Ragbagger’s 23 Sport S

[Ragbagger]

I bought a ‘23 Sport S with Max Tow a few weeks ago and it seems like keeping a journal is a great idea. So this initial post is a dump of all the little stuff I’ve done so far. She’’ll be a “beach” jeep mostly for cruising the coast. On road, we aren’t allowed to drive on the beach here. Plus, being my daily driver and occasionally towing my sailboat I don’t want to go too crazy with mods.

Right after I bought it, I got some rubrails off of Facebook Marketplace and added them. Mostly for the looks, the exposed pinch weld really bothered me.

While my state techincally only requires one rear mirror, I wanted my side mirrors for doors off. So I bought the Joytutus ones available on Amazon. Overall I like them. Once you crank the hardware down they don’t vibrate too badly. But I think better bolts are needed. I’m afraid they are gonna strip with repeated use.

I’ve been pleased with them, but then I went and did something a little silly and bought some trail doors. I think of them more as “going around town doors” to keep things contained a little better than naked. Another facebook find, these are Body Armor Gen III doors. They need a little clean up. And now I want mirrors for the doors instead of on the A pillar… still looking for that. Maybe some TJ style ones?

So far I’ve spent more time with the doors and top off than on, and needed a storage solution. Thanks to all you old hands and a nice thread on the forum I built this cart. I don’t have a good finished picture but I added indoor/outdoor carpet and casters to finish it off. I think it’s a temporary solution until I get my garage cleaned out and I can hang the top from the ceiling.

The youngest child was having a little trouble getting in at first, so I made a quick and dirty addition out of an old dog leash to help him out:

I’ve also bought a bunch of junk on Amazon - a couple of those organizers that add pockets around the shifter and in front of the center console, door pin guides, a lightweight rain cover, covers for the exterior keyholes (the silver really stood out to me and drove me crazy), and covers for the door locks to go with the dark them. The plastic stuff - whatever. There’s no real added value, but, it darkens things up which makes me happy. The door pins guides seem nice but I haven’t kept the doors on long enough to really judge.

I’m happy with the rain cover so far. It’s lightweight and when it’s in its storage bag it fits nicely under a seat. I’m fairly certain if I used it long term the sun would tear it up. But it’s about perfect for carrying around when pop up showers hit. Water pools on top of the cover over the front seats - I’ve been playing with adding support up there (pool noodle, length of PVC pipe both helped). When the straps are adjusted I can make it fit with the roof on or off. While it mostly works with the Joytutus mirrors, I’ve found it’s easier to fold them in instead.

I’ve added Alien sunshades. This is one of my favorite accessories so far with one exception. Two of the bungees for the back shade are really really tight, thing guitar string. I might buy some cord and make them a smidge longer. The front shade is solid at highway speeds. The rear of the back one flaps a little, but I only notice it if I’m looking for it. Overall I’m very pleased, especially since most of my driving isn’t anywhere near highway speeds.

I WAS planning on a few more mods. But then I blew my budget plus some on this accessory:

After driving the Gladiator my wife loved it so much she decided she wanted a Wrangler. We found a 2019 in great shape. Other than 33’s, and katzkin seat covers it’s almost all stock which makes me happy. The bottom is so clean I don’t think it’s ever been off pavement. So anyway, I bought it and now some of my Gladiator wants and wishes are gonna be delayed.

Plus I need to tow my boat a bit before I go changing things up. Get a feel for the stock setup. The loaded boat/trailer is around the 5000 pound mark after accounting for gas, gear etc. Lesser on day and weekend trips, maybe a little more when we take long trips. Living on the coast the towing is flat and most of the ramps we use are within 15 to 20 minutes of the house. It’s not an hard tow by any means, and my old Honda Ridgeline towed it just fine so I don’t think we’ll have any issues.

Wishlist:

I really would like to put a leveling kit and 33’s on the Gladiator. But we’ll see after some towing. And since we bought the Wrangler my budget is a lot tighter so I’m gonna put that decision off a bit. I was dreaming of aftermarket wheels with an old school look, now I’m leaning towards buying some Rubicon takeoffs with the Falken Wildpeaks.

