Metalcloak Gamechanger 3.5 REVIEW (Jeep Gladiator Mojave) [ep 102]
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- After 20 trails in three states we're giving a complete review of the 3.5" Metalcloak Gamechanger and Rocksport long travel shocks on our Jeep Gladiator Mojave.
Three months ago we got the new lift on the Gladiator and let us tell you, we have no regrets. It's such a cushy, soft ride and we're really enjoying the travel on the Rocksport shocks.
But there's a few things that you might want to be aware of if you're thinking about taking your build in this direction.
0:00 - Overview
0:28 - Compared to a spacer
1:14 - Issues at first
3:44 - Why Metalcloak?
4:50 - Why Rocksport shocks?
6:30 - Why didn't you just get a Sport?
6:54 - Why not 2.5"?
7:30 - Aftermarket drive shaft
8:01 - Why not Metalcloak steering?
8:33 - How does it feel on the trail?
11:46 - How does it feel on the road?
12:08 - Wrapping up
#gladiatormojave #metalcloak #jeep
Cheers!
- The Haskins
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👕 Merch - farfromordinarylife.com/merch
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Jeep
'21 Gladiator Mojave
37" Cooper STT Pro
3.5" Metalcloak Gamechanger
Metalcloak Rocksport Long Travel Shocks
Fusion 4x4 2.5 Ton Steering
1.75" Synergy 5x5 wheel spacers
4.88 Yukons
Stock wheels
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Camera
Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark III
Leica 12mm 1.4
GoPro Hero 9
GoPro Max
DJI Air 2S
DJI OM 4
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🎵 Epidemic Sound - www.epidemicsound.com/ - Розваги
![One Year Review of the Gladiator Mojave (REAL review) [ep 87]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eJSTXqUsu0/mqdefault.jpg)
![One Year Review of the Gladiator Mojave (REAL review) [ep 87]](/img/tr.png)
Game changer 3.5 is awesome!!!! Installed on my gladiator rubicon and so far hidden falls 2 times. First time owner/rock crawling. Super smooth
Nice!!! Hidden Falls is such a blast. Definitely planning a trip down there to have a meetup!
Great video! I love that you guys are doing this together and having so much fun! Jeep looks BA, and performs that way too!
Thanks Jason!
Please keep the videos coming. You’re inspiring my Jeep Gladiator Rubicon build.
Thanks Charles! We certainly will, lots of exciting stuff ahead. Good luck on your build!
We are currently gathering parts for our Sarge Green Willys Gladiator we will be doing the 3.5 Gamechanger but with hopefully the new Metalcloak reservoir shocks. We have the 3.5 Gamechanger with Adams Driveshafts and Falcon Adjustable shocks on our JK so we know the quality of Metalcloak.
Keep the great vides coming! Merry Christmas!
Nice! Yeah those new resi shocks look sooooo dreamy. Keep us posted on your build! And Merry Christmas to you too!!
Great Video! Enjoyed wheeling with yall at Rainbow Falls and Mini Moab!
thanks and likewise!! Hope to meet up again soon
This is the exact lift I want for my gladiator rubicon. Cant narrow down what shocks I want to go with though. So thanks for the review. Love the channel :)
Glad we could help!
I got the Rocksports. If I had to do it over I'd go with Fox. Falcon and Bilteins are both digressive shocks and harsh on washboard and bumpy roads.
@michaelbeggs602 right on thanks!
Great video,You are right,I do a lot of driving on sand at the beach and present set-up is great for that,I do little if not any rock crawling in my Mojave
Yeah those OEM Fox's are so great for the sand!
Ranch has some nice diff skids that should solve your rubbing issue. Check ‘em out. RK makes great gear. I’m in a similar boat with my Mojave running EVO & Synergy gear. I used geometry brackets on the front axle and it worked out great in terms of the pinion angle and caster. Love the videos and all the fun y’all are having!
Thanks boss!
I'm blessed with having no money- no credit. I wish you would have tried the old set up with the stubby front bumper. But you got her done. You were reading my mind about the anti rock swaybar for the rear, and nothing but the Apex Autolynx for the front.... maybe in 4 months from now, now that I have an income again. But I'd never give up my dual reservoir shocks. Maybe they'll have a better solution in the future.
It's neat living in South Central CA. Just turn off any where and your legally off pavement. Google even has names for streets and lots out here that it'll gladly misdirect you to if you happen to misspell your destination! This is fun to me. I've done light rocks, and with the sway bar thing fixed, and with the right spotter, I'm not writing off some serious crawling. But hitting sand and snow? FunFunFun!
Nice Billy! SoCal is a lot of fun!
