With the quality of all their products I am really disappointed that they don't used a forged rod end for their joints. Seems like a no brainer.

 

Quoted from a thread at JKOwner from Metalcloak

We chose welded rod ends at this time beacuse we can not afford the tooling for forged ends. Some day we will be able to afford the forging tooling. Please note that because we use rubber bushings at both ends of the control arms the joint housings are not subject to the "ball peen hammer" type of impact that occurs with JJ style/heim joints. We are not concerned with the strength of our product but we do recognize that there is a perception in the market that forged joints are stronger.

 

Is that suppose to make me fell better about them. That is an admission that they cheaped out and are putting out a product that could be better. I just hope they will hold up to dana 60's and 40's because I do like the self centering aspect of the design, I also hope they will last since they are almost always in a bind. Time will tell

 

Well if cheaped out means a small business knowing what they can and cannot afford then yea I guess they cheaped out. I'm sure the equipment necessary to make the forgerd ends is far from cheap. There are more than a couple of V8 powered rigs running their ends and I have yet to hear of one failure. I personally have beat the crap out of mine for about 2 years and over 30k miles without one issue. They make quality American made products with great customer service.

 

It's called outsourcing, there are small machine shops all over the United States that can CNC those ends. Just because a company can't afford the start up cost doesn't mean it can't be done right. At least you can buy a rebuild kit for the Johnny joint and use their proven forged end.

 

I hear what your saying I'm not trying or going to speak for them but for me I have no problems with a welded end unless it fails on me or someone else which it hasn't in over 2 years of production. The MC rod end is also rebuildable.

 

Have their fenders on my LJ and hope to finish installing the Game Changer 3.5" on my JK. I've found them to make very nice products. The customer service is great and they will go out of their way to make to customers happy.

 

Getting the Game Changer w/6paks on this Saturday. Will post some picks and thoughts

 

Aren't welds stronger even than the host metal? Wouldn't their arms actually be stronger welded than forged? Or does the heating of the metal during welding weaken it overall?

 

The forged material is much stronger then the steel used that is welded together. Machining an end allows for extra material to be left where the shank meets the body making that area that much stronger.