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

[Deleted member 30519]

Tire rotation is one - I know, I know - I have three floor jacks, at least 6 heavy jack stands, a heated/AC'd shop................. but hey, I load up my winter tires and drive over there and I get a vehicle to drive while I run errands, or my wife picks me up and we go shopping and run errands, and I go get it when it's done. Or I wait. With my back, they do it FREE while I make money in my shop.
I can make more money in half a day while they do the work than it costs me to get it there and back. Once that's over, I'll do it.
Also last time I picked it up, it had been thoroughly washed outside and in. It was almost as clean as when I first picked it up! The wash was worth the drive LOL

I want to start doing my own oil changes. I have the jeep wave program but every time I take it to the dealer it turns into a headache. I always forget to say something and they always inflate my 35" tires to like 46psi when I run them at 32psi then I gotta deflate them. Another trip with my JL I asked them for new inspection sticker because the other dealer I bought it at botched the sticker location so I pick it up and they cut up my trim and visor with an exacto knife. It's always something with any dealership idc where you go.

Sponsored

 

[DHP]

I want to start doing my own oil changes. I


I want to start doing my own oil changes. I have the jeep wave program but every time I take it to the dealer it turns into a headache. I always forget to say something and they always inflate my 35" tires to like 46psi when I run them at 32psi then I gotta deflate them. Another trip with my JL I asked them for new inspection sticker because the other dealer I bought it at botched the sticker location so I pick it up and they cut up my trim and visor with an exacto knife. It's always something with any dealership idc where you go.

I agree on your concerns. Especially after my experience with my dealer and my leaking rear window. Even the quick oil change place down the street didn’t know how much oil to put in it. I can get the Pennzoil for around $16 on subscribe and save from Amazon and I found the fliters for around $9. So easy to change it too that I’d rather not deal with the hassle of the dealership. If the oil filter was in a different place I may change my tune lol

I bought my tires from Discount Tire and it’s like 5 minutes from me. I do take it to them for tire rotations since I’m doing the 5 tire rotation

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I agree on your concerns. Especially after my experience with my dealer and my leaking rear window. Even the quick oil change place down the street didn’t know how much oil to put in it. I can get the Pennzoil for around $16 on subscribe and save from Amazon and I found the fliters for around $9. So easy to change it too that I’d rather not deal with the hassle of the dealership. If the oil filter was in a different place I may change my tune lol

I bought my tires from Discount Tire and it’s like 5 minutes from me. I do take it to them for tire rotations since I’m doing the 5 tire rotation

No Discount Tires for me..... nor some of the other money-saving places. I had my SX4 to several shops - Discount Tire one of them because I had bought tires from them for the car. I told them - there's a vibration, I described it in detail, told them what to look for - and asked them to check all wheels and tires for runout and out of round, etc. They kept saying everything was perfectly true and fine. Multiple tire shops, including an Axle and driveline specialty shop - all fine, NO runout, no out of round.
I had checked several times myself - all were in spec, but one barely. So I used some tricks to experiment and had things narrowed down to a wheel - a couple of washers in certain spots the vibration changed and improved slightly.
I finally just drove it that way - until I decided to have my wheels refinished by the only shop with CNC in the state. I had them machine down new center caps for me at the same time, using pieces I had cast for me. I took an extra wheel just in case, and to have as a spare.
When I went to pick the car up I just commented about the spare wheel - and they said "we had to use it, you had a wheel that was really badly out of round, like it had been dropped into a hole really hard. (they were literally able to squeeze it back to round! but didn't put it back on the car)
Funny, why didn't any other shop say anything about that?
Vibration gone, as are the nasty Discount Tires tires - those didn't last long at all and were like driving on snot or puppy poop if the pavement was wet.
The oil I use in my classics is over $40 a gallon....... and I'll likely use that when the wave program is up for me. That or what I used in my other cars for years before switching.

 

[DHP]

No Discount Tires for me..... nor some of the other money-saving places. I had my SX4 to several shops - Discount Tire one of them because I had bought tires from them for the car. I told them - there's a vibration, I described it in detail, told them what to look for - and asked them to check all wheels and tires for runout and out of round, etc. They kept saying everything was perfectly true and fine. Multiple tire shops, including an Axle and driveline specialty shop - all fine, NO runout, no out of round.
I had checked several times myself - all were in spec, but one barely. So I used some tricks to experiment and had things narrowed down to a wheel - a couple of washers in certain spots the vibration changed and improved slightly.
I finally just drove it that way - until I decided to have my wheels refinished by the only shop with CNC in the state. I had them machine down new center caps for me at the same time, using pieces I had cast for me. I took an extra wheel just in case, and to have as a spare.
When I went to pick the car up I just commented about the spare wheel - and they said "we had to use it, you had a wheel that was really badly out of round, like it had been dropped into a hole really hard. (they were literally able to squeeze it back to round! but didn't put it back on the car)
Funny, why didn't any other shop say anything about that?
Vibration gone, as are the nasty Discount Tires tires - those didn't last long at all and were like driving on snot or puppy poop if the pavement was wet.
The oil I use in my classics is over $40 a gallon....... and I'll likely use that when the wave program is up for me. That or what I used in my other cars for years before switching.

Sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences! So far the K02s they installed for me have done well.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences! So far the K02s they installed for me have done well.

Yeah, I have.
I'm extremely picky, OCD, whatever.

Big O is another place I don't trust to do anything beyond the very basic to get by............
HillTop tire in Des Moines is good.
Got great wheels and tires for my Javelin from them and I can hit 90 with no vibrations at all.
But I cringe when I see some of what goes on in some shops.

I know - every franchise is only as good as the local employees (or management)

 

[DHP]

Yeah, I have.
I'm extremely picky, OCD, whatever.

Big O is another place I don't trust to do anything beyond the very basic to get by............
HillTop tire in Des Moines is good.
Got great wheels and tires for my Javelin from them and I can hit 90 with no vibrations at all.
But I cringe when I see some of what goes on in some shops.

I know - every franchise is only as good as the local employees (or management)

Definitely agree on each franchise being different. I was planning on going to a 4wheel parts or something like that but DT near me was more knowledgeable and responsive than they were. Was in and out with 5 tires mounted on my new rims that I brought in still in the box in 24 minutes. They even boxed the old rims up for me. Of course this could change the next time I go. LOL

I did find a local 4x4 shop to do some other work and they were fantastic. Sucks that its so difficult to find quality work a lot of the time

 

[khokhonutt]

Definitely agree on each franchise being different. I was planning on going to a 4wheel parts or something like that but DT near me was more knowledgeable and responsive than they were. Was in and out with 5 tires mounted on my new rims that I brought in still in the box in 24 minutes. They even boxed the old rims up for me. Of course this could change the next time I go. LOL

I did find a local 4x4 shop to do some other work and they were fantastic. Sucks that its so difficult to find quality work a lot of the time

Yeah, agree on the local management making a huge difference. It's the same for Home Depot, Lowe's, pretty much everything. A crap local manager can make or break a location.

For me, Discount Tire is the only place I trust in our area. I've watched them dismount a tire and re-mount it, to get it balance correctly. Other tire shops in the area just say, "those mud tired just don't balance right". That's not to say that everyone working there is great. On one of my last trips they had two kids who looked like 2 monkeys trying to make love to a football, when they were mounting and balancing my tires. I called it out to the manager and he took care of it right away.

 

[Mopar King]

No Discount Tires for me..... nor some of the other money-saving places. I had my SX4 to several shops - Discount Tire one of them because I had bought tires from them for the car. I told them - there's a vibration, I described it in detail, told them what to look for - and asked them to check all wheels and tires for runout and out of round, etc. They kept saying everything was perfectly true and fine. Multiple tire shops, including an Axle and driveline specialty shop - all fine, NO runout, no out of round.
I had checked several times myself - all were in spec, but one barely. So I used some tricks to experiment and had things narrowed down to a wheel - a couple of washers in certain spots the vibration changed and improved slightly.
I finally just drove it that way - until I decided to have my wheels refinished by the only shop with CNC in the state. I had them machine down new center caps for me at the same time, using pieces I had cast for me. I took an extra wheel just in case, and to have as a spare.
When I went to pick the car up I just commented about the spare wheel - and they said "we had to use it, you had a wheel that was really badly out of round, like it had been dropped into a hole really hard. (they were literally able to squeeze it back to round! but didn't put it back on the car)
Funny, why didn't any other shop say anything about that?
Vibration gone, as are the nasty Discount Tires tires - those didn't last long at all and were like driving on snot or puppy poop if the pavement was wet.
The oil I use in my classics is over $40 a gallon....... and I'll likely use that when the wave program is up for me. That or what I used in my other cars for years before switching.

Man, I love Discount Tire. I have bought my last 5 or 6 sets of wheels and tires from them. I shop for what I want online - print off the best prices....bring it to them and let them beat it with free lifetime rotation and balance. If I EVER have a vibration.....even if it was just balanced out....I bring it back in. I have nothing but good things to say for them here. But .... all the same I had a horrible experience at Tires Plus working on my LJ suspension and wouldn't go there to save my life....so I get it!

