2023 Mojave Gladiator Build - Metalcloak, ARB, Fox, RSI, Warn, Solis, 813 Fab...

[m1n0t4rr]

Well, I finally got around to taking some pics of phase 1 completion. 2023 Mojave 3.6, added:

• Metalcloak 2.5" Gamechanger (with stock shocks)
• Metalcloak tie rod
• Metalcloak HD drag link
• Fox ATS Steering stabilizer
• RSI Smartcap
• ARB Full length Bondi front bumper and skid plate
• ARB Full length rear bumper
• Warn Evo 10S
• ARB Intensity Solis 36 spot/flood combo aux lights
• 813 Fab molle panels for full bed
• Toyo Open Country RT Trail 35 x 12.50

I have a couple thousand miles on it now, and I love it. Only thing I would consider doing differently is tire size. The 35s look small to me, but i was not prepared to regear a brand new Mojave, but might be in future phases. Prior to the lift and steering upgrades, I noticed some sloppiness in the steering and mile lane wandering, and following mods, I have experienced none to my utter shock.... it drives better than stock. With the lift and larger tires, I saw about 5" of lift in front and 4.25" in rear, inclusive of all the added weight (front added about 250 lbs and rear a bit more with cap and bumper). I was able to re-use Mojave factory skid in addition to the skid that comes with the ARB bumper, but had to mount it a bit lower and fashion some spacers.... I commented on that process in another thread.

Hope you all enjoy, and if you have any questions, I would be happy to help provide info.

Ughhhh, can I see your undercarraige?

Was looking at this same setup...

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[cajun]

Ughhhh, can I see your undercarraige?

Was looking at this same setup...

I dont have a good way to jack it up evenly at home, but I am happy to take pics all around if you don't mind that angle. Any particular things you looking for other than the suspension and steering components? I will wait a couple hours because its arctic cold out right now, but should be warming up

 

[cajun]

Very nice looking truck! Very clean and that's my style too. I like ARB's front bumper as it has those rounded lines. Personally, I do not like the rear bumper as much, but it looks to provide good footing for standing on as it seems to stick out further and maybe lower than the stock bumper?

A+!

Sorry I missed your response, but thanks! I should have taken measurements of the OEM vs ARB bumpers, but didnt do that. The rear bumper appears to have the same ground clearance as stock, and is a bit longer from front to back. The silver step plate under license plate offers good footing and is textured for traction. Not sure about the ends of the bumper since they are powder coated vs textured plastic

 

[Reddout99]

Am considering upgrading my steering components in the future and noticed on your build list you had the Metalcloak tie rod & drag ink listed. Do you use their adjustable track bar as well?
Rig looks good

 

[cajun]

Am considering upgrading my steering components in the future and noticed on your build list you had the Metalcloak tie rod & drag ink listed. Do you use their adjustable track bar as well?
Rig looks good

Yes, front and rear track bars included in the GameChanger lift

 

[Reddout99]

Yes, front and rear track bars included in the GameChanger lift

Gotcha, thanks

 

[m1n0t4rr]

I dont have a good way to jack it up evenly at home, but I am happy to take pics all around if you don't mind that angle. Any particular things you looking for other than the suspension and steering components? I will wait a couple hours because its arctic cold out right now, but should be warming up

you can see a lot from that floor angle

 

[Sw00per]

@cajun How much does the smartcap impact rear view? I am consider this as an option.

Thanks

 

[cajun]

@cajun How much does the smartcap impact rear view? I am consider this as an option.

