2022 AEV Gladiator Rubicon build

[Toro34]

how are you liking the Falcons? Im upgrading to a Mojave from my JK soon, and even thought the Mojave is supposed to have good shocks, im going to miss being able to adjust them up for highway and down for dirt

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[Flyin6]

how are you liking the Falcons? I'm upgrading to a Mojave from my JK soon and even though the Mojave is supposed to have good shocks, I'm going to miss being able to adjust them up for highway and down for dirt

I am liking them to be certain, but I am still climbing the learning curve. I have experimented with several settings so far. If you have been following my build, you undoubtedly have noticed my JT is getting lighter. When I deleted the rear seats and replaced them with a cargo platform, I needed to go a bit softer on the rear shock setting. I seem to like the softer settings usually hovering around the #2 lightest position for both front and rear.
What concerns me is when I load out for a springtime trip on the KAT, I will be adding a few hundred pounds and that will require some more dampening. So, I will need to experiment with that as well. I feel confident that by the time the fall rolls around I will have the Falcons and my Jeep configuration well sorted.
But here we go again...Ordering a stubby bumper in a couple of minutes that will drop over #50 from the front end.

 

[Flyin6]

Stubby bumper ordered. Rugged Ridge Arcus is the choice. Will shave another 50 lbs off the front end...Yippee!

 

[Flyin6]

Does anyone know the tube OD on that winch/grill guard? I want to pick up some tube clamp/light mounts for it.

 

[Toro34]

If its the Overrider bar, looks like its 2"
https://ruggedridge.com/p/rugged-ridge-hd-overrider-bars/v/jeep/gladiator/2023/

 

[Flyin6]

That's exactly what I was thinking too as well.

 

[Flyin6]

Light clamps were ordered. Bumper showing up in two days.

Edit: Scratch that, it came today...1-day flash to bang time on this!

 

[Flyin6]

OK the AEV RX bumper removal happened today

THis thing is supposed to be light weight and strong. Well, I can believe it is strong, but lightweight IT IS NOT.

I weighed everything that came off one piece at a time

 

[Flyin6]

Here are the component weights:

Lights: 14.28lbs
bumper wings: 26.26lbs
Clevis mounts: 11.72 lbs
Plastic bezels: 1 lb.
Outer shell: 12.65lbs
Hoop trim: 2.26lbs
Inner bumper: 48.53lbs
Winch plate: 19.46

AEV Gladiator Rubicon (real-man-truckworks-and-survival.com)

 

[Flyin6]

So, this thing is a beast

Bumper alone: 102.42

Bumper + winch plate: 121.84

Bumper, winch plate, AEV lights: 136.12

 

[Flyin6]

The detailed writeup is over on the other site, but here are the essentials.

Teardown start to finish:

 

[Flyin6]

So why remove such an outstanding AEV bumper, and why modify it at all?

I did purchase an AEV jeep, and most people would have left it alone. But I have found it wanting in so many areas that I am essentially undoing what they did in creating it. Had I been an avid Jeeper to start with, and I was not, I would have NEVER purchased this thing. But my first weekend out, I was hooked and really liked this JT platform, everything except for the motor.

AEV is trying to build OEM stuff that is engineered to some, well, OEM standard. Another word for OEM is: Heavy. Still another phrase that comes to mind would be: Over-engineered.
Just look at the massive bolts that secure the light modules...They are the same size as the largest bumper bolts. I have to ask, Why?

So the bumper is just too heavy. Secondly, it shrouds the front tires. Next, it blocks off like half of the radiator, especially with the placement of those bowling-ball-sized lights. And look at the AEV light, and my replacement.

I believe I can achieve about a 50% weight savings over the AEV thing and at the same time, build some more clearance and more performance into the Jeep.

Performance you ask? Yes, every ounce you remove is an ounce the engine does not have to work to move. in drag racing, a hundred pounds equaled a tenth or more in the quarter mile. I should be dropping 50 pounds with this bumper swap.

I lost a bunch of weight by replacing the exhaust.
I lost a bunch by deleting the rear seats.
I'll save 10 pounds by changing out the lights and I should lose another 50+ pounds with this bumper swap.

 

[Flyin6]

Next, let's bolt in a new Rugged Ridge Arcus bumper with over-ridder.

AEV Gladiator Rubicon (real-man-truckworks-and-survival.com)

 

[Flyin6]

This thing was a lot lighter and way less complicated than the AEV bumper it replaced.

 

[Flyin6]

The install was a fair amount of work. The final steps of bolting all those sandwiched parts together was pretty challenging, hard actually.

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