#teamGF #CDR - JT Gladiator Overland Build (Blucid)

[Blucid]

Mod #012 - 813 Fabrications Bed Side Compressor Enclosure (Large) [Measurements]
Mod LINK // Part Number: BSC-L-0000-1 // Completed April 9 / 2022

Finished Install \\
Was a beautiful Saturday morning, a bit chilly but non the less very beautiful. Finished the install, and we even had a test run last night did some wheeling in the snow and had a blast.

We hooked up the compressor to Aux 1, because Aux 1 and 2 have a 40 amp fuse. Aux 3 and 4 only have a 15 amp fuse hooked up to it. Then we ran the wire with shielding behind the wheel well and down the passenger frame rail. Above the frame rail there is a wiring loom that runs across the entire length of the truck all the way to the back we used that so run the cable. We also dropped the spare tire a little bit, to get behind it and zip tie the cable to the loom.

We fed the wire through the tie down hole and zapped everything together. Tightened everything down and hook everything up and tested the wiring and air lines.

All in all very good product, the instructions are clear. The box is very well made and the hardware supplied is really nice as well.

The next day, we had to go out onto the trails and do some testing. It works well, but the internal memory reset on the device so we ran into an issue. Also I had to get new chucks for the end piece the ones I ordered were OPEN air design. From factory the compressor is set to 42 psi, so it pumped up both tires from 20 psi to 42 psi in about 10 minutes. We have to adjust that and the time should drop.

If you have any questions or anything feel free to ask. I will try to answer them as best as I can.
Thank you @813 Fabrication & Design for an amazing product really happy.

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[Blucid]

AirBox update after some testing. The compressor did not loose its memory it was set @ 38.psi. I am guessing with the line hooked up the line added a bit of extra volume so for the compressor to get it to 38.psi my tires ended up as 42.psi.

Did some testing and adjustments, all I did was turn down the compressor .psi cut off to 33.psi.

With the car running the compressor did two stock 33" tires from 20.psi to 38.psi in 6:37min. If the car is not running it does both tires in 8:50min. Gotta say not bad at all. Really pleased with the outcome.

 

[Blucid]

Some nice pictures of us wheeling to an amazing new lake we have never been too before. Tons of fun and shenanigans. Hope you guys enjoy. As for modding, as of right now, there is nothing urgent on my list, just maybe gear clean-up. I need to reorganize some gear and remount some stuff inside the Jeep. Also figure out how to properly mount my radio for comms.

 

[Blucid]

Hello,
I have not forgotten about the site, there just hasn't been any movement in the Gladiator Department. I took delivery of a new Kid at the end of May, so been helping a bit more so we took a little break from camping / exploring. But now that stuff has settled in, we are back on the move.

Other developments have also been in the works, we have finally decided on what camper topper to get and why. I will go into more details very soon. Gona prep some pictures for you guys.

 

[Blucid]

Here are some recent pictures of some of the trips since the kid was born in May.

 

[Blucid]

Nothing Crazy, just a regular Mopar Cabin Air-Filter replacement at 37,896km (23,548mi). I am thinking of picking up a washable one in the future.

 

[Blucid]

It has been a while since I have last updated the page, mostly due to the lack of mods. We have been going on trips and Overlanding. But since this is a build / update page there hasn't been much in that department.

I would like to initiate 2023 with some plans I have for the vehicle this year and for the future. Good friend @Zagarus01 has placed his order for the Ursa-Minor for this Jeep JL. Which got me thinking about an upgrade to the back of my Gladiator as well. We live in the Pacific North-West so great weather is not always easy to come-by. So what we are doing is building vehicles that we can live out of when the weather gets tough.

Long Term Goals 2023-2024
- Extend Garage to Accommodate Alu-Cab Canopy
- Replace RTT with Alu-Cab Canopy Camper
- Move to 35" Tires
- Get 2.5" Lift & Rake leveling Kit

Short Term Goals 2023
- [DONE] Clean up Cabin Wiring (streamline everything)
- [DONE] Clean up Cabin Storage
- [Soon] Wire Permanent Two-Way Radio
\\ Still not sure which radio to get, a Midland MX275 is nice but I don't want all the controls on the handheld.
- [Soon] Get a Annex for my 23Zero RTT - [LINK]
- [Soon] JCR Offroad Under-Seat Storage Box - [LINK] *This one is still maybe.
- [Soon] AEV Snorkel Kit - [LINK] *This one is still maybe, but the rest is a go this year.

