Gladiator off-road/overlanding portal axle build.

[Zybane]

I'm considering getting a 2024 Rubicon X and going with portal axles, 40" tires and a Hiatus hard-side camper. I'd like to be able to do 8 rated trails with it and camp in some serious remote spots and would like to get your guys thoughts. I will be doing all the work myself and have $150K for the build. Some initial estimates:

Gladiator: $72K
74 Weld Portals: $20K
Skid plates: $2K
Second Fuel tank: $3K
Winch: $2K
Bead lock Wheels and Tires: $6K
Parking Brake: $1K
Rear tire carrier bumper: $3K
Hiatus Hard-shell popup camper: $20K
Lithium Batteries: $5K
Inverter: $1K
12v Air conditioner: $3K
AEV Overland Suspension: $3K
Steering: $2K
Solar: $1K
Air pump system: $1K
Rock rails: $2K
Window tint: $1K

With the beefier Gladiator axles and 22% gear reduction portals, you guys feel trussing would be enough to get axle reliability?

What items am I missing or would you get to make such a build more reliable?

I understand the 2025 Gladiator may come with a 4xE edition. That would make the electrical packaging better but I'd also likely lose the second fuel tank possibility of the 3.6L. Long range fuel is important to me.

Other concerns: dog on the highway, loud, top heavy, center of gravity high for off road... etc.

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[fourfa]

What’s $1k for “Parking Brake?”

FWIW I don’t think you need 40s and portals to do 8s, even with all that mass. But maybe we’re not talking about the same 8s.

Speaking of mass I’d budget for aluminum skids which will run more than 2K.

 

[Zybane]

Ya I think you are right on the aluminum, gotta always watch the weight.

Portals eliminate the stock parking brake, so need the 74Weld addon.

 

[Chief_jeep]

I really think it depends what’s you want out of your build. Personally, if I was spending 20k for portals I’d much rather do a full axle swap. You’ll get more up travel than with portals. With 150k budget I’d also do long arms and a really good shock package like the fox 3.0 ibp to handle all that weight.

8 rated trails are different everywhere but that’s usually very off-camber. That much weight up high is not ideal but it is definitely possible.

I’d start with a sport diesel that has the interior features you are looking for and go from there.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I’d love to see a portal build, but I question starting with a 24 rubicon. You’re buying a very expensive truck and striping a lot off of it. Why not a ‘21-23 lightly used as a starting point?

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

I'm considering getting a 2024 Rubicon X and going with portal axles, 40" tires and a Hiatus hard-side camper. I'd like to be able to do 8 rated trails with it and camp in some serious remote spots and would like to get your guys thoughts. I will be doing all the work myself and have $150K for the build. Some initial estimates:

Gladiator: $72K
74 Weld Portals: $20K
Skid plates: $2K
Second Fuel tank: $3K
Winch: $2K
Bead lock Wheels and Tires: $6K
Parking Brake: $1K
Rear tire carrier bumper: $3K
Hiatus Hard-shell popup camper: $20K
Lithium Batteries: $5K
Inverter: $1K
12v Air conditioner: $3K
AEV Overland Suspension: $3K
Steering: $2K
Solar: $1K
Air pump system: $1K
Rock rails: $2K
Window tint: $1K

With the beefier Gladiator axles and 22% gear reduction portals, you guys feel trussing would be enough to get axle reliability?

What items am I missing or would you get to make such a build more reliable?

I understand the 2025 Gladiator may come with a 4xE edition. That would make the electrical packaging better but I'd also likely lose the second fuel tank possibility of the 3.6L. Long range fuel is important to me.

Other concerns: dog on the highway, loud, top heavy, center of gravity high for off road... etc.

Your jeep, I wish I had pockets like this… but my opinion…. For what the portals are going to run you- I would go 60’s and proper gearing. Bump the tires to 42” and have a good time. Portals are “cool” but, 42’s and 60’s are cooler….

