What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[WILDHOBO]

Ran wiring for my incoming sdi eclik shocks.
Found out that I had too many wires going through the firewall hole on the driver's side so got a bit more creative with routing. Lowered the windshield and went from there (pics below ... note: this would work nicely for those driving manuals)

Put 39" KO2s on Sunday.
Exchanged metalcloak springs for Claytons. Extended my rear wheelspeed sensor harness to match my extended brake lines.

And an old one that I never posted ... raised transmission, transfer case and diff breathers all behind the driverside cowl.

Creative routing. I like it. That firewall grommet had me swearing up a storm. Wish I’d thought of your idea. You are going to LOVE those shocks. You know this already, but for others, it’ll be a totally different vehicle. I know that sounds overblown, but it’s really not.

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[TheSolarWizard]

Final prep before the build was to pull off a bunch of parts. Even some from underneath

(before)

 

[TheSolarWizard]

Creative routing. I like it. That firewall grommet had me swearing up a storm. Wish I’d thought of your idea. You are going to LOVE those shocks. You know this already, but for others, it’ll be a totally different vehicle. I know that sounds overblown, but it’s really not.

Im excited to hear this
I’ll have some SDI tech on board very soon.
Also thats a great location for the breathers!

 

[hdinsect]

Got tired of the no decal look and decided on these:

 

[Shift Happens]

Put the doors back on
Had a good two weeks of beautiful clear skies here in NC but it's coming to and end. We needed the rain though. It was nearly 100 out the past few days.

 

[MPMB]

Tore apart my dash to handle a couple things.

1. Replace the USB cord to magsafe charger, it got pinched.
2. Clean some pieces from a coffee spill that gummed up the left passenger vent and surrounding area.
3. Improve the routing of things that need power. The failing of the JT is not offering a 12V plug in the rear seat area, imo.

Story
So I take apart the dash center section. Unplug everything so I have room to move. It's about 85*, so I roll down the windows. Wind makes keeping the doors open pointless. About 5min into the project, get a few raindrops. So I get everything ready, and work to solve the problem.

I have a 3-port 12V plug that runs the Midland radio and our dashcam. I'm thinking about hardwiring the radio so I can move it elsewhere, and move the handheld unit as well.

I don't have the AUX buttons in the lower dash, just a little pocket. My 3-port 12V plug almost fits. Hmm...

What I Did
I pop out the pocket out of the dash and I make a plastic panel out of the pointless XBull traction board mounts. Get some 3M tape and glue and presto-chango, there are now 3 12V ports in that little pocket area. Nifty. It all fits, and looks halfway decent (not perfect, but it's not a huge visible thing). I remind myself to make sure I turn the ports on before I reassemble everything. The cool thing about this 3-port plug is you can turn each one on or off as needed.

Back to The Story
As I'm running the 12V power cord in, up, down and around the dash to plug into the stock 12V port, thunder, lightning and rain move in. S**t.

I'm counting roughly 5-6 miles away. Then a little bit closer. S**t. S**t.

I get the cord routed, then drop one of my plastic body tools down the center console. Fish that out. Rain is harder. I plug in the top panel and turn the truck on to roll up the windows. The window module is unplugged. I try the rear seat switches. They don't work either. S**t.

Flash. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 - Crash. S**t S**t S**t.

Oh, btw, I'm home alone, with no neighbors, so my only hope if I get hit by lightning is the home builders 200 yards away, who are roofing a new house.

I finally get to the point where I can start plugging things in, and I get the window switches powered up and close the windows. Still muggy inside, but at least I can work without getting soaked.

I start to re-assemble everything, being careful to not bump the new panel I fabbed up. Finally get it all buttoned up. I forgot to test the plugs to make sure they're on. Only one is.

S**t S**t S**T.

Take it all apart again, turn the switches to "on" and in the process, bump the plug housing and it moves. F'n-A, Cotton. Squeeze it all back together and re-assemble the dash. The wiring is a PITA back there.

But Wait, There's More!
And in my work, I found the Wireless CarPlay adapter I bought last December that worked for 2 days before Apple released an update and killed the connection with the adapter. Spend a few minutes looking up how to update the dongle and follow some random Internet "solutions." Then I find the actual manual for the brand, and go through it.

Turns out to update the dongle, it needs to be connected to USB power other than a vehicle. So I bring it inside and get it updated.

Plugged it back in, reconnected, and VOILA, I connect wirelessly with CarPlay. But the sound only comes out of my phone. *Heavy angry sigh*. I unplug the dongle and plug it back in - hey, turning it off and on works for a lot of things. It worked for this.

So now I have working wireless CarPlay. Now I don't need to have 2 cords to my phone (remember the magsafe charger?) for now, until the dongle s**ts the bed again.

Pic of the quick & dirty:

Next project is replacing my cowl lights and adding some lights on the bed rack. Turns out I have some weak ones up there right now, and they're cheap ones and look kinda haggard. I might wipe down the replacements and bomb-can them some textured or plasti-dip black. The aluminum oxidation isn't a good look.

 

[trust]

Sounds alot like my projects did you bleed.? Were there tools not used and still in the tool box?

At keast yours worked in the end so no pickle beer for you i go through that and then it doesnt work so so i spend the next weekend or two trying to fix it....

Looks good though youll like the power ports i did that in my scrambler years ago and it gets used lot!

 

[Stan H]

You got to 96k because of good maintenance.

Original motor Transmission and complete drive train. Nothing changed or repaired . Just oils and fluids all of them every component transmission, rearends,transfer case, motor.

 

[Stan H]

Not exactly to the gladiator, but to the setup. I took three good condition 37 Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT’s that I had left over from the last set on the jeep, and put them on the trailer. 2 plus spare. It’s crazy big now. Love it. And the tires weren’t doing anyone any good next to the house. First picture shows the trailer with the old 32” Ko2’s.

Man I love that trailer

 

[WILDHOBO]

Man I love that trailer

Not as fancy as a real camper, but we really love it. Very customizable, and durable. The base price is so much less than any other option I’ve seen.

 

[AnthonyC]

Adjusted the parking brake with the star wheel, new rotors had a slightly bigger drum.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Adjusted the parking brake with the star wheel, new rotors had a slightly bigger drum.

I’m interested. Can you please provide more detail?

 

[NotSo Bright White]

Took it down to get the bed sprayed with bed liner. Thought I was getting LineX like my Rubicon. Took it to the same shop and the owner said he switched to Mil Spect due to price increases. It comes with a lifetime warranty so I threw the dice. I looks great!

I ordered TeraFlex Nomads last night. I asked the lady over the phone about the rumor that they were being discontinued. She said although they were bought out by TirePros, they were planning on continuing to sell them. That would have been nice to know prior to the mad last minute purchases of rash rings and air deflation valves I purchased as extras for my Rubicon. I am excited that the Mojave is getting a set.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

Earned a Jeep Badge of Honor at Peter's Mill Run while in VA on vacation

 

[22EcoDs]

Oil change and spot what else ?

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