 

[Blucid]

Why Alu-Cab Canopy?
After doing a lot of research and talking to a few people that have had other campers this one just made more sense to me. As I mentioned before, weather. Weather plays a huge part here in the Pacific North-West it changes so often and so quickly you really need to adapt. I also love exploring and camping in any weather conditions so I needed a camper that can do that.

Considerations
- GO Fast Campers - [LINK]
- AT Overland Equipment Habitat - [LINK]
- Even just doing a Canopy + RTT Build was considered.
- Even the MITS Alloy Aluminum Canopies was an option too - [LINK]

But at the end of the day, the Alu-Cab was just the better choice for me. The array of options you can customize to fit your need for travel is amazing. One of the other great reasons for the Alu-Cab is when they do the install they seal it to the bed of the truck, so dust and the elements are kept out.

 

[Blucid]

Cleaning Up Cockpit
Was looking for a nice clean solution to some of my wire problems. Also been looking for a standard system with my wifes car so our phones and stuff can all work together depending on what car we use. Kinda pulled the trigger on some Quad Lock Stuff. Really happy with quality of items should last us a while.

Also ordered a new piece from 67designs, just to have the boom arms match, moving my old 67designs piece to the passenger side so they finally have a place to hold their phone. Got a 20mm to 1 Inch ball adapter one because the ball on the Quad Lock is 1 Inch. So we just gotta wire the cables through the dash and hook it up somewhere discreet.

I want to be able to wire and plug everything in behind the dash or maybe somewhere in the glove box. The other option was to maybe add USB Plugs to the top of the dash and have small wires run to the gadgets. I gotta find a nice solution to it all and wire it nicely.

 

[Blucid]

Mod #013 - Quad Lock Cellphone Management - [LINK]
Completed January 26 / 2023

What was Ordered \\
Quad Lock Case
1x Motorcycle - Weatherproof Wireless Charging Head - [LINK]
- The reason for ordering this weatherproof one, was it was going to sit close the the window and might get hot from sun or even have other elements on it.

1x Case - All Pixel Devices - Pixel 3 XL / No Weather Resistant Poncho - [LINK]
- Yes, I am still rocking a Pixel 3XL and am very happy with it.

1x Motorcycle - 1" Ball Adaptor - [LINK]
- Needed a ball adaptor, and this is the smallest one they make. Kinda wish they had other sizes but it will do.

67.Designs
1x Mounting Clamps for Tubes - 25.4mm / 1” - [LINK]
- Tube clamp for the Vector Off Road Bar that I have installed.

1x Arm Builder for 20mm - 1” Ball Sizes - Mini / Polished / Black - [LINK]
- Extra arm extension because im moving the old phone holder to the passanger side for the passanger.

Finished Install \\
Not going to lie unclipping my dash and pulling stuff off was scary, especially doing it for the first time. But it was a breeze and there is quite a bit of space and room to work with for wires and tucking capabilities. The Vector-Offroad Bar, already has the front dash clips removed so it was easy fishing the extended Anker USB cables through the holes. It also meant that I did not need to drill anything into the top of the dash.

Routed the cables to the drive side, along the edge so I can plug them into the 12v Port. This is my solution for now, I will eventually wire something cleaner under the dash for 12v or even USB.

Aligned everything did some zip-ties to clean everything up and popped back the dash together.

Its really clean and functional right now, the only wire that's kind of out is the tablet one, which I plug in once we hit the road. Also that wire doubles as cell charger for passengers. I am really happy with the results. Just got to do that USB/12v plug wire once we figure out which one I want.