EDIT: I forgot to mention a tonneau cover. I had a Bakflip on my last truck and really liked it overall. But I’m thinking I’m gonna go with a soft roll up for the Gladiator for now. I don’t keep anything of value back there so don’t need the security of a hard cover.

I wasn’t initially planning on much trail riding but my wife has really gotten into the idea. We’re going to a meet and greet with one of the local jeep clubs tomorrow. They have group ride later this month they say is stock jeep friendly. We might do that with them to dip our toes in.

We’re gonna need some basic recovery gear if we decide to get into the trail riding thing, especially by ourselves. I’ve been reading a lot on here, and elsewhere. I’m just not sure how deep I want to go yet. When I was a teenager way back when in my old CJ5, a shovel and chain, and some scrap wood got us out of most of the trouble we got in. What’s today’s version? A shovel and good snatch strap, couple soft shackles? Maybe some traction boards. Oh, and a semi decent air compressor. I’d like to see if we are gonna stick with it before I go adding things like bumpers and winches to either vehicle. Being real, I think most of our “off-roading” will be pretty lightweight stuff. Mostly dirt and gravel roads, but some of them in the nearby areas can get ugly enough there is the potential to get stuck after a good rain. So I feel like we need at least the basics to allow one jeep to recover the other, for safety.

Then there’s decals. My wife has a cricut and she’s not afraid to use it… lord help me. Both jeeps are a blank canvas so this could be fun. I want a little pop on the Gladiator. The black needs something. I’ve been mulling over ideas that tie in with my love of the water and sailing. So far my leading contenders are Slack Tide or Off Course. The Wrangler came out with a High Tide edition. I’m thinking my Gladiator might be a “Slack Tide” edition equipped my way for fun and relaxation - you know, slacking off. I’m gonna let that idea marinate a bit more. Someone suggested either Black Water or Black Tide but that’s a little too on the nose for me. Plus black water reminds me of emptying the head on my boat. YUCK!

That’s quite the text dump, and my kids are awake (and begging to go for a ride) so I better wrap this up How about one more picture just for fun. Out of all the combinations of doors/top on/off so far this is my favorite. Naked with the sunshades installed. It gets hot down here on the coast!

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. More to come as I add, modify, maintain, whatever.

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[Freems]

If you still working on your mirrors, Try put your OEM mirror on your tube doors, it looks like your doors are predrilled for the factory mirrors

 

[Ragbagger]

If you still working on your mirrors, Try put your OEM mirror on your tube doors, it looks like your doors are predrilled for the factory mirrors

Yes sir, they have a standard 3 hole pattern I think.

 

[Ragbagger]

I changed the oil today at 5761 miles. The oil life indicator was only down to about 30% but I felt it needed to be done. Used Mopar Filter M349 and Pennzoil Platinum Plus 0w-20.

Rotated the tires following the OEM pattern, torqued to 130 ft/lbs on reinstall.

And while I was at it I gave everything a good once over, air filter still looks good, no issues on the oil change interval checklist that I can see. I tightened the battery lugs up a skosh and called it a day.

 

[Ragbagger]

I noticed when it rained the other day, I got a little bit of rusty water drip from inside one of the doors. It was missing one of the rubber grommets when I bought them, I guess that’s how the water got in. I popped the rubber caps off all the doors and flushed them out with water (the other three ran clear but that one did push some rusty water out first), then blew them out with air, and let them sit in the sun for a few hours. After drying, I sprayed some T9 boeshield in them, and blew air in to kind of push it around as best I could. Gonna leave all the caps off for a couple days to make sure they’re dry. I also found some grommets at my local Ace that fit the holes, so now I have a few extras on hand if needed.

I’m wondering about putting a little oil in them and rolling it around to coat the inside. Might work better than trying to spray something in there.

The back passenger door latch was bent a little when I bought them, sometimes causing it to not function properly. I used a heat gun and a pair of pliers to straighten the handle back up so now it strikes like it’s supposed to. But I goobered up the paint a little and I touched that up with a bit of black nail polish. It’s darn near a perfect match.

Since the nail polish worked so well on the latch, I touched up the bolts on one door with it as a test. Seems ok. If it lasts any decent amount of time I’ll do the rest.

