SIDETRACKED - My Sarge Green Texas Trail Edition Build

[SouthernMann75]

Since I didn't do a build thread for my previous Gladiator, I thought it would be a good idea to do one for my new Gladiator. I usually take a bunch of photos and videos for Instagram and YouTube anyway, so it shouldn't be difficult to update this thread whenever I install or build something for this Gladiator.

So here is what I'm starting with:

2021 Texas Trail Edition in Sarge Green

For those of you not familiar with a Texas Trail Edition, it's basically a Sport S without Max Tow with some special badging on the hood, tailgate and seats. The wheels are just like the Willys wheels but are clad with BF Goodrich KM3 Mud-Terrain tires. All Texas Trail Gladiators have body colored fenders and black hardtops. Dana 44 front and rear axles with 3.73 gears are standard and all Texas Trail Gladiators have Mopar side steps.

Here is a listing of some of the options that came on my Texas Trail, some are less optioned than this, but very few have more options.

LED headlights/fog lights/tail lights
8.4" Radio
Grey leather interior seating with Texas Trail embossed in the front seats; rear seats have armrest
Jeep all-weather mats
Satin black front grille
Auxiliary switches
Trailer tow package
Gas engine, automatic transmission
Selec-Trac 4WD
Trac-Loc anti-spin rear diff

Ok, now that that's out of the way, here are some pictures of how it looks as of today.

I HAVE THE EXTACT SAME TRUCK. COLORS AND ALL. GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE

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[Nomad1]

Great looking jeep with all well thought out mods. I’m getting ready to go with the Clayton 2.5” lift. You happy with the ride and everything?

 

[Ted Striker]

Great looking jeep with all well thought out mods. I’m getting ready to go with the Clayton 2.5” lift. You happy with the ride and everything?

Very happy with the ride. It rides much better than my previous Mopar 2" lift. It's a night and day difference. I also like that Clayton is very good at responding to questions/concerns via email/phone and this forum.

 

[Nomad1]

Very happy with the ride. It rides much better than my previous Mopar 2" lift. It's a night and day difference. I also like that Clayton is very good at responding to questions/concerns via email/phone and this forum.

Good to hear. My sarge green won’t be here until January but best time of year to order stuff. Waiting on a response from a message I sent to Clayton. Great looking truck

 

[93civej1]

Lookin good.!

 

[Ted Striker]

Got a few more things installed on the Jeep this week and very happy with the way everything turned out.

• JCR Offroad front and rear fenders
• JCR Offroad front and rear inner fenders
• Clayton Offroad adjustable lower control arms
• RockSlide Engineering Gen 3 slider steps

 

[Ted Striker]

After the lift and fenders/fender liners replacement, I didn't like how the most rearward resonator looked and it it also looked like it was eventually get beat to hell during wheeling, so I looked into options on replacing it with straight pipe. You can purchase an axle-back piece from Hooker for about $200, but I decided to take it to my local exhaust shop with some pictures of what I wanted it to look like and here it is $123 later. Pretty much exactly like the Hooker piece. I don't hear much change in exhaust note, mainly because my S&B intake sound overpowers it but even given a few revs in the driveway, it's barely noticeable from stock which is what I was hoping for.

 

[Nomad1]

How are you liking the Ridge Grapplers, are they overly loud?

 

[Ted Striker]

How are you liking the Ridge Grapplers, are they overly loud?

This is the third set of Ridge Grapplers I've had on different vehicles. I wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't like them. They are not very loud and they are way less noisy than the BFGoodrich Mud Terrains that came on the Jeep new.

 

[azmojave]

Great looking build dude!

 

[Ted Striker]

After almost 3 months of waiting/backordered, I finally received my Bedrug. Installation was easy enough but I learned that the templates on the back for the bed lights were about 1/2" off. Luckily, I only cut one out beforehand and then cut the other one out after the Bedrug was already laid over the top of it. I still need to get some more double-sided tape/velcro though to hold down the areas next to the lights to keep them from sticking out so much. Overall though, I love the fit and finish of the Bedrug and how it makes crawling around on the bed so much easier on my knees. I have a Softopper on backorder that will be going on over this and I think the combo of the two is going to be awesome.

I also recently installed a Hi-Lift jack mount on the hood hinges. It wasn't really my first choice of mounting it, but I didn't want it rattling around in the bed and I have an off-roading trip planned in two weeks. This does keep it out of the way though and does a good job of keeping it secure.

It was a beautiful day yesterday here in Houston (72 degrees, lots of sunshine), so we took the doors off and just rode around, enjoying the weather. Stopped at a friends place and took a picture of how it looks as of now. Still need to get a full size spare tire and GMRS radio before my trip, so that's next on the list.

 

[Ted Striker]

I finally also received my Softopper a few days ago. I ordered it in early January and got it in early April. Definitely worth the wait though. It's made very well, easy to assemble and works well with the BedRug. I still have to cut out the front window for the dog window, but not really in a rush to do that yet.

 

[yoda13]

I really like your jeep! It’s a very clean build, one of my favorites!

 

[jumpg8]

I have been doing mostly cosmetic mods myself, but I am starting to think about new lift, tires, bumpers, etc. Very impressive vehicle and gives me a glimpse of what mine could look like. Thanks for sharing! Here is mine so far....

 

[Ted Striker]

Man it seems like forever since I've done anything with the Jeep. Felt good to get back out in the garage and get a few things done.

About a week ago, I began working on installing the Covering Topliners on the inside of the Jeep. I first purchased some 80 mil Killmat to line the hardtop with and then laid the Topliner on top of that. Everything fits good, but I did have to put some extra double sided tape in some areas that didn't have enough adhesive strips. I still have the rear of the Jeep to do, but I go the freedom panels done just to get a feel for it and how it would go. Haven't noticed too much of a difference in sound or heat as the rear section still needs to be done.

Since I have a trip scheduled in September for the Jeep Jamboree in Ouray, CO, they require a GMRS radio. I purchased a Midland MXT275 along with a cowl mount and ghost antenna. I placed the radio on the passenger side and mounted it with some heavy duty 3M double sided adhesive as well as some self tapping screws. I ran power from my Badgeglow aux switch power bank (shown earlier in this thread) and ran it to my Aux 2 switch. I have now used 3 out of 4 of my Aux switches so I may need to think about another option if I keep adding more items.

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