TheDirtman

The 2 door have the same rate and are 3/4" shorter than the 4 door coils.

99tdr

Nice rig!. Thanks for the input!.
All, thanks.

So was on the phone with the MC guys yesterday.
Discussed aiming for no more than 2" with my 4d rubi, I went with the 2.5" 2dr springs from MC.
They said that the 2.5" 4dr springs, are also rated at 3.5" on the 2dr, and their ratings are based on a built jeep with heavy front steel full width bumpers w/ stinger and winch, heavy rear bumpers, geared up , and all skid plates.
So many see more lift, than they spec.

The spring rate is the same between the two different coils sets, just less coils for less height.

After reading many other posts, many have said they've gotten 3.5"on their 4dr's w/ the 2.5" 4dr springs.. and those rigs aren't loaded up with all the steel protection.
I'm the same way, still same rear bumper, only a winch plate and small stinger bar w/ 8Klb winch. I cut my stock bumper down and put on end caps. I have a stock spare, and will be going with aluminum skid plates next.
Keeping it as light as I can, w/ some added protection.
Eventually better than stock driveshafts and next gear oil change will add better than stock diff covers.
But need to get some lift back in the front and get some travel back. The front is down to near stock height again, front springs didnt like the last 6years of a winch hanging there.
In looking at the spec, the 2dr vd 4dr, same trim level is about 300lbs difference between the 2dr and 4dr.

And they were pretty cool, NOT to sell me their shocks, they said if I go through the numbers the shock is a tad too long for what I'm doing... nice save.
I did go thru the numbers and they were right. In full compression, theirs is a tad too long for my intended goals.. I orders up some Bilsteins that fit the bill. Was a toss up between them or the OME. Seems in many write up's , it's a toss up.

I ordered up the 2dr 2.5" springs, and their bump stops (mine are destroyed), and their kit of stop extensions. Based on a few posts I read, and asked MC about,, their bump stops do not compress as far as OEM, so may need less stop extension.
W/o a lift and w/o stop extensions, the 34.3 x 12's I have (to normalize it to imperial) , just grabbed the stock inner fender on some good flex, but no damage. So thinking using their stop extension, 1" (replacing the 2" ones in their now), and their progressive bump stops, should be ok.

TheDirtman

On a light rig I would go with the OME nitro sport shocks as the Bilstien will ride rough and are really only comfortable on heavy rigs due to their pision design which uses preload on the valve stack. Most people will pick the bilstien because they are shiny and they don't want the yellow shocks.

99tdr

Sorry, if I didn't multiquote others that pointed out the same basic thing..
TheDirtman, our posts literally crossed to the thread ! timing.
And nthinuf , right on.was worth the call. MC didnt have numbers, and if they did it in the shop, no one documented it, is what they reported. But it's a viable solution I'm running with, and will get some final numbers. I lost my stock measurements, but did find them online from reported Jeep documentation drawings, so only thing I'll have to compare to, besides where I'm sitting now.

99tdr

LOL -- everything is black under mine.. rattle can black to try and keep up with the Long Island road salt rust. nothing stays shiny.
Was close to ordering the OME's, but couldn't dig up solid specs on the lengths. With the solid numbers on the Bilstiens, that closed that deal.
One site had a nice deal on a complete kit of 4 OMEs, but was out of stock.
Your's is a very black and white in the ride quality (and why). Others that reported to have had both, went either way.. none was bashing either.
Rarely did others report a harsh ride on the Bilstiens, but yes, I don't know what their build was. All could have been bathed in MC armor ! LOL.
More common were comments like:
Bilstiens are a bit firmer, or felt the handling was better or felt they were better on the fire roads, more control.
Others said OME was too soft - wallowy/ wishy in corners, or they were great on road ride (but not much comment on trails).

So the road ride is important, but with lots of highway use to get anywhere good, and being loaded up for a trip, handling is a concern.
Very torn on the research.

Hard top, lots of gear in the cargo area for work and for trail. Winch up front.
Wanting to keep CG and entry height (getting my ole's butt into the seat) not too high.
So I'm sort of a little heavier than stock for sure, but not a heavy build compared to others.
But it's not a build that was geared towards reducing the weight over stock curb weight w/ a soft top.

