Tumbleweed Offroad... Errr, Overlanding

[jtimbrook]

I have no impulse control. I knew I needed inner fender liners for the front of my Jeep as I tore up my driver side liner at some point. Rugged Ridge has/ had a deal I was all in for, buy a set of steel fenders and get a set of liners for free. Yay win!
Well my fenders came in and I’ve got 8-10 weeks for the rebate to get processed and my liners get to me and so in the meantime I decided I’d wait for the liners to get here. Pffffffttttt...

On the 100 Boulder scale I give these about a 40/100. Overall packaging was solid and everything well presented. The instructions I think overall aren’t bad but could really use some help especially on the electrical. Ugh...
installation was clean and straightforward with me wondering if I’d missed a step somewhere. It wasn’t until I went to do the wiring did I run into issues which mainly were which wire goes where. These are stout and a little wider than I was expecting but you really can’t tell with my wheel and tire combo sticking out. We’ll see the longevity of these and I’ll keep updating them as I progress. Enough talk more pics...

Sponsored

 

[kmac2498]

Thanks for the play by play of the build. Good looking Gladiator too. What is your bed rack? Make? Size? Look forward to seeing more pics and play by play.

 

[jtimbrook]

The rack is a hot metal fab mid-height rack. I went with their’s because it checked off several things we were looking for. We didn’t want a full height mainly because I didn’t want our tent above the roof-line of the Jeep, it has a good dynamic weight capacity, it works with utility rails, we can mount tools and whatnot to it, and its very well priced. The only downside is that it comes unfinished but a couple cans of bed liner and viola! I give it a 70/100 boulders for ease of installation especially if you have a second set of hands to help, and definitely test fit first.

Hot Metal Fab mid-height truck rack

 

[jtimbrook]

Here are some install pics of the rack.

 

[5JeepsAz]

This build is officially Plywood Rated and that is one Bad Ass Jeep Truck. WTG.

 

[jurfie]

I have no impulse control.

I checked their site and it wasn't clear; are these front and rear? Or just fronts? Looks like the JL set is both, but I think the JT set is just fronts?

They look great, BTW.

Edit: nvm, I figured out they are fronts only. Hopefully they come out with matching rears soon!

 

[jtimbrook]

I checked their site and it wasn't clear; are these front and rear? Or just fronts? Looks like the JL set is both, but I think the JT set is just fronts?

They look great, BTW.

Edit: nvm, I figured out they are fronts only. Hopefully they come out with matching rears soon!

I'm betting on the fact that they will put out rear's at some point. I did notice today though when I was able to get a look at the Jeep from a distance it has a very trophy truck feel to it with such a high profile line of the front fenders in relation to the rear's. It's as level as it gets but it really does play mind-games the more you look...

 

[jtimbrook]

Quickie post Xmas update. Added a set of Teraflex quick disconnects. Easy Boulder scale I’d say these are an 87/100. Hardest part was finding my grease gun, but probably could have been harder without an impact wrench. May try them out this weekend somewhere...

 

[jtimbrook]

New year, new adventure! My sister is getting into more outdoor pursuits so we found the New Year to be a perfect time to get outdoors. She’s never been to the Catwalk in the Gila so we found a new to us camping area just north of the Catwalk and did a quick out and back 2 day trip. The Jeep ran perfect and averaged 18mpg the whole trip which was great considering I had the RTT on. Deer, antelope, and the random roadrunner made for a super scenic trip. Things that worked especially well, the front runner Wolfpack box, the RTT, a camp chef striker solo burner, HotHands, and a very inexpensive 20deg Coleman sleeping bag.

 

[jurfie]

That’s really cool!

 

[jtimbrook]

“My decals came in...”

ah, the words of my Dad and his subtle call to mod his Jeep. Easy application definitely a 90/100 on the easy bolder rating...

And then... My RuggedRidge liners magically arrived! Luckily they got here before our weather went to complete crap. Overall, they shipped well packed with a sizable full color instruction sheet. The aluminum seems just thick enough to be protective but still thin enough to be malleable to maneuver around which in the long run proved to be a good thing. On the easy bolder scale these were a 65/100, not gonna lie these needed some altering from the original instructions which is disappointing considering how easy the rest of their products install.

The first difficulty was the instructions say to put in a screw where there’s no attachment point to the Gladiator, that got left off. The next was the blind anchor point that requires putting in a longer bolt with the bracket underneath the nut attached to the frame. WTF? Once it was altogether I put my Teraflex disconnects back on and I’m a little leery and may go back and modify the liners a little more to accommodate for those brackets, we’ll see after I go use them.

 

[jtimbrook]

Got to test out the inner fender liners and Teraflex disconnects last weekend on an outing to Palomas Gap, NM. The weather was absolutely perfect and some great company to boot...

 

[jtimbrook]

So there I was... I really wish it was an epic story but instead there I was needing a simple car wash. I’ve got one of those unlimited car wash deals and decided to go run the Jeep through at a location I’ve used numerous times. 2/3’s of the way through and I heard a loud clunk and the whole Jeep shift to the left and me not moving. Interestingly it wasn’t until the vehicle behind me bumped into me did I realize this location does not use stop sensors on the track... So lessons learned, always ask if the car wash uses stop sensors, F-150’s have soft bumpers, the tow hook on the back of our Jeep’s can be used to push as much as pull, and most importantly pay attention to your surroundings even in car washes...

 

[jtimbrook]

So lately it’s been all about the trails and yesterday wasn’t any different. Some folks wanted something different and so we hit a little more backcountry here in the Las Cruces area. We could not ask for a better day...

And then of course this was this morning...

 

[RodRecket]

Curious if those TF disco's are meant for a certain amount of lift? The angle of your sway bar connected looks pretty severe

Sponsored