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OVRLND_G8R

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Nice build! Can’t wait to see the solar panels done :like:
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TheHops

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Nice build! Can’t wait to see the solar panels done :like:
Thanks! You and me both! :rock: The solar setup is all assembled, just sitting in my garage looking lonely.

The front rack is kind of taking a back seat right now, since it's not really critical to the core function of the build. Unless I'm going *really* remote, for now, the spare fuel and solar panels that will live on that front rack are a luxury. As of right now, I don't have any trips planned where having the extra range and battery maintenance would be an absolute necessity. I'll absolutely be implementing all of that once the mod budget frees up, but for now all of the core components are in place so I'm not really stressing over it.
 
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TheHops

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The BuiltRight bed setup is installed! Everything fits well, and I'm very happy with the product itself. Unfortunately, Line-X didn't listen to me and forgot to plug the holes. Two of my twelve bed holes were unusable. I sheared a bolt off in one, and the threads never caught in the other. Both issues were on the right rail, the two center holes, but the rail still feels quite solid. It is flexing upwards a little from the force of my camper shell clamps, but once I load the panels down I expect it will balance out a little. I may drill my own holes to reinforce it if I see any issues, but for now it's solid.

I plan to mount gear as follows:

Left - Axe, hatchet, shovel, on quickfist clamps, and a fire extinguisher.

Rear - Traction boards, recovery gear/straps/chains, rope, gloves

Right - Eventual hi-lift with jack base (or other undecided off-road friendly jack setup), and a propane tank mount (depending on space available...I'll have to mock it up).

I'll probably be running to the hardware store this weekend for the quickfist hardware and some other odds and ends. I'm planning a trip for Christmas timeframe, so I'm trying to finalize some of the essentials before then.

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201210_131301
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201210_131306
 

sarguy1941

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Been looking at the overland but can't seem to find the locking clamp like you used. I see Garmin on it but can't find in on the site ?
 
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Been looking at the overland but can't seem to find the locking clamp like you used. I see Garmin on it but can't find in on the site ?
It's a RAM mount, not an official Garmin accessory. This is the one that I used:

https://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-HOL-GA75LU

It's very solid. The magnet on the back of the Overlander is probably enough honestly, but the cradle gives me a bit extra peace of mind for off road.
 

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It has actually been a pretty busy week of knocking out some small, but important mods. I'm kind of picking off targets of opportunity as I get closer to the trip that I have planned out west over Christmas. I'm planning on spending a few days on the AR portion of the TAT (Trans-America Trail), camping and running trails throughout the Ozarks, before heading to do parts of OK again (I've done the OK TAT piece in its entirety) enroute to CO. If I have enough time, I may swing wide through AZ and UT to hit the Grand Canyon and Moab before hopping on I-70 to link up with some friends in Denver.

Anyway, back to the mods. I did a fair bit of work in the bed the past couple of days trying to clean up my recovery setup. I still don't have a suitable off road jack. I think I will end up going with a hi-lift for now. I'd rather have something and not need it, after all, even if it can be a dangerous, pain in the ass to operate. I'll also throw in a second fire extinguisher for the bed. That will go on the right side bed panels (not pictured), but here is the bed as it sits right now. Don't mind the stray wires from a mod in progress.

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201212_170416


On the left, I have a set of work gloves, a shovel, a splitting axe and a hatchet, mounted with quickfists bolted to the panel. On the rear panels I have 4 mini traction boards, a kinetic rope, two tree saver straps and two recovery straps, all secured with four 4 ft long "endless" ratchet straps. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Now then, about those stray wires pictured above: Having added the panels (which sort of block the stock bed lights) and with a lot of gear planned to live in the bed, I need more lighting in the cargo area. I found a set of solid rock lights on amazon that ended up fitting the bill just right. The below picture is kind of a proof of concept (I just tapped the leads on to a battery to check them out), but within the next couple of days I'll be wiring these to the stock bed lights. I'll have a brief writeup/how-to once I'm done. It looks to be very straightforward. There will be 8 in total, 4 on each side of the roof mounted with double sided adhesive.

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread VideoCapture_20201212-152249


Speaking of lights, that brings me to my last and most extensive recent mod: Wiring my left and right facing lights on my frontrunner rack. I found a great spot for them where the light mounting hardware actually integrates with the rack mounting feet, becoming a structural part of the rack itself. It creates an underslung, flush mount, and it's exactly what I wanted. I ran them all the way to the front to my sPOD, where each side has its own dedicated switch. When I add the front roof rack, I'll be adding in one more light per side in a similar configuration. These nighttime pictures are pretty poor, but it should give an idea:

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201212_173835
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201212_173854
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201212_173937


And that's all for updates for now! I'll be deciding on whether or not to rush to complete my bed fridge slide before the trip, or just to tie it down for the time being. I have a pretty cool idea for integrating the slide, but I just don't know if I'll have the time prior to leaving. We'll see how it goes!
 
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I completed the aux bed lighting today. Here's my writeup!