I also cleaned up the threads on the hinge bolts since they were a little cruddy, using a nylon brush and coated them with Woody Wax. If it’s good enough for my boat, it’s probably good enough for this.

 

[Ragbagger]

We went on some trails this weekend and I learned a lot about my Gladiator. Stock, it’s more capable than I appreciated. We took a few photos and videos but not many as we were mostly learning our Jeeps.

So I learned some lessons, and have tweaked my build path a bit. The “Just Empty Every Pocket” begins:

I’ve found a set of Rubicon take off wheels with Wildpeak A/T’s on marketplace I’m picking up today. While the stock Dueler’s surprised me on the trail (they did great) I want the extra little bit of height. I’m undecided on whether to do a leveling kit or not since I actually do truck stuff from time to time too. I’ll run the takeoff wheels as is for a bit before deciding.

I’ve also ordered a OBDlink mx4 (and security bypass cable) to use with Jscan. In addition to calibrating for the larger wheels on both Jeeps, there are some more features I think we’ll find helpful as we build them out.

I’ve also been looking at tire inflation options. We didn’t air down last weekend but there were some spots it really would have been nice. I can’t decide if it would be better to get two less expensive compressors (one for each vehicle) or buy a higher quality one and use it on both. Onboard is going to be out of the budget.

We’re doing a trail ride this weekend with a local group which should be fun. But I see us going on our own more than with a group, so I’m also thinking recovery, especially the way my wife drives the Wrangler (II’m much more cautious than she is, I admit).

Living at the beach I’ve always kept a tow strap and shovel in all my vehicles (Tourists have a habit of pulling their minivans off in the sand and I’ve pulled out more than my fair share over the years). I’ve got a kinetic strap and a couple soft shackles on the way for us to add to the kit. Between that, and our usual stuff we really should be ok for a while. But we’re also discussing adding a winch to one of the Jeeps In the nearish future. I’ll probably do the Wrangler for a variety of reasons, the main one being I think if we decided to take just one Jeep out it would be the choice.

And one more small upgrade will happen soon, maybe this week if I have time. I’m going to extend the breather hoses. We hit water deeper than I intended over the weekend thanks to poor route planning on my part and a wrong turn. I did walk it first to make sure we could get through. While it was well below 30” it was above my personal comfort level. But it got me thinking, “what if.” Adding some height to the diff breathers is cheap, easy and seems prudent. The transfer case breather looks like a PITA though. I also can’t help but wonder if the Jeep engineers had a reason for leaving it so short. Maybe I should leave that one alone… more research needed.

 

[Freems]

We went on some trails this weekend and I learned a lot about my Gladiator. Stock, it’s more capable than I appreciated. We took a few photos and videos but not many as we were mostly learning our Jeeps.

So I learned some lessons, and have tweaked my build path a bit. The “Just Empty Every Pocket” begins:

I’ve found a set of Rubicon take off wheels with Wildpeak A/T’s on marketplace I’m picking up today. While the stock Dueler’s surprised me on the trail (they did great) I want the extra little bit of height. I’m undecided on whether to do a leveling kit or not since I actually do truck stuff from time to time too. I’ll run the takeoff wheels as is for a bit before deciding.

I’ve also ordered a OBDlink mx4 (and security bypass cable) to use with Jscan. In addition to calibrating for the larger wheels on both Jeeps, there are some more features I think we’ll find helpful as we build them out.

I’ve also been looking at tire inflation options. We didn’t air down last weekend but there were some spots it really would have been nice. I can’t decide if it would be better to get two less expensive compressors (one for each vehicle) or buy a higher quality one and use it on both. Onboard is going to be out of the budget.

We’re doing a trail ride this weekend with a local group which should be fun. But I see us going on our own more than with a group, so I’m also thinking recovery, especially the way my wife drives the Wrangler (II’m much more cautious than she is, I admit).

