Sponsored

Advise wanted - Offroad mods

Kivak

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport
Greetings!

I have a 2020 Gladiator Sport that I have been upgrading for mild to moderate off-roading. My goal is to hit 5/10 to a max of 7/10 difficulty trails. Larger rocks, and shelf drops, but not crawling boulders. Something like SOB Hill in Colorado (https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/442-sob-hill) is my end game goal.

Right now, I have:
  • 33" Ridge Grapplers
  • 3.5" Skyjacker lift
  • Winch-capable steel bumper (no winch)
  • 3.73 gearing
  • No lockers
  • No rock sliders
With the long wheel base of the Gladiator, I do scrape on some break-over obstacles and the 33"S can sometimes not be large enough to comfortably get over rocks. To resolve that, my original upgrade goal was to get 37" Ridge Grapplers (including a spare), regear to 4.88, get a sway bar disconnect and call it done "for now". However, the price of that upgrade is a little over my budget of $4000. I could make that work, but that doesn't give me any room for recovery gear -- no winch, no jack, no traction boards, and no recovery rope. That seems like it's just tempting fate.

Questions:
  1. Is going from 33" to 37" and 3.73 to 4.88 in a Gladiator really worth ~$4000?
  2. Are there better upgrades that would make more economic sense?

Thanks for the input!

(Photo to show I have actually been out wheeling and learning. Just looking for other ideas or confirmation)
Jeep Gladiator Advise wanted - Offroad mods 222304629_4226807970707624_4916325224619173179_n
Sponsored

 

Cape taco12

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
252
Reaction score
279
Location
Mass
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport S
I would do sliders next even if it’s just rubicon take off ones. You can get over an obstacle without lockers or 37s, but it’s tough to unmangle the side of your truck.
 

MrJeep

Well-Known Member
First Name
Al
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Threads
11
Messages
334
Reaction score
492
Location
SE PA
Vehicle(s)
2004 Rubicon, 2020 Gobi JT Overland
You left a lot out. I'll assume this is a daily driver? Manual tranny? I would say if you are spending 4 k it would be worth it only if you did a lot of wheeling and enjoy the jeep looking bigger that much.
You should do the sway bar disconnect asap. That is a huge upgrade for very little $ off the bat. That and a rear locker are major upgrades. If you really want to wheel and it's not a daily driver you should get pure off road tires. The hybrids are fine for what they are but real off road tires like mtrs or what not make a massive difference IMHO.
 

Sponsored

bastage

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Threads
28
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
1,248
Location
Idaho
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport S w/ Max Tow
Vehicle Showcase
1
If your wheeling then don't bother re gearing without installing lockers. And before I had my lockers I found that the best upgrade I had to allow me to follow the bigger badder rigs was a full skid plate. I would scrape from one end to the other, but give zero eff's about it. That let me use a bit more skinny pedal and momentum to get over where even taller JT's with lockers couldn't/wouldn't go. Simply put I could abuse it with no worries about ripping the underside out.

Gas tank skid is missing in the image below.. But you get the idea of what I got under there.. This is the Motobilt skid system.

Jeep Gladiator Advise wanted - Offroad mods IMG_0728
 
OP
OP

Kivak

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Sounds like larger tires are still a good idea but armor and lockers seem to be getting some support. Perhaps bang for buck, tires and regear might not be the best investment in the short term? I'll have to price out some other options.

@MrJeep You're right, I forgot to mention this is an automatic and it's my daily driver. MTRs would be a bit too aggressive for me. I definitely plan to get the sway bar disconnect, but I didn't think it had such a significant performance impact. Good to know! Same with lockers. Do you have any recommendations for lockers?

@bastage Appreciate the feedback! Full armor like that looks heavy but I can certainly see the benefits. Looks like a good idea on the long wheel base because we're going to rub not matter what. I assume you recommend the Motobilt skid plates? What about locker?

Keep the feedback coming, this is great! Good ideas I haven't considered.
 

bastage

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Threads
28
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
1,248
Location
Idaho
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport S w/ Max Tow
Vehicle Showcase
1
Yes the motobilt skids are heavy. But also very low. I do recommend them if your going to put them to use. I decided on the motobilt skids because they are the only ones available at the time that covered full length on both sides and were smooth. So you can skids off of stuff. Others have sharp edges on the skids which could create more issues with getting hung up.

lockers are about a grand for each axle. But shouldn’t be much more labor then your already looking at. Adding them later means pulling the gears out and then repeating everything they did a second time. The labor is just too expensive for me to wanna pay someone to do the same thing twice.
 
OP
OP

Kivak

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport
Yes the motobilt skids are heavy. But also very low. I do recommend them if your going to put them to use. I decided on the motobilt skids because they are the only ones available at the time that covered full length on both sides and were smooth. So you can skids off of stuff. Others have sharp edges on the skids which could create more issues with getting hung up.

lockers are about a grand for each axle. But shouldn’t be much more labor then your already looking at. Adding them later means pulling the gears out and then repeating everything they did a second time. The labor is just too expensive for me to wanna pay someone to do the same thing twice.
Good point about the lockers. Do you find that air or electric are best? The mechanic I talked to at one time said air was best. He also wanted to sell me an air compressor for airing up the tires so I don't know if that was an attempt at up-selling or honest opinion.
 

bastage

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Threads
28
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
1,248
Location
Idaho
Vehicle(s)
2020 Gladiator Sport S w/ Max Tow
Vehicle Showcase
1
Good point about the lockers. Do you find that air or electric are best? The mechanic I talked to at one time said air was best. He also wanted to sell me an air compressor for airing up the tires so I don't know if that was an attempt at up-selling or honest opinion.
to my knowledge there are no aftermarket electric lockers available for these axles. unless there is something new there is arb which is air or ox which is cable actuated (there are options to make this air or electric, but my understanding is that it’s just a pneumatic or electric actuator to move the cable). I have the arb’s but there was no other option out when I did mine. Between the 2 options I think both are solid and you can’t really go wrong either way.

and if your going to go air then there is no real reason not to have the compressor work to air up your tires too.
 

Edub

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ed
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Threads
38
Messages
347
Reaction score
530
Location
Houston
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Sport S (FULL PULL)
Build Thread
Link
Occupation
Security Response Manager
you make it sounds as if this 4K is the last bit of money you will ever invest in this truck when EVERY SINGE PERSON on this thread knows damn well it will not end there lol.

Do it bit by bit. when you can afford the next step, you take it. then at the next opportunity, do the the next.

you know you want the tires, do that next. then the re-gear, then ect... And remember, your doing your part.

Just
Empty
Every
Pocket
Sponsored

 
 



Top