How hard have you pushed your stock Gladiator?

[WILDHOBO]

I'm overlanding mine from Qatar to the UK and equally didn't want to go mad and I wanted to keep my MPG as high as possible as fuel in europe/ UK is bonkers (much more so than even your increased prices).

I have gone to 35" BFG KO2s (a smaller 35 and light), a 1.5 level and a .75 spacer at the rear and longer LCAs, which has given me the ride height I was looking for. MPG has remained much the same averaging 19.37mpg (app calcs) over the last 6 months.

The JTR still drags its belly occasionally but not enough to need to go higher ATM. The spacer lift has retained the ride and most importantly was cost effective.

That must be the most amazing trip.

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[Sparty]

You have basic steel skids that will serve you fine it not doing serious rock crawling. You also already have an electric sway bar disconnect that works very well. You’re good. If you’re worried about departure angle, a hitch skid will protect you a ton for very little money. Ignore the dog leash.

"Poor little guy. Probably kept up with you for a mile or so."

 

[Elff]

I am going to say pretty hard, in fact I pushed it with 5900lbs to be exact.

A stupid 20Amp fuse blew, that severed the connection between my Brake Pedal and 7 pin connector which thus meant, when I was pressing my brake pedal, the trailer brakes were not being activated.

Fortunately I noticed it pretty quickly and was able to manually brake my trailer for the rest of the trip home, but until then my trailer was "Literally" pushing my Gladiator

 

[futzin']

"Poor little guy. Probably kept up with you for a mile or so."

Bravo!!

 

[WILDHOBO]

"Poor little guy. Probably kept up with you for a mile or so."

I should have known I’d get that response. nope. I just leave it on there when she’s out with me in case someone walks by with an aggressive dog. Off leash neighborhood. And she’s huge.

 

[Sparty]

I should have known I’d get that response. nope. I just leave it on there when she’s out with me in case someone walks by with an aggressive dog. Off leash neighborhood. And she’s huge.

It's all good - you don't have to explain anything to ME

 

[WILDHOBO]

It's all good - you don't have to explain anything to ME

I used that picture in a hitch skid thread and someone sent the whole video clip. Love vacation.

 

[futzin']

...poor Aunt Edna

 

[cafecito]

The other day, I had to back into a guy's yard from the street, and it was kind of a steep drop. The rear bumper got like 6 inches from the ground, and the ParkSense alerts were going crazy.

After some careful navigation using my backup camera and trajectory lines, I managed to reverse through the treacherous Florida backyard grass and made it all the way to his shed, where we loaded up some lumber.

I barely made it out alive.

 

[Terry]

We plan on taking the Gladiator all over the western US in the next 12 months.

Big Bend, several Utah national parks, lots of Arizona parks and forests, California deserts, Nevada deserts. You get the idea.

The wife is of the opinion that we just dropped a load of money on buying it, so no more spending. Which I get. 35s will be bought come time to replace the stock wildpeaks.

Curious to see how many of you have run a stock suspension/wheel set up on big trips and how it’s held up.

Wife and I drive our 2020 Glad / Rubi all over the the southern California Desert and the San Bernardino mountains without any reservations at all. We initially did it with the stock tires and now with the 35 K02's. No lift. Again no problems what so ever. Will be taking it on a trip to South Lake Tahoe and the southern Nevada desert later this year. You need to get some recovery/ traction boards in case you get in to soft sand. TAKE WATER!!!!!. We just had a GMRS Radio installed and bought a Sat / phone for a pending trip to Arizona and Death Valley. Enjoy your trip.....

 

[WILDHOBO]

The other day, I had to back into a guy's yard from the street, and it was kind of a steep drop. The rear bumper got like 6 inches from the ground, and the ParkSense alerts were going crazy.

After some careful navigation using my backup camera and trajectory lines, I managed to reverse through the treacherous Florida backyard grass and made it all the way to his shed, where we loaded up some lumber.

I barely made it out alive.

I think if the story includes backup camera and trajectory lines, you making it out alive was pretty likely. hashtag - first world.

 

[ecidiego]

The other day, I had to back into a guy's yard from the street, and it was kind of a steep drop. The rear bumper got like 6 inches from the ground, and the ParkSense alerts were going crazy.

After some careful navigation using my backup camera and trajectory lines, I managed to reverse through the treacherous Florida backyard grass and made it all the way to his shed, where we loaded up some lumber.

I barely made it out alive.

....but did you exceed payload?

 

[Artsifrtsi]

I have an Overland, it did ok offroad, but dragged and scraped everywhere. I put in the Rubicon suspension for about a 1 inch lift, and added a 1.5 inch spacer to the front to level it, and 35" Baja Boss MT's to replace the stock Overland "minivan" tires. Offroad traction is remarkably better, and I drag about 95% less than I did stock on the same trail.

The other thing that would be nice, is a front locker to help drag the rig up and over loose traction climbs.

 

[PsyRN]

what and how are you attaching those things to the ceiling?

 

[PsyRN]

That’s my concern. We’re not going to be rock crawling, mainly dirt roads with rougher sections and I suppose occasional steep ups and downs. The extra 1” or so lift that tires would get me would be nice

I have a stock JTR and have taken it on several roads and trails in the eastern Sierras, Joshua Tree, and several other places in the Western Sierras and Mendocino. I've scraped the bottom a few times, but that's expected and nothing was damaged. Plan as best you can, and if you get to a spot that you can't pass because of terrain and/or skill turn around. No shame. You might actually discover some other cool road by turning around. Sounds like a fun trip.

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