Add $3,500 for a psc hydro assist kit. Going to need them with that kind of a scrub radius and tire size ???

take the “air pump” system off the list, replace it with a 15# co2 bottle setup. Power tank is awesome- but go with a standard welding supply bottle…. Unless you live and wheel next to a power tank vendor, it’s way easier to just bottle swap at a welding supply shop and “most” even small towns have welding supply stores.


Artech apex truss kit is a good truss, but usually a “get me through” approach and It is only strengthening the axle housing/tubes…. Not the axle shafts.
40”+ tires, your shafts usually snap with improper front locker use (bound up) or wheel spin followed by a sudden stop/ vs versa… so, I don’t think portals are going to get you around the same robustness of a larger axle… in addition to this, you are still sticking a 40”+ tire plus increased distance (ball joint to wheel bolt on face) off the axle which is going to eat ball joints. Not sure what the backspacing is on the bead locks you are looking at? But that could add more distance/leverage to ball joints.

Triple your suspension budget…. WFO long arm kit for the front end ??? (or evo) $150k truck, don’t short change the ride quality. Budget $4-4500 for good shocks and tuning.

Unless your plan is to run trailing arms for the rear, and change the shocks to 90* to the axle, I would t recommend running a spare tire off the rear bumper. For one, I don’t think you will find a company out there that will put there name on one rated for a 40”+ tire….. and two there are several videos on YouTube and posts showing gladiators with bent frames just behind the rear shock mounting point. Leverage of that kind of weight, that far back is no good for these thin frames. I seriously hate to pass this as “advise” but at 40”+ and running beadlocks by a Milwaukee 90* impact to separate your wheel/tire and buy a badass tire patch kit, with ligit patches (big 10-12”) and good para cord to stitch any big holes you may get…. Realistically, you aren’t going to get everything like a camper and 40’s into a gladiator.

May need to look into a 2500 Cummins? Or a power wagon? Something that’s rated to realistically manage 40’s, a camper etc. and scale back from 8’s to 6’s for trail ratings. Hell, with a 2500+ tow a rock crawler behind it for fun to knock out 8+

 

[Chief_jeep]

Your jeep, I wish I had pockets like this… but my opinion…. For what the portals are going to run you- I would go 60’s and proper gearing. Bump the tires to 42” and have a good time. Portals are “cool” but, 42’s and 60’s are cooler….

Add $3,500 for a psc hydro assist kit. Going to need them with that kind of a scrub radius and tire size ???

take the “air pump” system off the list, replace it with a 15# co2 bottle setup. Power tank is awesome- but go with a standard welding supply bottle…. Unless you live and wheel next to a power tank vendor, it’s way easier to just bottle swap at a welding supply shop and “most” even small towns have welding supply stores.


Artech apex truss kit is a good truss, but usually a “get me through” approach and It is only strengthening the axle housing/tubes…. Not the axle shafts.
40”+ tires, your shafts usually snap with improper front locker use (bound up) or wheel spin followed by a sudden stop/ vs versa… so, I don’t think portals are going to get you around the same robustness of a larger axle… in addition to this, you are still sticking a 40”+ tire plus increased distance (ball joint to wheel bolt on face) off the axle which is going to eat ball joints. Not sure what the backspacing is on the bead locks you are looking at? But that could add more distance/leverage to ball joints.

Triple your suspension budget…. WFO long arm kit for the front end ??? (or evo) $150k truck, don’t short change the ride quality. Budget $4-4500 for good shocks and tuning.

Unless your plan is to run trailing arms for the rear, and change the shocks to 90* to the axle, I would t recommend running a spare tire off the rear bumper. For one, I don’t think you will find a company out there that will put there name on one rated for a 40”+ tire….. and two there are several videos on YouTube and posts showing gladiators with bent frames just behind the rear shock mounting point. Leverage of that kind of weight, that far back is no good for these thin frames. I seriously hate to pass this as “advise” but at 40”+ and running beadlocks by a Milwaukee 90* impact to separate your wheel/tire and buy a badass tire patch kit, with ligit patches (big 10-12”) and good para cord to stitch any big holes you may get…. Realistically, you aren’t going to get everything like a camper and 40’s into a gladiator.

