A tale of two Gladiators to get one 80th Anniversary model

[YayMud!]

I got some time today to do the cutouts for the new speakers in the sound bar. It is a bit involved and time consuming, but not terribly difficult with the right tools.


Polk 6 1/2" 2 way vs. stock 4" and upgraded Alpine 3 1/2" speakers. Quite a difference!

Here is the cutout almost finished. I used a dremel tool to make the cut. Definitely make sure you measure twice and cut once. Also make sure you like your new speakers as there is no going back to stock after this cut.

Here is what the sound bar looks like after the full rough cut. Make sure you cover up/direct the tiny flying bits of plastic into one area. I had no idea they would spread all over the inside like they did. I was even picking bits up off of the dash and the windshield!

Here is the full section that is removed out of the sound bar to make room for a 6 1/2" speaker. Now repeat on the other side.

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[YayMud!]

So I got the SSV Works speaker adapters and Polk speakers installed in the sound bar, but the speakers sound awful. Very underpowered, even with the "upgraded" Alpine amp. I think the issue is that each speaker location has the power split between 2 more speakers so really only 1/2 of the power is getting sent to these new Polk speakers. I left a message for Travis at Crutchfield who was very helpful in picking out the speakers. Initially, I worried about this exact problem and Travis just told me that the speakers would "sound great because they are very efficient." Nope!


Here is the steel backing plate of the SSV Works speaker adapters installed. Fairly simple to do with a drill. This should provide good support for the woofer.

The SSV Works plastic speaker surround is styled just like the sound bar so it looks like it came from the factory.

Here is the Polk 2-way speaker installed. Unfortunately it is grossly underpowered since only 1/2 of the allotted power to this location wires up to the woofer. I really do not want to install an amp and re-wire the entire truck. Especially since it will also require wiring in an adapter to hopefully not lose functions on the head unit. I'll wait to see what type of solution Travis has at Crutchfield.

 

[YayMud!]

I still have yet to hear anything from Travis at Crutchfield so I called and talked to Tech. Support and they recommended some Rockford Fosgate 6 1/2" component speakers that run on lower power and do not have crossovers so the tweeters can be wired up directly to the factory wiring with an adapter.

It looks like Rockford Fosgate and Kicker are the only companies who make speakers that are compatible with the factory wiring if you want to upgrade to a larger woofer and have a speaker grille. (The Kickers do not have much protection) I hope these sound better than the Polk speakers.

 

[YayMud!]

The new Rockford speakers are here, but they forgot to send the wiring adapters for the tweeters. Doh!

 

[YayMud!]

I got the wire adapters yesterday, but they have the same ends as the tweeters. I called Crutchfield tech support who said I could pick up connector adaptors at any hardware or stereo store.

After a morning wasted going to many stores being told I was crazy that nothing like that existed I called Crutchfield tech support back who told me this time that in fact, nothing like that existed and I would need to splice the wires. Why in the world would you even bother sending me wiring adapters if I was going to have to splice the wires anyway?!? So it looks as if a bit of wiring is on my to do list for today.

 

[YayMud!]

I got all the (simple) wiring done today and cut holes in the speaker mount kits for the Rockford Fosgate tweeters. Unfortunately, the speaker grille holes to not line up with the mount kit. Crutchfield is going to send out a set of 6 3/4" grilles that should line up.

 

[YayMud!]

I got the 6 3/4" speaker grilles and the holes do line up with the mounting kit. However, they are too thick creating a large gap between the speakers and the grilles so the speakers rattle around.

Man, I just cannot get a break with these damn speakers. I called Crutchfield again and they are sending the 6 3/4" speakers that should be back in stock Mon. to ship.

 

[YayMud!]

My 6 3/4" speakers got bumped another week for availability so I decided to upgrade the factory headlights to Putco LED's.


There is a lot of stuff to squeeze into the tiny headlight housing so take your time and wear some thin gloves because you will invariably scrape up your hands.

These bulbs (driver's side) are significantly brighter and whiter than the stock bulbs. I thought about the factory LED package, but did not want to give up the Jeep design. The factory LED's do not seem any brighter, but they sure cost a lot more.