 

[Blucid]

Mod #014 - BlueRidge Overland Jeep Gladiator Attic - [LINK]
NOT Yet Completed - Awaiting Date

What was Ordered \\
1x Blue Ridge Overland Jeep Gladiator Attic - [LINK]

Attempted Install \\
My First Blue Ridge Overland item and probably not my last. The package arrived in great condition and was packaged very nicely. Really Impressed with the overall quality of the item. The only negative thing I really have to say is man the instructions are terrible. I mean its 2023 at least print it in color and send a nice copy over, if not at least have a nicely written up .PDF that you can download off the website.

After fiddling with the install for about half an hour, I figured out that the front two straps that should go around the B Pillar are too small. A little annoyed, I figured I could fix it myself. But I didn't really want too, I ordered this product and wanted to try the finished product.

Fired up an email to BlueRidge Overland support, late at night. To my surprise, someone answered the email at 0300. I don't know why they were up at 0300 but they stated they were sorry and a new item order has been created and they are sending me the corrected attic. Now just got to wait for that one to arrive and then ill see how it is. As for customer service, its really good I didn't ask for any new items or anything just wanted to see what we can do and they answered. Ill let you guys know what happens once the new items arrives. I actually found an awesome post by @darkhorse13 [LINK] on modifying the JL Attic to fit the Gladiator, which honestly might be a better solution but well see.

 

[Blucid]

Mod #014 - BlueRidge Overland Jeep Gladiator Attic - [LINK]
Completed February 15 / 2023

What was Ordered \\
1x Blue Ridge Overland Jeep Gladiator Attic - [LINK]

Attempted Install \\
Received the item as fast as federal post was able to deliver it. Install went way better this time, even took the time to alight the straps properly and set it up really nice. Put a whole bunch of gear up there and tightened it, It holds gear really nice. But after some wheeling and bouncing around some stuff fell out. I really like the product and I really want to like it, but I can not recommend it to be honest. They really need to redesign it a bit better. To be honest, @darkhorse13 - [LINK] is probably the best solution we have for the Gladiator if they come up with something similar to that it would be amazing.

Its the back end of it, the front and the sides are great and have a lot of flex and support its just quite literally the middle back that just drops everything. On Regular FSR(Forest Service Roads) driving its fine, was doing 40-50km/hour and it held up fine. But as soon as you take it into rock-crawling or some heavy 4x4 stuff just wiggles out.

Other then that great craftsman ship, and awesome company to work with. Definitely will be buying more organization goodies from them. Ill post some pictures of this weekend fun...

 

[Blucid]

Just some pictures from our trip recently. I do post regularly on my Instagram [LINK] and I have started a Flickr account [LINK] recently because I have been doing more photography which I intent to keep doing. So please check them out if interested.

 

[Blucid]

Storage Consideration
Something I have been thinking about recently is, getting something like a upgraded under-seat Storage solution for the Gladiator. The factory one is nice but there is a lot of wasted space in the plastic mold.

Considering the JCR Offroad - Under-seat Storage Basket - [LINK]
What I am thinking is building the electrical in there and some gadgets that don't need to be accessed all the time in conjunction with some of the main components being mounted to the back wall behind the seat of the Gladiator.

Here is an example of something I am thinking about.

I think it would be a lot safer for everything to be in the back of the cab, I cant do a goose gear setup or a seat delete since I need it for the kids. So just trying to find innovative solutions to keeping the gear tucked and clean. Also this will free up quite a bit of space in the alu-cab once I get it.

What do you guys think? Any other suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

 

[Blucid]

Just an Update still doing some sourcing for storage, I did get some new storage boxes to help with less stuff inside the cab, I got them at Cabela's. I got two and they fit nicely under the tonneau cover and they have grab handles that I can strap to the top of the tonneau cover if I need more bed space.

This past weekend I have also asked a friend to help me with extending the straps for the roof top tent. One of the straps broke a while ago and I have been running only 3. I have seen people remove the straps all together but then over time the cover for the RTT becomes loose and sometimes acts like a balloon on the highway. Now with the straps have the ability to be adjusted, which will give me some more space for extra bedding inside.

We also redid the Velcro again so that it works better and is refreshed.

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