[Jeremy#40s]

Unfortunately I bought my Jeep with all the mods made to it already. I love how it looks but it is not practical, I bought it because how it looked and at least I have some extra items to play with. It’s a 2015 jku Sahara on 40s. It has a 2.5 Rubicon express lift and truss front axle (Dana 30 axle… I know) and heavy duty ball joints, it was also regear with 4:56. Front and rear controls have been swapped with dodge ram control arms to stretch the wheel base to fit the tires nicely but not practical. Right now my front springs are leaning at a 15 degree angle and my rear springs look closer to a 20 degree. Again I know what I bought but I do plan on correcting all of these things because I want to have a reliable weekend warrior for my son and I to enjoy.

I really want to do a 3.5” Metal Cloak lift with new control arms and install Bilstein B8 5100 shocks. But I sometime feel like it may All be over kill for our central Florida trails. I don’t know. I do plan on running theses tires to the ground and swapping in 37s.

or I can go with an Iron rock or Teraflex which will be a bit cheaper. (About $300-$700 cheaper)

would I need to get a longer driveshaft to run a 3.5 inch lift for any of these?
Please help me out, also to mention I am new to the jeep world and I would probably be off roading about 5-10 times a year.

 

[thedirtman]

I would go with the MetalCloak 2.5" lift and plan on dropping down to 35's. Don't waste your money on cheap lifts, they are likley just missing componets you need to keep the costs down. Metal Cloak is running a big cyber monday sale today. You should not need a new driveshaft because of the lift but we dont know what the previous owner did as far as driveshafts when the axles were relocated.

 

[Jeremy#40s]

I would go with the MetalCloak 2.5" lift and plan on dropping down to 35's. Don't waste your money on cheap lifts, they are likley just missing componets you need to keep the costs down. Metal Cloak is running a big cyber monday sale today. You should not need a new driveshaft because of the lift but we dont know what the previous owner did as far as driveshafts when the axles were relocated.

Hey thank you for the advice. I’ve always had trucks and large wheels so I know I would love to try and keep that same look. I would love to have a large lift no more than a 3.5” and at least 37s. I hear from others that I won’t need a driveshaft unless I go up to 4”. Any kit I get will automatically will need to provide control arms no questions.

 

[CRIK]

Hi

 

[CRIK]

In my opinion, stay away from terraflex, a lot of their stuff is china. Stick with a good US manufactue. Metalcloak, JKS, steer smarts,rock krawler, etc. thay will help steer you in the right direction for what you are trying to achieve. I do some mixing and matching, but; I may have a little better idea of what I am looking for for and achieving that outcome.

 

[Jeremy#40s]

Thank you man.
would you know if I were to do a 4” liftwill I need to replace driveshaft?
because I am debating on a 3.5 or 4” I have 40s right now but would like to do 36 for a ease of mind.
Also what is your take on metal cloak 3.5 lift with Bilstein 5160 shocks. Original I wanted the falcons adjustable shocks. I feel like I will be over doing it for the amount of times I will be hitting the trails.

 

[CRIK]

With that much lift it would be a good idea to do drive lines (front & rear). I believe Metalcloak has drive lines, I personally had Tom woods custom driveshafts build my front. 40’s is pretty big, in my opinion. My JK spends a lot of its time in the dirt , much more than most. I run 32’s , 2.5” lift cause I need to get under tree branches, side hills, etc. with a smaller tire, it will actually handle much better. Due to offset of the wheels and side wall flex.
Bilstien 5160 is a good all around shock, I run those on my ol’ grand Cherokee, it also spends a lot of time in the dirt. Okay, I live in north central NV. A lot of dirt & rock here . I run Fox 2.0 on the JK. I like the added off road control, for the rough stuff. You might want to look into a steering sector shaft reinforcement, synergy or what I run JKS. That and steer smarts tie rod and drag link, JKS track bar. That would go a long way to help control big tires and ROCKS.