Great segment, I'm looking to a build vido of my JLUR on my channel jeepNdirt and expanding on many of the points you mentioned but folks simply don't get at first. I'd add the following: For a JLU- 4.5 inches of lift and 38's makes a GREAT all around everything jeep except of you're going to load heavy, then I'd suggest custom rear springs to allow for the droop due to all the extra gear folks carry. The rear DB3 lowering brackets truly create the long arm ride, feel, and articulation without having to go with actual long arms in the rear. The bushings and the amount of mis-alignment and the fact that metalcloak makes the bushings "aligned" with the brackets means you're always starting from zero position and truly maximize all of that mis-alignment which translates into articulation, no noises, squeeks, grinds, etc.. And for those who don't care for all the gold color, you can simply coat or paint at home with any quality big box paint or coating products. Great content, and nice channel. I'm subscribed now for sure
Great tips on the JL! Will check out your channel.
Awesome and informative video. Thanks so much for sharing your minor trials and tribulations. I have a new 23 Gladiator Mojave and just received my 3.5 MC Gamechanger kit with no shock option. My Adams driveshaft will be shipping out today. My big question is what shocks are best? I was considering the FOX adjustable 2.5 3.5 -4 inch Elite ..expensive but will they extend enough to take advantage of this suspension kit? When are the new shocks coming out from MC. Many many thanks from B.C. Canada.
Thanks so much for watching! You're going to love that build. Really the best shocks depend on what you'll be doing with it.Long travel is important to us because we do more rock crawling, but if you're not doing that often then long travel shocks probably aren't a priority for you.
If we had unlimited resources we'd definitely either go Bilstein long travel remote resi, or the Fox 2.5 DSC's are also a good bet. You really can't go wrong there.
Having lifted 12 or so vehicles over 45 years, the song remains the same. Decide what you're going to do with your ride, research the options, ask questions and only then spend your money. It's a lot easier now than back when I started as the internet was not available. Merry Christmas!!! (Insert jeep wave here ) 😁
Merry Christmas Warren! That's a pretty decent track record. I can only imagine back before the 'net you were pretty much left to trial and error.
Beautiful gladiator
Thanks Tyson, it's coming together!
For me i do more driving in snow . So switch out sand for snow . Thanks for the video .
Hope it helped!
The RK 4 link rear is amazing! If you want to check mine out in person I'm in Castle Rock.
Thanks John!! Yea it looks really, really nice and I've heard nothing but great things about. I'm kinda holding out to see if Metalcloak releases a version! Other than that, it's definitely up there in top three next upgrades.
I think you’d really benefit from the long arm up front since you rock crawl and need the articulation. you’ll get a lot more travel in the front with the long arms compared your short arm.
That would be sick!
Get rid of the diff skid, separate the inner fender liners from the flares for more up travel, retweak bump stops, move the spare into the bed; that’s all the things is suggest doing. Which I’m sure you already are aware of all that.
Did you guys consider Rock Krawler from the start? I mean, considering you do a lot of rock crawling, it’s sort of in the name lol plus the triangulated 4 link right from the start with all their X2 geometry correction type stuff. Yea more labor / install intensive from the start with cutting a lot of brackets off and welding on theirs, but would never need to change a thing after install.
Nope never considered Rock Krawler, in all my research it never came up in the Gladiator world repeatedly. But yeah never a lack of things to do on this thing!
@@FarFromOrdinary that’s crazy. Rock Krawler has been a huge name in the Jeep industry for years. JK, JL, and JT. They’ve been a solid force making top notch kits forever. Surprised they never came up in your research. Well, at least your figuring things out now lol I’m a huge hater of metalcloak. I’d suggest giving RK a call and talking to Jeremy Purick (the owner). You’ll soon realize why RK is the best choice for almost every application.
@xPrOFeSsi0NaL just out of curiosity (because im debating between lifts, and MC was recommended) why would you choose RC over MC? And why are you a MC hater? Lol thanks!
@Alex Winters thanks for the tip Alex! Yeah its crazy you dont find too many Gladiator owners who actual rock crawl so yeah it was pretty well split between MC and Clayon. Maybe RK is like..underground hah. Interested to find out more though, won't be the last Gladiator we own...
@@PLT123 MC makes half decent stuff, but there’s a handful of pictures on Facebook I’ve seen of their control arms breaking right in half, and their “long arm” kits aren’t even long arms. It’s radius arms in the front and bolt on drop brackets in the rear. Super cheesy and half assed.
When you get RK parts the difference in quality compared to anybody is insane. They make top notch stuff, all rebuildable joints and ends, and they took the time to make their geometry perfect with all their weld on brackets. I don’t even have their full setup because I went 10 different routes building my Jeep, but on my next rig I’m going full RK.
How are the Rocksports holding up in regard to durability? I’m trying to decide between those and Bilstein 5100’s for a budget option. I’ve heard the 5100’s ride a bit firmer though. My JLU Rubicon will be close to stock height. I’ll only add the 3/4” spacers to offset added weight.
So far they are holding up really well. I have no complaints (unless you're running sand dunes).
You mentioned you didn't like the sand performance. What exactly was the issue with MC? I am thinking about this lift for my JLUR and obviously it beats just about everything for articulation, but what about washboards and desert running? Thanks!
