New control arms (Savvy versus Metalcloak)

WNC05willys

TJ Enthusiast
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So, as I impatiently await the delivery of my savvy BL, it has occurred to me that I have yet to make my final decision on new control arms, and after exhaustive yet informative research I have it down to 2....Metalcloak vs. Savvy. Both are aluminum, double adjustable, and besides a slight price difference, essentially the same with the exception of the joints.

I have read countless posts on the johnny joint, but am really looking for real world opinions of the duroflex joint.

Full disclosure, I am leaning slightly more to the metalcloak side
 
No one has anything negative to say about the Metalcloak joints other than the most extreme off-road guys.

Buy either and you'll be fine, unless you plan on doing some really gnarly shit.
 
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So, as I impatiently await the delivery of my savvy BL, it has occurred to me that I have yet to make my final decision on new control arms, and after exhaustive yet informative research I have it down to 2....Metalcloak vs. Savvy. Both are aluminum, double adjustable, and besides a slight price difference, essentially the same with the exception of the joints.

I have read countless posts on the johnny joint, but am really looking for real world opinions of the duroflex joint.

Full disclosure, I am leaning slightly more to the metalcloak side

I was in the same boat, just installed Savvy last week. Biggest reason was a joint (Johnny Joint) that is used by several manufacturers and has years of proven success with little to no changes over the years. No experience with the MC joint, but that's the way I decided to go. I do have a MC gas tank skid.
 
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It's my daily driver, hasnt seen much dirt yet as I go through the stages of the build, this is the TT/BL/MML/SYE/DS/ACA stage of the build, then begins the long save to finish off with the axles. East coast theres not too much super gnarly , its a get there/get dirty/drive home rig. I do a lot of hunting/fishing and camping and once the axles are done, much more wheeling!!!
 
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I have about 3-4 years experience running Johnny joints and less than a year running duroflex joints. In less than a year I had multiple wore out duroflex joints. They went in the garbage after that and I returned to Johnny joints. I have never had a wire out JJ, only joints that needed to be disassembled and greased.
 
My desire to go against the grain...$100 cheaper too. The Kevlar and flex angles along with the rubberized compound intrigue me.
What I've found has been mostly positive but there doesn't seem to be near as much TJs with MC vs JJ. I am curious if that's because they're relatively new and folks are hesitant to try new things. I try and stay away from sponsored reviews and look for firsthand users.
 
My desire to go against the grain...$100 cheaper too. The Kevlar and flex angles along with the rubberized compound intrigue me.
What I've found has been mostly positive but there doesn't seem to be near as much TJs with MC vs JJ. I am curious if that's because they're relatively new and folks are hesitant to try new things. I try and stay away from sponsored reviews and look for firsthand users.
No problems with my MC arms. Both are good to go.
 
I run Savvy with the JJ’s the Guys I Jeep with Run MC none of us have had any trouble with either. Both are fine and as someone else posted unless your doing really nasty shit either will work fine.
 
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Both should be pretty good arms for mild-medium wheeling and street use. Just make sure you keep up on the required maintenance for the joints and you should be fine. I'd lean more towards the Savvy arms since you will have the flexibility to run more travel in the future if you want, but that is somewhat of an edge case for most people.
 
My desire to go against the grain...$100 cheaper too. The Kevlar and flex angles along with the rubberized compound intrigue me.
What I've found has been mostly positive but there doesn't seem to be near as much TJs with MC vs JJ. I am curious if that's because they're relatively new and folks are hesitant to try new things. I try and stay away from sponsored reviews and look for firsthand users.

What does the Kevlar do? How does the flex angle compare to other options and what value does it provide? What is intriguing about the rubberized compound? It's always interesting to think about why MC doesn't use their own bushing in their track bars, but Currie does. Why is that? What makes a track bar different than a control arm?

I don't think the TJ crowd is hesitant to try new things. I do know why I prefer some things over others and it often has less to do with going against the grain simply for the sake of doing so.
 
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MC arms here. 5 years and 70k miles and fairly hard wheeling along with daily driving. I know that at least 6 bushings in the rear arms are totally shot and rattle around. A box of replacement bushings are $260+ bucks. One important flaw that i havent seen mentioned is the duroflex's inability to be able to handle misalignment. The duroflex joint prefers to be centered whereas the johnny joint is free to move about
 
I went with the Savvy arms (Johnny Joints) because the JJ is tried and true. It's 100% serviceable unlike the one and done type MC joint. Does MetalCloak offer free replacements or do you have to purchase them at a full/discounted price when they wear out? The components for a JJ are cheap and you only have to replace the one part that fails.
 
I think I'd call the joints about even when it comes to service. Both are going to need to be taken apart for grease when needed (recommended yearly). The Metalcloak joints are more expensive but they don't need a special $100 tool to be disassembled like the JJ's (you can redneck rig a tool I guess).
 
I think I'd call the joints about even when it comes to service. Both are going to need to be taken apart for grease when needed (recommended yearly). The Metalcloak joints are more expensive but they don't need a special $100 tool to be disassembled like the JJ's (you can redneck rig a tool I guess).

I thought this was the case too, but MC claims to need no service (there’s a video down the page here making this claim: https://metalcloak.com/duroflex-control-arm-tj-lj-double-adjustable-aluminum-short-arms.html).
 
What is the conventional wisdom on how the JJ's ride on the road compared to the Durawhatevers? I mean, just looking at them I'm sure most people would guess the dura's would ride better, but I realize it doesn't always work that way.
 
I thought this was the case too, but MC claims to need no service (there’s a video down the page here making this claim: https://metalcloak.com/duroflex-control-arm-tj-lj-double-adjustable-aluminum-short-arms.html).

They have a video saying to grease them every year and I believe it says to do so in the manual that comes with the joints as well. Not sure why they have conflicting videos like that. Pretty bold claim to say you never have to grease them. Maybe if you drive 1000 miles a year.

What is the conventional wisdom on how the JJ's ride on the road compared to the Durawhatevers? I mean, just looking at them I'm sure most people would guess the dura's would ride better, but I realize it doesn't always work that way.

There was a big thread on this topic a few years back. I believe the conclusion was that joints really don't matter for ride quality. Shocks and appropriate travels are much more important.
 
What is the conventional wisdom on how the JJ's ride on the road compared to the Durawhatevers? I mean, just looking at them I'm sure most people would guess the dura's would ride better, but I realize it doesn't always work that way.

I can’t say I notice any perceivable ride difference from OEM to JJs, aside from the axle moving a bit more freely. However swapping my front shocks was night and day.
 
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