Thanks

I'll go take some pics. Rear view is fine... Can see easily through rear cap window. Definitely a limit on blindspots visibility, a couple feet out from rear quarter panels while sitting in driver's seat. Keep in mind I have the cap with metal sides, not glass, so I knew that was going to be a factor. Bottom line is rear view is solid with no material impacts, side view limited

 

[Jaxmax]

I have an RSI cap , windows all around but visibility out rear through the tinted window of rear cap and rear hardtop made it not so great, swapped tops with a guy named Chris here that had a base Sport with untinted rear window on hardtop, huge difference much more visibility at night and during day also. Drove hours to meet Chris gave him $100 and we swapped in a Wendy’s parking lot with people staring at us!…..Jack

 

[cajun]

you can see a lot from that floor angle

Here you go

you can see a lot from that floor angle

Check your DMs

 

[Zachanadandy]

Respectfully I completely disagree. 4.10 and 37" you would have to be going downhill at 70 to see 8th gear. My AEV JT470 came stock with 4.56 and 37" tires and the gear was WOEFULLY inadequate. I had to install 5.13 to finally be able to use 8th gear.

Or did I miss something? As in the truck in question has a diesel? If so my bad ;-)

It's a double overdrive, why do we think it's supposed to be in 8th gear all the time? A JL comes with 3.45s and 32s. That is nearly identical to 4.10s and 37s. 7th is still overdrive. Geared down to 5.13s you're in 8th gear at any speed over 40mph in my experience. Half the speed limit and I'm out of gears. That defeats the point of an 8 speed with 2 overdrives. It's supposed to shift into that tall gear at 70mph down hill and have you cruising around below 2k rpms. That's the design. 4.10s and 7th gear is the same rpm/ gearing as 5.13s and 8th. In my opinion I don't need lower gears, I have them as the trans downshifts. Gearing to low just eliminates the up shift you get in low load conditions. The difference in weight between the JLU and the JT is negligible. Our 2019 jlur with 38s, armor, winch, etc weighed 5380lbs with me in it. The JTM with winch, 37s, etc weighs 5420lbs with me in it. Even in stock form it is something like 4,265lbs empty for a JLUR and 4,600lbs for a JT. I'd argue the aerodynamics aren't much different and if you add a cap or tonneau cover they are the same. I will add the caveat that I live out west where speed limits start at 70 and go as high as 80. Most freeway trips get the cruise control set at 85mph. My jtm will cruise all day, regularly seeing 8th at those speeds in 37s. Of course it will downshift in a head wind or up a hill, it's supposed to. It did stock. But I'm more than happy with the gearing when I'm rolling down the 20+ mile long down hill grade between Las Vegas and baker at 2100 rpms instead of 2600 for no reason.

 

[Flyin6]

It's a double overdrive, why do we think it's supposed to be in 8th gear all the time? A JL comes with 3.45s and 32s. That is nearly identical to 4.10s and 37s. 7th is still overdrive. Geared down to 5.13s you're in 8th gear at any speed over 40mph in my experience. Half the speed limit and I'm out of gears. That defeats the point of an 8 speed with 2 overdrives. It's supposed to shift into that tall gear at 70mph down hill and have you cruising around below 2k rpms. That's the design. 4.10s and 7th gear is the same rpm/ gearing as 5.13s and 8th. In my opinion I don't need lower gears, I have them as the trans downshifts. Gearing to low just eliminates the up shift you get in low load conditions. The difference in weight between the JLU and the JT is negligible. Our 2019 jlur with 38s, armor, winch, etc weighed 5380lbs with me in it. The JTM with winch, 37s, etc weighs 5420lbs with me in it. Even in stock form it is something like 4,265lbs empty for a JLUR and 4,600lbs for a JT. I'd argue the aerodynamics aren't much different and if you add a cap or tonneau cover they are the same. I will add the caveat that I live out west where speed limits start at 70 and go as high as 80. Most freeway trips get the cruise control set at 85mph. My jtm will cruise all day, regularly seeing 8th at those speeds in 37s. Of course it will downshift in a head wind or up a hill, it's supposed to. It did stock. But I'm more than happy with the gearing when I'm rolling down the 20+ mile long down hill grade between Las Vegas and baker at 2100 rpms instead of 2600 for no reason.

Again, I disagree with any position that suggests this V6 gasser will comfortably cruise at 75 or, what did you say, 85?!

