Ares - Build Thread

[TheHops]

Great video! Love the chill vibe with no ego or trying to be a “character”. I’ve subscribed to your channel and look forward to more in the future.

Might I suggest a small chainsaw, though? They do come in super handy if a tree has fallen across a trail and make quick work of making firewood. ?

Thanks! I was a little nervous about taking the filming/editing project on, but I actually ended up having fun with it.

Thanks for the sub! I'm looking forward to creating more videos. There's not enough time in the day to bother trying to be someone else. I see that on way too many channels. To be fair, they're making thousands of dollars, and I'm making $0 haha, so they must be doing something right, but it's just not my style.

I definitely did ID the wood chopping situation as an area for improvement. I don't mind chopping wood at all--I actually kind of enjoy it, but a saw would be way faster. I had concerns about creating too much noise with one, but honestly each strike of the axe echoed for a mile anyway lol. I think I'll keep my hatchet handy since it's so small, but swap out my splitting axe for the small battery operated Milwaukee chainsaw. If I can find one on sale, I plan on picking one up and working up a mounting solution on the molle bed panels.

Sponsored

 

[TheHops]

Really good video. Appreciate you taking the time to share this with us along with your build.

Appreciate it! Thanks for checking it out. There's more to come.

 

[Johnnyblender]

Thanks for your write up and videos, very inspiring.

 

[NEWBWHEELER]

Hey thanks for the link from YouTube. any regrets on mounting underneath the front seat?

 

[TheHops]

Hey thanks for the link from YouTube. any regrets on mounting underneath the front seat?

For sure!

None whatsoever. It's completely out of sight, takes up no room (just unused real estate), stays dry, and gets clean air. Even with the new options out there (I think I've seen an under-rear seat mount, and a bed rail mount), it's still my favorite mounting solution.

 

[TheHops]

Good news everyone! (Bonus points if you get the reference) My front roof rack arrived today and I began assembly. It's the Frontrunner Extreme rack. I consider this to be the final core piece of my build, as it'll be fully functional for me after installation. I got the rack together today and installed my custom solar slide. I'm going to try to get it mounted this weekend. I'll be putting together a video of the install, but in the meantime, here's a (fairly crappy) sneak peak of the 200 watts worth of solar panels bolted in place (underside of rack pictured).

Everything functions as envisioned. I'm super stoked to share the finished, working product. I've done a good bit of work on numerous vehicles, but I think this is one of the more unique ideas that I've come up with. All I have left to do is add some adhesive d-rubber or weather seal to the underside of the roof rack to keep it from making contact with the glass of the panels when moving over rough terrain.

This rack will also house 10 gallons of spare fuel, and 10 gallons of fresh water on trips. I may also use it as extra storage space for miscellaneous gear in a waterproof case or two, but that setup will be finalized over the next several months.

More updates to come!

 

[relayer4u]

Love your Gladiator build and really enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing them!

 

[TheHops]

Love your Gladiator build and really enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing them!

Thanks! Appreciate the kind words.

 

[TheHops]

We've got ourselves a roof rack ladies and gentlemen!



I'm super stoked to finally have this thing on. The solar system is in place, but isn't wired just yet--I'll be doing that along with my lights (two side-firing LEDs, and a handful of marker lights) at the same time. The vehicle itself is already completely wired for solar though, so all I have to do is route the extension cables in to the bed and plug them in. I'd like to make headway on all of that by the coming weekend.

Check out the video above! Hit that subscribe button if you're so inclined, and feel free to ask any questions either here or there.

 

[Mac Attack]

We've got ourselves a roof rack ladies and gentlemen!



I'm super stoked to finally have this thing on. The solar system is in place, but isn't wired just yet--I'll be doing that along with my lights (two side-firing LEDs, and a handful of marker lights) at the same time. The vehicle itself is already completely wired for solar though, so all I have to do is route the extension cables in to the bed and plug them in. I'd like to make headway on all of that by the coming weekend.

Check out the video above! Hit that subscribe button if you're so inclined, and feel free to ask any questions either here or there.

First...great idea in how to mount the solar panels. Have you been able to determine if the panels will charge batteries when blocked by the roof rack cross-bars? (know some panels won't operate if some of the cells are in shadow). Roof panels not removable with solar panels in place? Since it covers the window when extended, it should keep your cab a little cooler in summer. You have done a fantastic job with your rig. Will be waiting to see how the slide works in the long term.

