Will physics get in the way of fun?

[bangolia]

Hey @ralphjjr to me it looks like there’s a couple of issues here. First one is how do you lift your roof over a bed mounted rack. Would be a tad difficult to lift it up and over the rack with 2 strong and tall people. And I got a really simple solution to offer up here. Why don’t you just lower the front windshield and go forward with the roof instead of going back, up and over any tall racks you might have?

And regarding the Mopar hard folding tonneau cover I bought one from a dealership just yesterday. They happened to have one in stock. And now that I have that cover I also have the installation instructions. I have read them and looked at this cover in great detail. And I can tell you that this cover will do a great job of completely covering the entire bed. I frankly don’t know how you could then also attach a rack of some sort on to a Gladiator on top of this cover. But hey I am not an engineer. Maybe there is a way to do that. And sorry but I can’t post pictures of this cover on my Gladiator as I have not yet ordered one. Still waiting to see a Gobi and a Sting Grey Gladiator before I decide which color I will order. Just offering up my opinions and comments here about what you are wanting to do.

Jake! I thought you said you were out of the gladiator game when pricing came out?!? That you would just be here lurking and adding commentary to help others out. Welcome back brother glad to have you back!

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[Jake]

Yes @bangolia yes I changed my mind, have decided to buy. After driving a manual Gladiator last weekend my mind got changed back.

And as you have seen on this forum some members gather tires and wheels while their truck is on order so they can slap them on as soon as they get their truck. For me I already have my hard tonneau. Plan to shop for a set of step bars, plan to get a Bestop Sunrider and I would love to get a set of rear bumper side steps if I could find them. Would also love to buy a box that goes under the back seat in case anyone does not want theirs.

 

[5JeepsAz]

Great thread. Agree and am informed by all above. So...

I'm not worried about top removal personally. On my wrangler I was motivated to build a drive under shed after trying to remove it myself. It was drive under, clip up, drive out. Easy. So I know I will solve that problem after two times trying to wrestle with thectop.

Tonneau. So the hard cover serves lots of my purposes, even sleeping on it. So I have to find a tonneau that is an actual cap with structural integrity. Which forces the question why place it on the side walls at all. why not lift it up and make a canopy topper which means find a good camper shell. Which for me means side window access and shelves, leaving a flat top above and the bed with cow carpet at bottom.

So I end up with:

Edit: yeah I know the OP questions about how all this works are unanswered. So I sit there for hours working out a sequence. That frontcremoval technique mentioned above is a good thought . Having a vaulted ceiling works to winch the top up high works to get over the shell. And... Retractable features work.

On second thought delete my post. That shit is a fiasco. More noodling to do. BBL

 

[AlwaysRecord]

I won't be using a topper.
I've been waiting for one of these:

even then, the top rack will probably be left off 99.999%.

Like @JT614 said, turbulence should be minimal for bed items unless the windshield is down, and I won't be doing that.

@JP1 That looks like a sick setup - Did you happen to contact them? When will it be available??

 

[JP1]

@JP1 That looks like a sick setup - Did you happen to contact them? When will it be available??

Ya, I was told 30 days, about 25 days ago.
I'll follow up this week.

 

[steffen707]

I won't be using a topper.
I've been waiting for one of these:

even then, the top rack will probably be left off 99.999%.

Like @JT614 said, turbulence should be minimal for bed items unless the windshield is down, and I won't be doing that.

NEAT!

 

[steffen707]

I have a Tonneau also, both of us will probably have to do something along this line:



I can't believe people were able to survive before the Redneck Engineers figured out YouTube...

that's why i want a pace edwards retractable tonneau. Well one reason why.

 

[AlwaysRecord]

Ya, I was told 30 days, about 25 days ago.
I'll follow up this week.

@JP1 any luck contacting the guys at Blackhorse? I sent 2 emails, no reply.

 

[JP1]

@JP1 any luck contacting the guys at Blackhorse? I sent 2 emails, no reply.

funny you ask, I was just digging into this yesterday.
So I 'bought' mine thru an ebay dealer during one of their 5 or 8% sales on June 28.
The same day I 'bought' it, they called me, said they screwed up, and weren't supposed to post it yet as the info was just sent to them for ad mock-up. I could either cancel and get a refund or they'd give me another 10% off if I waited. I figured I'd wait as no one had them yet and I might as well get another 10% back.
A couple of days later they showed 'shipped' with a USPS first-class tracking number, package arrived, but just a thank you card. (I figure so they could show as 'delivered')
I emailed them, no response; I emailed Blackhorse, no response; I tried calling them yesterday, no response. I opened a ticket with ebay, they archived my communications for the record and emailed the dealer. Low and behold, they then reply.
State they are waiting to be unloaded from the manufacturer container, so as long as I have ebay involved and a email track record of all this, I wait.

