The Arched Tube Fender Exposed - A Start to Finish Review

[Deacon]

COMPLETION

For reference, I have the TeraFlex 3" lift and a 1" body lift. I'm rolling on 35x12.50-15 BFG KM2's wrapped around Mickey Thompson Classic II 15x8 wheels with 3.3" backspacing (-30 offset). At some point I'd like to put Currie adjustable short arms all the way around and push the wheelbase out to stock or a little past stock, if I can. For now it's using the stock arms.

Here are some shots of the completed project. I went ahead and utilized the large hexagonal stickers on the removable aluminum plates that cover the access panels on either side of the Jeep, because I know any other Jeep owner walking by it on the trail or in a parking lot is going to say, "Whoa! What are those?"




As you can see, there's a massive amount of clearance, now, and it's actually useful. The next upcoming wheeling trip is planned for the 17th and 18th up at Long's Ranch, between Marble Falls and Llano, in central Texas. I'll be taking lots of pics (and hopefully some videos) while I'm there, and I'll come back and add them to this thread. Like I said before, I'll also try to get a good assortment of day shots and maybe a couple of poser flex shots if I can find something good to flex on before then.







The 6" detachable flares seem to cover the tire completely at their widest point, and I'll be leaving them on by default, though I will be taking them off when actually wheeling in the rocks, not because they'll cause clearance issues, but because they won't be necessary, so why risk damaging them? The cool thing is that because they taper toward the body, they don't block visibility much in case you're wheeling with them on, and they don't seem to cause clearance issues.







CONCLUSIONS

If I had to do it all over again, I would. The whole install took about 5 hours, but it would've been a lot quicker if we hadn't been stopping constantly to take pictures and if the driver's side pieces bolted down as intended. Whether you get the detachable flares depends on personal preferences as well as possibly the laws in your state.

Everything seems well designed and sturdy, but it's not overly heavy, which is nice for all kinds of reasons. When you consider how well everything fits, how you can re-use all the stock components (e.g. airbox), how you don't have to relocate anything (e.g. windshield washer bottle), how it comes with really nice inner fenders, all the *****ing about how "expensive" these are makes less and less sense, considering they're the same price Gen-right charges for their 6" flare tube fenders with NO inner fenders, and they're much heavier (unnecessarily so), and they do not give as much clearance. And according to John, "They went on a ****LOAD easier than the Gen-rights. I'm serious. You have no idea." In fact, I'm afraid John loved them so much and was so impressed with the build quality (and especially the inner fenders) that after it was all over he said he's going to have to beg the guys at MetalCloak to produce these for his CJ. Heh, he told me he'd be perfectly willing to rip the Gen-rights off and send them to Matson if they wanted him to, so they could do more direct comparisons. On the other hand, Jeff says he still prefers the aesthetic of the flat tube fenders, and at some point he'll probably end up trying to build himself a set for his YJ from tubing and sheet metal.

Personally? I think they're bad-***. I love them and love the way they look. John says he prefers the look with the flares on, but so far I think they look better with the flares off. It's getting to be the rainy season down here in south Texas (i.e. fall and winter), so I'll probably be leaving the flares on, but I'd be happy to take pics of both.

And to be honest, I've been legitimately impressed in all my communications with MetalCloak by a passion for excellence in product and service that becomes really apparent very quickly. It's the kind of thing that really resonates with me, personally, and it's something that's more rare than it should be. It's obvious that they're really into what they're doing, and that they're trying hard to become one of the premier companies in this market. I'd say they're doing a helluva job. It seems like the more they interact with the community, the better their stuff gets. And the best part is that they don't treat you like you're a bother, or like you're just lucky to get their stuff, so take what you get. In talking to some other big-name vendors you get a lot of gruffness or aggressively talking trash about competing vendors, or both. In my personal experience with the guys at MetalCloak, they don't seem that way either way.

We'll see for sure when I go wheeling, but in the end I'd have to say that if you're looking for functional tube fenders (that I happen to think look awesome, too), then these are your best bet, and definitely the best bang for the buck--especially if you're trying to stay LCOG. They're a helluvalot easier and less expensive than a high-line kit, while offering almost the same clearance. They're comparably priced (minus flares) as other replacement fender kits from TNT and Gen-right, but they come completed (no need to apply a bunch of seam sealant, lab metal, bondo, or anything else to make them presentable like with the others), they include simple bolt-on inner fenders, they don't require removing or relocating any components, fit-and-finish is top-notch, and they fit right the first time and bolt right on with no special tools needed, just a set of sockets, a screwdriver, and allen keys. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason you'd go with another kit would be due to a preference for flat fenders' looks.

I have no personal experience with TNT or Gen-right, though John does so you can take his experience for what it's worth, but if I were going to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Now to get the lights in and then later test it out at Long's!


EDIT: For reference, I started writing this up about 12 or 12:30 AM, it's about 3:30 AM now, and this whole write-up took about as long as a typical install should take


EDIT 2: Oh yeah, I forgot one last picture of some stickers over the door to John's shop

[CCJ]

Awesome thanks Fire!

[Deacon]

You're welcome. I'm now running on DayQuil, caffeine, and about 2 hours of sleep

Does that help? I'm not very experienced at write-ups. Any feedback? Anything I missed? Too long-winded?

[Running925]

I really like those fenders!!! Soo muck more usable room for articulation!

[nwiTJdave]

looks really good Fire. good choice of tubefenders!

[0blcktj6]

Awesome writeup those fenders look amazing! I'm definitely going to have to purchase a set for myself. I was wondering, however, if you have any more shots with the flares removed? Maybe some head on shots? I plan on buying them without any flare and want to see how far the tires stick out and all. And I do agree that from the pictures I have seen they do look better w/out the flare but that's just personal preference and really they look badass either way. Awesome Jeep and thanks for taking the time to do this writeup!

[RubiconRazorbac]

Great write-up! I was glad to see the powder coating looked great. I'm still thinking about doing these to match the body color and the flares in black, but yours looks outstanding! Great sticker placement too. Looks like it was made for that spot

[Deacon]

Cool, thanks for the good feedback. I liked them enough that I'm probably going to go ahead and do the same thing for their rear corners (cut-out version) with 6" flares to match the front, at some point in the not-too-distant future. I'll end up writing that up, too, I'm sure. I like knowing I'll be able to fit 37's under there (maybe larger, even?) without having to go higher with the lift.

0blcktj6, yeah, I'll take some more pictures in the daylight with the flares both on and removed. The weather's not cooperating yet, so I drove the truck to work today instead of the Jeep. Maybe late this afternoon or at least in the next few days I'll get a whole new round of pics up and running.

[dippert]

i think you just sold me on these firekite. and it's nice to see the production process on your part metal cloak guys.

too bad the proportions would be completely thrown off. i'm going to be running AEV 3" springs, 1"BL (for skid plate purposes, not clearance) and 33's. i'll have to see how much more uptravel i can get out of the front before giving these serious thought though.

[0blcktj6]

Originally Posted by Firekite

0blcktj6, yeah, I'll take some more pictures in the daylight with the flares both on and removed. The weather's not cooperating yet, so I drove the truck to work today instead of the Jeep. Maybe late this afternoon or at least in the next few days I'll get a whole new round of pics up and running.

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it thanks a lot!

[Deacon]

dippert, why would the proportions be off that much? I mean, I had 33's on the same setup as you minus the 1" body lift (which I should've had because it rubbed the fenders when flexed) and that was perfect. In reality the 35's were slightly too big for the lift I had, but now they're not. If it were me, I'd say go for it and just upgrade tire size down the road when the 33's wear out (or sell them off and buy 35's or 37's early, hehe).

[Jeffro95]

Great write up. Jeep looks good too.

I wonder what they'd look like on my YJ, hmmmmmmmmm........

[dippert]

Originally Posted by Firekite

dippert, why would the proportions be off that much? I mean, I had 33's on the same setup as you minus the 1" body lift (which I should've had because it rubbed the fenders when flexed) and that was perfect. In reality the 35's were slightly too big for the lift I had, but now they're not. If it were me, I'd say go for it and just upgrade tire size down the road when the 33's wear out (or sell them off and buy 35's or 37's early, hehe).

well the problem lies in not wanting to go bigger than 33's on this LJ. it'd look like the bat cave in my wheel wells I'm attempting a LCG LJ build on 33's in an apt complex garage. Gonna call it "project belly dragger". It's also the only vehicle i have access to within 600 miles.

It depends soley on how much uptravel i have left in the suspension with no bump extensions. BE seem like a waste of $$. I want to get ALL the usable flex out of my suspension, not 1" less b/c my tires rub.

I'm extremely impressed at how all the stuff fits back into almost to the stock location. That's boarder-line obsessive attention to detail. Your pix answered every question i've ever had about these.

[Deacon]

Cool, glad it helped. I would've liked something like this before I got them, too

Why stop at 33's? I mean, especially with these fenders you could stay very LCOG and go with 35's without mechanical upgrades. Maybe even 37's, even--if you're not doing hardcore crawling you'd probably be fine with the D30/D44 combo you've got, though I'd probably go ahead and put chromo shafts in front and rear, at that point, to be safe.

[CCJ]

Originally Posted by Firekite

You're welcome. I'm now running on DayQuil, caffeine, and about 2 hours of sleep

Does that help? I'm not very experienced at write-ups. Any feedback? Anything I missed? Too long-winded?

LOL I know that feeling. I think you did exceptionally well.