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

[OMTBiker]

Technically over the last couple days, drove down to North Carolina and had @chevymitchell from the Wrangler forums do a regear. Went with 4.56 to bring it back closer to stock with the 35’s. The rear put up a fight but he was able to get it perfect. The difference is very noticeable and well worth it!

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[shevchuck]

Not a mod to the gladiator but for the gladiator. Made a matching tumbler for my hydro blue JT for drinks on the go.

 

[IamAlan]

New billet badge to replace the trail-rated badge with badgeglow underneath.

Since that looks a lot like the CBJ alternate logo, I guess I gotta have one. Where did you get it, if you don't mind? Thanks!

 

[PDiddy]

Bought this storage box on eBay, didn’t use the two way tape & it seems to work fine https://www.ebay.ca/itm/143872722842

Does it block the rear cup holder?

 

[PDiddy]

Installed the rough country contoured steps today. Couple things if your interested in them.

The build quality isn’t the best. The finish isn’t great. Some of the welded nuts are not true so I had to do some bending to get it so the bolt lines up correctly and doesn’t cross thread.

The fit is pretty good. I couldn’t get the distance between the body and the steps to be the same along the whole thing. On both there is a smidge more space in the middle section. But it isn’t much and I’ll probably be the only one that notices.

They are lighter than the stock rock rails. I didn’t weigh them but the difference is a probably about 5lbs each. They are short, so that is where most of the weight savings comes from.

They look really nice on and the steps are in a good place. The steps are not too low. So for most of my off roading they should be fine. I’m keeping the stock sliders for when I want to do some more extreme wheeling.Should take more than 20 minutes to swap them.

The wife and kids appreciate them. Last, you can’t beat the price.

 

[Tufelhundin]

Technically over the last couple days, drove down to North Carolina and had @chevymitchell from the Wrangler forums do a regear. Went with 4.56 to bring it back closer to stock with the 35’s. The rear put up a fight but he was able to get it perfect. The difference is very noticeable and well worth it!

Finally... this is an auto correct? If so, are you able to hold 8th? Id be happy to just see it..once.

After some time can you add more to your thoughts? Towing, MPG +/-, how it does at 65+ mph.

Im on 35's with 3.73. Never seen 8th with them, only see 7th if 60 mph or below or with a very strong tailwind....dont have any hills to speak of here but I see 7th going down an over pass, lol.


I tow from time to time, nothing extreme, a couple thousand pounds...mainly cause my tandom weighs close to 1500 lbs. Have considered 4.88 but day to day driving just would like to get more input on 4.56.

Thanks


Kudos for doing the swap!

 

[Gren71]

Does it block the rear cup holder?

I have one as well. It doesn't block the cup holder what so ever. For comparison, I can fit a large Dunkin Donuts iced coffee cup in the rear cup holder, and this doesn't get in the way at all.

 

[Gren71]

Finally... this is an auto correct? If so, are you able to hold 8th? Id be happy to just see it..once.

After some time can you add more to your thoughts? Towing, MPG +/-, how it does at 65+ mph.

Im on 35's with 3.73. Never seen 8th with them, only see 7th if 60 mph or below or with a very strong tailwind....dont have any hills to speak of here but I see 7th going down an over pass, lol.


I tow from time to time, nothing extreme, a couple thousand pounds...mainly cause my random weighs close to 1500 lbs. Have conceded 4.88 but day to day driving just would like to get more input on 4.56.

Thanks


Kudos for doing the swap!

i have 4.10s with 34's and I always see 8th (not rubbing it in) but I am also curious about added improvement. I will be towing a 5k trailer a lot this summer and wouldn't mind some additional MPGs.

 

[Timdog]

Does it block the rear cup holder?

Here is a couple more pics if that helps, fits fine for me with no issues

 

[Gren71]

Here is a couple more pics if that helps, fits fine for me with no issues

These two are the best storage pieces I've gotten for the JT for sure

 

[Tufelhundin]

i have 4.10s with 34's and I always see 8th (not rubbing it in) but I am also curious about added improvement. I will be towing a 5k trailer a lot this summer and wouldn't mind some additional MPGs.

My biggest regret was not getting max tow with the 4.10's and I drove 2.5 hours to get a maxtow only to find out the one I was going to get sold a few hours before I got there. No I didn't call the Dealer I was just spending a saturday shopping if you will.

My brother bought a JT about 8 months before I did and his has 3.73's and he said he didn't have any complaints and he was getting 20-22 mpg , so I figured getting the 3.73's would be ok. Ive never seen over 19mpg when stock and now since I went higher and larger all around as most have done here I find myself looking at newer JT's more and more, LOL.

Should have would have could have I suppose.

They added so much since I bought mine, LSD, Auto 4WD, 8.4" in the sport, etc.

If I could swing it Id trade this thing in and get a Mojave or Rubi but Id take a beating Im sure.

So....I figured best thing is to regear. I dont off road as much as I used too other than going through the muddy turn rows on farmland down here. I dont tow a whole bunch just a tandem axle with a buggy and zero turn is about it, other from time to time when people are moving and need help.

