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

[Boatguy23]

I finally got the hoist mounted and took off the top!

Sponsored

 

[FLUndertaker]

I finally got the hoist mounted and took off the top!

Interesting. Lets see the underside and where it attaches to the top

 

[Gren71]

I finally got the hoist mounted and took off the top!

Not sure that is mounted correctly. Seems like lifting the top from the glass of the rear window may not be the best idea.

 

[Boatguy23]

Not sure that is mounted correctly. Seems like lifting the top from the glass of the rear window may not be the best idea.

Yeah, I have to agree. Its not optimal, I'll have to find a work around. My wife is disabled, so I had to come up with a way to make this a one person job. There's still a little work to be done here.

 

[Gren71]

Yeah, I have to agree. Its not optimal, I'll have to find a work around. My wife is disabled, so I had to come up with a way to make this a one person job. There's still a little work to be done here.

makes sense. I did a little modification to a hoist i had from my jku and it works wonderfully.

 

[Boatguy23]

makes sense. I did a little modification to a hoist i had from my jku and it works wonderfully.

Thanks for the pictures, that's a HUGE help!

 

[brain]

Drove to PA to pick up a soft top....

What size lift are you running? Great stance.

 

[PLEG1972]

wow, that doesnt look all that bad for the price! Mind posting some more pics of the fitment? Im just curious

Late but here you go

 

[AblePotato]

looks like you had to drill some holes to install the chase rack? who makes it? can you post some pics of the install brackets?

Sorry for the super late reply. But yeah I had to drill a hole to access under the front bolt. Armordillo is the company that makes this one (called the CR2). It was not designed for the Gladiator (hence the drilling) however the dimensions work so I went for it. Here's a picture of the mounting setup and also figured I would mention that it has an odd angle because it is designed for other trucks like the Tacoma which I plan on filling with a light bracket. Picture showing the odd angle as well if that's something that will bother you.

 

[Mojavicon]

Finally got my ARB compressor installed with the [Banned Site] mount.

 

[Jdyowa]

makes sense. I did a little modification to a hoist i had from my jku and it works wonderfully.

Seems like overkill, since they are extremely easy to lift off with one person.

 

[Strider62]

Installed the KC Cyclone Rocklights Kit. Have to say I was pretty surprised when my wife said she thought it was a good idea! (One of the side benefits of doing a 5,000 mile overloading trip for our summer vacation, I guess!)

The kit comes with six lights, wiring harness, fuse block, ground stub, and fused switch. Since I have the Aux Switch option, I was able to remove half the wiring harness and the switch, which made it a very straightforward install even for a total novice like me. The lights came with some very nice steel brackets, but they were originally designed for the Wrangler and turned out (at least in my opinion) to be of limited use for the Gladiator, and I finally decided to use neodymium ring magnets to mount five of the six lights, and a couple of pipe clamps to mount the sixth.

I prepped the lights by bolting a 2" fender washer to the five that were going to be mounted on magnets, and bolting KC's tube-mounting adaptor to the sixth one. This photo gives you an idea of how magnet arrangement works:

The fender washer was almost exactly the same diameter as the light, and I ordered ring magnets to match (it's just sitting a little off-center in this photo). The magnets have about 40lbs of pulling force, so they're not going anywhere. In fact I nearly hurt myself when I got them close to the frame...

I spent way too much time agonizing over where to mount the fuse block, because in the end there really wasn't any choice - no room left anywhere but on the firewall above the fuse box. So I drilled a couple holes there and screwed it on. First holes I've ever drilled in my vehicle, so it was an a**-puckering experience for me... I didn't do a very good job of photo-documenting the install, but here's the fuse block after I had everything installed and wired up:

I ran the supply connection from the fuse block to the aux switch via my Badgeglow Aux Board (which makes things even easier) and hooked up the ground wire to the OEM ground stub next to the battery (put the one tat KC included in the kit in my parts box).

The magnets made placing the lights incredibly easy and flexible, and I left a bit of extra wire tucked up near each one so I could adjust them around a bit if I need/want to. I placed one centered under each door, on the frame, pointing straight out to the side of the truck. I used gorilla tape to keep the wires in place on the side of the frame, then zip-tied all the wires to each other and to anchor points along the top of the frame rails.

I placed one on the underside of the hitch, facing straight down:

and one on the front stabilizer bar, mounted with a couple of pipe clamps and the KC tube mount adapter, facing down and forward at at slight angle:

The wiring harness provided in the kit wasn't quite long enough to reach all the way from the trailer hitch to the top of the firewall, so I had to splice in a few extra feet to reach the fuse block. That, and fishing the cables up between the battery and the fender, was really the most difficult part of the install. Not counting all the time I spent worrying about where to mount the fuse block (and all the time I spent going back and forth for tools), the whole install took me probably about six hours. If I had any idea what I was doing before I started, it probably would have been a two hour job, maybe less.

Here's the end result:

Links to the hardware I used:

K&J Magnetics
https://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=RY0X04

• 2" ring magnets

Grainger
https://www.grainger.com

• Button, Socket Head Cap Screw, M8-1.25, Stainless Steel, A2, Stainless Steel, 16 mm Length Item # 53GJ36
• M8-1.25 Nylon Insert Lock Nut, Zinc Plated Finish, Class 10 Steel, Right Hand, D985, PK100 Item # 26LJ86
• M8x15 mm O.D., Flat Washer, Stainless Steel, A4, Plain, PK100 Item # 54FV16
• 3/8 inx2 in O.D., Fender Washer, Steel, Low Carbon, Zinc Plated item # 6YY61

 

[4xjeepr]

Installed led's to replace halogen lights in headlights, front turn signals, taillights, and fogs. Installed 14" radio antenna, and door pockets below front door grabs. More to come when finances are available.

 

[1herm4]

Wasn't installed today but finally a picture of the Rock Hard sliders (angled down) after a wash.

Sponsored