So guess it'll be an experiment, I'm not super light, but not super heavy. See how they work.

nthinuf

I ran Bilstein 5100's for a while with OME HD coils, very stiff and jarring ride. Swapped to MC 3.5" coils, the ride improved, but still too stiff. At that time, MetalCloak was selling and recommending the OME Long Travel shock (before they produced the RockSports), so I tried those. The ride improved quite a bit. Can't call it plush or soft, but much better than the previous ride quality. But ya know, we all have opinions and preferences. What is good for one person can be crap for someone else. Sometimes it takes a little experimentation to find what is right for you...

99tdr

I was already to buy their RockSports, but they said no, too short of a lift, shock is too long, wont compress enough. Impressed me, great service.

What are you running? 2dr or 4dr? (guess 2dr by the 3.5' coil comment)? light on the bolt on heavy bumpers and armor?

Agreed, the final is , it's subjective to the butt in the seat.

I love the way my '99 1 ton diesel Ram drives and rides.
More so when the wife is in there too, outer beach runs are the best - LOL - .



The tires come into it as well. what air pressure running in the street, E rated VS C or D rated, some ride like Es and aren't. unsprung weight.
A ton goes into the final feel to the butt on the seat, including who's butt.

nthinuf

Nah, 4door with the 3.5" 4door coils. Running fairly light compared to some folks. (not armored up. No rear bumper, just a thin frame cover. TF hinge-type spare tire carrier. Plastic sahara side-steps - which get swapped to rubi rails when I remember them before an outing. Stubby front bumper, but with a 9500lb winch). Got surprised with sitting over 4.5" at install. But, this was 6 years ago, not a lot of reviews to browse through at the time to see what heights people were getting. I've thought about dropping down to their 2.5" coils a time or three over the years, but never got around to it.

Currently on 37x12.50 Cooper STT Pro's, D rated, usually 28-30 ish psi. Higher when towing. Lower just feels kinda squishy to me.

OME makes different length shocks, not just the long travel variety I have now. Assuming the shorter OME's are similar valving to the LT's, they could be a decent option if the 5100's don't work out for whatever reason.

99tdr

Yea, found the OME shorter shocks, no letter after the PN. Listed were the PN (no letter), and an M and an L, (Med Long / Long(er)) but couldn't find the hard facts of what the expanded and compressed lengths were for the non letter PN... so went with the 5100's since they had the lengths spec'ed.

99tdr

Thanks for all the input....

So update..

Finally got a chance to install the MC spring and Bilstein 5100's a couple of weeks ago.

I decided to roll the dice on getting the 2.5" 2dr MC springs front and rear, for my 4dr, which has a winch on the front, using a plate and shortened OEM bumper and caps.
Only other metal to eventually go on my 13 Rubi, is some skid plates.

Just to recap...I have a 4dr 13 Rubi.. about 4 years ago, I had put in the 2" teraflex spacers.
At the same time installed a rear Teraflex TB mount along with front and rear Teraflex adj monster TBs. Installed adjustable front adjustable JKS swaybar links, and move the OE fronts links to the rear.
Yea, it was kinda of a project that grew legs, should have just gotten springs in the first place.
It was a solid 2" lift at the time (2" spacers , so yea),... but as stated above, I lost lift over time, and it was nose down and not much up travel left in the front.
As measured, I lost over an inch in the front, and about 1/2" in back.
MC 2dr 2.5' lift Springs restored the lost lift.
In the front, it was nearly dead on... 1.95" of lift (depending on what you measure, another set of measurements show 2.18" gain from OE specs).
And the 1/2 lost in the rear, that was back up with a couple of tenths of an inch more gained.
The tires to the fenders, are all centered up, didn't have to touch the TB adjustments.
Steering wheel is back to center, wasn't off much, but was noticeable at times, need a real flat road.
Now the body is back to looking level (with front fenders higher than rear) with plenty of room under the wheel wells with the 34s" (they spec at 34 3/8).
Even my wife thought the ride was greatly improved.
No more squat under hard acceleration, felt like I was driving a buggy.And not pounding on the front bumper stops any longer, so the ride has more control.
Feels better around corners.

In the front I installed the MC bump stops (need them, these tires will eat the fenders w/o extending the bump stops when flexing up). The MC are an 1" longer than stock. I removed the 2" spacer I installed on the axle to meet the OE bump stop, and installed only 1 puck from the MC 2" kit. So 1" longer MC bumper in the bucket , and 1" MC puck on the axle.
The rear bump stops were fine, so left them alone for now.. there's an OE bumper in a 2" teraflex bump stop drop.
I have the rear MC bumpers and block kit for the rear in my parts box waiting.