2022 AEV Gladiator Rubicon build

[Viper501]

I'm sure I'm going to get roasted for this but to scratch that V8 itch and still have a flex vehicle I'd suggest the Defender 110 V8.

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[Flyin6]

I'm sure I'm going to get roasted for this but to scratch that V8 itch and still have a flex vehicle I'd suggest the Defender 110 V8.

^^^^ Somebody roast this man!!!!!!!!!!

;-)

I borrowed a 110 Defender from the British Royal Marines in Kandahar for about a year. Diesel/stick. They set up a driving course for the newly arriving Jar-heads. The Defender is a top-of-the-line off-road truck, hands down.

So I have operated/been all over the world like 8 times. Whenever I'd land in some place where they have been pumping in sunlight since Jengis Kahn, I'd always see Hilux trucks and occasional Land Rovers. Don't care if it's ice/swamp/desert/Island/POW camp/Presidential complex...Those two were prolific.

Another cool story: During Desert Storm, Special Forces were deployed to a place called KKMC in the "Kingdom." As hostilities approached, we were given a boatload of Land Rovers from the King of Saudi Arabia. Yeah, I did Desert Storm in a Chinook cockpit and the front/back seat of a luxury Range Rover!

I mean, seriously, why practice to be miserable...Given time, it will come quite naturally!

Now, people, stop talkin' about personal stuff and focus on the build here...Hear?? ;-)

 

[Flyin6]

And, quit bothering me,

I'm on the phone ordering stuff from about everybody!

Yippee!

 

[Flyin6]

OK, so far I have the Off Road Only dual-stage front sway bar on order

Next up is the front and rear long arms.

For the rear long arm, I like the Iron Rock setup shown below:

 

[Flyin6]

As for the front long-arm mod, I think I want to stick with Clayton. Their setup is very cool in that it only uses two massive links going forward, which "Y" into a radius arm. That is much simpler and so strong that it is the setup on my 1-ton Ram 3500 Dually!

I have experience with the Clayton stuff and know it to be first-class. I probably have 5+ trips all over with that kit, and it is still like new. Plus, all I have to do is remove the old arms, whack off the existing mounts, weld on two new ones, and I'm off to the races.

 

[rharr]

Would you be better served going with a 4 link rear like the rock krawler set in order to eliminate the rear track bar to get better handling?

Maybe there are long arm kits the do that, but that geometry would like create some interesting loads...

 

[Flyin6]

And for my final act in this upcoming show, A coil-over conversion for the front. I want height adjustability and an adjustable air bump, along with easily customizable spring rates. This thing will give me that. I am not locked in on the exact kit, but Rebel is currently in first place.

Would you be better served going with a 4 link rear like the rock krawler set in order to eliminate the rear track bar to get better handling?

Maybe there are long arm kits the do that, but that geometry would like create some interesting loads...

I looked at that

Let's remember that these long-arm offerings are well-designed, engineered, and tested.

IMHO its fringe stuff. Meaning that for severe rock-crawling folks who go for every last bit of travel, the "X" linking is viable. But for me, a weeklong cross-country trip to places like the San Juan Mountains on trails is better. Better, meaning 95% highway miles just getting there, where I want a lot more comfort and a lot less "Giggy." Long arms give one a much more compliant ride. The axles no longer surge outward on bumps but move up and down like you would imagine they should. And let us not forget that long arms in a longer JT are going to be that much better! Once I get on the trail, with the setup I am building, I am looking at what, twice the travel of a stock Jeep? Plenty in my opinion.

I am employing this line of thought throughout the build. The motor got a supercharger. Not as powerful as a 6.4 Hemi, but plenty powerful enough to get me comfortably there and back.

I need more "just enough" than I do "that last little bit."

 

[Flyin6]

Finally, I need to decide on the coil over setup I want. At the moment, the Rebel Off Road setup is my favorite.

 

[Zachanadandy]

I ran radius arms on the XJ years ago. They work but nowhere near as good as an actual 4 link. You get inherent binding when the suspension flexes. When 1 side is pushed up and the other droops, the stuffed side moves forward and the unloaded side swings back. That makes the stuffed side try to rotate the pinion up while the unloaded side tries to rotate it down. Obviously that can't happen so you get major binding that gets worse the more you flex it. Kinda defeats the purpose of long arms in my opinion. On the XJ I swapped to a front 3 link and not only was the flex improved, the suspension felt much smoother as it moved. I agree they are great for strength... on HD trucks that don't get flexed out.

 

[rharr]

And for my final act in this upcoming show, A coil-over conversion for the front. I want height adjustability and an adjustable air bump, along with easily customizable spring rates. This thing will give me that. I am not locked in on the exact kit, but Rebel is currently in first place.

I looked at that

Let's remember that these long-arm offerings are well-designed, engineered, and tested.

IMHO its fringe stuff. Meaning that for severe rock-crawling folks who go for every last bit of travel, the "X" linking is viable. But for me, a weeklong cross-country trip to places like the San Juan Mountains on trails is better. Better, meaning 95% highway miles just getting there, where I want a lot more comfort and a lot less "Giggy." Long arms give one a much more compliant ride. The axles no longer surge outward on bumps but move up and down like you would imagine they should. And let us not forget that long arms in a longer JT are going to be that much better! Once I get on the trail, with the setup I am building, I am looking at what, twice the travel of a stock Jeep? Plenty in my opinion.

