BuiltRight's 2020 Gladiator Build Thread

[sad85XD]

They're a stiff rubber.

I don't know if I posted these here yet, but I got all of the prototype gear installed and am really happy with it. Going to make some changes to accommodate the Trail Rail system, but as a concept, these are great. Here's some photos of the first gen prototypes.

On the driver's side, I've got a fire extinguisher and my Krazy Beaver Tools shovel, secured using a pair of our Riser Mounts.

On the Passenger's side, I've got a pair of our Super Clamp Riser Mounts securing a tie down strap and our Rotopax Adapter Bracket along with a Rotopax mount and gear can.

Next, time to pull it all off so that I can install the Mopar Trail Rail kit!

Matt

WANT. ALL. OF. THAT.

BEAUTIFUL

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[steffen707]

Alright, so I finally got the Trail Rail kit that I pre-ordered a while back and had some time to strip all of the gear out of my bed and install them.

Initial impressions are that I always like receiving something that's packaged well and this fits the bill. No bells and whistles, but the pre-cut foam inserts did their job well. Removing one of the rails led to another surprise - these things are beefy! I was relieve to see this, as I'm hoping to mount my low-rise bed rack directly to the rail for reasons both obvious and not (I'll address that in a different post). The kit includes three rails and all necessary hardware. Tools necessary were a T30 torx socket, a torque wrench and a wrench and socket to fit the makeshift nutsert tool I'm about to show you.

Loved that they used a small amount of foam to protect the paint surface during installation. They also have push clips permanently installed, which as far as I can tell serve only to help initial positioning and single-handed installation, which turned out to be really nice.

And a look into the end of the aluminum extrusion with an end cap removed. Nothing much to see.

Installation

The first step in the installation (well, I suppose you could install the front rail first, but that's boring) is to install the nutsert that Mopar includes in the kit on each side. This fills the hexagonal cutout in the pillar at the rear of the bed, near the tailgate. I don't understand why they didn't just install a threaded insert from the factory like the other holes, but whatever.

This thing sorta sucks. The nutsert that they include is cleverly hexagonal as well and fits snuggly into the cutout in the truck.

That's where the fun stops. Instructions say to use one of the included fasteners to install the nutsert. Basically, you tighten it down, it bunches up the sleeve and locks the nutsert into place (see illustration). That's great, if the nutsert doesn't just deform and spin inside of it's hexagonal cutout. Womp womp. Now the nutsert is stuck in place but also spinning and useless.

Luckily, I've had some experience with these things and know that they don't need to be hexagonally shaped to work. In fact, most are round. The idea is to keep the insert from spinning and 'pull' the threaded portion back out towards you, sandwhiching the panel. We can accomplish this with a nut, bolt and washer in the configuration below. This is M6x1.0 hardware.

With the bolt threaded all the way into the insert, we push the insert into place (or install in place, if you get stuck like me). Next, use a socket to hold the end of the bolt and keep it and the insert from spinning in place. Then, tighten the nut against the insert and keep going. This should require firm force, but nothing near your body weight. as you tighten the nut down, the bolt will be pulled towards you, along with the threaded portion of the insert. This creates the sandwhich we need. When the effort required increased, I called it good.

With that, we can proceed with the rest of the very simple installation. Each rail has four T30 torx fasteners and the instructions call for a Torque in the neighborhood of 10NM. This is pretty important, I've found, as they rails are meant to hold a pretty decent weight. Under torquing can mean that the rail isn't transferring the load into the bedside wall as intended. Too much torque and you might over-stretch the fastener, causing or initiating early failure. Anyway, if you have a torque wrench, use it. if not, use this as an excuse to buy one.

That's all for now!

Matt

OMG! Why didn't they weld in that nut at the factory? did you just have to do 1 nutzert per side? what about the other fasteners?

 

[BuiltRight]

OMG! Why didn't they weld in that nut at the factory? did you just have to do 1 nutzert per side? what about the other fasteners?

Yea, dunno. I think they did the same thing in the RAM for all of the inserts, so I'll poke around and see if those guys have any issues. On the JT, it's just two of the nutserts and actually, they don't seem important. They bolt to the plastic end cap of the rail. The rest of the mounting points have permanently installed threaded weld nuts of some kind.

Matt

 

[steffen707]

Yea, dunno. I think they did the same thing in the RAM for all of the inserts, so I'll poke around and see if those guys have any issues. On the JT, it's just two of the nutserts and actually, they don't seem important. They bolt to the plastic end cap of the rail. The rest of the mounting points have permanently installed threaded weld nuts of some kind.

Matt

can you still use a tool like this to install it? i don't see why not if you can thread the nutsert on
https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-2...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ATQGPJWZN3Q8FZTWM7GG

do you know the thread of the nutsert?

 

[BuiltRight]

can you still use a tool like this to install it? i don't see why not if you can thread the nutsert on

do you know the thread of the nutsert?

Yea, I don't see why not. I've actually got one similar, but it's currently at my home garage vs. work.

Nutsert threads as well as the other threaded features in the bed are M6x1.0.

Matt

 

[Pion]

I think the plug goes on top of the mat rather than under. That would keep the mat water tight (for amounts of water that aren't sloshing over the edges - maybe winter melt and such). Opening it should drain out without hitting carpet below. At least that's how I put mine in.

 

[sad85XD]

Do you have a link from where you got these rails?

 

[BuiltRight]

I think the plug goes on top of the mat rather than under. That would keep the mat water tight (for amounts of water that aren't sloshing over the edges - maybe winter melt and such). Opening it should drain out without hitting carpet below. At least that's how I put mine in.

Yep, I'm that's correct, I just didn't have the time to finish the install. Out in the NE, will definitely need to be water tight.

Do you have a link from where you got these rails?

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/trail-rail-cargo-management-system-jeep-gladiator-jt-82215956

Matt

 

[BuiltRight]

One of the other products that I make are these 'Tech Panels'. These have a heavy duty hook (velcro-like) material on the backside that attached to any carpeted surface. I make them in three sizes, but am thinking about making some custom ones to fit the exact profile of my seat backs. I was glad to see that the large size fits the seat back well though. Gotta order up some more MOLLE pouches and an extra first aid kit to keep in the Gladiator now, but I thought I'd snap a couple pics. Releasing a new coyote tan color today as well.

If you guys are interested in trying them out, I just made a coupon code (JTBROS) that'll work for the next 48hrs and apply a bit of a discount to your order on our website.

Happy Monday!

Matt

 

[steffen707]

One of the other products that I make are these 'Tech Panels'. These have a heavy duty hook (velcro-like) material on the backside that attached to any carpeted surface. I make them in three sizes, but am thinking about making some custom ones to fit the exact profile of my seat backs. I was glad to see that the large size fits the seat back well though. Gotta order up some more MOLLE pouches and an extra first aid kit to keep in the Gladiator now, but I thought I'd snap a couple pics. Releasing a new coyote tan color today as well.

If you guys are interested in trying them out, I just made a coupon code (JTBROS) that'll work for the next 48hrs and apply a bit of a discount to your order on our website.

Happy Monday!

Matt

DUDE!!!!
Custom contoured to the JT would be great. what's the D ring thing. black has 2, khaki has 1.

This in OLIVE DRAB PLEASE! Start another "who's interested" thread on this and make me FIRST!

 

[steffen707]

Also keep up the use of ultra-high res photos. I love clicking on them and zooming in to see every detail. lol

 

[furrymurray]

The D-rings look to be removeable? If so that is very cool!

 

[OcmulgeeOgre]

One of the other products that I make are these 'Tech Panels'. These have a heavy duty hook (velcro-like) material on the backside that attached to any carpeted surface. I make them in three sizes, but am thinking about making some custom ones to fit the exact profile of my seat backs. I was glad to see that the large size fits the seat back well though. Gotta order up some more MOLLE pouches and an extra first aid kit to keep in the Gladiator now, but I thought I'd snap a couple pics. Releasing a new coyote tan color today as well.

If you guys are interested in trying them out, I just made a coupon code (JTBROS) that'll work for the next 48hrs and apply a bit of a discount to your order on our website.

Happy Monday!

Matt

Just purchased a set. Thanks for the discount!

 

[Pat2Alaska]

The D-rings look to be removeable? If so that is very cool!

Grimloc D-rings for molle.

 

[JP1]

One of the other products that I make are these 'Tech Panels'. These have a heavy duty hook (velcro-like) material on the backside that attached to any carpeted surface. I make them in three sizes, but am thinking about making some custom ones to fit the exact profile of my seat backs. I was glad to see that the large size fits the seat back well though. Gotta order up some more MOLLE pouches and an extra first aid kit to keep in the Gladiator now, but I thought I'd snap a couple pics. Releasing a new coyote tan color today as well.

If you guys are interested in trying them out, I just made a coupon code (JTBROS) that'll work for the next 48hrs and apply a bit of a discount to your order on our website.

Happy Monday!

Matt

FUCKIT, good enough for me, I'M IN...
ORDERED x2...

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