 

[thedirtman]

Thank you man.
would you know if I were to do a 4” liftwill I need to replace driveshaft?
because I am debating on a 3.5 or 4” I have 40s right now but would like to do 36 for a ease of mind.
Also what is your take on metal cloak 3.5 lift with Bilstein 5160 shocks. Original I wanted the falcons adjustable shocks. I feel like I will be over doing it for the amount of times I will be hitting the trails.

I would run the metal cloak rocksport shocks over the 5160 shock. Better ride and more travel. The 5100 series shocks tend to be on the stiffer side, they are also expensive for a throw way shock. If going with Bilstien I would recommend going with the 7100 series as they are serviceable.

 

[SoK66]

Good recommendations above (although I disagree re: the Teraflex comment). The D30 is on a death watch with 40s. The less expensive route is to downsize tires, but if you're planning on retaining the D30 I wouldn't go larger than 35s.

 

[JPJunky]

Thank you man.
would you know if I were to do a 4” liftwill I need to replace driveshaft?
because I am debating on a 3.5 or 4” I have 40s right now but would like to do 36 for a ease of mind.
Also what is your take on metal cloak 3.5 lift with Bilstein 5160 shocks. Original I wanted the falcons adjustable shocks. I feel like I will be over doing it for the amount of times I will be hitting the trails.

I'm currently running the Metalcloak 3.5" True Dual lift and Rocksport shocks on a JKU, I'm still running the stock rear driveshaft but the front DS needed replacing due to ripping the accordian boot and pushing the limit of the R-zeppa's range of motion.
Attached is a pic of my current setup with 37's

 

[CRIK]

I personally like Tom Woods driveshafts. They have several to pick from. They get rid of the zippa style and go with cardian. And are custom made for your rig and driving.

 

[Jeremy#40s]

I'm currently running the Metalcloak 3.5" True Dual lift and Rocksport shocks on a JKU, I'm still running the stock rear driveshaft but the front DS needed replacing due to ripping the accordian boot and pushing the limit of the R-zeppa's range of motion.
Attached is a pic of my current setup with 37's View attachment 367771

Thank you. Dude I awesome photo.
I really like the metal cloak first reason is the gold color… plus more than anything the fact that the control arms are maintenance free. I will be getting new steering components as well through metal cloak also so I feel as I will have the whole set up. The only thing that I will be purchasingare The rock krawler shocksI think they will work best for my set up.

 

[thedirtman]

Rock Krawler shocks suck, don't throw your money away on them.The last set I installed came from the factory leaking oil thru the shipping box. It was a coil over/bypass set up and it rode like crap. RK blamed the poor ride on temperature and said we needed to change the oil in the shocks for cold weather. If you are going with metal cloak components stick with the rocksport shocks. They ride great and have more travel than most other shocks of the same lift size. Save you some coin too.

Why do you say the RK shocks would work best for your set up?

 

[JPJunky]

Thank you. Dude I awesome photo.
I really like the metal cloak first reason is the gold color… plus more than anything the fact that the control arms are maintenance free. I will be getting new steering components as well through metal cloak also so I feel as I will have the whole set up. The only thing that I will be purchasingare The rock krawler shocksI think they will work best for my set up.

Thanks, I'm slowly getting it built the way I want and have been very happy with Metalcloak.
Anyone that rides with me is amazed by the ride quality, and says it's hard tobelieve it's a lifted Jeep.
I have no experience with RK shocks so I can't comment, but MC talked me out of the Fox shock that they offer with their kits and said the Rocksport had more travel. When someone says don't spend the extra money and offers an advantage at a lower cost I'm all ears!

 

[Jeremy#40s]

Thanks, I'm slowly getting it built the way I want and have been very happy with Metalcloak.
Anyone that rides with me is amazed by the ride quality, and says it's hard tobelieve it's a lifted Jeep.
I have no experience with RK shocks so I can't comment, but MC talked me out of the Fox shock that they offer with their kits and said the Rocksport had more travel. When someone says don't spend the extra money and offers an advantage at a lower cost I'm all ears!

