. Which I rather like better then having a lot of clicks to mess with.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Anyone know if there’d be an issue running the slightly longer (in extended and compressed length) blacks for the 4.5”-5.5”? If they’d work without causing issues, it might be smart in case one decides to go with taller springs in the future…

 

[Roky]

Anyone know if there’d be an issue running the slightly longer (in extended and compressed length) blacks for the 4.5”-5.5”? If they’d work without causing issues, it might be smart in case one decides to go with taller springs in the future…

I’ve been running 4.5-6” shocks on 3.5 “ RK springs for nearly 5 years now….. I’ve had to do a few things to make it work but, it’s been awesome…….you can easily do it with MC 3.5” springs as well…..You’ll be on the lower side of up travel, but I still have about 5” and that’s been plenty for most things, as long as I’m not bombing through the desert….lol. But the articulation is awesome…..

 

[Rubi SoHo]

The Rocksport red shocks are 30” extended length, and 17.7” compressed

the Rocksport black 2.5-3.5” shocks are 28.5” extended and 17.2” compressed

the black 4.5-5.5 shocks are 30.5 extended and 18.2 compressed.

the 6packs are 28.25 extended and 13.25 compressed.

Looks like the 4.5-5.5 blacks are close to the Rocksport red in terms of travel, a little longer extended length and a little less compressibility. Can’t see why they wouldn’t work. But would they create issues I’m not aware of?

 

[Roky]

The Rocksport red shocks are 30” extended length, and 17.7” compressed

the Rocksport black 2.5-3.5” shocks are 28.5” extended and 17.2” compressed

the black 4.5-5.5 shocks are 30.5 extended and 18.2 compressed.

the 6packs are 28.25 extended and 13.25 compressed.

Looks like the 4.5-5.5 blacks are close to the Rocksport red in terms of travel, a little longer extended length and a little less compressibility. Can’t see why they wouldn’t work. But would they create issues I’m not aware of?

Mine are the Fox 2.5 DSC resi and they’re real close to the MC blacks 4.5-5.5s ….. mine are 18.34 compressed and 30.51 extended….. The MC 3.5” springs are slightly longer than RKs so there won’t be any issues in the front at full droop with springs loosening in the buckets…..you will have to run an outboard lower shock bracket to keep the shock body off the frame… and in the rear I installed a limit strap in the center because when both wheels full droop together the coils come loose, but when stuffing one side and drooping the other they stay put…….there’s details in my build thread if you’re interested…….

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/crystal-rubi-build….61821/post-2002815

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/posts/1321789/

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Mine are the Fox 2.5 DSC resi and they’re real close to the MC blacks 4.5-5.5s ….. mine are 18.34 compressed and 30.51 extended….. The MC 3.5” springs are slightly longer than RKs so there won’t be any issues in the front at full droop with springs loosening in the buckets…..you will have to run an outboard lower shock bracket to keep the shock body off the frame… and in the rear I installed a limit strap in the center because when both wheels full droop together the coils come loose, but when stuffing one side and drooping the other they stay put…….there’s details in my build thread if you’re interested…….

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/crystal-rubi-build….61821/post-2002815

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/posts/1321789/

Maybe I’ll email them and see about the feasibility of including a set of the longer MC blacks. I don’t know if my kit is shipped yet, or if it goes out this week. Price is identical for either shock size.

 

[Roky]

Maybe I’ll email them and see about the feasibility of including a set of the longer MC blacks. I don’t know if my kit is shipped yet, or if it goes out this week. Price is identical for either shock size.

Also keep in mind if you use the MC lower front shock relocation bracket it raises the shock about 1-1/2”. So if you get the longer shocks, you’ll need to use the outboard bracket that doesn’t raise it or you’ll only have 3.5 ish up travel… but if you use the raised ones with 28 ish extended blacks, it will put you close to the 4.5-5.5s …….

Sponsored