What I used:

-Set of lights (with approximately 20ft of wiring)
-Fasteners for the lights (either double sided tape, or screws)
-Four red Posi-Taps
-Heat shrink
-Heat gun
-Wiring pliers
-Zip ties
-Wire hanger
-Tape

I found this set of lights on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YZFN925/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

20201212_145526.jpg
20201212_145553.jpg


The package came with 8 total lights, two sets of 4 lights that are wired together. They are backed with double sided adhesive tape. The lights are very light, and the tape holds solid. They also come with a 2 year warranty. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality. This is the first set of lights that I ordered to try for my application, and they ended up fitting perfectly. This whole project cost me less than $20.

I started off by choosing a location. I knew I wanted the lights up high for an evenly distributed, diffused pattern over the cargo area, so I went straight to the ceiling of my SmartCap. There is a lip that runs the length of the roof, which also happens to have pass-throughs between hollow crossmembers. This ended up working perfectly, because I could route the wiring in between these pass-throughs, and tuck all excess cordage inside of the hollow crossmembers.

20201212_150427.jpg
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Before sticking down the lights, I tapped the leads on to a spare battery to ensure that output and spread was sufficient in this location. I tested during daylight, and after sunset. These lights pump out a surprising amount of light, as the entire bed was illuminated. Having checked that, I began sticking down the lights and routing the wiring.

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I ran the wiring along the ceiling, and then through an existing hole in my RSI Smart Cap. I punched a hole through the gasket, and dropped the wires down to hide behind the front flange of the shell, before routing the wires out of another existing hole in the bed.

20201213_125431.jpg


From there, the wires dropped between the bed and the cab. I fished them out and down to the ground with a hook on the end of a wire hanger, and decided how to route. Riding across the inside of the plastic fender liner seemed to be the best way, as it would keep the wires hidden and protect the wiring from debris. With my trusty wire hanger in hand, I taped the leads, made a slight bend, and fished up through the fender well.

20201213_135133.jpg
20201213_135148.jpg


Once the leads were on the rear side of the fender well, I identified the bed light/cargo light harness. It's very easy to find--just follow from where the light is. It is the only harness leading to that location, and there are only two wires associated with it. On the driver side, your positive is brown-ish/yellow-ish (I had a hard time telling through the mud), and ground is black. On your passenger side, the positive is red, and the ground is black.

20201212_152951.jpg


Once identifying the correct harness, I got the Posi-Taps ready. I set up one on each wire to ensure I had the correct positive and negative wires. I verified with my my multimeter by hitting the unlock button on the key fob to activate the cargo lights.

20201213_132330.jpg


Once I was sure that I had good connections, I cut the new light wires to length, being sure to leave about a half a foot of slack, then zip tied them to the stock harness to keep them out of the way and make them easier to identify in the future. I connected them to the Posi-Taps and tested the new lights by hitting the key fob again, and once I ensured everything was good, I hit them with heat shrink. Though it's not a 100% waterproof connection, it's pretty damn close, and I don't anticipate any issues, even though I seem to get a fair bit of mud and grit in this location. The good thing about Posi-Taps is that they're easy to remove, so if I have any issues I can rehab the connection and reuse the same connector.

20201213_141329.jpg


After repeating the process on both sides, I made sure I trimmed my two zip ties, checked all wiring for tolerance and tucked everything away. The end result is a completely hidden install off of the stock function that provides plenty of light output, even during the day.

20201213_142029.jpg
 

MikeInMo

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After first seeing your RSI review thread (thanks again for posting the profile pic), I've been reading your build thread over the last couple of days, and all I can say is you are doing an amazing job. You are doing exactly the kind of build I want to do once I pull the trigger on a Gladiator. Longer trips on the TAT and similar are exactly what I want to be able to do while maintaining DD capability. You've got a great template for me to follow later. Can't wait to see the front rack solar set up.
 
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TheHops

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After first seeing your RSI review thread (thanks again for posting the profile pic), I've been reading your build thread over the last couple of days, and all I can say is you are doing an amazing job. You are doing exactly the kind of build I want to do once I pull the trigger on a Gladiator. Longer trips on the TAT and similar are exactly what I want to be able to do while maintaining DD capability. You've got a great template for me to follow later. Can't wait to see the front rack solar set up.
No problem at all. And thanks Mike! My core theme was to build something that can go just about anywhere, for an extended period of time, while at the same time not looking completely out of place/losing function on the road. That means no massive lift; no monster tires, and respectable economy. This is my daily driver, and let's be honest...most dailies spend 95%+ of their time on the road, making hardware store runs, grabbing groceries, heading to and from work, etc. But that 5% of the time that I spend off-grid is just as meaningful to me as the other 95%, if not more. Exploring and spending time outdoors is how I recharge, so it was important for my Jeep to be able to facilitate that.

I can't wait to get the solar setup knocked out. I'm hoping that everything ends up fitting as envisioned. I measured, measured, and measured again (and again), so on paper everything fits, but we'll see. The front rack is going to be an important part of my build, but I've pretty much tapped out my mod budget for now so it's going to have to wait for a couple of months. It's kind of a bummer, because I have everything ready to go on it, but no rack! I think I made the right decision though, budgeting for the rear rack first.