Living at the beach I’ve always kept a tow strap and shovel in all my vehicles (Tourists have a habit of pulling their minivans off in the sand and I’ve pulled out more than my fair share over the years). I’ve got a kinetic strap and a couple soft shackles on the way for us to add to the kit. Between that, and our usual stuff we really should be ok for a while. But we’re also discussing adding a winch to one of the Jeeps In the nearish future. I’ll probably do the Wrangler for a variety of reasons, the main one being I think if we decided to take just one Jeep out it would be the choice.

And one more small upgrade will happen soon, maybe this week if I have time. I’m going to extend the breather hoses. We hit water deeper than I intended over the weekend thanks to poor route planning on my part and a wrong turn. I did walk it first to make sure we could get through. While it was well below 30” it was above my personal comfort level. But it got me thinking, “what if.” Adding some height to the diff breathers is cheap, easy and seems prudent. The transfer case breather looks like a PITA though. I also can’t help but wonder if the Jeep engineers had a reason for leaving it so short. Maybe I should leave that one alone… more research needed.

Take a look at Powertank for airing up…I’ve had one for 5 plus years, it goes with me even when we’re in our motorhome. www.powertank.com

 

[Freems]

Take a look at Powertank for airing up…I’ve had one for 5 plus years, it goes with me even when we’re in our motorhome. www.powertank.com

 

[Ragbagger]

Nice! I gotta know though, how many times do people ask you if you’re running nitrous? Appreciate the link, I’ll check it out.

 

[Freems]

Nice! I gotta know though, how many times do people ask you if you’re running nitrous? Appreciate the link, I’ll check it out.

More than once

 

[Ragbagger]

I swapped the tires/wheels today with Falken Wild Peak A/T’s (285/70r/15) on Rubi rims. Here’s the TLDR comparison photo:

My rough math says the stock Sport S wheel/tire combo is about 60 lbs. Internet research says 61 lbs, but my scale showed a little less (it might be off).

The Rubi/Falken combo weighed in at 85.4 (avg of 4 wheels) lbs on my scale. End result is I’ve added about 25 lbs to each corner with this setup. I’m going to keep my stock set too, I do a fair amount of “truck” stuff towing and hauling. Swapping between sets as needed is easy enough to get the stock Max Tow setup and capacity back.


More pics and some word vomit for anyone interested:

I started by giving them a good bath by hand. I would have used the pressure washer but I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate me running it at 5am. Gotta work while it’s still cool out. Plus it gave me a chance to inspect for any damage I missed at time of purchase; I didn’t find any.

Comparison pics as I went:

And a couple shots after I finished:

As I was typing this post up, my wife came home for lunch and said, “Looks good, but mine still sits higher…”

That’s ok sweetie, my manhood can handle it.

 

[mersinery]

The rubicon wheels and falken tire combo is a nice upgrade. I have the same except no max tow and still trying to find some nice 33" tires since I have the Mojave wheels in storage just waiting. Was looking to get a used set from a tire store but not much around my area...probably will eventually just save up for a brand new set of tires.

 

[Ragbagger]

The rubicon wheels and falken tire combo is a nice upgrade. I have the same except no max tow and still trying to find some nice 33" tires since I have the Mojave wheels in storage just waiting. Was looking to get a used set from a tire store but not much around my area...probably will eventually just save up for a brand new set of tires.

I just kept checking Facebook marketplace, and saved listings within driving distance of me. I felt they were all too high at first but eventually one dropped his price enough I felt it was a fair price. .

 

[mersinery]

There's one in my area now with the mojave wheels and falken wildpeaks...messaged them on facebook and they responded once and then have never heard back from them. Listing is still live though. I'll catch a deal on fb marketplace eventually...ive seen some amazing deals but usually see it too late.

 

[Ragbagger]

The OBD MX+ came in. I installed it yesterday evening. It’s tight up there, and I chewed my hands up. They still look rough today. To heck with that, I ordered extension cables for the bypass cable. They’ll be here Monday. I’ve wrapped a big twist tie thing around it all for now Until they get here.

I changed the tire size with Jscan. Comparing against Waze it’s accurate up to 65 mph.

Doors off mirrors: The allen key that came with my mirrors slipped today while tightening up this bolt. Pretty sure the tool is chewed up and not the bolt. Need to add a decent ball end set to the jeep kit.

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