May need to look into a 2500 Cummins? Or a power wagon? Something that’s rated to realistically manage 40’s, a camper etc. and scale back from 8’s to 6’s for trail ratings. Hell, with a 2500+ tow a rock crawler behind it for fun to knock out 8+

I agree with almost all of this. If you're going to put that much weight in your bed and have an "overland" build, I would not run a 42. Especially with the 3.6!

I've heard great things about WFO but no real experience. I'd look at the RPM 4 link rear and 3 link front. I've also been very happy with my teraflex long arms. Either way, a long arm kit will ride much better.

A 2500/3500 ram or ford would also be a great option, but you wouldn't be able to do as hard of trails. You'd have a much more comfortable and drivable setup.

Another option is to find a 'cheap' used gladiator and do a v8 swap, 60/80 axles, etc.

 

[Zybane]

Your jeep, I wish I had pockets like this… but my opinion…. For what the portals are going to run you- I would go 60’s and proper gearing. Bump the tires to 42” and have a good time. Portals are “cool” but, 42’s and 60’s are cooler….

Add $3,500 for a psc hydro assist kit. Going to need them with that kind of a scrub radius and tire size ???

take the “air pump” system off the list, replace it with a 15# co2 bottle setup. Power tank is awesome- but go with a standard welding supply bottle…. Unless you live and wheel next to a power tank vendor, it’s way easier to just bottle swap at a welding supply shop and “most” even small towns have welding supply stores.


Artech apex truss kit is a good truss, but usually a “get me through” approach and It is only strengthening the axle housing/tubes…. Not the axle shafts.
40”+ tires, your shafts usually snap with improper front locker use (bound up) or wheel spin followed by a sudden stop/ vs versa… so, I don’t think portals are going to get you around the same robustness of a larger axle… in addition to this, you are still sticking a 40”+ tire plus increased distance (ball joint to wheel bolt on face) off the axle which is going to eat ball joints. Not sure what the backspacing is on the bead locks you are looking at? But that could add more distance/leverage to ball joints.

Triple your suspension budget…. WFO long arm kit for the front end ??? (or evo) $150k truck, don’t short change the ride quality. Budget $4-4500 for good shocks and tuning.

Unless your plan is to run trailing arms for the rear, and change the shocks to 90* to the axle, I would t recommend running a spare tire off the rear bumper. For one, I don’t think you will find a company out there that will put there name on one rated for a 40”+ tire….. and two there are several videos on YouTube and posts showing gladiators with bent frames just behind the rear shock mounting point. Leverage of that kind of weight, that far back is no good for these thin frames. I seriously hate to pass this as “advise” but at 40”+ and running beadlocks by a Milwaukee 90* impact to separate your wheel/tire and buy a badass tire patch kit, with ligit patches (big 10-12”) and good para cord to stitch any big holes you may get…. Realistically, you aren’t going to get everything like a camper and 40’s into a gladiator.

May need to look into a 2500 Cummins? Or a power wagon? Something that’s rated to realistically manage 40’s, a camper etc. and scale back from 8’s to 6’s for trail ratings. Hell, with a 2500+ tow a rock crawler behind it for fun to knock out 8+

All very good thoughts guys. I am re-considering a big dollar Gladiator build for a lot of the reasons mentioned here. I just don't think the capability and comfort ratio is there.

I may just stick with my '23 Raptor with factory 37" tires if I'm going to be limited to "6" trails and build it out. The Raptor frame is beefed up. The bed is huge compared to the Gladiator. Investigating throwing on a front locker on the IFS. It exists, not sure if it's wise though from a durability perspective.