Wow that funny! I am hoping I can get my lift purchased and installed by the end of January. Hoping I can post some badass photos soon. You don’t know how bad I am itching to take it off road. I am hoping I can trade my 40s to 37s as soon as possible also… aka if anyone is interested!! Lol

 

[Jeremy#40s]

Rock Krawler shocks suck, don't throw your money away on them.The last set I installed came from the factory leaking oil thru the shipping box. It was a coil over/bypass set up and it rode like crap. RK blamed the poor ride on temperature and said we needed to change the oil in the shocks for cold weather. If you are going with metal cloak components stick with the rocksport shocks. They ride great and have more travel than most other shocks of the same lift size. Save you some coin too.

Why do you say the RK shocks would work best for your set up?

To be as truthful as possible “I do not know why they will work best with my set up” I am honestly just listing to a buddy who has run RK and also other brand and says he loves it. Me personally, I just want to do something different than others. Not a big fan of fox shocks because I see them EVERYWHERE.
Look I just want a great rig at the end of everything this is my daily driver. I don’t want to break anything while am off-roading, so I don’t want to skimp on anything even if it’s a 200 hundred dollar difference. Florida has a lot of sand and mud plus small hills.
I don’t know what I want… I sound like a bitch! Lmao

 

[ALASHA]

To be as truthful as possible “I do not know why they will work best with my set up” I am honestly just listing to a buddy who has run RK and also other brand and says he loves it. Me personally, I just want to do something different than others. Not a big fan of fox shocks because I see them EVERYWHERE.
Look I just want a great rig at the end of everything this is my daily driver. I don’t want to break anything while am off-roading, so I don’t want to skimp on anything even if it’s a 200 hundred dollar difference. Florida has a lot of sand and mud plus small hills.
I don’t know what I want… I sound like a bitch! Lmao

You are going to find mixed reviews on everything. Dirt doesnt like RK. Its an ungoing thing. I love RK. Keep doing research and you will make the right decision for you...or not and you will change it up. Thats Jeeping.

As for being different - you can only take that so far. The reason you see trends is because those products tend to perform better than others. The JK platform is pretty mature so the poor performing stuff should have been filtered out by now.

Also if you are just doing sand and small hills, I wonder if JL Mojave take offs could be make to work on a JK with 2.5" lift.

 

[thedirtman]

To be as truthful as possible “I do not know why they will work best with my set up” I am honestly just listing to a buddy who has run RK and also other brand and says he loves it. Me personally, I just want to do something different than others. Not a big fan of fox shocks because I see them EVERYWHERE.
Look I just want a great rig at the end of everything this is my daily driver. I don’t want to break anything while am off-roading, so I don’t want to skimp on anything even if it’s a 200 hundred dollar difference. Florida has a lot of sand and mud plus small hills.
I don’t know what I want… I sound like a bitch! Lmao

I am not a big fan of Fox either. Most people buy shocks because of the way the look, not how they perform.
IF you want a good shock that is tunable and rebuildable and different check out sway-a-way. Actually built a little better than King and less cost. Profender is another you might check out.

 

[Cimmerian]

I am not a big fan of Fox either. Most people buy shocks because of the way the look, not how they perform.
IF you want a good shock that is tunable and rebuildable and different check out sway-a-way. Actually built a little better than King and less cost. Profender is another you might check out.

I got Fox 2.0s with my JKS kit and I have to say, they are worlds better than the Teraflexes that came with my Jeep. I have not gone off road yet (just got my Jeep back this week) but so far on road performance in Albuquerque, which doesn't deserve what they have to be called roads, has been great.

 

[JPJunky]

To be as truthful as possible “I do not know why they will work best with my set up” I am honestly just listing to a buddy who has run RK and also other brand and says he loves it. Me personally, I just want to do something different than others. Not a big fan of fox shocks because I see them EVERYWHERE.
Look I just want a great rig at the end of everything this is my daily driver. I don’t want to break anything while am off-roading, so I don’t want to skimp on anything even if it’s a 200 hundred dollar difference. Florida has a lot of sand and mud plus small hills.
I don’t know what I want… I sound like a bitch! Lmao

Where you at in Florida?
I'm about a half hour from PCB