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Josh's Rig, Oscar.

Josh00333

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The rig, starting life from the factory as:

2021 Freedom, Bright White
Hard top
All Weather mats
Hard Top Liner
Grab Handles
Door Sills

Packages:
Tech group
Aux Switch
Conv Group
Cold Weather Group
8.4 UConect
Max Tow Package
Selec-Trac

Some of the stuff wasn't wanted but was off the lot from the dealer. Over all this was the build I wanted with selec-trac, max tow, cold weather group, led lighting and 8.4 as the main items.

End goal is a good mild off road, camping, exploring, mid size tow vehicle.

Short term plans, parts ordered:
1.5 Teraflex spacer front, 3/4" daystar rear w new mopar LCA.
285/75/r17 Toyo OC AT III's
Factory rims to satin black powder coat (this was way less than buying new rims).
Front satin black grill.
De-badge the Freedom stuff

Long term plans, performance pending:
Magnuson SC kit, after first oil change this will be installed.
Sumo Springs rear
Fox shocks


This will be paired with a 16' Mirage Hardcore toy hauler, that's currently being built. GVWR 7000, dry apx 4k.

Pics to follow!
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AKID_RBM

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Congrats Josh!!
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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425 miles later and Iā€™m home!

Washed and de badged. This windshield likes bugs šŸ˜‚

Weekend driving impressions in a little bit.

In short I love this thing.

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. A4496119-C431-4704-AD3B-AFCCF351838B
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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First weekend and first 400 miles.

My dealer was great, highly recommend Findlay in Post Falls ID. Matt my sales guy and Cam the manager were top.

Ok, off the lot, I headed to Walmart. I forethought every thing... so I thought. I ordered two real nice USB cables for my new truck and well clicked the wrong ones, got Android cables not iPhone. Bleh. Need a cable, I got a very nice camo blue one :puke:

Steering was tight, but it wandered. After Walmart got on I90 and it wandered a bunch. Drove abought 50 miles then decided to stop.

The tires has 43psi in them, as I read here that can cause handling issues Dropped them all down to 37 and the wander was all but gone. Much better.

Steering was tight, even as one member noted play, I wiggle my steering wheel the truck wiggles also. Good as any other truck I have had.

Seats, firm but up right I could not figure out how to lay the seat back. Took me a bit and another stop to find the "handle" :facepalm:. Much better.

I have the 4.10's and in stock trim the motor is peppy, revs nice, passing was absolutely no issue at all. Very impressed actually. I'm sure it will change with bigger tires and weight added.

The 8.4" Uconnect is great. I really am happy I opted for it over the 7. The Off-road pages are cool. The Carplay is great. Screen is customizable. Back up camera, wow thing is spectacular. By far the best back up camera I have had.

Handling, it's no BMW X5 or a sports car. It's defiantly soft shocked/sprung? Going over RR tracks is a breeze. Never felt unsettled in a corner but it defiantly liked to be set up for it. I drove a lot of 2 lane back country roads on my way back. I could easily take 50 mph turns at 65 mph. Rig felt planted, comfortable, with no pull left or right.

Speed, it's noisy compared to my 2018 Chevy Equinox, but on par with my 2019 Cherokee (which is an under powered pos that revs to the moon just to get out of it's own way, work car). When I say noisy I do not mean loud, but it's not as quiet and dose not have the aero of the other rigs. My rig has the factory head liner, I'm not sure how much that has to play. I had music set to vol 10 most of the time and could easily have phone calls at 70 mph.

I topped out at 95 once passing some traffic, truck again planted, compliant and happy to go there. Factory cut off is 97 mph? not sure.

Happy to report, no rock chips, but bugs galore. Farm country and a flat window = splatter.

Mileage, 20.2 mpg for the trip. Got better as time went on. I noted the rage calculator did not work right till the second fill up apx 300 miles in. Then it read right. I'm assuming it was learning what the real mpg was or there is a min average it needs.

Auto start stop is easy to turn off just set ac to Low. :idea:

Tires go on tomorrow 285/75r17's. :jk:
 

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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Pics

Pretty place Lake Coeur D'Alene, smoke all over the northwest:

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 669B861C-E66A-4AF4-B64A-65E4CF6CD563


Hellā€™s canyon. Absolutely beautiful drive but for the smoke. 2 lane was 80%of the drive back.

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 901E235E-D38A-4F2F-A239-70E4007242A3
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Tazer installed, I highly recommend getting the extended harness for later access.

Tire size set, I measured and set to the actual measurements and Speedo was off a little bought 1.25 mph low. Adj up to 33.8ā€ and am now as spot on as can get vs gps.

285/75r17 on factory wheels Toyo Open Country AT III. 4.10 gearing 75 mph in 8th right at 2100ish rpm.

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 034F3E72-4EB6-4217-B76D-59CEF4985D10
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Bed liner in!

Seems more quiet with it also? May just be my imagination.

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 24C75452-1178-4988-8720-37327BE2F803
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Truck got a name also, my Niece's decided Oscar was a good name. And per them "Well it says Oscar is it's first name on the back" referring to the Oscar Mike decal.

:LOL: So not a cool name, but I guess it works. Kind of looks like an Oscar.
 

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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Front

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. E2F1508B-A85D-496C-A396-56330DA85CF5


Rear

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 7838F226-E714-464D-9A83-ACB0ED1DFD4B


More tomorrow!
 

redman43

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Congrats.

I think this might be the one I was considering before a couple with MaxTow and SelecTrac showed up (much) closer to me in the Seattle area. I couldn't justify the extras in the Freedom trim and definitely wasn't a fan of the hood decal.
 
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Josh00333

Josh00333

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Congrats.

I think this might be the one I was considering before a couple with MaxTow and SelecTrac showed up (much) closer to me in the Seattle area. I couldn't justify the extras in the Freedom trim and definitely wasn't a fan of the hood decal.

Ya the hood badge was obnoxious lol. Came off the first day.
 

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Tazer installed, I highly recommend getting the extended harness for later access.

Tire size set, I measured and set to the actual measurements and Speedo was off a little bought 1.25 mph low. Adj up to 33.8ā€ and am now as spot on as can get vs gps.

285/75r17 on factory wheels Toyo Open Country AT III. 4.10 gearing 75 mph in 8th right at 2100ish rpm.

Jeep Gladiator Josh's Rig, Oscar. 7838F226-E714-464D-9A83-ACB0ED1DFD4B
How do you like those tires and the size? Iā€™m considering 315/70R17 due to it being more commonly available, but would prefer the narrower 285 with the higher sidewall.
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