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

[Mark Doiron]

That is impressive, I feel like I should have spent more time on mine now. Well done Boss!!!

Don't feel bad. My dad is a (retired) professional welder who Worked for Rohr Corporation. You probably never heard of that company, and definitely never heard of him. But, if you've ever flown on a large aircraft, you have him to thank for the aircraft stopping on the runway: At the behest of some engineers at Rohr who were trying to impress Boeing with an idea, he built over the weekend (earning union overtime wages) the first jet engine thrust reverser for a working model jet engine. The engineer's design, but his craftsmanship sold that design that would be installed on the first Boeing 707s off the production line. Anytime I go home to visit with him, he checks out the handiwork on my Jeeps, assessing the quality of the workmanship. He's 92, BTW, and a WW II vet--Seabee on Okinawa during the typhoon and the Kamakazi attacks.

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[Mark Doiron]

Mark is “JT Einstein”. Just take a look at this shot and given the directions he posted he’s earned it. Nice job!

When I'm working, my hair is every which way. LOL.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Don't feel bad. My dad is a (retired) professional welder who Worked for Rohr Corporation. You probably never heard of that company, and definitely never heard of him. But, if you've ever flown on a large aircraft, you have him to thank for the aircraft stopping on the runway: At the behest of some engineers at Rohr who were trying to impress Boeing with an idea, he built over the weekend (earning union overtime wages) the first jet engine thrust reverser for a working model jet engine. The engineer's design, but his craftsmanship sold that design that would be installed on the first Boeing 707s off the production line. Anytime I go home to visit with him, he checks out the handiwork on my Jeeps, assessing the quality of the workmanship. He's 92, BTW, and a WW II vet--Seabee on Okinawa during the typhoon and the Kamakazi attacks.

That's an impressive resume, I'm sure your honored to call him dad.

 

[Mark Doiron]

Continuing what I did yesterday to the JT, here is the finish of the KC LZR lights install ...

Decide to begin by drilling the bumper. Started with a very small bit, then worked up through several to get to the size slightly larger than 3/8". That turned out to not be quite enough for the 3/8" bolt, so had to file a tiny amount. I did not photograph the most difficult part, which was getting the prick punch onto the exact spot I needed for each hole. It sounds easy, but it wasn't for me. Never is. This is one of those "measure twice, drill once" items. And, unlike with a wood project, making, a mistake could prove really ugly or really expensive. I measured at least four or five times, and had to slightly adjust the strike points for the punch. Finally decided where I needed to drill. I unwound the winch cable as much as possible and laid it to best protect it from metal shavings. I also placed a piece of cardboard to catch (some) of the metal shavings before they fell into the bumper. My concern was, of course, metal shaving getting into the synthetic line and later injuring someone handling the rope. Normally I'd use some tap oil while drilling into steel, but I also didn't want to risk that contaminating the rope. Didn't matter: It's not like this is a Shrockworks bumper that I have aon my JK.

Cleaned up the metal shavings with a vacuum ...

Touched up the holes with some paint to prevent rust ...

The light arrangement came out looking pretty good. The outer lights are in existing holes, the inners are in the holes I drilled. Notice that I removed the winch hoop, which I knew was necessary in advance ...

Tightened up the light assemblies. Not much room to work. Took a stubby flexible wrench to get access ...

Connected up the LED pigtails to the wiring harness I had installed yesterday, then dressed it up to make a neater appearance and provide protection from wear and weather. BTW, that tool I'm using is designed to clip the tail on zip-ties flush. If you use regular diagonal wire cutters, the stub can injure someone. These are from Japan (Tsunoda brand) and super nice, but you can pick up a cheap pair that will do the same job from your local big box store for about $5-10. Highly recommend ...

Next was trimming the wires in the engine bay and connecting up to the aux switch leads. I used crimp connectors vice soldering--an old argument among avionics and car folks. On aircraft, you generally don't want soldered connections for wiring because you turn a multi-strand wire into a single strand wire that is easily broken by vibration over time. But soldered connections offer a more corrosion resistant and stronger connection. Crimps are easy to do, soldering takes a bit more effort. Anyway, I use a mix of both on my Jeeps, depending on where I'm working. The bifurcation cable run yesterday was soldered because there's no practical crimp for such a connection, and a bus bar would be bulky to mount into the bumper area. Today I opted for a two crimp connections, one to the aux lead, the other to the ground screw connection ...

The crimp connectors I used shrink and seal when heat is applied ...

Then I applied more shrink and seal heat shrink over the joints for additional weather and wear protection. And it does a nice job of making things look neat, hiding all sins, as it were ...

With connections made and settings programmed for the aux switch, I have lights!

And for those curious about the final trail camera view ...

Very please with the way this came out.

 

[Kch]

Very nice job Mark. You have a very nice organized workshop. I have been building show cars from the ground up for more years than I care to count. This makes me very leery of anyone working on my vehicles. I'd let you work on mine anytime.

 

[JonRJackson]

Dropped it off at the shop for a few upgrades. Few sneak peek photos.

 

[RU_NOT_IN_2_TRAILS]

Starting the build.

First things first, I turned into the anti seize Tin-Man putting the Nittos on the Mopar Bead Locks.