Figured the 4.56's would bring me just about where a stock Max Tow would be...if not then...I guess 4.88's ... very happy to hear someone is going to 4.56 with an auto.

 

[Jimmy07]

Well, I just went out to do the jscan again and I did it. Then went into the settings on the radio and this time it actually has the option to turn on the auto highbeams. So I will see in the morning if it is actually working. Last time I did it, the settings never showed the option. But yes, jscan has everything.

Doesn’t look like Jscan can do it. You need to tell the BCM to use the DASM (IRCM= infrared camera module) as the auto high beam location, and it’s not in the list-

Until you do that, using AlfaOBD, it won’t work.

 

[OMTBiker]

Finally... this is an auto correct? If so, are you able to hold 8th? Id be happy to just see it..once.

After some time can you add more to your thoughts? Towing, MPG +/-, how it does at 65+ mph.

Im on 35's with 3.73. Never seen 8th with them, only see 7th if 60 mph or below or with a very strong tailwind....dont have any hills to speak of here but I see 7th going down an over pass, lol.


I tow from time to time, nothing extreme, a couple thousand pounds...mainly cause my tandom weighs close to 1500 lbs. Have considered 4.88 but day to day driving just would like to get more input on 4.56.

Thanks


Kudos for doing the swap!

Yes, I have the 8sp automatic.

For a little more back story.

Totally stock my Rubicon I saw 17.6MPG once with the normal being 16.8-17.

I had the Mopar lift installed at the dealership at 4400 miles and they were supposed to reprogram the computer for the 35s and said they did reprogram. After the lift and “35s”, technically 315/70R17 BFG KO2, I was lucky to see 16 and the normal was 14-15.6. I would rarely see 8th above 65 and it would immediately drop to 7th or even 6th on slight inclines or overpasses. It would never hold 8th.

Towing a flatbed trailer it would drop to 10mpg, and with our 16’ TT I saw 10MPG once with the typical mileage of 6.6-8 MPG at 60 MPH and needed to stop every 130-150 miles for gas. It was terrible and would have to drop to 4th and 5th if there was a slight headwind, I t would stay in 3rd and 4th climbing the mountains out west and I am not talking the really steep inclines.

My overall average across 16000 miles, 6000 towing miles is 13.9 MPG.

A week ago I installed the AEV Procal Snap in preparation for the regear and checked my tire size, the computer showed 32.7 which would have been the stock tire size so I am pretty sure the dealership did not reprogram the computer for tire size which really ticks me off. I measured my tires which came out at 33.7 actual height, after driving and verifying the speedometer I had to drop down to 33.5 to get within 1 MPH. The speedometer is about 3/4 MPH higher than GPS which was good enough for me,

After the reprogram for the correct tire size the Gladiator would hold 8th better but would still drop a gear with slight gas pedal pressure and on overpasses. It was better and I had a slight improvement in gas mileage.

After the gear change it was immediately noticeable with the available power throughout the gears, it will hold 8th and maintain 70 in 8th easily. It has much more passing power. On the way back from North Carolina to Ohio I averaged 17.7 climbing All of the hills up I77 and would only drop to 7th and very occasionally to 6th on the larger climbs, it has much more power and never felt like it was struggling on the hills like before. I am on my second tank and just over 18MPG.

Cruising at 60-62 and on flat I am seeing 20-24 MPG depending on the terrain variation. Between 70-72 I am seeing 18-20MPG.

The regear definitely helps in getting the powerband down where it is much more noticeable and usable, I did not go with 4.88 as I only have one big towing trip each year and did not feel it was worth it as it is mostly a daily driver. I am extremely please with my choice. I am sure this is going to help with towing but the trailer is in storage until April.

One big recommendation I have is if you are going to regear, stick with Dana Spicer gears and master install kit if your needs are similar to mine. I daily drive, tow and occasional off-road use. The Dana Gears and master kit was so close to factory gears for shims needed.

If anyone is on the Wrangler forum they should reach out to @chevymitchell, he was awesome to work with!

If anyone has any questions or would like to talk about the regear, send me a PM.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tufelhundin]

@OMTBiker .... SOLD! That was an awesome review and the funny thing is, your history prior to gear change is SPOT-ON with what Im dealing with right now.

THanks for the response.

 

[eligius]

I installed a curt front recriver hitch on my Mojave to carry a surf rod rack it fits fine but did require trimming the remote shock bracket and losing one bolt on each bracket, hitch went on quick really nice setup.....then I did battle with the skid plate for hours trimming little bit at a time, then at the very end it was looking like the hitch would block the skid plate, but it fit. In the end it looks like a huge hole but to put it in and pivot it and get around the braces on hitch that is what has to be done! Surf rack is about three inches higher then I’m used to, so I’ll keep the 11’and 12’ rods on the roof rack to avoid hitting stop lights.

I’ll take measurements of the hitch cutout on skid plate for others to work off of...Jack

Which receiver did you use? Curt or Draw-tite? Any problems fitting the receiver to the frame horns? Can you post pictures? Thanks.

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