wibornz
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Ted
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2018
- Threads
- 195
- Messages
- 15,053
- Reaction score
- 72,803
- Location
- lansing, Mi.
- Website
- www.instagram.com
- Vehicle(s)
- JL Unlimited Rubicon
- Occupation
- Retired from Corrections....I have stories.
- Thread starter
- #1
This is the journey that started on March 18th of this year. On our way to Moab, from Lansing Michigan towing our 15TB camper,
the passenger side cam failed on my 3.6. My Jeep had approximately 151,000 or so miles and has been on 37s since the 2nd day home from dealership at purchase in November of 2018. A shop in Iowa had the parts in stock and fixed it with in a day and we were on our way to Moab with just a slight delay. During the long drive, the decision was made that it was time to refresh the Jeep. We had talked about doing a Hemi swap when the time came. With that said, the 3.6 was running great and did not burn oil. The 3.6 had done an amazing job over the years. It had towed a camper approximately 88,000 miles and thousands and thousands of off road miles. After 2 full months of wheeling in Utah we headed home. We had planned to wheel to the end of June in the south west while looking at property to build on or buy a house. At the end of April, we found property and went under contract to buy it. So we headed home.
At 153,000 or so miles, and a pending move to Kanab Utah, we decided it was time to refresh the Jeep. Americas Most Wanted 4x4 (AMW) was the obvious choice for the 5.7 Hemi swap. The bonus is their shop is about 60 miles from our house. I wanted the 5.7 because the AMW 5.7 was 425 hp, with a 87 octane tune and was quieter than the 392 Hemi. that runs on premium fuel. We obviously put a lot of miles on and the additional cost in fuel and the loss of mpg with the 392 worked out to be about 20% more cost for cost of fuel and loss of mileage plus the added cost for the 392. While the 392 is sweet, I believed that it was way over kill for what I was trying to accomplish. I was looking for something that would tow the camper better and still not kill the bank.
My wife, Carla has wanted a hemi swap for years and she wanted a long arm lift too. So after spending some time with @3TV who runs a sweet 392 with a 3.5 @Metalcloak lift and some of my own research, I settled on the Metalcloak 4.5 long arm lift. The wheels are in motion.
May 1st, I pay for a full install of the Metalcloak lift to a shop called Mountain Goat Off Road in Ida Michigan. $6,700 and was told the install would take a week. The shop put me on their schedule for the work to be done. I dropped of the Jeep off on June 1st and expected it back with in a week or so as I was told. Mountain Goat Off Road is a Metalcloak Gold Star+ installer. It did not take long to figure out that the Metalcloak Gold Star+ installer meant absolutely nothing. The job should be about a 25 hour install. It took the the shop six weeks to complete the work after dropping it off on the day they said that they had all the parts and were ready to get started. I got the Jeep back from them on July 13th. They did a half ass job at best. They did not set up the lift correctly, they did not do an alignment, and the Jeep rubs in the back as they did not trim the tub or set the bump stops correctly to run the new Mickey Thompson 40s MT. I am capable of doing the instal myself, but paid for it to be done, as I had to prep our house for sale and did not have the time to do it.
So just know that the Metalcloak Gold Star+ rating for a shop install mean absolutely nothing. Nothing worse than paying $6700 for a half ass job. The shop having my Jeep for an extra 5 weeks really put a cramp into other things I wanted to do, or needed to do prior to us moving.. I had to pressure the shop to finish the install by July 13th as that was the day that AMW wanted the Jeep for the Hemi install. The shop promised to have the suspension install completed and deliver it to AMW by trailer at 11 am on the 13th. In classic fashion for them, They were 2 1/2 hours late delivering the Jeep to AMW. So Jump to now and I have wheeled it, I will have to adjust the suspension and trim the tub myself. Like Fuck Mountain Goat Off Road in Ida Michigan. Metalcloak should downgrade their status as an installer.
On to the AMW 5.7 Hemi install. The AMW Hemi stall is more than a motor swap. They told me the install would be three to four weeks. They are very professional and was a great experience working with them. They sent me photos and videos of the build in progress and kept me updated via text. They also did a full inspection of the Jeep and told me issue that they found, and offered to fix them during the process. The communications were professional and low pressure. I received the Jeep back on August 11th just under 4 weeks.
Pics of the install process.
Notice how clean the shop is. They even sent a first time it was fired up video.
Sounded like a V8 should be. I told them, I do NOT want a loud ass exhaust. There are times that we are in the Jeep for 16 hour days for multiple days in a row. After the install, AMW has a 9 page check list that they complete for the final inspection and they put approximately 200 miles on the Jeep to ensure that everything was done and running right. They returned the Jeep to me with a full tank of fuel.
So AMW did and excellent job. The instal was $33,642. I paid this upfront and they did not try to tack any additional charges on
More to come. I will list all the other things they did to the Jeep and how it has performed.
Just know that the 5.7 Hemi geared to 5.13 will spin new 40s on pavement, Try not to do that, and will spin the tires on a roll at approximately 20 mph in 2nd gear all the way into 3rd gear to about 42 mph.