I am employing this line of thought throughout the build. The motor got a supercharger. Not as powerful as a 6.4 Hemi, but plenty powerful enough to get me comfortably there and back.

I need more "just enough" than I do "that last little bit."

I get what you are saying about "x" link design, but some on here would suggest otherwise the x link setup is better suited for daily driving then rocks. When you remove the rear track bar now the front track bar and rear track bar aren't fighting each,(front bar mounts to left frame rail, rear bar right rail,) the radial movement of these bars mounting on opposite rail causes odd chassis behavior.

Long arm kits don't solve this issue they just transfer less impact energy into the frame and more into the springs giving a more supple ride and more flex.

Also don't fool yourself about coil overs, they are a performance system with performance levels of maintenance and more wear components. Again this seem to contradict your 95% highway use. If you are building a trail rig or planning to jump stuff they make sense. They look cool sure but at what price.

I think i good middle ground is looking at a long arm 4 link like zack says for the front, and a x system in the back that removes the track bar, and then out fitting that setup with springs that are match to your weight travel weight and desired tire size, round out the whole system with some top tier SDI e-click reservoir shocks that have active valving and are sized to your spring rates.

The price points will be similar but offer a broader range use and less maintenance. You can still run hydraulic bump stops if you want but the active valving in the shocks will cover most compression conditions. The bump stops will clack and make noise.

Take a look at crazycooters threads or employ him to help you sort/supply your setup, he builds rigs professionally to your use case and has taken the time to self learn shock valving, suspension geometry and fitment/clearance testing.

You haven't even touched upon frame bracing, no point running high dollar coil overs, long arms and bump stops, if the back of your jeep is going to get sag butt being put to work.....

 

[Flyin6]

I get what you are saying about "x" link design, but some on here would suggest otherwise the x link setup is better suited for daily driving then rocks. When you remove the rear track bar now the front track bar and rear track bar aren't fighting each,(front bar mounts to left frame rail, rear bar right rail,) the radial movement of these bars mounting on opposite rail causes odd chassis behavior.

Long arm kits don't solve this issue they just transfer less impact energy into the frame and more into the springs giving a more supple ride and more flex.

Also don't fool yourself about coil overs, they are a performance system with performance levels of maintenance and more wear components. Again this seem to contradict your 95% highway use. If you are building a trail rig or planning to jump stuff they make sense. They look cool sure but at what price.

I think i good middle ground is looking at a long arm 4 link like zack says for the front, and a x system in the back that removes the track bar, and then out fitting that setup with springs that are match to your weight travel weight and desired tire size, round out the whole system with some top tier SDI e-click reservoir shocks that have active valving and are sized to your spring rates.

The price points will be similar but offer a broader range use and less maintenance. You can still run hydraulic bump stops if you want but the active valving in the shocks will cover most compression conditions. The bump stops will clack and make noise.

Take a look at crazycooters threads or employ him to help you sort/supply your setup, he builds rigs professionally to your use case and has taken the time to self learn shock valving, suspension geometry and fitment/clearance testing.

You haven't even touched upon frame bracing, no point running high dollar coil overs, long arms and bump stops, if the back of your jeep is going to get sag butt being put to work.....

Wow-
You and Zach are bringing up some pretty good points.

I have experienced a weird sort of "disconnected" feeling from a radius arm hanging in the air...

Although I used radius arms in the past and even built my own custom 4-link coil-over for a Tundra, I can't claim I ever got that thing exactly right.

Your advice hit at just the right time...While sorting through all this, I do indeed have many questions.

Earlier, I was looking at the Artex X-linked rear axle. I was liking it, but all that welding to the rear axle had me taking a step backward.

When you start doing things like that, you are going far, far away from the factory and common convention. Take that thought and remember you will be travelling a couple of thousand miles from home...Where in your mind the thing decides to unwind...

I'll look into this much deeper, maybe give Iron Rock and Artec a call. Watching their actual Gladiator on the trail makes it amazing. I've seen a video, not an actual one. But man, that thing works. They use 4-link F/R.

Good news is, I only dropped money on that sway bar so far...

 

[Flyin6]

So, it has now been a few weeks since I had a new knee installed, I guess I have been modded as well as my JT.
Still pretty slow, but I'm fiddling with completing the Jeep enough to test-drive it with the supercharger.
It's going to be a while, still...
The first thing I found was, you guessed it, a dead battery!

 

[Flyin6]

Not to be discouraged, I started on the bumper. All I have to do is just finish bolting the thing on...
But, wait
There's more issues!
Yep, I never test-fitted the thing before painting it, so how was I to know the thing was not going to fit my winch!!!!!
When I shove the winch all the way forward, it is still about 1/2" from having the mounting holes from aligning.
It also tucks the winch in so closely to the grill that having to remove said grill will necessitate removing the winch!

 

[Flyin6]

Not willing to give up, I tried a strategy of staging the bumper farther forward using union nuts. They pushed everything about 1.25" forward. That got me all the clearance I wanted from the grill, but I will require elongating the winch mount holes in the base plate of the bumper.

 

[Flyin6]

Then I pulled up a chair and took a moment to consider what I was about to do. And I started studying the structure of that bumper. Right away, I noted the clevis mounts, which also constitute the side plates that weld to the mounting flanges. I started to think, "Ya know, this thing looks sort of weak."
Nevertheless, here's what it would have looked like if I decided to let all that pass:

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