I say that because I have driven all over the US of A with mine, and it won't do any of that. Heck, it struggles with 73, particularly in the more western higher altitude states. I don't know what you folks are doing that is all that different than what I do that allows you to comfortably cruise at 85. Then there is another fella here who claims he passes at 90! (Sorry, just not buying that one).

Momma told me if I don't have anything good to say, just don't say anything. But the engineer in me begs to dig and try to figure out how the western half of the country has all these people who can cruise at these high speeds, where I seemingly cannot.

I have discovered a willingness amongst many of the contributors here to just let the darned thing rev. Let it drop into 5th or 4th and rev it to 6,000 RPM which some think is just fine. But I think that is absurd. If I can't cruise without being in what I perceive to be a normal RPM (Less than 3K) then perhaps I should slow down.

Ya know, let's just agree to disagree. You drive on at 85 all you want, and I'll just mosey along at 70. At the end of the day, we'll meet at the same cool spot, on top of one of those beautiful trails that are scattered all over this beautiful country.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Again, I disagree with any position that suggests this V6 gasser will comfortably cruise at 75 or, what did you say, 85?!

I say that because I have driven all over the US of A with mine, and it won't do any of that. Heck, it struggles with 73, particularly in the more western higher altitude states. I don't know what you folks are doing that is all that different than what I do that allows you to comfortably cruise at 85. Then there is another fella here who claims he passes at 90! (Sorry, just not buying that one).

Momma told me if I don't have anything good to say, just don't say anything. But the engineer in me begs to dig and try to figure out how the western half of the country has all these people who can cruise at these high speeds, where I seemingly cannot.

I have discovered a willingness amongst many of the contributors here to just let the darned thing rev. Let it drop into 5th or 4th and rev it to 6,000 RPM which some think is just fine. But I think that is absurd. If I can't cruise without being in what I perceive to be a normal RPM (Less than 3K) then perhaps I should slow down.

Ya know, let's just agree to disagree. You drive on at 85 all you want, and I'll just mosey along at 70. At the end of the day, we'll meet at the same cool spot, on top of one of those beautiful trails that are scattered all over this beautiful country.

Maybe this attitude of mine comes from "Babying aircraft". I never wanted to run those things hard because they would then sometimes break and leave me stranded or wondering if I would survive the next ten minutes. I learned to just go along and not try and get there any faster but to be satisfied to just get there. Ya know when you are late pushing out of the gate, and the pilot tells you he will try and make it up enroute? Want an inside secret? That is bullcrap. No one can make up any time enroute. We fly the machines at near their top speed anyway. TO go two knowt faster will blow another ton of fuel out the tailpipes and NO ONE does that. I was never that pilot. My greeting to the pax would sound more like, Well, folks, we were late pushing out of the gate, so we're gonna be just as late getting there.

70 isn't anywhere near top speed though? It's limited at 105 and gets there no problem. Is 70 easier on it? Obviously, but then 40 would be even easier. We do a ton of 500-1,000 mile road trips. Moab is 1,100 miles from my house. The delta between 70 and 85mph saves me 3hrs each direction. That's 2 extra trails I get to run that trip. Time is my most precious resource and I'll gladly push the Jeep a little higher and spend more on fuel to make it up en route.

 

[Flyin6]

70 isn't anywhere near top speed though? It's limited at 105 and gets there no problem. Is 70 easier on it? Obviously, but then 40 would be even easier. We do a ton of 500-1,000 mile road trips. Moab is 1,100 miles from my house. The delta between 70 and 85mph saves me 3hrs each direction. That's 2 extra trails I get to run that trip. Time is my most precious resource and I'll gladly push the Jeep a little higher and spend more on fuel to make it up en route.

Like I said, I'll agree to disagree. Don't care what the top speed is, it has no bearing on anything. I don't believe in pushing the motor and using most of its available power. So that's it. Drive how you choose and that's fine. I'll hog up the slow lane and be just as happy. People can be different and draw different conclusions from the same data, right?

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