Looking forward to you getting your JT and following your build as well. Let me know if you have any questions or anything.
 

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Watching your build. Thanks, much. Will be prepping mine for overlanding soon. Keep up the great work...maybe see ya on the trail!
 

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Watching your build. Thanks, much. Will be prepping mine for overlanding soon. Keep up the great work...maybe see ya on the trail!
Glad you're enjoying! I appreciate it!

Hope to see you out there.
 
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I feel like I've been spending more time crawling around in the truck bed lately than I have been sitting in the driver's seat.

I hit my last must-do checklist item prior to heading off on my trip next week: Relocating my 12v fridge port from behind the rear seat to the bed. After considering two ports, and numerous locations for mounting the port, I decided to stick with my original ARB port in the pictured location. It's not a flush mount like I had planned, but I think it's still very clean. Instead of drilling out the side of the bed and exposing bare connections to the elements between the bed side and the fender, all it took was two self-tapping screws, so I think that's a win just by itself.

I still have it wired to the studs on my inverter, so it's still controlled/protected by the 50a circuit breaker under the hood. Adjustments made were minimal. The only other thing I had to do was drill out a small hole in the access panel that I originally had my ARB port mounted to so I could pass wires through it. From there, I just ran the wires out of the rear driver side cabin vent, under the bed and up through the access hole in the bed that is behind the front drivers side D ring in the bed. All of the wiring is well hidden, and the port itself is hidden behind my shovel when mounted.

20201218_172915.jpg
20201218_173401.jpg
20201219_130011.jpg
20201219_130117.jpg
20201219_130127.jpg
20201219_130227.jpg


I'm happy with the location that I decided on, because that slope on the side of the bed is otherwise unused space. It also keeps the port fairly well hidden, and in a spot where it won't be damaged.

With that, I'm happy with the build as-is for my holiday shakedown trip out west. I wish I had had time to integrate the fridge slide, but I'll have to wait until the next trip to test that out.

20201218_163445.jpg


I wish all of you and yours happy and safe holidays. Enjoy!
 

Mac Attack

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I feel like I've been spending more time crawling around in the truck bed lately than I have been sitting in the driver's seat.

I hit my last must-do checklist item prior to heading off on my trip next week: Relocating my 12v fridge port from behind the rear seat to the bed. After considering two ports, and numerous locations for mounting the port, I decided to stick with my original ARB port in the pictured location. It's not a flush mount like I had planned, but I think it's still very clean. Instead of drilling out the side of the bed and exposing bare connections to the elements between the bed side and the fender, all it took was two self-tapping screws, so I think that's a win just by itself.

I still have it wired to the studs on my inverter, so it's still controlled/protected by the 50a circuit breaker under the hood. Adjustments made were minimal. The only other thing I had to do was drill out a small hole in the access panel that I originally had my ARB port mounted to so I could pass wires through it. From there, I just ran the wires out of the rear driver side cabin vent, under the bed and up through the access hole in the bed that is behind the front drivers side D ring in the bed. All of the wiring is well hidden, and the port itself is hidden behind my shovel when mounted.

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445


I'm happy with the location that I decided on, because that slope on the side of the bed is otherwise unused space. It also keeps the port fairly well hidden, and in a spot where it won't be damaged.

With that, I'm happy with the build as-is for my holiday shakedown trip out west. I wish I had had time to integrate the fridge slide, but I'll have to wait until the next trip to test that out.

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201218_163445


I wish all of you and yours happy and safe holidays. Enjoy!
And to you also, have a Great, Safe Christmas and New Years! And, you were right, that is a big frig...how many liters?
 
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And to you also, have a Great, Safe Christmas and New Years! And, you were right, that is a big frig...how many liters?
Thanks man!

It's the 95 liter CFX, dual-zone. I definitely would have gone smaller, but I got it for a relative steal of a deal brand new about a year and a half ago.
 
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I completed my 3-day/night shakedown trip through the Arkansas backcountry. I completed roughly 300 miles of dirt and trail, and stuck to free dispersed/primitive camping sites. The majority of my pictures and footage are on my GoPro, DSLR and drone, but I have a handful of phone pictures I'll dump below.

It was a great quick trip. I figured out what my build does well, and where it needs some fine-tuning. I definitely have a few things that I'll be addressing before my next outing. Overall though, I was very pleased with the capability of the build. I'll be putting together a trip log over the next couple of weeks. Feel free to keep an eye on my YouTube channel if interested! https://youtube.com/channel/UC1878vz1cer11modr9SUwYw

Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_134143
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_080106
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_144058
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_162813
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_172011
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201227_173816
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_065952
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_073503
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_074138
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_080849
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_083618
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_100947
Jeep Gladiator Ares - Build Thread 20201228_144732


Can't wait for the next trip! I'd like to complete the TN leg of the Trans-America Trail next, or hit the Kentucky Adventure Tour early spring--something close to home. We'll see!
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