CorvusOver
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Updated as parts are decided and arrive:
Well, I'll soon be in the Jeep club and thought this might make sense to track our progress in this journey.
Background
My wife and I are both vets and have extensive outdoor experience (rock/ice/alpine climbing and MTB) but little 4x4 experience. As we age and become physically less able we still need an outlet for exploring. Thus we decided to sell the Tundra and get a JTRD for rowdy adventures that allow us to bring the pup.
Why the Gladiator?
We want a rig that will take us to remote locations and not something that will have us run into limitations of where we can get. I considered a JLU for a moment but after seeing the trips that the folks from Epic Adventure Outfitters and The Story Till Now take I was convinced the Gladiator will go everywhere we want. We selected the diesel for both the range and torque. We don't intend to take this south of the US border so access to diesel should be fine in the US and Canada. So far we only have a VIN number. Hopefully we'll have the beast by sometime in March.
What is it for? What type of trips?
It's not intended as a major rock crawling or mudding type build. I haven't been to a mall in many years and have no intentions of going back. It will go on many shorter weekend trips, but I also intend to complete as many long trips as possible (think the Backcountry Discovery Routes, Pony Express, etc.) trips that will take you off pavement for several days or weeks. I'm doing my best to avoid the overused "O" word but that really is the aim. I am building this to be USED to get us to remote locations so low maintenance needs and high durability are priorities.
ACCC
We're both over sleeping in a ground tent and decided on an Alu-Cab Canopy Camper (ACCC). The weight isn't radically different from a topper+rooftop tent and it provides a ton of options and benefits. The height is a bit more than a low or mid rack + RTT but will offer many benefits that outweigh the mild height concern. Since we will be a bit taller I'm trying to focus heavily on keeping the center of gravity for heavy things like water low. Check out SoCalX for a similar albeit heavier build.
More to come...
- Platform - 2022 Sarge Green Rubicon
- Suspension/steering
- 3.5" Clayton Offroad Overland +
- Bilstein 5100 (the Falcon 3.3 I want has about a 8 month wait)
- Steer Smarts Yeti XD drag link
- Steer Smarts Yeti XD Tie rod
- Steer Smarts track bar relocation bracket
- Wheels
- Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT, 37x12.5x17
- Protection
- Front bumper - Hefty Fabworks
- Winch - Badlands Apex 12k
Well, I'll soon be in the Jeep club and thought this might make sense to track our progress in this journey.
Background
My wife and I are both vets and have extensive outdoor experience (rock/ice/alpine climbing and MTB) but little 4x4 experience. As we age and become physically less able we still need an outlet for exploring. Thus we decided to sell the Tundra and get a JTRD for rowdy adventures that allow us to bring the pup.
Why the Gladiator?
We want a rig that will take us to remote locations and not something that will have us run into limitations of where we can get. I considered a JLU for a moment but after seeing the trips that the folks from Epic Adventure Outfitters and The Story Till Now take I was convinced the Gladiator will go everywhere we want. We selected the diesel for both the range and torque. We don't intend to take this south of the US border so access to diesel should be fine in the US and Canada. So far we only have a VIN number. Hopefully we'll have the beast by sometime in March.
What is it for? What type of trips?
It's not intended as a major rock crawling or mudding type build. I haven't been to a mall in many years and have no intentions of going back. It will go on many shorter weekend trips, but I also intend to complete as many long trips as possible (think the Backcountry Discovery Routes, Pony Express, etc.) trips that will take you off pavement for several days or weeks. I'm doing my best to avoid the overused "O" word but that really is the aim. I am building this to be USED to get us to remote locations so low maintenance needs and high durability are priorities.
ACCC
We're both over sleeping in a ground tent and decided on an Alu-Cab Canopy Camper (ACCC). The weight isn't radically different from a topper+rooftop tent and it provides a ton of options and benefits. The height is a bit more than a low or mid rack + RTT but will offer many benefits that outweigh the mild height concern. Since we will be a bit taller I'm trying to focus heavily on keeping the center of gravity for heavy things like water low. Check out SoCalX for a similar albeit heavier build.
More to come...
Sponsored
Last edited: