What are your wheels with the MC GC 3.5" lift?

[Cleoncini]

Calling those with the MC 3.5" game changer. What wheels are you running? I am learning that the wheels I was drooling over have too much backspacing >4.5". It seems like I am going to have to commit to beadlocks. Are all of you running beadlocks? How is it for a Daily Driver? Any regrets?

Sponsored

 

[DOOKEY]

Good bead locks should give you years of use without issue. Some bead locks require maintenance.

Bead lock wheels should be no different than street wheels. They all follow the same principle. If you go single bead locks you need to be sure the wheel is properly set up for your tires bead thickness.

Beyond that you should be good.

 

[jlewissystem]

I run Fuel D101 beadlocks - love them. No issues at all so far.

 

[Cleoncini]

I run Fuel D101 beadlocks - love them. No issues at all so far.

Did you mount the tires yourself? Any issues ever taking them to be balanced?

 

[jlewissystem]

Did you mount the tires yourself? Any issues ever taking them to be balanced?

I didnt, but kind of wish i did at $200! My shop did the mount and balance for me. I was lazy

 

[Cleoncini]

I didnt, but kind of wish i did at $200! My shop did the mount and balance for me. I was lazy

Hahaha I hear/feel the lazy...I live in a townhouse, and do not have room in my garage to do any work. Hopefully maybe Northridge Utah will be willing to help out

 

[Headbarcode]

Calling those with the MC 3.5" game changer. What wheels are you running? I am learning that the wheels I was drooling over have too much backspacing >4.5". It seems like I am going to have to commit to beadlocks. Are all of you running beadlocks? How is it for a Daily Driver? Any regrets?

As soon as my 6-packs get delivered, I'll be pulling out my current 2" lift to make way for the Metalcloak 3.5" lift. I'm building up for both rock crawling and being able to carry speed down rutted trails, while still serving as my daily driver. I don't plan on airing down to single digits and wanted to minimize rotational weight, so I went non-beadlock. I decided on the KMC XD138 Brutes 17x9x4.53" backspace and -12mm offset wrapped in 38x13.50 Milestar Pat's. Other than not yet having enough height to fully exploit full flexibility, the Jeep rides far better than it did fresh from the factory.

Not bad for 38's and only a true 2" of lift. If the rear tire wasn't digging into the pinch seam, I'd be able to get that front tire up another 4ish inches before fully crushing the bump stops.

 

[Cleoncini]

As soon as my 6-packs get delivered, I'll be pulling out my current 2" lift to make way for the Metalcloak 3.5" lift. I'm building up for both rock crawling and being able to carry speed down rutted trails, while still serving as my daily driver. I don't plan on airing down to single digits and wanted to minimize rotational weight, so I went non-beadlock. I decided on the KMC XD138 Brutes 17x9x4.53" backspace and -12mm offset wrapped in 38x13.50 Milestar Pat's. Other than not yet having enough height to fully exploit full flexibility, the Jeep rides far better than it did fresh from the factory.

We have the same build goal in mind lol See, i was going to go non-beadlock as well...but then another guy on here was saying how at full stuff, and any sort of wheel turn, he was hitting his inner fenders and some other components with standard Methods. Since Metalcloak's site has the backspacing alert/option with the 6pak's signaling wheels with <4.5" backspacing, it has me scratching my head. I don't really have the need or want to hassle with beadlocks.

 

[Headbarcode]

We have the same build goal in mind lol See, i was going to go non-beadlock as well...but then another guy on here was saying how at full stuff, and any sort of wheel turn, he was hitting his inner fenders and some other components with standard Methods. Since Metalcloak's site has the backspacing alert/option with the 6pak's signaling wheels with <4.5" backspacing, it has me scratching my head. I don't really have the need or want to hassle with beadlocks.

Because of Metalcloaks ability to droop more than most other lifts, the stuffed wheel will be that much more cocked into the wheelwell. That's where half of the no more than 4.5" of backspace comes into play. The other half is because of the shock relocation brackets that move the shocks further away from the frame, so the shock body doesn't hit at full droop. Beadlocks or no beadlocks has nothing to do with clearance.

In my flex pic above, the bump stop wasn't fully crushing the 2" spacer and I still had about 2" of tire to fender clearance. At full turn, the stuffed wheel has about 5/8-3/4" of clearance all around. The fender chop and all the AAL parts gained 3.5" of clearance. I highly recommend their lights and inner liners to anyone looking for more wheelwell real estate.

 

[Fire Burns]

I was just at Metalcloak and their in-house installers, Cloakworks, last Friday to pick up lift parts and make an install appointment. I will be having them install a full 2.5" Gamechanger with RockSport shocks. I already have 5" backspaced wheels that I bought before I knew better and don't have the funds to change them out. Plus they look hella cool.

I told Cloakworks about about my dilemma and they seemed unconcerned. The >4.5" backspace they note on the website is pretty conservative, meaning that there's actually more room available. What helps, they said, was the fact I have a Rubicon, which has slightly longer axels then a Sport. The website assumes Sport axles, just to be on the safe side.

So this is just what I heard from Cloakworks. I don't have any personal experience (yet) for this issue, so should be taken with a grain of salt. I am not a professional Jeeper, I'm not affiliated with MC, and I can't guarantee anything. However, what they said did give me peace of mind and they still plan to install the outboard shock mounts on my 5 inch backspaced wheeled Rubicon. \

So yeah, should be pretty easy to find they type of wheels you want in this approximate range 4.5 - 5" without having to go with bead locks.

 

[Cleoncini]

So yeah, should be pretty easy to find they type of wheels you want in this approximate range 4.5 - 5" without having to go with bead locks.

Yesss! Thank you. That saves money, weight and effort hahaha.

 

[Fire Burns]

Yesss! Thank you. That saves money, weight and effort hahaha.

Man, good luck! I chose my wheels based on looks first before I knew better. Had I known, I might have tried to get closer to the supposed magic >4.5", but too late now. Only time will tell if I have issues, but probably not the end of the world if I end up needing a bit more bump stop, or perhaps run the AAL fender mod at the end of the day...

Sponsored