Im New here. No but really. 2025' Rubicon

[Dano3190]

Reddit led me here. Sorry for the long post.

We are on vacation this summer and while in Destin noticed a family with 2 teenage boys pull up to the beach where our temporary beach house is, in a quite extraordinary Jeep Mojave pulling an overland trailer. Talking to the dad, they take trips 5-10 days at a time twice a year with the kids and weekend camping once a month alternating between just him and the wife and with the boys.

Been pretty busy last few years and got to the best financial stability I could ever imagine. Set it up to where I can run it from anywhere with zero debt. Set some to the side as a fall back, got income coming in from different sources, and with a lot of hard work and little luck I'm ready to step back a bit. Sucks I didn't realize this sooner but its time to take the load off my wife and be a more present husband and dad.

Well talked to the wife, she liked the idea about possibly owning a jeep, and I jumped off the deep end. I purchased a new 2025 Gladiator RubiconX

I've never been camping in my life. I've never owned a jeep. I've never off-roaded/crawled. I've never been on a mountain or such unless it’s snowboarding/skiing or overseeing the grand canyon. Hell I’ve never even driven more than 12 hours at a time.

Mr. Dale if you are on here. I know you didn’t offer any convincing words or persuade me into anything but I saw something you had that I wish I had with my family and that was a bond that I lost somewhere.

So here I am guys, need all the help I can get. I have this thing delivered and waiting for me back home with a email full of order confirmations on things that I have purchased and planning on taking her out soon when I get everything installed. Don't know where. Don't know how. Don't know with who but the kids, momma and possibly the Hec-Thor our mini aussie will be riding.

And after finding this forum, reading, and reading, and reading some more, and using the search tool. A lot -give or take 60% of the things I bought are going back

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[JAVIERGONZO]

"Mr. Dale if you are on here. I know you didn’t offer any convincing words or persuade me into anything but I saw something you had that I wish I had with my family and that was a bond that I lost somewhere."


Wow. What a vulnerable and powerful thing to say.

The best wishes to you and your family.

Ill be happy to offer any help needed.

 

[MSFTMatt]

I LOVE that color, probably my favorite, even more then my Sarge Green

 

[Dano3190]

"Mr. Dale if you are on here. I know you didn’t offer any convincing words or persuade me into anything but I saw something you had that I wish I had with my family and that was a bond that I lost somewhere."


Wow. What a vulnerable and powerful thing to say.

The best wishes to you and your family.

Ill be happy to offer any help needed.

Thank you ! Its so much information and Im not too sure what I want to do with the Gladiator just yet honestly. Thanks for the wishes also, its been a difficult transition to say the least , as a man you always want to keep providing more and more. Fortunately I realized before it was too late that the more I "provided" the more we grew apart. kids are 9 &4 so there's time. I hope.

 

[Dano3190]

I LOVE that color, probably my favorite, even more then my Sarge Green

I loved it in a youtube video I saw. The order form doesn't do it justice. I was stuck between this and the 41 drab olive color. Although through my short research in colors I do wish they still made the Gator green.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

Welcome! What a great post. Wishing you all the best as you build out your rig! I'm a big knife collector, and there's a saying in our community about shows and get-togethers: Come for the knives, stay for the people. It’s the same kind of vibe in the Jeep world—lots of awesome people willing to help, and plenty of friends and adventures along the way. Godspeed on wherever this journey takes you and your family.

 

[DanJT]

Thank you ! Its so much information and Im not too sure what I want to do with the Gladiator just yet honestly. Thanks for the wishes also, its been a difficult transition to say the least , as a man you always want to keep providing more and more. Fortunately I realized before it was too late that the more I "provided" the more we grew apart. kids are 9 &4 so there's time. I hope.

9&4? that's the perfect age to start Jeep projects with them.

 

[new to gladiator]

I was in a similar situation 10 years ago, bought my first wrangler and never looked back, I just regretted no getting into jeeps earlier in my life.
My suggestion is take it easy, see what your family enjoys the most. For us, it was instant awesomeness when I drove the brand new wrangler home without the hard top (I was lucky to be able to store it at work). At the time my kids were 13 and 10, they instantly got hooked. Over the years we did some pretty awesome camping trips out west with the family. 10 years later, my son now 23 is more into higher end vehicles (Land rover Defender) but my 20 year daughter still LOVES the '10 JK Islander we gave her when she turned 16. She is hooked, she says she is never selling it, just like I think I'm all set with my Wrangler and gladiator and I'm only 51, LOL. Oh yeah, awesome phantom blue! My neighbour has that color and it's amazing, my second favorite color after green!

 

[JAVIERGONZO]

Thank you ! Its so much information and Im not too sure what I want to do with the Gladiator just yet honestly. Thanks for the wishes also, its been a difficult transition to say the least , as a man you always want to keep providing more and more. Fortunately I realized before it was too late that the more I "provided" the more we grew apart. kids are 9 &4 so there's time. I hope.

Following what was already said, get a feel of what kind of offroading you guus would as a family. Rocks, mud, fire roads, etc. Then go from there.

 

[iceman47]

Nice ride !!! I have the exact same vehicle and also love it. Got it ceramic coated with expel and the shine is amazing. Cleans up with just a water hose. Best of luck with your new vehicle.

 

[Pat Witt]

Very well written post mine are all grandkids now and they love the jeep life the first thing they want to do when we pick them up is strip the truck and vacations have never been this fun whether it's camping, offloading or or just trails for the day they love it. Best of luck and don't worry those kids will love anything you do TOGETHER

 

[RacerAV]

Dude, welcome to a better life! lol...

Glad you found the forums, and glad. you found Mr. Dale!

Don't modify your Jeep for a while, maybe a few small touches lights or some small stuff. But with all the options, definitely take your time. It'll help you understand what you really need/want AND more importantly, it'll help you know HOW your modifications helped or hurt your Jeep. Going overboard means you won't know what that new noise is or where it came from lol... Frustrating.

Enjoy man, glad. you and the family are now Jeepers! It's a great life. You won't regret it.

 

[chaosjake]

That color looks SHARP!

I'll echo what others have said... Don't jump into major mods too fast. Take the family out cruising some back roads, go on some fire roads and easy trails, and get a feel for the truck. That will show you what you do or don't want to change. If you can find a wheeling buddy who has a bit more experience than you, but is still patient and won't push you into anything more advanced than you're comfortable with, even better. These trucks are incredibly capable, but it helps to have someone to spot you and offer advice.

Start saving some more $$... you only have about seven years until your oldest is going to want a Jeep of their own. Most important of all, post pics from your adventures in this thread!

 

[imallcrawl]

... Don't jump into major mods too fast....

Great advice!

 

[Dano3190]

I was in a similar situation 10 years ago, bought my first wrangler and never looked back, I just regretted no getting into jeeps earlier in my life.
My suggestion is take it easy, see what your family enjoys the most. For us, it was instant awesomeness when I drove the brand new wrangler home without the hard top (I was lucky to be able to store it at work). At the time my kids were 13 and 10, they instantly got hooked. Over the years we did some pretty awesome camping trips out west with the family. 10 years later, my son now 23 is more into higher end vehicles (Land rover Defender) but my 20 year daughter still LOVES the '10 JK Islander we gave her when she turned 16. She is hooked, she says she is never selling it, just like I think I'm all set with my Wrangler and gladiator and I'm only 51, LOL. Oh yeah, awesome phantom blue! My neighbour has that color and it's amazing, my second favorite color after green!

great looking rides! I think as of now everything is so new to us that we are all over the place. I know for sure we are going to try some light camping. We are really going to try and just camp not utilizing the Jeep first if that makes sense. but not "glamping" either. Basically somewhere where we can rough it over night. For now. My daughter [4] is completely in love with the jeep and cant wait to get home. Time will tell.

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