I have over 3,000 miles on the Jeep now. So I have a pretty good handle on how it performs too.
the passenger side cam failed on my 3.6. My Jeep had approximately 151,000 or so miles and has been on 37s since the 2nd day home from dealership at purchase in November of 2018. A shop in Iowa had the parts in stock and fixed it with in a day and we were on our way to Moab with just a slight delay. During the long drive, the decision was made that it was time to refresh the Jeep. We had talked about doing a Hemi swap when the time came. With that said, the 3.6 was running great and did not burn oil. The 3.6 had done an amazing job over the years. It had towed a camper approximately 88,000 miles and thousands and thousands of off road miles. After 2 full months of wheeling in Utah we headed home. We had planned to wheel to the end of June in the south west while looking at property to build on or buy a house. At the end of April, we found property and went under contract to buy it. So we headed home.
At 153,000 or so miles, and a pending move to Kanab Utah, we decided it was time to refresh the Jeep. Americas Most Wanted 4x4 (AMW) was the obvious choice for the 5.7 Hemi swap. The bonus is their shop is about 60 miles from our house. I wanted the 5.7 because the AMW 5.7 was 425 hp, with a 87 octane tune and was quieter than the 392 Hemi. that runs on premium fuel. We obviously put a lot of miles on and the additional cost in fuel and the loss of mpg with the 392 worked out to be about 20% more cost for cost of fuel and loss of mileage plus the added cost for the 392. While the 392 is sweet, I believed that it was way over kill for what I was trying to accomplish. I was looking for something that would tow the camper better and still not kill the bank.
My wife, Carla has wanted a hemi swap for years and she wanted a long arm lift too. So after spending some time with @3TV who runs a sweet 392 with a 3.5 @Metalcloak lift and some of my own research, I settled on the Metalcloak 4.5 long arm lift. The wheels are in motion.
May 1st, I pay for a full install of the Metalcloak lift to a shop called Mountain Goat Off Road in Ida Michigan. $6,700 and was told the install would take a week. The shop put me on their schedule for the work to be done. I dropped of the Jeep off on June 1st and expected it back with in a week or so as I was told. Mountain Goat Off Road is a Metalcloak Gold Star+ installer. It did not take long to figure out that the Metalcloak Gold Star+ installer meant absolutely nothing. The job should be about a 25 hour install. It took the the shop six weeks to complete the work after dropping it off on the day they said that they had all the parts and were ready to get started. I got the Jeep back from them on July 13th. They did a half ass job at best. They did not set up the lift correctly, they did not do an alignment, and the Jeep rubs in the back as they did not trim the tub or set the bump stops correctly to run the new Mickey Thompson 40s MT. I am capable of doing the instal myself, but paid for it to be done, as I had to prep our house for sale and did not have the time to do it.
So just know that the Metalcloak Gold Star+ rating for a shop install mean absolutely nothing. Nothing worse than paying $6700 for a half ass job. The shop having my Jeep for an extra 5 weeks really put a cramp into other things I wanted to do, or needed to do prior to us moving.. I had to pressure the shop to finish the install by July 13th as that was the day that AMW wanted the Jeep for the Hemi install. The shop promised to have the suspension install completed and deliver it to AMW by trailer at 11 am on the 13th. In classic fashion for them, They were 2 1/2 hours late delivering the Jeep to AMW. So Jump to now and I have wheeled it, I will have to adjust the suspension and trim the tub myself. Like Fuck Mountain Goat Off Road in Ida Michigan. Metalcloak should downgrade their status as an installer.
On to the AMW 5.7 Hemi install. The AMW Hemi stall is more than a motor swap. They told me the install would be three to four weeks. They are very professional and was a great experience working with them. They sent me photos and videos of the build in progress and kept me updated via text. They also did a full inspection of the Jeep and told me issue that they found, and offered to fix them during the process. The communications were professional and low pressure. I received the Jeep back on August 11th just under 4 weeks.
Pics of the install process.
Notice how clean the shop is. They even sent a first time it was fired up video.
Sounded like a V8 should be. I told them, I do NOT want a loud ass exhaust. There are times that we are in the Jeep for 16 hour days for multiple days in a row. After the install, AMW has a 9 page check list that they complete for the final inspection and they put approximately 200 miles on the Jeep to ensure that everything was done and running right. They returned the Jeep to me with a full tank of fuel.
So AMW did and excellent job. The instal was $33,642. I paid this upfront and they did not try to tack any additional charges on
More to come. I will list all the other things they did to the Jeep and how it has performed.
Just know that the 5.7 Hemi geared to 5.13 will spin new 40s on pavement, Try not to do that, and will spin the tires on a roll at approximately 20 mph in 2nd gear all the way into 3rd gear to about 42 mph.
I have over 3,000 miles on the Jeep now. So I have a pretty good handle on how it performs too.
Sponsored
.
I'll take you up on that. I want to do the install myself but will certainly need help moving these heavy things around after they get here.