 

[LostWoods]

Phone cam took a terrible shot but added the Wilco spare tire mount I bought at a pretty substantial discount... not sure how I feel about it yet but glad to have the spare out from under. Now I just need another Rubi wheel to replace the stock spare.

 

[Mark Doiron]

Phone cam took a terrible shot but added the Wilco spare tire mount I bought at a pretty substantial discount... not sure how I feel about it yet but glad to have the spare out from under. Now I just need another Rubi wheel to replace the stock spare.

That water jug has a screw on cap like the 7-gallon models! That's my one complaint about those smaller jugs, which I do use anyway: Mine have a push in plug that's easily broken and lost. Did you buy that recently?

 

[LostWoods]

That water jug has a screw on cap like the 7-gallon models! That's my one complaint about those smaller jugs, which I do use anyway: Mine have a push in plug that's easily broken and lost. Did you buy that recently?

Bought it a while ago... it's this guy here from Reliant. Been using it a couple years alongside their heavy-duty jerry-shaped water jug for extra water and they've both been outstanding.

https://smile.amazon.com/Reliance-Products-Aqua-Tainer-Gallon-Container/dp/B000KA2LMU/ref=sr_1_34?crid=1CUJ2IIOTJ3N9&dchild=1&keywords=reliant+water+jug&qid=1591356659&sprefix=reliant+water+,aps,133&sr=8-34

I sincerely hope they didn't change it because it's a great design with the built-in spigot.

 

[RubiCrusHehr]

Where did you get that, do you have a link. Also can you show where you passed de power wire through firewall.

Finally got the interior juiced... was waiting on a good set of battery terminal crimpers. Blue Sea's 4-gang fuse block tucks up nicely to the side of the glovebox attached to the speaker pod with a millimeter to spare. Wires have a bit more room.

4 AWG from the battery through the nipple above the main wire loom on passenger side (very tight fit and lots of lube required because marine power cable is fat) but it gives me 80A of always-hot fused power without running additional leads inside.

Finally got the interior juiced... was waiting on a good set of battery terminal crimpers. Blue Sea's 4-gang fuse block tucks up nicely to the side of the glovebox attached to the speaker pod with a millimeter to spare. Wires have a bit more room.

4 AWG from the battery through the nipple above the main wire loom on passenger side (very tight fit and lots of lube required because marine power cable is fat) but it gives me 80A of always-hot fused power without running additional leads inside.

 

[SwampNut]

Those Blue Sea fuse blocks are available over the counter at West Marine stores if you have any around, or on Amazon. Just search for that term and you'll find options. I would strongly recommend that you stick with 8 gauge unless you actually need more. That's still a lot of power, and far easier to deal with. When I ran a wire from the inside to the outside on the passenger side, I just made a hole through the grommet under the glovebox, using a coat hanger. Then I attached the wires to that and pulled it back through. That was only 12 gauge so much easier than 4.

 

[LostWoods]

Where did you get that, do you have a link. Also can you show where you passed de power wire through firewall.

Blue Sea ST 4-fuse block

Then it's FTZ battery terminals and Ancor 4awg wire with a Blue Sea MIDI fuse block under hood on top of the battery until I get that whole power distribution center wired up (waiting on crimpers...) and mounted. I have the Metra speaker pods to fit 6.5" speakers but I checked this on the stock pods and it works as well. You'll have to drill pilot holes and use plastic self-threading screws to mount it. I was able to mount it to the pod before installing it so mine is nut and washer on the back side.

I pulled the batteries and ran it through the nipple above the firewall grommet. You might be able to do this through the fender without all that work if you have smaller hands and are only running thinner wire (standard 6awg is probably doable). I greased the shit out of it with dielectric but with 4AWG, I pulled the entire grommet out of its bracket once the grease ran dry a few feet in. Hit the entire length of it and clean it up after if you do it.

This was my original attempt with 6awg before I decided to upgrade it to 4AWG:

You just clip the tip off of that nipple and it's a piece of cake to fish the wire. A bit of anti-abrasion tape holds it all in place and you can route it up into the fender well on top of the fender mounting brackets.

 

[MeanMachine]

Installed my Air Lift 1000 setup, very well made kit.

I plan on installing mine tomorrow - any helpful tips / tricks?

 

[LostWoods]

Those Blue Sea fuse blocks are available over the counter at West Marine stores if you have any around, or on Amazon. Just search for that term and you'll find options. I would strongly recommend that you stick with 8 gauge unless you actually need more. That's still a lot of power, and far easier to deal with. When I ran a wire from the inside to the outside on the passenger side, I just made a hole through the grommet under the glovebox, using a coat hanger. Then I attached the wires to that and pulled it back through. That was only 12 gauge so much easier than 4.

I had 4 and 6 AWG on hand, didn't want to buy a spool of 8AWG for one project, and figured anything worth doing is worth overdoing. The fuse block can do 100A max and I have a sub-1% drop at the main power terminal this way. 8AWG will definitely fit the need here just with a 3% drop.

Though I will say, if you do 8AWG as primary wire, I'd strongly recommend battery style lugs or beefy ring terminals to get a solid connection. You can get crimp and seal style ring terminals but I don't like using those for primary power leads.

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