Metalcloak Game-Changer Suspension, 2.5" Fox Edition

[WJCO]

Might as well just start dating a tranny if you're looking for a 'game changer.'

 

[wayoflife]

I ran the Metalcloak full game changer kit on my last JK. I went through 2 sets of shocks before replacing the 6 paks with Rancho 9000 then Fox. Went through 2 sets of rear springs, 3 duraflex bushings separated, which caused a lot of for aft play. I did the regrease procedure after about a year. Phone rep said they were not separated and that the retaining washers just scored the rubber. Nope, 3 were completely separated. I could see the metal ball through the disintegrated rubber. One was even missing a retaining washer altogether. I ended up replacing them with good ole bonded rubber clevite bushings before selling.

Now I am running Johnny joints with real good luck. They have been tight after about a year of running. All I do is squirt some grease into them periodically, which is so much easier than removing each arm every year for service. If you are going to be doing some basic trails, the MC kit should be fine, but if you have any intentions of doing some harder trails, you would be served better with the Evo Enforcer. I have experienced Evolander do some crazy stuff with only lower front arms (johnny joints) and the rest stock arms with only about a 3” lift.

Metalcloak has very good customer service, but so does Evo. This is just my 2 cents. Take it for what it’s worth, probably not much, but I quickly outgrew the Metalcloak kit and now run arms with Johnny Joints. I got my money’s worth out of the Metalcloak kit which was about 2 1/2 years.

The community here can be tough, but they know what works when run hard. We are just trying to share our experiences, so others can spend their money wisely for whatever is the intended purpose.

Good luck.

That's a damn good and honest review. Thanks for posting this up :thumb:

 

[stitch1]

So to sum up, we have guys that run metalcloak that arent happy and wanting to upgrade, we have guys that run metalcloak recommending Johnny Joints, We have guys running evo, recommending evo, guys running metalcloak wishing they had evo, and guys running metalcloak who couldnt find evo but didn't like AEV, RE, or TerrorFlex (ALL of which equipt notoriously HARD springs) evo comes with Johnny Joint control arms, AND we know evo tests their products to hell and back... Metalcloak well, doesnt. they think 30mph on a dirt road is "Hard Driving"; meanwhile evo is running there parts 100MPH++ through the burning desert :cheesy: (old timers will get the reference) and some of the toughest offroad trails on the planet... the evo enforcer stage 2 kit is STILL cheaper, and STILL replaces what is necessary PLUS the added bonus of the rear uppers.

... Seems the choice at this point should be easy... :thinking:

The enforcer stage 3 is what you want if you want all the bells and whistles. Nice to have, sure. But NECESSARY? FAR from.

Lets be fair, the "guys" that want to upgrade, recommending JJs, and wishing they had Evo was all the same guy.

Not to say Evo isn't a good kit. I wouldn't know either way. The only Evo product I have is an ARB mount. I am just sharing my experience with them.

 

[DWiggles]

Lets be fair, the "guys" that want to upgrade, recommending JJs, and wishing they had Evo was all the same guy.

Not to say Evo isn't a good kit. I wouldn't know either way. The only Evo product I have is an ARB mount. I am just sharing my experience with them.

hmm... with a simple look back through this very thread, and the many MANY others discussing Metalcloak... you will see just how fair my original statement IS. :beer: IF anything, I gave a MASSIVELY unfair advantage to Metalcloak and yet we STILL arrived with EVO edging out front...

30mph on a dirt road (looking sketchy as fuck in the video, mind you) vs. RACING In The KING OF THE HAMMERS... and you SERIOUSLY want a quality debate between the two... GTFO! :cheesy:

 

[stitch1]

:thinking: I don't know what you are talking about. If you don't like MC, great, don't buy their stuff. Doesn't bother me. I was just giving my experience with them. I didn't come here to argue or say my stuff is the best stuff everyone should buy what I bought. If I had a bad experience I would post that as well. :beer:

 

[DWiggles]

:thinking: I don't know what you are talking about. If you don't like MC, great, don't buy their stuff. Doesn't bother me. I was just giving my experience with them. I didn't come here to argue or say my stuff is the best stuff everyone should buy what I bought. If I had a bad experience I would post that as well. :beer:

EVERY average joe who spends $3k on a lift is going to TRY to like it.... :thinking:

Its when you have guys that have personally ran BOTH, ran the same trail, his broke, theirs didnt, etc. that you start to get unbiased information... :naw:

I'm glad you are happy with your setup, sorry you got fucked in the process. That's all I'm saying :thumb:

 

[stitch1]

When did I get F'ed?

 

[DWiggles]

When did I get F'ed?

When you spent MORE money for an INFERIOR product :doh:

 

[stitch1]

Funny, I don't see it that way. Sticking to MSRP listed on their websites, my kit is $2,399.00 The equivalent Evo kit is also $2,399.99 but does not include track bars (needed or not) nor does it come with shocks or front shock relocation brackets. Again needed or not they are not included.

So getting more product (needed or not) for the same amount of money. Including shocks that are needed.... I still don't feel f'ed. Sorry I bought something different than you.

 

[DWiggles]

Funny, I don't see it that way. Sticking to MSRP listed on their websites, my kit is $2,399.00 The equivalent Evo kit is also $2,399.99 but does not include track bars (needed or not) nor does it come with shocks or front shock relocation brackets. Again needed or not they are not included.

So getting more product (needed or not) for the same amount of money. Including shocks that are needed.... I still don't feel f'ed. Sorry I bought something different than you.

