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2.5 or 3.5 lift metalcloak on 19 rubicon.

JeepVT

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Resurrecting this as I look to build out a JL next year. Was going to go 2.5 with 37s as my trails around here in VT don't demand that extra travel or clearance, BUT.....I do plan on using it with steel front and back, winch, rack, tent, fridge and god what know other crap I will load into it for camping and trips. is it worth bumping to 3.5"?
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me109stock

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Resurrecting this as I look to build out a JL next year. Was going to go 2.5 with 37s as my trails around here in VT don't demand that extra travel or clearance, BUT.....I do plan on using it with steel front and back, winch, rack, tent, fridge and god what know other crap I will load into it for camping and trips. is it worth bumping to 3.5"?
I am still on the fence between 2.5 and 3.5 but definitely going with MC when I lift. From everything I've read the MC really holds true to the height gain with added weight, so I would be willing to bet you will see a full 2.5" no matter how you load it. And, with all that extra weight on top and high up in the vehicle, I would go with 2.5 to keep a lower center of gravity. Just my opinion. Hopefully other overland folks can weigh in.
 

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I am still on the fence between 2.5 and 3.5 but definitely going with MC when I lift. From everything I've read the MC really holds true to the height gain with added weight, so I would be willing to bet you will see a full 2.5" no matter how you load it. And, with all that extra weight on top and high up in the vehicle, I would go with 2.5 to keep a lower center of gravity. Just my opinion. Hopefully other overland folks can weigh in.
According to MC they did their testing on a well set-up Rubi 3.6. So their measurements will be accurate for a Rubi with bumpers, winch, armor, etc. If you have a Sport you would get 1/2 to 1 inch more or if you had a Rubi without any gear you would likely see maybe 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch more.
 

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Resurrecting this as I look to build out a JL next year. Was going to go 2.5 with 37s as my trails around here in VT don't demand that extra travel or clearance, BUT.....I do plan on using it with steel front and back, winch, rack, tent, fridge and god what know other crap I will load into it for camping and trips. is it worth bumping to 3.5"?
Go 3.5" and give your build what you anticipate will be on your build weight/spring load.

Extra ground clearance is always a bonus and I've never met a Jeeper that says, 'damn, I wish my Jeep was smaller'. My 2 cents.


-Steven
 
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Fire Burns

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I'm a perfect example of your dilemma.

I had gone back and forth but eventually installed a full 2.5in MC Gamechanger, to include driveshaft on my 2018 JLUR, sitting on 37s. Drives great, but even leaving CloakWorks, I was having second thoughts. I should have gone bigger...

Still those thoughts were not keeping me up at night. Yes, I could live with this and it looked great too!

That was in August. Now fast forward to 3 weeks ago. Me and a couple of buddies went wheeling on the REAL Rubicon Trail at the Loon Lake trailhead. For those of you familiar with that trail, you don't go about 5 minutes before you hit your first real obstacle. I think they call it the Gateway, and for good reason. Its pretty gnarly with huge boulders and plenty opportunity to scrape and bash your undersides to pieces. Being that my ride had not had any trail rash (to that point), I was reluctant to continue but soldiered on anyway. Later we hit some other sick obstacles involving some pretty steep drops that put your bumpers at risk. While the MC lift performed amazing, I did come away with a small amount of rash on the underside of my very expensive Rock Slide Engineering Sliders. I also soaked up a pretty good thud on the rear bumper that has it now riding a few millimeters higher on the right side (almost imperceptibly so, but I can see it). This was with me driving as carefully and slowly as possible.

At the end day, I can't help wishing once again I had gone with the 3.5 inch MC Gamechanger over the 2.5 inch. I mean, just that small amount of additional lift would have easily kept my ride completely rash free (except for my rims, lol), and stop me from having big lift envy.

TRUST ME! GET THE 3.5 in LIFT. YOU WILL REGRET IT IF YOU DON"T. I PROMISE.
 

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J0E

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I am between a metalcloak 2.5 lift on 37x13.5r20 or 3.5 lift on 38x15.5r22 on a 2019 Rubicon.
20 & 22 are for mall crawlers where you don't air down. Are you building a mall crawler?

See my https://bt39.com/ for air down.
 

Fire Burns

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20 & 22 are for mall crawlers where you don't air down. Are you building a mall crawler?

See my https://bt39.com/ for air down.
Disagree. I aired down to 13 psi on my 37x12.50R20s and has NO issues traversing slick wet granite boulders. The ONLY thing that sucked wasn't my vehicle's performance on the trail but having 20s did expose my wheels to more rock rash than my buddies and their 17s. There's simply more wheel out there to scrape and less tire to protect them.
 

J0E

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Disagree. I aired down to 13 psi on my 37x12.50R20s and has NO issues traversing slick wet granite boulders. The ONLY thing that sucked wasn't my vehicle's performance on the trail but having 20s did expose my wheels to more rock rash than my buddies and their 17s. There's simply more wheel out there to scrape and less tire to protect them.
With beadlocks you can air down to 5psi. No question, 17" is better for airing down. The hard core folks never use 20+, for good reasons. Lower air down, less risk of pinch flats, etc. You might be able to get away with tall rims, but it's far from optimal and is sign of a mall crawler.

See https://bt39.com/
 

Fire Burns

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With beadlocks you can air down to 5psi. No question, 17" is better for airing down. The hard core folks never use 20+, for good reasons. Lower air down, less risk of pinch flats, etc. You might be able to get away with tall rims, but it's far from optimal and is sign of a mall crawler.

See https://bt39.com/
I could have aired down more if I wanted. I chose not to and had no problems. You call call folks like me a mall crawler all you want, but I'm out there with everyone else on the same gnarly stuff and keeping up just fine, if not better than many. And not a mall in sight.

Haters gonna hate I guess 🤷
 

J0E

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So you're saying there's no advantage of 17 vs a 22? I was making a suggestion to someone planning and pointing out 17 has air down advantages, which you seem to dispute. It's one thing to be stuck with what you have, and another for planning a build.
 

Fire Burns

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So you're saying there's no advantage of 17 vs a 22? I was making a suggestion to someone planning and pointing out 17 has air down advantages, which you seem to dispute. It's one thing to be stuck with what you have, and another for planning a build.
First, I'm talking about 20s and at least a 37in tire. I have no experience with 22s, and or smaller 35 or below. However, I imagine someone with 22s and 40s or (larger) would be fine as well.

Second, I stated the disadvantage to my combo was increased exposure of your wheels to rock rash.

Other than that, no, I see no other real disadvantages. Again, I am talking about real world experience on the Rubicon Trail in regards to traversing most obstacles.
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