passenger side

drivers side mounts lowers bolted in and uppers welded

drivers side showing welded in UCA mount and loop delete exhaust tube

drivers side showing exhaust crossover needs to move for clearance - 3/8" clearance over top of LCA mount and exhaust connection.

First time I have tried to post an addition or modification to my JKU , please pardon my rookie post.. The quality, fit and ease if installation is what brought me to filing this thread. I installed MetalCloak long arm kits, as it was not one kit but separate items ordered directly from MetalCloak (MC). The upper control arms came complete with weld in mounts. Lower control arms are sold separate from the bolt in mounts. All need hardware is included. All together the cost of these components was just under $1000... which I consider a damm good deal for what you are getting. Still needed to purchase and install a loop delete tube (mine was Magnaflow) which I did a week before installing the long arms. I did not install the exhaust extension kit (various vendors) as I wanted to see what the stock cross over tube position would be in relation to front driveshaft droop during articulation. Installing the extension kit will be no fun at all laying on your back on the driveway. So, I will take the JKU to Scottsdale Muffler and have them move the cross over tube lower and closer to the crossmember. As is, there is about 2.5" worth of clearance between driveshaft and exhaust crossover tube. Grinding the stock upper and lower mounts off is definitely the toughest part of this install. I went thru 4 or 5 cutoff wheels and used a new flap wheel for each side. I did wind up using my plasma cutter and should have started with it as a real time saver. Doing this work on the driveway in August in Arizona was probably not the smartest move I made but after receiving the MC parts could not help myself... was itching to get going. After grinding off all signs of stock mounts and welds I checked fitment of weld in upper mount. Perfect, is the word I would use to describe the fit and workmanship of these MC parts. The upper mounts fit tight to the frame and were easy to locate. One spot weld to check position, then fully welded to frame. It is easier to get to the hard spots to weld than I thought it would be however, I could not wear a welding helmet due to the confined space so used goggles but that left my forehead sunburned. I believe between upper and lower control arms the lowers take more load than the uppers. I thought it was a thoughtful design by MC for home installers to have the uppers to be welded and the lowers to be bolted. After welding and repainting the install of the long arms was a breeze, once again the fit of each arm was perfect. While finished with the MC long arm install I could not help myself so finished off this mod session by installing new 3.5" RockKrawler triple rate springs front and rear. I have put on approx. 150 miles since long arm install and road manners are stock in feel with no issues at all. Going to muffler shop next week and also a front end alignment to account for the 1/2" height gain from the coil spring install. Would I do it again, YES, however this is what I learned... do the exhaust modifications first sperate from the long arm install. The grinding off the mounts is a dirty, hot mess, I burned thru my long sleeved shirt (worn in 106degree summer temps) on both arms. The satisfaction from seeing all welds removed was well worth the effort. MC is highly regarded on this forum and I was hesitant to believe the hype but I am a changed man and am a believer in the high quality of their products. I have also installed MC front shock relocation brackets and the charcoal canister relocation kit.

 

looking good. Can't go wrong with Metalcloak products. Interesting to see what kind of ride improvements you will see.

 

First of all, thanks to you and Resharp for your kind words. As far as ride improvements so far noticed... I only have had my JK out on the highway up to 80MPH and road manners are fine. As with any long arm install if you hard steer to the right or left (say to avoid something in the road) it appears that the front front fender on the side of the turn wants to dip somewhat. I had an XJ Cherokee that was long arm equipped and felt the same thing. Once you know its coming there is no issue and the Jeep never felt like it has excessive roll or anything like that. All 4 tires feel firmly planted during these high speed, quick hard turns. Other than this characteristic it is one smooth ride. I did go from used mopar springs with 3/4" spacers to RockKrawler 3.5" coils at the same time as the long arms and I am thrilled with the ride of these springs. The combination of long arms and new coils gives a solid, comfortable ride, running speed bumps while mall crawling won't spill coffee . Gotta hit the muffler shop this week ( to adjust the exhaust crossover tube) as I am dying to get out on a trail to flex this new suspension.

 

Years ago I saw someone around me selling a barely-used Afe y-pipe for cheap and I picked it up to try. That was a great addition for me as it totally moved that crossover behind the cross member. I've had a couple different friends have mom & pop muffler shops move theirs in the same fashion for pretty cheap. The downside to that is you have to be pretty comfortable with how close that runs to the fuel tank and lines. I added a lot of heat shield around things. Not sure what kinda mod you're thinking about doing with your crossover.

 

If it wasn't for the price of a new y- pipe that's the direction I would go. It seems like the best compromise. My plan was to simply have them (Scottsdale Muffler) move the crossover as close to crossmember as possible with the pipe no higher the the top of the crossmember. That should put me in $150 range at the muffler shop. I believe a new AFE Y-pipe is around $300 and some change so that saves me some coin. But I will talk to the guys at the shop to see how much it would be to mimic the AFE style Y-pipe, maybe I can get it done under $300. Good suggestion.

 

Think my buddies paid ~$50-80 to basically mimic it, but that was several years ago and obviously those prices vary from shop to shop.

And if you do end up doing that, by all means load up on heatshield to wrap the fuel lines and slap on the corner of the tank.

 

roger that

 

So digging this thread back up. It hurts my head, but I need to tear my jeep apart for some various things. One thing that has bothered me for a long time is my frame-side front passenger LCA bracket that is pretty mangled. I'm to the point I almost just want to chop those off and welded on some beefy brackets. Started thinking that if I'm going to go through that sort of effort, does it make sense to consider converting to long arms. I've always run 3.5" RK springs and have felt that height is right on the verge of mid-arms are acceptable....right on the very low end of long-arms might be acceptable. I was circling back around here to recall what height you were and see you're on 3.5" springs now as well. Did you do the rear as well or just the long arms in the front?

 

Resharp, I only did the front long arms. It would be a bucket list item to install the rear MC long arms for me. If I could justify the expense, they would be already installed. I have heard some here say that the brackets hang down too low for the rear long arm install. I would take my chances and install anyway. The 3.5" RK springs were just the ticket for me. The ride height feels right and the springs handle great as you know. I could not be happier with these springs. The front MC LCA brackets are bolt on items made out of 1/4" material, very beefy, I wonder if you can purchase separately from MC? let us know what you decide to do...

 

Thanks. I've got a few things to sort out on my rig. I have friends that say "meh, just leave that mount it's nbd", then I consider some $50 brackets from Barnes to just weld on.....then hey, let's consider spending $900 or so! You know how this stuff goes. I probably should just keep what I got and do some new brackets if anything. I just bought all replacement bushings for my MC arms last month as my arms are ~7 years old now and just methodically freshening things up. Those weren't cheap. Not bad if buying 1 or 2, but when you're buying a full set it's a couple hundred as they add up.