:cheesy:

Like I said, I'm glad YOU are happy with your setup.

 

[stitch1]

Hmm So using your logic you also got F'ed. You paid I'm guessing near $3600 to have less ground clearance (long arms) and the same or worse flex (Bilstein 5100) than I am getting for $1,200 less.

Now, I am not going to say you shouldn't have done that. I don't give a hoot. Just pointing out that we have similar builds. Around four inches, 37" tires, and can probably go the same places. I just happened to have saved more in one area of my build.

 

[zimm]

We might have scared the OP off, but if he's still reading....

My buddy's metalcloak control arm in moab, on the same trail we all did without problems. Oh, but the warranty! They promised to mail out a new one (someday).

View attachment 291515

Get the enforcer 3", you'll be good for up to 37's. Don't waste money on 34's. Heck even "35's" measure out to 33.something.

Here's the enforcer arms vs. rock krawler.

View attachment 291516

View attachment 291517

I run 37's, evo 3" lift, and fit in a garage that's got only 81" clearance, with a soft top.

If you can afford it, get the Evo spec King 2.5's. If not, get the rancho 9000xl adjustables.

View attachment 291520

 

[Ddays]

Hmm So using your logic you also got F'ed. You paid I'm guessing near $3600 to have less ground clearance (long arms) and the same or worse flex (Bilstein 5100) than I am getting for $1,200 less.

Now, I am not going to say you shouldn't have done that. I don't give a hoot. Just pointing out that we have similar builds. Around four inches, 37" tires, and can probably go the same places. I just happened to have saved more in one area of my build.

Not that DWiggles needs stuck up for, but how do you figure less clearance with the long arm kit? You don't know what you're talking about. And worse flex? :thinking: Do you know anything about LA kits? I think you should step away from the keyboard before you make yourself look any dumber.

 

[wayoflife]

Not that DWiggles needs stuck up for, but how do you figure less clearance with the long arm kit? You don't know what you're talking about. And worse flex? :thinking: Do you know anything about LA kits? I think you should step away from the keyboard before you make yourself look any dumber.

I dunno man, my long arms totally limit my flex.

This is to say nothing about how little clearance I have. I can barely make it over the speed bumps at the mall :idontknow:

 

[WJCO]

All the real badasses just eliminate control arms all together. A No-Arm kit is what I've been eyeing. Teraflex was the first one that came out with it by mistake. After one of their arms broke on the trail, they realized how much clearance they had at that location.

 

[stitch1]

Ok ok ok. Lets all twist my words to make me sound dumber than I really am. Eddie you have mucho flex with your coilovers that allow for what, 18 inches of travel? He does not. He has 5100s with about 11.5 inches of travel. You also have more lift and taller tires than either of us have. So your ground clearance is much higher.

I get it lets all bash the guy with something different. Cool, no issues there. I probably deserve it. But all things being equal. 4" of lift and normal everyday shocks and 37" tires he has about the same flex I have and his arms hang closer to the ground.

 

[Ddays]

I dunno man, my long arms totally limit my flex.
This is to say nothing about how little clearance I have. I can barely make it over the speed bumps at the mall :idontknow:

:cheesy: Boy, did you get taken to the cleaners buying that EVO shit. You could have saved thousands if only you had bought an MC kit. Think of all the cool shit you could have bought with the savings; A couple 52" light bars, a pair of those cool side mirrors with the lights in them, maybe a set of 6-pack shocks, or the ultimate, a Grumper! Man, think how badass Moby would look with one of those :2thumbsup:

 

[Ddays]

Ok ok ok. Lets all twist my words to make me sound dumber than I really am. Eddie you have mucho flex with your coilovers that allow for what, 18 inches of travel? He does not. He has 5100s with about 11.5 inches of travel. You also have more lift and taller tires than either of us have. So your ground clearance is much higher.

I get it lets all bash the guy with something different. Cool, no issues there. I probably deserve it. But all things being equal. 4" of lift and normal everyday shocks and 37" tires he has about the same flex I have and his arms hang closer to the ground.

No they DO NOT hang lower to the ground. How are you figuring that? Seriously, they use the same rear mounts and the frame mounts get burned off and new ones installed. And thats just the standard kit. The high clearance kit has killer clearance as the mounts are almost above the axle and tucked up on the side of the frame.

 

[WJCO]

You also have more lift and taller tires than either of us have. So your ground clearance is much higher.

Pretty sure Moby is running about 3.5 inches of lift.

 

[wayoflife]

Ok ok ok. Lets all twist my words to make me sound dumber than I really am. Eddie you have mucho flex with your coilovers that allow for what, 18 inches of travel? He does not. He has 5100s with about 11.5 inches of travel. You also have more lift and taller tires than either of us have. So your ground clearance is much higher.

Not exactly. Shock travel doesn't always = true vertical travel. On the JK I posted up, it's only running 12" coil overs up front and 8" in the rear. The design of my suspension system allows for a true 14" of vertical travel. With that said, a Rebel kit with 14" coilovers only get about 9" of true vertical travel.

I get it lets all bash the guy with something different. Cool, no issues there. I probably deserve it.

Funny, I don't recall "bashing" you or anyone.

But all things being equal. 4" of lift and normal everyday shocks and 37" tires he has about the same flex I have and his arms hang closer to the ground.

Here's a shot of my other JK back when it was running bolt on coilovers set at 3" of lift and 37" tires on long arms.

I'm sure it's just me but I don't recall my long arms ever limiting my ground clearance or flex. :idontknow: