Retro Gladiator build, my modern take on the Old Honcho

[Koolcarguy]

I always planned on upgrading the axles so the time to do the suspension is while all the parts are at paint.

I have to say, all the post about how much rubicon axles are worth are over rated. Took 3 months to sell them and dumped the price several times. These axles had less than 500 miles on them and worth less than 4k.

I affectionately refer to this as the safest photo ever. A build this big is painfully slow.

Tomorrow night I will continue when all the parts started coming back from paint.

Like the visor! looks like a cool build. I'm personally not a fan of the bobbed bed look but to each his own excitied to see if finished tho

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[BUZZHEAD]

WELL DONE IAM JEALOUS

 

[Flyin6]

Too Cool!

I salute in your general direction!

 

[AstroZombie]

Awesome Pictures and great job!!

 

[MPMB]

Epic build.

And what makes it epic is it isn't from a parts supplier.

I used to be on a regional stockcar team and we build our cars from bare chassis on up. That's a whole lot of hours and effort, and it looks awesome. Detail work is sweet, like the side badge replacement.

When I see Honcho, I'm reminded of -

 

[KidBobot]

WOW

 

[BigG]

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on that bed. After running the rubicon both ways I ended up with body damage. Instead of fixing my bed I’m just gonna replace it. Plus I don’t have to worry about the damaged rear bumper and flares. I’m just trying to decide if I want to have it painted in pieces or assembled, not sure about all the bolts showing.

love your build!

 

[TheOpa]

Impressive skills and killer workshop! Really nice, clean, personal design.

 

[Chunky White]

NIce build and thanks for posting!!

 

[AndyB]

I want to start tonight by thanking all of you for the kind words regarding my build. I'm not great with compliments and i believe like most of us, my own worst critic (second guessing every thought and idea). I started this project with my wife just to be different, ironically trying to mimic an old idea.

So tonight, I want to share some final details that were missed in the main build.

I'm going to describe my first test drive as well, because looks and performance were the goal.

Also going to make sure I read all comments and make sure there are no unanswered questions.

First, though I need to have a little dinner with the Mrs and read through everything, including my own notes.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

I am extremly impressed and looking forward to see the final details.

Enjoy the dinner!

 

[AndyB]

1st the big obvious, skid plates. I skipped right past these.

These are the Next Venture skids with UHMW. So without sounding like and expert. I live near the Hammers and used to judge WEROCK competitions. People used to attach cuttingboards but they didn't last long. UHMW stands for Ultra High Molecure Weight. The plastic that is used is very strong, Slide easily and when I watched an episode of 4wheeler Ian Johnson praised it (OK, I admit I watch a lot of Mototrend and You Tube). As mine is a diesel, I really liked the coverage of the fuel filters too.

I mentioned earlier that I installed Rock Jocks high steer kit, I also installed their ram steer bracket. Now this bracket was made for a stock axle, but with the help of a friend we modified the mount to fit the axle. Hopefully early 2024 I can install the psc ram assist kit. This will be much needed for the 40's . Right now, I just have a stabilizer in place.

If you haven't already, a sector shaft reinforcement kit is critical for larger tires. The upper factory track bar mount is so weak it literally flexes on the frame.

 

[AndyB]

What is the wheelbase post cutting? Are you sticking with gladiator rear suspension/ driveshaft or did it end up close enough to JLU dimensions to go that route?

So, I didn't not make a significant change to the wheel base. I shortend the frame behind the suspension. For clarity though, I actually did move the front axle forward and the rear axle backward just enough to center them on the wheel wells. The Rock Jock suspension is fully adjustable 4 links.

 

[AndyB]

My first test drive.
I've always believed if you baby it, your just waiting until you decide to push it hard enough to break. The Patagonia tires run highway at 36psi. Because the truck is an ecodiesel the recommended gears for my tire size is 4.88s. So when I floored it from a dead stop turning left into traffic I was impressed that the tires started squealing (well more whelping, too big to squeal). Acceleration is impressive, of course there is some turbo lag but, not bad. I wasn't building a race truck. Near me is a lot of vacant lots and one of them is used by the locals on their Canams. A small jumps then whoops, some tight corners and a very chopped up end from water erosion. I did the safe thing and left the road at 40 and took the small jump at an angle. The suspension sucked it up and floated right on through the whoops behind it. When I hit the tight corners it was very stable and the antirocks took all the lean out of it. The rough bit at the end was my big worry. I didn't feel a thing.

At this point the truck only had 540 miles on it. As of today I'm at 2200 miles. I just did the first oil change. Mostly because over the last year I only started it a few times and wanted to make sure any water or fuel in the gas was gone. I've retightened everything 3 times now.

What's next? This weekend I am taking a trip to the desert bar in Parker Arizona. Hopefully I'll get some good trail picks, flexed out and living it's best life.

I bought every piece on this truck and shopped deals just like anyone else but, I would have loved to have it at SEMA. It would be a dream to be on the same floor as professional builders. For now, I'll start planning next years build. I already bought it. My 1962 Willys truck. But that will be on another forum.

So how did I land here? I really hate a cluttered interior. I installed the Ham under the steering column and couldn't hear it. I did not want an external speaker mounted somewhere. I found this gizmo called "The Whiz" an audio interrupter. When I searched for a wire diagram for the radio the forum came up. Problem is, that it clearly showed the wire running to an amp, and I had no idea where the amp was located. I posed the question here but before I got an answer I figured out I only needed to install it inline to one of the speakers. Now the ham is easy to hear from the left front speaker and the interrupter puts the speaker back to radio when there is no traffic on the ham. And this was the last mod to my truck.

Honcho trail list is already building. After this weekend, then I want to run most of Big Bears trails, as I am close. Then trying to conquer "backdoor" at the hammers. I've already put Rubicon on my list for next year (weather permitting).

Thanks all for following along. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer as they come up.

 

[Blade1668]

AndyB..... one heck of a build there. Some of us would appreciate seeing your work on the next project too.

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