Buying a gladiator for towing behind rv

[recono1063]

I’m new here but thought I would register to get this out. We traded a 19 jeep rubicon all upgraded lift wheels etc for a 23 gladiator with a Rocky Ridge package. Awesome looking gladiator. Well, not for towing behind a class A Rv. After many many hours e mailing phone calls etc we determined it’s nearly impossible to use with that package front bumper. Ricky ridge doesn’t recommend hooking to d ring tow hooks for flat tow. So, cut the bumper up or new bumper. Ridiculous !
There’s always buying a trailer now.
that wasn’t the point of buying a jeep for flat tow. If we only knew!
So there ya go. Don’t get those Ricky ridge based packages on a Jeep if you plan on flat towing on an Rv.
if anyone has any brainstorming ideas please let me know asap!
Thanks for listening and reading!

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[Retiredguy52]

Might be too late, but I had a Roadmaster base plate installed on my 20222 Gladiator to pull behind my Class A. Then I bought a Load midwidth bumper so I could put a winch on. Well…the winch plate was just a skosh too wide with the baseplate which I didn’t want to lose because of cost and already dialed in. So I finagled getting the winch plate in place but two side bolts weren’t going to work, but was very close so we welded it in place on the base plate brackets on the frame. Hard to maybe picture but it works. Always a way to make stuff work. Next project is to get the front skid plate and adapt it with the baseplate hooks and electric connector.

 

[Retiredguy52]

And thinking about it, you would probably be ahead money wise buying an LoD bumper package than a baseplate install. LoD is one of the few that is approved for flat tow.

 

[recono1063]

Might be too late, but I had a Roadmaster base plate installed on my 20222 Gladiator to pull behind my Class A. Then I bought a Load midwidth bumper so I could put a winch on. Well…the winch plate was just a skosh too wide with the baseplate which I didn’t want to lose because of cost and already dialed in. So I finagled getting the winch plate in place but two side bolts weren’t going to work, but was very close so we welded it in place on the base plate brackets on the frame. Hard to maybe picture but it works. Always a way to make stuff work. Next project is to get the front skid plate and adapt it with the baseplate hooks and electric connector.

not after paying that much money for it. I’m not cutting a bumper or. Using a new one for it. Have to go on trailer or I’ll take a different form of transport with

 

[TheSolarWizard]

these are definitely not advertised as a flat tow compliant. Sell that bumper on fb marketplace or here and get one from Next Venture thats ready for Toad out of the box

https://nextventuremotorsports.com/collections/jeep-gladiator-jt-bumpers

I just installed their fenders on my jeep and it came with a discount for another purchase. As I have different bumpers already you’re welcome to it if youd like

 

[recono1063]

Thanks

 

[RCott77]

Yeah....I did a lot of research before buying my bumper. I ended up going with the Rock Hard 4x4 Aluminum Added the BlueOx adapter and never looked back.

 

[21JTRUBI]

these are definitely not advertised as a flat tow compliant. Sell that bumper on fb marketplace or here and get one from Next Venture thats ready for Toad out of the box

https://nextventuremotorsports.com/collections/jeep-gladiator-jt-bumpers

I just installed their fenders on my jeep and it came with a discount for another purchase. As I have different bumpers already you’re welcome to it if youd like

I have the Next Venture bumper on mine, great guys and looks awesome. Works great and super easy to use with the tow bars.

 

[robburns76]

Yeah....I did a lot of research before buying my bumper. I ended up going with the Rock Hard 4x4 Aluminum Added the BlueOx adapter and never looked back.

I'll 2nd this - did the exact same thing

 

[recono1063]

Yeah....I did a lot of research before buying my bumper. I ended up going with the Rock Hard 4x4 Aluminum Added the BlueOx adapter and never looked back.

How hard was it to change bumper out? I know mine is different than the stock one. If I would of known I would of never bought it and kept my JL

 

[RCott77]

How hard was it to change bumper out?

It wasn't terrible. The hardest part was dealing with the stock bumper and the plastic panel behind it. Chances are you will only have the bolts that hold it into the frame horn provided they kept all the stock hardware and didn't make any modifications.

 

[TheSolarWizard]

I have the Next Venture bumper on mine, great guys and looks awesome. Works great and super easy to use with the tow bars.

They are super great people!. Their ingenuity and quality is only rivaled by a handful of companies in the industry

 

[TheSolarWizard]

How hard was it to change bumper out? I know mine is different than the stock one. If I would of known I would of never bought it and kept my JL

That particular bumper you have appears to be a multi-piece design so it’ll take some time to disassemble and it appears to be heavy so you’ll need another pair of hands to assist.
if you are pretty handy id assume it would ~ 3 hrs to pull yours off and install one of the 2 piece bumpers I linked or even one of the rockhard ones but the rockhards will need an adapter, wheras the ones I linked are plug and play flat tow compatible

 

[robburns76]

How hard was it to change bumper out? I know mine is different than the stock one. If I would of known I would of never bought it and kept my JL

it was 4 years ago, but think it took me maybe 30 -60 min. was rather easy IIRC.

 

[recono1063]

I’ve looked at the guts of this bumper and it’s actually all set up for a winch etc. it had the heavy duty d rings with one inch pins Don’t really know how it couldn’t work? (Scratching my head) bumper itself is attached at numerous points to frame rails.
so I get that these companies don’t want to say that it can be used for towing because they don’t want liability. I’m tempted to go to a certified welder and ask about the welds and d rings. Oh well!

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