Metalcloak 4WD Suspension Arrives | Superior Engineering

Superior Engineering Presents Metalcloak Suspension

Posted By: Superior Engineering Staff Published: 11/12/2024 Times Read: 42 Comments: 0

When it comes to lift kits and suspension components for Jeeps, there is a huge range available, especially in terms of quality. What may seem like a great value lift may well end up costing you more in the long-run thanks to sub-standard componentry, incomplete kits or simply using cheaply made materials.

Superior Engineering have been at the forefront of suspension development in Australia for years, and have recently partnered with US-based Jeep gurus Metalcloak to bring you the best of the best suspension to the seven-slot grille faithful.

WHO ARE METALCLOAK?

In a nutshell: if you want some of the best products on the market for your Jeep, then Metalcloak is where you shop. They’ve made a name for themselves being game changers. They’ve quite literally redesigned and improved every aspect of Jeep suspension and body armour for pretty much any type of wheeling you’re looking to do.

Metalcloak build products and suspension systems that just work. They’re proven over countless trails in the US and on thousands of high-end rigs running anywhere from 33s and (way) up. If you’re building your Jeep to party hard off-road while still being able to drive home safely and comfortably after a day’s wheeling, then these are your guys.

WHAT IS METALCLOAK’S HISTORY?

Metalcloak started out as a couple of off-road enthusiasts who were looking for better products for their own Jeeps. With backgrounds in engineering, fabrication and machining, they launched the business in 2006 and released the first and only arched tube fender for TJ Wranglers, allowing huge amounts of clearance for big tyres without having to cut the stock guards or hood.

Fast forward a few years and tens of thousands of sales of high clearance bolt-on fenders later, and they jumped into the Jeep suspension game. Not content to slap their sticker on somebody else’s product, they redesigned the Jeep suspension systems starting with the bushes and moved up from there, creating a bunch of new products and refining the Jeep set-up so that it worked orders of magnitude better than stock both on and off-road.

WHAT SEPARATES METALCLOAK?

In a world of imitators, Metalcloak are innovators.

Jeeps have been around forever, and are a well-trodden path, particularly by the aftermarket. What separates Metalcloak, however, is their commitment to making every single aspect of Jeep suspension better, not just fitting taller coils and longer shocks and calling it good.

They literally redesigned the suspension bush, taking aspects of high misalignment joints and incorporating them into their Duroflex joint, which allow a huge amount of suspension movement while maintaining high amounts of anti-body-roll stiffness. Then there’s their innovative 6-Pak shock system, which allows the greatest amount of shock travel relative to the compressed shock length of any off-road shock absorber ever.

They’re proudly a systems-based company. They don’t look to develop products singularly, rather they develop products individually to work exceptionally well as part of a system – so their kits flat out work.

WHAT PRODUCTS DO METALCLOAK OFFER?

While they offer a range of protection equipment and high angle suspension joints, the main products Metalcloak provide are their long-arm suspension systems for Jeep JK, JL and Gladiator. Offering both 3.5in and 4.5in kits, with a range of optional shock absorbers like Fox, the kits replace all of the suspension arms as well as the coils and all of the little bits and pieces like swaybar links, bump stops and brake lines. They’re a total overhaul for your Jeep’s suspension, and will improve the flex, ride and handling like you wouldn’t believe.

METALCLOAK JEEP WRANGLER SUSPENSION EXPLAINED

Jeep JKs and JLs utilise a five-link front and rear suspension (also called a 4-link + Panhard) which works ‘okay-at-best’ off-road. With the Metalcloak long-arm kits, several key components are tweaked or swapped out completely to improve the stock geometry out of sight. All of the arms are changed for longer and stronger units that are fitted with upgraded bushes for an immediate increase in strength and suspension articulation.

On JK models the rear Panhard mount on the diff is also replaced with the Metalcloak item, giving it a flatter angle to increase flex and stability both on and off-road. All replacement Panhard use Metalcloak’s patented Durotrak bush which significantly improves NVH levels and driver input, while the True Dual-Rate coils have one of the longest free rates (for greater flex) in the industry without sacrificing OEM ride quality.

METALCLOAK JEEP GLADIATOR SUSPENSION EXPLAINED

As with the JK and JL, the Gladiator features front and rear 5-link set-ups, which are definitely not terrible, but could always use a few sneaky upgrades. The Metalcloak system replaces all arms with longer and stronger trailing arms as well as raising the trackbar (Panhard) mount on the rear diff for much improved suspension geometry, as well as improving both up and down travel. All bushes and joints are patented Metalcloak items that allow for significantly increased suspension movement without upsetting ride quality.

The kit also features Rocksport shocks, which Metalcloak have tuned specifically to work with the True Dual-Rate coils to provide compliant yet stable handling which is ideal for a daily driver as well as offering true long-travel ability for when wheeling rock gardens.

If you own a Jeep and are looking to make it work about as well as it can off-road without sacrificing the daily driveability of your rig, then Metalcloak and Superior Engineering are playing your tune. Explore the options and get in touch with any questions for our team RIGHT HERE.