 

[TheHops]

The dealer touched my vehicle today for the first time since taking ownership. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty worried...

I had them knock out the (first) clutch recall, and the "Improved Steering Feel" TSB--night and day difference on the TSB. I came in with very low expectations, and was very pleasantly surprised. The dead zone in the steering is significantly reduced--I'd say by 90%, at least. The small amount of play that is left just feels "right," so I have no complaints about that. The steering feels much more weighty, and planted. I went out of my way to test some highway miles to get home from the dealer, and I had zero wandering. It feels like driving a completely new vehicle. A steering stabilizer may be overkill at this point, but I think once I get a lift down the road I'll still bolt one on to help keep bump steer under control.

JeepCares was honestly a huge help on this. They communicated with the dealer and actually got them to order the parts before I even brought the Jeep to the dealer. The dealer themselves told me initially that they must see the vehicle in-person prior to ordering parts, but JeepCares worked some kind of magic. The dealer didn't even test drive the Jeep to my knowledge--they made no argument, they just accepted it and did the work. They called me just under 2 hours later to let me know it was ready for pickup.

If you're having steering issues and haven't gotten on this yet, I highly recommend reaching out to JeepCares on the forum here to get the process started.

 

[TheHops]

First...great idea in how to mount the solar panels. Have you been able to determine if the panels will charge batteries when blocked by the roof rack cross-bars? (know some panels won't operate if some of the cells are in shadow). Roof panels not removable with solar panels in place? Since it covers the window when extended, it should keep your cab a little cooler in summer. You have done a fantastic job with your rig. Will be waiting to see how the slide works in the long term.

Sorry Mac, I missed your post somehow.

Thanks man! So, I *believe* that my MPPT controller can deal with partial shade conditions. As far as I know, those circumstances fall on the controller--not necessarily the panel. I absolutely could be wrong though. I'm far from a solar guru. I did extensive research to make sure that all the components I decided on were compatible, but didn't go too much further in to the weeds. I'll be testing it out this week and I'll report back. I hope it works, because part of the reasoning for doing this project in the first place was to trickle charge my battery when I take off on my fairly frequent, extended work trips.

I haven't tried too hard to remove the panels. I gave it a try and managed to wiggle one of them about a quarter of the way out, but I didn't want to scrape anything. With that being said, if I didn't have the solar slide in place, I definitely could remove them. There is a generous amount of room beneath the rack.

That was actually a consideration for the setup--keeping cab temperatures a bit cooler. I originally thought about having one of them slide out to each side, but couldn't come up with how best to implement it based on the orientation of the rack mounting feet. Also, I'd need to buy twice the amount of hardware, since I'd have two separate panels going different directions instead of two joined panels going the same direction. I also thought about going single panel out of the front, but I had the space for two so I figured I could double the efficiency. I took some measurements and stopped by the hardware store today to check out some reinforcement options, and I think I may have a solution, so hopefully within the next week or two I'll have that sag eliminated.

Appreciate it! I'm having a good time with it honestly haha. I'll for sure keep you guys posted on how it works out long term.

 

[phreak480]

The shade performance is dependent upon the panels and the controller. Some panels don't have bypass diodes so partial shading renders them useless. Also if depending on the voltage of your panel if it falls too low for the controller due to shading then you get no charge. MPPT controllers though do the best job of getting the maximum into the battery from what the panels provide as voltage and current change.

 

[TheHops]

The shade performance is dependent upon the panels and the controller. Some panels don't have bypass diodes so partial shading renders them useless. Also if depending on the voltage of your panel if it falls too low for the controller due to shading then you get no charge. MPPT controllers though do the best job of getting the maximum into the battery from what the panels provide as voltage and current change.

I guess I have some digging to do then! Thanks for the inject!

 

[TheHops]

The shade performance is dependent upon the panels and the controller. Some panels don't have bypass diodes so partial shading renders them useless. Also if depending on the voltage of your panel if it falls too low for the controller due to shading then you get no charge. MPPT controllers though do the best job of getting the maximum into the battery from what the panels provide as voltage and current change.

In the description for my panels:

• Bypass diodes minimize power drop caused by shade and ensure excellent performance in low-light environments

I'm assuming that's good news!

Sponsored