It's official, I have a Jeep "Collection"

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

As a long time rusty YJ wheeler, I finally got my hands on the Jeep I've been drooling over since it was teased as a concept 20ish years ago:

The Gladiator of course! I picked up a '21 Rubicon in Sarge green for 35K with the hardtop and soft top. Though one of the plastic corners of the soft top is broken off so I will need to do something about that.

IDK if the dealer didn't know or didn't care, but this thing I have Dubbed "Maximus" (After 'The Gladiator'...I'm a simple man...) has Quadratec side rails, Oracle lights front and back, the 10inch Stinger Heigh10 head unit and remote start. with side mounted trail cameras, and a stinger dual 8 inch sub under the rear seat (Which I was actually a bit annoyed to find when expecting to put some of my tools in that storage location lol) But is conspicuously missing an amp, though there are signs one used to be there (Stray strands of copper near the connector for the subs).

The Rubicon sticker is missing from the hood but there are no signs of a previous accident/repair and the carfax is not only clean but shows meticulous oil changes and tire rotations. It was clearly loved by the previous owner, and shall enjoy continued care here with me! Now I just need to see if I can weasel the town into giving me a replacement Beach permit this late after the cut off...

The only problem I have with it is even though I found the GPS antenna for the head unit IS installed, the built in GPS doesn't seem to function...but I use apple car play for that anyway so I may never bother to deal with that headache.

I only plan on some minor mods beyond what was already done. Chase rack, KC lights, front bumper and winch, an amp to make use of those free subs, and I was toying with the idea of a vinyl graphic of a gladiator in the style of the original Fast and Furious Liveries . I had ChatGPT take a stab at a mockup of that. It came out a little janky as most AI images do but it gets the idea across. Couldn't get it to make a chase rack that looked remotely close to how it would actually look though.

Wish me luck on the beach permit thing, Thats the only off roading we really have on the island and I don't want to wait for next season

Sponsored

 

[azmojave]

That graphic looks really cool. Do it.

 

[IamPro2A]

Just 2 Jeeps? Rookie! :P
Welcome!

 

[NC_Overland]

Congrats on the Jeep. What is a chase rack?

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Looks good!! With or without the graphic. For an amp look into the MTX line of mini amps to save some space. Lots of power in a compact package. I’d recommend opening up the sound bar and maybe the knee speakers too to see if any wizardry was performed there as well. Congrats on joining the newer version of Jeeps and the wonderful world of ROUND HEADLIGHTS.

 

[Thunderspud]

I’m in fleet territory at this point.

 

[IamPro2A]

Congrats on the Jeep. What is a chase rack?

The rack on the back to carry tools, fuel, and other gear. Called that because they are commonly used on the chase trucks in long distance off-road racing. Those are the trucks that follow or "chase" the actual race vehicles and carry spare tires, tools, etc.

 

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

The rack on the back to carry tools, fuel, and other gear. Called that because they are commonly used on the chase trucks in long distance off-road racing. Those are the trucks that follow or "chase" the actual race vehicles and carry spare tires, tools, etc.

Heh, I thought it was just called that because it gets mounted behind the cab and is always 'chasing' you. Learn something new every day.

 

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

Looks good!! With or without the graphic. For an amp look into the MTX line of mini amps to save some space. Lots of power in a compact package. I’d recommend opening up the sound bar and maybe the knee speakers too to see if any wizardry was performed there as well. Congrats on joining the newer version of Jeeps and the wonderful world of ROUND HEADLIGHTS.

Yeah the speakers in the cross member say Alpine But the rear firewall has no sign of the factory amp that would have been there if it has the Alpine audio from factory so those are definitely aftermarket. I will Check the knee speakers this afternoon. It seems odd the previous owner would remove a $300ish amp but leave an $850 set of subs. Maybe it is just hiding somewhere clever and only the wire is missing. The head unit does THINK subs are hooked up.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Yeah the speakers in the cross member say Alpine But the rear firewall has no sign of the factory amp that would have been there if it has the Alpine audio from factory so those are definitely aftermarket. I will Check the knee speakers this afternoon. It seems odd the previous owner would remove a $300ish amp but leave an $850 set of subs. Maybe it is just hiding somewhere clever and only the wire is missing. The head unit does THINK subs are hooked up.

Not completely odd. My previous owner left a couple thousand in lockers in the differentials but took the compressor. People these days.

 

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

Not completely odd. My previous owner left a couple thousand in lockers in the differentials but took the compressor. People these days.

My guess based on the strands of wire, and one of the two bolts on the sub housing being loose is that at the time of trade in, bro was swapping his stuff into the new ride (you know the ritual when you pull the trade-in next to the new car and move your ancient receipts, lost cough drops, spare change, 400 assorted napkins from different drive-thru's, and tool boxes from one car to the other) and the salesman stopped him with some line about the trade in offer being impacted because the items were considered when the offer was made, and he stopped mid transfer. I had a salesman do that to me once over trying to move my wifes chinese dashcam when I upgraded her car. I rolled my eyes and said fine keep it, amazon will bring me a new one tomorrow.

 

[IamPro2A]

Yeah the speakers in the cross member say Alpine But the rear firewall has no sign of the factory amp that would have been there if it has the Alpine audio from factory so those are definitely aftermarket. I will Check the knee speakers this afternoon. It seems odd the previous owner would remove a $300ish amp but leave an $850 set of subs. Maybe it is just hiding somewhere clever and only the wire is missing. The head unit does THINK subs are hooked up.

FYI: The amp for the factory Alpine system is up under the dash, not on the back wall. Keep in mind, these things are as closely related to the Wrangler as possible. Anything that can be shared between the two is shared. Take the rear doors, for example. There is no logical reason the door is angled at the bottom. Certainly not for aesthetics. Then look at the Wrangler and it should all makes sense.

 

[ORACLElights]

Nice find! Sounds like the previous owner already knocked out a pretty solid mod list for you. Always fun when you buy a Jeep and keep discovering little surprises afterward.

And if you decide you want to add any more lighting down the road, we're always happy to help. Don't forget forum members can use code GLADIATOR10 for 10% off. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

 

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

Nice find! Sounds like the previous owner already knocked out a pretty solid mod list for you. Always fun when you buy a Jeep and keep discovering little surprises afterward.

And if you decide you want to add any more lighting down the road, we're always happy to help. Don't forget forum members can use code GLADIATOR10 for 10% off. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Oh yeah I definitely want to add that light that goes across the bed and connects the two tail lights. Saw that in one of your videos and it looks sick.

 

[LI_Jeep_Guy]

FYI: The amp for the factory Alpine system is up under the dash, not on the back wall. Keep in mind, these things are as closely related to the Wrangler as possible. Anything that can be shared between the two is shared. Take the rear doors, for example. There is no logical reason the door is angled at the bottom. Certainly not for aesthetics. Then look at the Wrangler and it should all makes sense.

Oh good to know! I thought it would be in the back because in the Stinger docs it said the pigtail was back there. But I guess that doesn't mean the amp is back there too.

Sponsored