 

[AlwaysRecord]

funny you ask, I was just digging into this yesterday.
So I 'bought' mine thru an ebay dealer during one of their 5 or 8% sales on June 28.
The same day I 'bought' it, they called me, said they screwed up, and weren't supposed to post it yet as the info was just sent to them for ad mock-up. I could either cancel and get a refund or they'd give me another 10% off if I waited. I figured I'd wait as no one had them yet and I might as well get another 10% back.
A couple of days later they showed 'shipped' with a USPS first-class tracking number, package arrived, but just a thank you card. (I figure so they could show as 'delivered')
I emailed them, no response; I emailed Blackhorse, no response; I tried calling them yesterday, no response. I opened a ticket with ebay, they archived my communications for the record and emailed the dealer. Low and behold, they then reply.
State they are waiting to be unloaded from the manufacturer container, so as long as I have ebay involved and a email track record of all this, I wait.

Geeezus. Thats some shit. The Blackhorse website says they are located in NY - you think the are just rep for some overseas manufacture? I like the concept. PM me if you finally get one.

 

[Murgatroid]

Being a first time Jeep owner. Coming from a convertible that was one touch up and down. After going to the trouble of removing the hard top, I can say that most to the time I will be taking out the front panels often, but the back top will only get off a couple of times a year when we have river/beach weekends. Too much trouble for two old men to take off, have lots of young help at river/beach. With the front off, I feel just as open as with the rest off because I don't notice it, now if I had people riding in back all the time, it would be different.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Being a first time Jeep owner. Coming from a convertible that was one touch up and down. After going to the trouble of removing the hard top, I can say that most to the time I will be taking out the front panels often, but the back top will only get off a couple of times a year when we have river/beach weekends. Too much trouble for two old men to take off, have lots of young help at river/beach. With the front off, I feel just as open as with the rest off because I don't notice it, now if I had people riding in back all the time, it would be different.

You’ll probably like the Bestop SunRider on your Gladiator. It’s a replacement for the Freedom tops that makes it super easy to open and close and allows you to leave the freedom panels at home. It’s a little pricy but I use mine all the time..

As for pulling the main top off, if you have a garage or carport, I’ve found that just about any pulley system will get the job done easily. I modded a Racor lift to pull the top off my JLU. it’ll make short work of any JT top. I wrote about it on the JL forums:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-hardtop-hoist-ideas-brainstorming.5659/page-11

 

[Murgatroid]

You’ll probably like the Bestop SunRider on your Gladiator. It’s a replacement for the Freedom tops that makes it super easy to open and close and allows you to leave the freedom panels at home. It’s a little pricy but I use mine all the time..

As for pulling the main top off, if you have a garage or carport, I’ve found that just about any pulley system will get the job done easily. I modded a Racor lift to pull the top off my JLU. it’ll make short work of any JT top. I wrote about it on the JL forums:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-hardtop-hoist-ideas-brainstorming.5659/page-11

Looks interesting, bit pricey but what isn't for a Jeep. Noise?

 

[chrcal14]

Any rack is going to mess with aerodynamics. The biggest issue I see is the soft bulky rooftop tents. The thing is a brick. Unless you use something hard shelled like on the wayout concept that at least has some aerodynamics to it. This is an area that I am addressing with my new design.
As far as bed rack is concerned I think most manufactures over complicate it. Look at the ford ranger I think they hit the mark with it. It works with the cover. but most of all it has 2 separate uprights that can slide independently in a track system. What a concept. If this was incorporated into a Gladiator it would do everything you guys are asking the front pillar could be slid back so the top could be removed. everything about it is clean and simple. It even has a height adjustment. To many aftermarket companies are to fast to throw out products without thinking things through. Even deckbox bothers me. Sure it looks cool but It wastes to much space. In my opinion there are better options. I always think in scaleability. With deckbox I can't reconfigure it for different uses. Just my 2 cents.

Does Ford sell those as branded accessories?

It's a Yakima Overhaul HD with their tonneau kit and a Retrax Pro XR cover.

https://www.yakima.com/overhaul-hd

https://www.yakima.com/tonneau-kit-1

https://retrax.com/retraxpro-xr

Cool part is it's plain as far as I can see, no big brand label up the side. Worth remembering when I get around to it... and if Retrax gets around to making a cover for the Gladiator.

 

[Tortooga Custom Works]

Does Ford sell those as branded accessories?

It's a Yakima Overhaul HD with their tonneau kit and a Retrax Pro XR cover.

https://www.yakima.com/overhaul-hd

https://www.yakima.com/tonneau-kit-1

https://retrax.com/retraxpro-xr

Cool part is it's plain as far as I can see, no big brand label up the side. Worth remembering when I get around to it... and if Retrax gets around to making a cover for the Gladiator.

Retrax has stated they will not be making a cover for the gladiator.

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