Just the rocksports are monotube and have way to cool themselves so they get really, really hot and the ride isn't great when you're sending it over dunes and washboard roads. But the rocksports are long travel for rock crawling so it makes sense. Look into the new black rocksports, or better yet some bilstein 5160's. They are long travel but have resi's to keep them cool.
Yes the Rocksports are twin tube, so you are saying they fade..... How are they on washboard before they fade? Is it still a cushiony ride?@@FarFromOrdinary
Your running apex autolynx sway bars. So how much down travel do you get on each side? Apex stroke is 10.5”, but your shock travel has 13”.
The apex stroke is 10" but your sway bar rotates downward as the axle drops so that 10" doesn't affect droop. Their different sizes are for different lift heights. I actually ran the 10" when I had 37's and only a 1.5" spacer because I didn't want to buy them again when we went to a 3.5" lift. The links don't affect travel at all.
What bracket did you guys use to use the long travel shocks ?
No shock relocation brackets Metalcloak hasn't made them for the Mojave yet. There's some rubbing of the shock against the frame when at full flex but really no big issues from that yet.
Rocksports black are out, what size tires you running didnt catch that
Yep they are out and they are super expensive LOL.
If you want to go crazy with it how about building a custom flatbed for better departure angles.
I gotta feeling one day this might happen. Not sure if it'll be this rig or another Gladiator, but love that look. And it's functional.
Did y’all do the long arms or mid arms?
we did mid arms
What tire size ? And are you running chromoly axles ?
37's, and yep chromoly rear axle
What is attached to your front sway bar?
APEX autoLYNX - they are front sway disconnects
What tire size are you running??
We're on 37x12.5x17's. Zero issues on stock wheels running as low as 12 psi.
Rainbow Falls and Little Moab is a great area
Yeah! Nice little playgrounds aside from driving all the way out to bv
That is at Rainbow Falls by Woodland Park
Would you recommend this lift for smooth ride and handling on -road?
As it sits, no, but only because of the shocks. Nothing really to do with the lift. Offroad, it's a dream. If you paired better shocks with the lift like some Fox's or Bilsten's with remote resi's, then the on-road ride would be a lot more comfortable.
Don’t ever commit a crime together lol y’all look at each other too much, seems like you are trying to get your story straight 😂 Jk love your Mojave! Wish I would’ve got the sarge green, but I got the stingray, second best color! Are you guys thinking of adding new wheels to your rig? How are those spacers holding up? I’m adding teraflex spacers soon
Hah we are guilty! LOL Yeah spacers are holding up well! Wheels are coming soon, really on the fence between actual beadlocks or dot approved Method beadgrips..
@@FarFromOrdinary i think bead locks are nice, but the methods will do
It was better to just get the sport model if you’re removing the beautiful fox suspension on the mojave 😩 the mojave was meant to be for sand and light rock crawling if you guys we’re going to be hard core rock crawlers the rubicon would had been the best fit 👍✅
LOL those "beautiful Fox shocks" are absolute crap for rock crawling. The Mojave is what we got. Sooooooooo....
Mojave has some options the sport does not have (although you can order it with the 4:10 gears tow package) Stiffer frame and cast knuckles. Plus locking rear diff.
37 nevermind
I had Metalcloak junk on my 2DR JL and the rear coils bowed like a 90 year old cowboy. Took them off and went 3.5” Teraflex - perfect.
Kept the Metalcloak trackbars, but would never buy anything from them again. Every brand has its fan boys, but Clayton would definitely have been a better choice for a JT
"Better choice for a JT?"
It's not a one size fits all.
Clayton is a nice lift, but it's more for overlanding, we wanted something that lent itself better to rock crawling.
@@FarFromOrdinary Clayton has different setups covering rock crawling, over landing, or all-purpose.
JK Gear and Gadgets runs Clayton and he rock crawls as well.
@@mkbmj Right on! Thing about Claytons is that there's no provided shock that's tuned to the spring rate. I think most people run Falcons on Clayton but those aren't the best shock, and still doesn't come close to the 13" of travel on the Rocksports.
The travel on that metalcloak kit is just about the best you can get in a mid-arm setup, if you're looking for max articulation.
Metalcloak just has a good reputation for that.
@@FarFromOrdinary Falcon shocks has done a tremendous job marketing - in my opinion - a mediocre shock at a premium price, tried them once - learned my lesson. I really don’t put much faith in any manufacturer who touts shock rates, but I have found that Fox 2.5 w/DSC adjusters does a good job
@@mkbmj That's actually good to hear hah, it just validates everything I've read about Falcon. Those FOX 2.5 DSC's tho...yeah....man if we had unlimited funds...those would be a banger
Rocksports are not monotube shocks, they are twintube.
thanks for the correction, I get a little tongue twisted sometimes
@@FarFromOrdinary I'm gonna switch to Fox when I have the money.
Thanks for posting. Yes, months of research for a lift. I went with Clayton and Metalcloak was a close second.