2021 Gladiator Build in Progress - 4.5/38s

[slowstang305]

I figured I would keep track of my build and bring you guys along for the progress.

I'm a former JK owner (2009 JKU on 35s/2015 JKU on 35s/2015 JKUR 36s) who fell absolutely in love with the Gladiator platform. During my Jeep ownership I went to the dark-side with some sports cars in between and recently sold my Viper while the market is great to purchase and build my dream Jeep. I had very specific things I was looking for and inventory was low locally. After speaking with FL dealerships I decided it was best I reach out further and met some great people in AL. I specifically wanted a no Power Window/Lock Jeep with a tinted soft top and 4.10 (Max Tow Package) factory installed. I want to give a big shout out to Stivers Jeep and my sales guy (Grant) who helped me tremendously! He had the exact truck I was looking for prepped for my arrival, cleaned, full of fuel etc. Robert the finance manager was already a huge asset to this dealership. No BS straight to the point and I was in and out of the dealership within an hour.

First stop for fuel on the way home... We averaged a bit over 18MPG on the highway in stock trim on the way to South Florida. (BIG thank you to my brother for going with me)

First purchase: the Rubicon hood. I did not like the factory Sport hood and coming from a Rubicon I guess I was just used to staring at the vents. Factory paint is always the best and I was able to obtain a black painted factory hood (Honest truth... I had ordered it before I even purchased the Jeep)

Next on the list was getting rid of the huge antenna Jeep tends to stick onto these cars. Since I'm local to VMS, VMSRacing came through with a bullet antenna fairly quickly.

I always try to protect my vehicles so when I saw most of you guys were running the Mopar matts I called the dealer and have a set shipped in. They are awesome! I really like how they tie into the factory drain holes.

I do not like cloth in vehicles, in fact the suede in the Viper drove me crazy as well. I ordered a kit from Katzkin in black leather. After a short wait the kit arrived. The Jeep is VERY roomy without rear seats, that I can say for sure.

Here the rear seats were done. They tightened up after spending some time in the sun. Same story with front seats. Came out amazing! Each day that week they got better and better and now have a factory look. Thank you to Katzkin to making such an amazing product.

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[slowstang305]

Next... off to SRG for window tinting. 5% front and rear for the blacked out appearance.

Next mod on the list was the fenders. I researched and researched daily for the best fenders in the market. Honestly... NONE caught my eye. The factory fenders happen to be my favorite so I stuck with what I liked. I picked up the factory fenders painted in gloss black and made the swap.

After the fenders were done... the pinch seams just looked terrible and stuck out. I ended up ordering a set of Mopar performance rails to cover up the area and provide protection... These are VERY high quality which matches their price.

 

[cdyoung9799]

Looks like a pretty sweet LX notchback trying to photobomb in that first picture. That takes me back. I've only had 9 mustangs. I know, the first step is admitting you have a problem. My last one was a '17 GT350. That flat-plane crank V8 was pure music to listen to.

 

[slowstang305]

After waiting for close to a month my wheels were finally scheduled for delivery and the lift had arrived. I went with the Evo Enforcer Stage 3 kit using Fox Shocks. My last Jeep I ran Fox coil overs and was very happy with them so I decided to stick with Fox shocks. The Evo plush springs provide for an amazing highway ride so I decided to run them on the JT. My brother has them on his JKU and has been VERY happy with them.

Delivery day on the way to the shop!

I was very excited to see what kind of a difference I would see after installation....

Off to the shop... let the fun begin!

Finally some results!

 

[slowstang305]

For lighting....
I'm still undecided as to what to do with the headlights. I did decide to run pillar lights mounted on Mopar brackets. Really good quality and these lights came with great reviews.

Here is the Jeep parked next to a friend of mine in his lifted JL. My brother gave me a Fab Four bumper for my birthday since he knew I was a fan. I had a grumper set up on a previous Jeep but wanted to retain the 7 grille inlets on this build! It was an awesome gift!

Had to make sure the girlfriend liked the new build and so far she gave it a thumps up! I also added the Mopar grab handles to the front.

 

[slowstang305]

Next... I wanted to add something to make the interior stand out. I actually don't like big LCD screens so really love the small 5 inch in the Gladiator. Thanks to someone here on the forum I followed and ended up getting the carbon trim. Here is before/after.

And here is the current look... The center caps are back on with the proper lug nuts. Now I'm not sure where to go with this build. I think a bed rack may be the next step as I plan to do a fair bit of traveling and sight seeing making camping a breeze. We will see! Thank you everyone for following the build.

 

[slowstang305]

Looks like a pretty sweet LX notchback trying to photobomb in that first picture. That takes me back. I've only had 9 mustangs. I know, the first step is admitting you have a problem. My last one was a '17 GT350. That flat-plane crank V8 was pure music to listen to.

Ah yes! I'm a reformed mustang owner as well. My favorite was a 2005 S281 Saleen that I had for a few years. So much fun to drive! The GT350 is a beast! How did you like it? I heard they were prone with oil consumption issues... this was the only thing that kept me from pulling the trigger. What color was yours? The fox in the photo is a nice build as well that belongs to a friend, she was making 500 and quite a bit more on spray. Very light weight with a cage.

 

[mtudb24]

Nice build thread so far. Curious if you ordered the flares or if you found some locally? If you ordered them, is there a reason you didn't go with the high clearance flares?

 

[slowstang305]

Nice build thread so far. Curious if you ordered the flares or if you found some locally? If you ordered them, is there a reason you didn't go with the high clearance flares?

Thank you! To be honest, although they were not cheap by any means they were available locally from a performance shop and I believe in instant gratification like most of us. Amazon Prime definitely spoiled a lot of us!

 

[cdyoung9799]

Ah yes! I'm a reformed mustang owner as well. My favorite was a 2005 S281 Saleen that I had for a few years. So much fun to drive! The GT350 is a beast! How did you like it? I heard they were prone with oil consumption issues... this was the only thing that kept me from pulling the trigger. What color was yours? The fox in the photo is a nice build as well that belongs to a friend, she was making 500 and quite a bit more on spray. Very light weight with a cage.

Nice. My favorite Saleens were the '99-'04's. I built a couple of Saleen clones out of GT's over the years. Always wanted an S351. My GT350 was white with the lighter blue stripes.

Man that car sounded sweet. Traded it in on my '18 JLUR and never looked back. One day, when my daughter's out of college, I might try to find a GT350R for a weekend car.

 

[OffRoadHippy]

Lovin the look of your rig

 

[AdrianVall]

Looks great man! Awesome build. I love that lift!! Do you plan to re-gear (if you haven't alread)?

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