I may run the stock rear locker/front open diff for a while to see how well it does. Probably going to bump up to 38" tires, skid plates, 2" perch lift

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

I agree with almost all of this. If you're going to put that much weight in your bed and have an "overland" build, I would not run a 42. Especially with the 3.6!

I pretty much agree…. But figure since we are on a cloud might as well shoot for the moon and just figure with pockets like this a v8 is eventually in order anyways. 42’s for a little clearance make up that the portals have the advantage on. ???

 

[Chief_jeep]

I pretty much agree…. But figure since we are on a cloud might as well shoot for the moon and just figure with pockets like this a v8 is eventually in order anyways. 42’s for a little clearance make up that the portals have the advantage on. ???

I see your point. I don’t know all that much about portals but I can’t imagine stock axles on 42s with a heavy overland camper would do great long term.
Sadly, you can blow 150k on a build like this pretty quickly.

 

[Chunky White]

Find and buy one of these to sleep in, trailer and build the JTRD you currently own to do the trails. Portals are included with the Unimog. I like the idea of portals but think I would rather do an axle swap and better suspension than the AEV one

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

I see your point. I don’t know all that much about portals but I can’t imagine stock axles on 42s with a heavy overland camper would do great long term.
Sadly, you can blow 150k on a build like this pretty quickly.

Truth. I always find it entertaining when some of the deep pockets show up and go straight to the bypass….. because I Couldent possibly understand…. ?? ok bub… we have jeeps to go play, not as status. ?

 

[SeanKenmore]

I'm considering getting a 2024 Rubicon X and going with portal axles, 40" tires and a Hiatus hard-side camper. I'd like to be able to do 8 rated trails with it and camp in some serious remote spots and would like to get your guys thoughts. I will be doing all the work myself and have $150K for the build. Some initial estimates:

Gladiator: $72K
74 Weld Portals: $20K
Skid plates: $2K
Second Fuel tank: $3K
Winch: $2K
Bead lock Wheels and Tires: $6K
Parking Brake: $1K
Rear tire carrier bumper: $3K
Hiatus Hard-shell popup camper: $20K
Lithium Batteries: $5K
Inverter: $1K
12v Air conditioner: $3K
AEV Overland Suspension: $3K
Steering: $2K
Solar: $1K
Air pump system: $1K
Rock rails: $2K
Window tint: $1K

With the beefier Gladiator axles and 22% gear reduction portals, you guys feel trussing would be enough to get axle reliability?

What items am I missing or would you get to make such a build more reliable?

I understand the 2025 Gladiator may come with a 4xE edition. That would make the electrical packaging better but I'd also likely lose the second fuel tank possibility of the 3.6L. Long range fuel is important to me.

Other concerns: dog on the highway, loud, top heavy, center of gravity high for off road... etc.

You may like to check this video from rock slider engineering- they touched many topics including Portals but keeping the stock suspension, also interesting overlanding set up too

 

[DailyDrivenTJ]

Why don't you go one ton and add portals to one tons? Then you are not compromising anything.

One thing you will need is to bob the bed other wise you will be kissing the rear quite often.

So you are going the crawl this with camper on top?

 

[Flyin6]

What about a motor?

I've been doing what you're talking about for a couple of years now although not that serious of a trail. I'm on 37's, stock axles with 5.13 gears, and a Clayton 3.5" lift. So far my only complaint is that getting there is no fun. The motor has no power IMO so cruising along at 75-80 does not work for me at all. Crossing Kansas with all that wind is a nightmare, have done that twice now.
Other than that I'd question your CG. I'd suspect you're gonna get jittery on a good slope and even on some spots where you suddenly roll off a rock. Have you ever been over Engineer or Cinnamon or Corkscrew pass? The hard switchbacks with a lot of weight up high is gonna get pretty sporty.
IMO portals are not necessary ar all. Neither are the 40's. Go with someone who can winch you and give it a try on 37's while you pocket the 40K, and maybe toss that coin toward a Hemi 6.4 swap.

Any way you go, best to ya!

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