Are Metalcloak control arms any good?

jjvw said:
No, it doesn't because you are ignoring too much of what was said.
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No, you're just being hyper critical of the MC control arm joint, that by the way surpasses the OEM design in your targeted area of concern (Axle wrap) SMH, purely based on the fact that you don't like MC.

I'll say it again, no one has said that MC is superior to JJ in its ability to take a pounding, It is however more appealing to plenty of people based on it's ability to survive moderate off road use without maintenance, unlike JJ!
 
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reddvltj said:
No, you're just being hyper critical of the MC control arm joint, that by the way surpasses the OEM design in your targeted area of concern (Axle wrap) SMH, purely based on the fact that you don't like MC.

I'll say it again, no one has said that MC is superior to JJ in its ability to take a pounding, It is however more appealing to plenty of people based on it's ability to survive moderate off road use without maintenance, unlike JJ!
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You're still doing it.
 
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jjvw said:
You're still doing it.
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You heard it here, there’s no maintenance necessary at all. He’s just a set it and forget it kind of guy, maybe like @reddvltj

Not sure how the bushing rotates in the housing without grease. My guess is that’s a contributing factor to the ball and race separating.

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jjvw said:
I'm not so sure about that. Again, I've seen the axle wrap from MC bushings. That can easily turn into driveshaft vibes from the rising pinion. Especially on the highway at higher speeds. This excessively moving pinion makes it really difficult to set the pinion angles. And I've also seen front end shudders and a general wallowiness that disappeared after a switch to JJs from MC.

We all know how easy it is to dismiss and excuse these things as a Jeep thing. And most don't know any better.

So, I ask again, why is recommending the lesser product acceptable?
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This to me is one of the bigger problems with the MC joints. When I set my pinion angle I had to dial it in with an 1/8 of a turn on my uppers to get it to not vibe. I don't remember exactly what the shank on the mid arm JJ's is, I'm going to guess 1 1/4 - 12 thread on the shank, so in a straight line that would be .083" of movement, but it's even less than that considering the uppers are triangulated.

I'm not smart enough to do the math and figure out how much force is being applied to the joints in various driving conditions, but I'd bet money it's plenty of force to deflect an MC rubber ball more than .04", since you've got two joints on each arm, in fact I'd bet it deflects them a lot more than that, so even if you don't have as finicky of a driveshaft as mine, it's an unnecessary issue to cause yourself and will do nothing but wear out your shaft faster.

Maybe we should build a little jig to compress an MC joint and see how much it really moves if someone can figure out the math side of things.

You also mentioned the lack of preload on an MC joint in it's barrel. For those thinking an MC joint might be the way to go for muddy environments, what do you think is going to happen to the barrel of the joint when all that mud and grit gets stuck between the joint and the barrel and your rubber ball rotates back and forth, back and forth constantly inside the barrel.
 
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And the one that made me switch to MC, the RE Super Flex Joint…the zerk doesn’t work worth a dam on it either.

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smurf said:
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
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I figure this thread is so far gone I may as well carry on the theme.

@smurf make a build thread so I can see more photos of that jeep. The blue you have is by far my my favorite on a jeep. To this day I've only seen 3 in person.
 
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rasband said:
Seems a little odd, but maybe it’s a patent thing.
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They were the first ones to use that design
Alex01 said:
I figure thus thread is so far gone I may as well carry on the theme.

@smurf make a build thread so I can see more photos of that jeep. The blue you have is by far my my favorite on a jeep. To this day I've only seen 3 in person.
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I smell a repaint coming😉
 
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DrDmoney said:
They were the first ones to use that design

I smell a repaint coming😉
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I was telling Mike I should do it when I was painting the armor. Now it'd be so much work given I'd need to paint the jeep then the corner armor, and all the doors.

But........ I'm not ruling it out. I remember in 2019 when @JMT and I were on elephant hill near moab staring at a blue jeep. Love that color.
 
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Alex01 said:
I was telling Mike I should do it when I was painting the armor. Now it'd be so much work given I'd need to paint the jeep then the corner armor, and all the doors.

But........ I'm not ruling it out. I remember in 2019 when @JMT and I were on elephant hill near moab staring at a blue jeep. Love that color.
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It’s a very striking blue is it electric blue?
 
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