What year Gladiator? Wondering if this is an early year issue or later year issue. I've been looking at the same sliders and have been nervous about this exact issue as well.
Easy trail. Made it down in under an hour. And that's with all the stopping for the Pink Jeep Tours coming up. Second half of the trail going down was more rocky than the upper portion. Gorgeous trail and well worth doing! I'm currently planning another future run for a weekend trip to take the...
You took a much better line than I did :) I was concerned with falling off the passenger wall so I rode it really high and leaned a lot on the driver side at the final crest. First time in Moab though, so I was happy to make it up at all.
Surprised this still hasn't been upgraded to wireless CarPlay and Android Auto at this point. We've had this model out for a few years now it seems. About time for a refresh!
Just got back from Moab recently as well. Squeezed in as many trails as I could for three days of wheeling.
Day 1: Chicken Corners and Poison Spider Mesa
Chicken Corners
Poison Spider Mesa
Day 2: Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge
Fins and Things
Hell's Revenge
Day 3: Top of the...
I had my tires road force balanced and that resolved the issue I was having with signs of death wobble in the 45 to 50 mph range. I chased down all the other typical issues (track bar loose, ball joints, control arms torqued, etc) and none were the culprit.
I'd go with the Mojave in your scenario, or a Rubicon if you are into rock crawling at all. The Willy's is a fantastic base to build off of, but if you are happy with leaving your Jeep stock with a Mojave, I think that's the better route to take.
My 2 copper.
40"s and the items needed to run them properly (ie gears, lift, new wheels, axle upgrades, steering upgrades) is going to be tough to get in under $10K. 40"s will definitely have some tire poking outside of the fenders.
Clayton or MetalCloak. Currently running the Clayton lift you are looking at on my Gladiator. It's been a great riding kit so far both on and offroad. I've have three MetalCloak lifts on my other Jeeps (JKUR, TJ Rubicon, TJ Sport) and their kits have always been fantastic as well.