This is the Jeep face I was talking about in the headlights. If you look really close at the LED bulb behind it, you will want to make sure you have this orientation with the bulb laying flat instead of up and down or you will get some strange lighting out on the road.

Here you can see the LED on the driver's side lights up the road quite a bit better than stock. A worthwhile mod in my opinion.

 

[YayMud!]

Holy backorder Batman! I have no fewer than 5 parts on backorder right now for the Jeep. This of course, includes my speakers that got delayed another week, again...

 

[YayMud!]

While I continued to wait for the 6 3/4" Rockford component speakers to arrive I called up Crutchfield tech support for some other ideas. They thought these 4" 2 way speakers would be a good upgrade for the dash.

Unfortunately, they do not provide as much bass as the factory speakers and provide way too many highs with the "midrange" 3 1/2" speakers still on top of the dash. So these will go back to Crutchfield and I will continue to wait for the right speakers to arrive.

 

[YayMud!]

Putco came out with a cool idea for their 360 fog light bulbs; two LED elements that you can switch back and forth- one for fog lights and one for driving lights in the same location. I have had these on order for a long time and they finally arrived and I got them installed last week.

I finally got a chance to test them out, but they just keep switching back and forth between the two LED's constantly like a strobe light. Putco said they had an issue with the 1st batch and will be sending me replacements soon. I guess I am just not having any luck with any electrical parts on the Jeep. So far everything without electronics has bolted right up so I guess I need to stick to easier upgrades.

 

[YayMud!]

I picked up the Jeep cab cover recently since I made it almost 3 straight weeks with the top and front doors off. It goes on and off in about 5 minutes with 3 straps on each side. It works well in the rain and folds up to fit under the rear seat.

 

[YayMud!]

In the last few days I got the chance to install a few parts. Mostly good. The one you can skip and I am returning to Extreme Terrain is the DV8 front differential skid plate. The part looks durable, but the U-shaped clamps that attach it to the axle housing make really hard contact on the slightest of bumps. I can only imagine the damage this would do using it as intended off-road.

In contrast, the Extreme Terrain foot rest pedal is great! It actually helps with lower back pain if that is an issue for you like it is for my stupid back. I highly recommend this part. However, it can be a bit of a bear to install if you do not remove the plastic kick panel behind it first. I also removed the plastic panel below the steering wheel.

So much easier to reach the hardware with the kick panel removed.

The Extreme Terrain Center Console Organizer kit is also great because you can actually find stuff in the bottom and you get another tray for the top that I use almost daily for my sunglasses. It takes a second to figure out the correct orientation of the lower organizer, but overall a very simple upgrade.

Lower level organizer

Top tray installed

I got these Rough Country Seat covers so that I would not have to worry as much about being caught out in the rain with the top off and fading due to the sun with the top off. It turns out they also work really well for my daughter's car seat in back. I might just keep the rear seat cover on all the time and take the fronts off (or maybe just mine in the winter. They take a little bit of time to install, but are fairly straight forward, except for the headrest covers which are easy to screw up. The heated seats still work pretty well with these covers installed.

 

[YayMud!]

I thought I was going to have some cool pics of my new Rugged Ridge rock rails installed today, but they were pretty banged up. I had a feeling this would happen since the box looked like it barely survived world war 3. Lots more pics like the one below, but you get the idea. Still waiting to hear back from my local dealer about the next steps.

From speakers that sound awful, to fog lights that don't work, to differential skids never designed for actual use, to damaged parts, to everything on indefinite backorder, are all Jeep upgrades this difficult? Seriously, wtf???

 

[YayMud!]

I finally decided to put the wider Fuel rims and significantly wider tires on as well as a test fit of the (damaged) Rugged Ridge rock sliders. I really like the 80th anniversary wheels, but these Fuel wheels look so much better, especially with the more aggressive fitment. Just the right amount of poke. Guess I won't be selling them after all. The rock rails look great and do not get in the way of getting in and out like I thought.

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