 

[punk'n]

Today, I did the second mod for my Gladiator (only have 174 miles on it- first mod was fire extinguisher mount).

I added Rubbermaid storage containers in the rear in front of the built in storage box. I then made a quick "package platform" so that its more of a flat floor for when I want to throw crap in the back.

Its a simple piece of plywood I had that I covered with leftover automotive carpet. Unfortunately, its not as big of mod as the rest of you guys with your lifts etc

 

[Clendennan]

Today, I did the second mod for my Gladiator (only have 174 miles on it- first mod was fire extinguisher mount).

I added Rubbermaid storage containers in the rear in front of the built in storage box. I then made a quick "package platform" so that its more of a flat floor for when I want to throw crap in the back.

Its a simple piece of plywood I had that I covered with leftover automotive carpet. Unfortunately, its not as big of mod as the rest of you guys with your lifts etc

Looks great!

 

[Bookem.Dano.Bookem]

Trying to find an accent color... Plasti Dipped Jeep badge

 

[jebiruph]

You're welcome. Many folks have helped me immensely with tips and charts and figures......
It looked like you had it figured. That's interesting on the hitch, though - seems different than I'd have "guessed" the connection would be. I'd think raising up the front would transfer a small bit of weight back (not much, just thinking aloud so to speak) and lowering the front would allow weight above center to be felt more forward.

I just wish more Jeep people lived in this area - it's pretty boring.
Can't even get people together for our cars here. Iowans are different that way. Try to get clubs going, everyone is all in until it comes time to make the talk action, then nothing.
And no one around here really knows these things - you see a TON of Wranglers and other Jeeps (no JTs though) and you see some with mods, but no one really knows what they are doing, dealers don't know squat, barely even how to fix stock Jeeps. Only ONE dealer in all of our area does any mods at all and the 4x4 shops are all about monster trucks ( all 2 of them)

I frequently see other JTs here in the big city.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Man, I love Discount Tire. I have bought my last 5 or 6 sets of wheels and tires from them. I shop for what I want online - print off the best prices....bring it to them and let them beat it with free lifetime rotation and balance. If I EVER have a vibration.....even if it was just balanced out....I bring it back in. I have nothing but good things to say for them here. But .... all the same I had a horrible experience at Tires Plus working on my LJ suspension and wouldn't go there to save my life....so I get it!

Been a while since I went to a tire shop - maybe time has passed and try them anew.
I had a shock a while back - was looking for new tires for my 70, in 14's which even then weren't easy to find, especially in RWL! I shopped around, and either got a run-around, or prices almost past Jupiter, or some sort of mess with sizes, whatever. I'd had decent luck with some other stuff at a local Chevy dealer and just for kicks I walked back to their parts guy, handed him a note (no, not asking for all the cash - it had my needed size, preferred brand and so on). He nodded - yeah, we can do that. I asked for prices - he did some digging, made a couple of calls while I waited and told me he could have them there tomorrow and the price - beat all of the other tire shops, tires-r-us, cheapest-tires-on-earth, they beat them all, some big, some by just a few bucks.
I took the car in the next day and they mounted the tires without destroying the trim rings (don't even want to try to find those) and did an alignment, too (won't install new tires without an alignment). A Chevy dealer of all things.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What did I do to......... well, something I was going to do a week ago, kept forgetting, got down with more sinus stuff, didn't feel like even walking to the garage for pictures, but today stopped putting it off -
I found the rattle that my JT had since it was serviced last week.......... I found the rattle when I got out a couple of days later and my foot hit something by the left kick panel - something that shouldn't be there.

I sent the service guy a text with a pic, and my sales guy with these pics and asked him to pass them along.
The service writer responded "looks like the GPS wire, just needs to be put back up in the bracket".
But that's a lot of cable to stuff up there - surely all of that wasn't hanging down there on that panel all of these months and just the end in the bracket, wires still hanging down?
That's an edge connector - why would a GPS wire and connector be in a bracket for fast access at the kick panel?
Naw - looks more like a diagnostic connector. And all that wire, want to figure where that was stuffed. I can stick the connector back in the bracket but why would it pop out when they worked on it, and where did all that cable go originally.

So that's what I did, take three pics and contacted the dealership. HA

 

[Mopar King]

Wilwood brakes and Airlift airbags installed today.

Also updated my fender decals from Under the Sun junk (distorted print and cheap vinyl) to this 2 pc set from Pixie Decals.

Sponsored