Tango, the 2020 Gladiator "Overland"

[foolthrottle]

YESSEREEBOB!

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[wolverine565]

Now that I've owned the truck for over three years, I suppose I should finally get around to doing a build journal. So here we go! Starting in February of '21:

The day I got the truck. 2020 Overland, 1500 miles. Full safety suite (adaptive cruise, the works), premium stereo. Oddly, however: Cloth seats, no tow hitch, halogen fronts. A weird build, and I got it for a lot cheaper than the red Rubicon with no options and similar mileage. In hindsight... Eh lol.


First thing's first: Begone, street tires!

Threw on some "33s" with some more meat: Dick Cepek Trail Country EXPs. They were great tires, especially for what they cost at the time.

Next up: "Beautification"

The halogens had to go, as well as all the chrome/silver trim (not my thing). The end result:

Went with the Mopar Satin Black Grille, black bumper trim, and Morimoto lights all around.

After a few more months, I got the itch. And that's the moment this build crossed into a very, very poor financial decision.
So of course, up next are lift, wheels/tires, and sidesteps:

AEV DualSport 2.5 inch lift, Method 703s +25mm, General Grabber ATXs in 35x12.50R17. Sidesteps were N-Fab, I think; they were a sale pickup. Also picked up some vinyls from @pixeldecals, which turned out awesome:

Next up, we go wheeling for the very first time! I have never owned an offroad vehicle (not counting 4x4 pickups), and all I knew was from watching youtube. We managed to survive Hot Springs ORV (and earned a badge of honor!), the entire time with our swaybar connected... It wasn't until we got back that my friend explained swaybars to me.

A little while later, we add sequential brake LEDs, a tonneau cover, and change the badging. Oh, and a front bumper/winch.

After a few months of ground camping, I get the thumbs up to pull the trigger on a RTT/rack setup. I went with a Rebel Offroad Halfrack with an iKamper Skycamp Mini 2.0.

Other goodies during this time: Dometic 55IM and slide/mount, ARB Treds, and a Sunrider.

Then, something happened: My wife bought a JL! And that JL needed a front bumper and winch. And as a very gracious husband.... I gave her mine.
Well, karma is a bitch, because I replaced it with the most pain in the ass thing I have ever installed(but it's so beautiful): The AEV EX Front Bumper and all the fixins.

After this, we keep adding overland goodies (seat delete, water tank, etc), air lockers, 4.88 regear, manual swaybar discos, just replacing things as we learn.
And the next thing we learn is: Weight!

So, we upgrade to AEV's 8100XP shocks and HC coils. I love this suspension, but buyer beware: unless you put A LOT of weight in your bed, you will have substantial rake. The rear rides terribly if you're just running an empty bed. My setup was fairly permanent, so no issues. The we redeemed ourselves with more wheeling! And even with the weight it rides beautifully.

We run this setup (more or less) over a year, with a few changes here and there.
-AEV Snorkel (cutting into your hood is terrifying)
-Metalcloak Trackbars/control arms
-RSE Step Sliders
-LRA Aux 17gal fuel tank
-Some other overland stuff probably

And that's the end of "Phase One"!


The tail end of '23 marked the beginning of "Phase Two". It began with a search for a bit more comfort for my wife, and was influenced by expos and youtube and here, you know, the usual research. In the end, I asked my wife's opinion for a tie breaker between the Skinnyguy Camper or the Alucab.
The flushing toilet won.

I'll probably make a thread about the camper at some point, still working out some issues. The manufacturer is being responsive so far, so we'll see. Amazing design, it's just the execution needs fine tuning.

Next up, one of my favorite mods: the Kaymar JT Rear Bumper. The best looking (in my opinion) tire carrier for the JT.

And then, big life changes happened, and I moved. Luckily, I had a camper, so waiting for a place wasn't so bad! Had some adventures along the way.

Fast forward to April, and it's time to replace the Grabbers. I decided to try out 37x11.50x17 Recon Grapplers, to see how I like the thinner, more tucked tire. So far, I love it, but haven't been hard wheeling in them yet. Also grabbed some Daystar 3/4 inch Front Spring Spacers to help clear the taller tire, and reduce the rake. Also added amber lenses to the lights!

And, now we're caught up!! I'm now sitting just shy of 70k miles, and while it doesn't have much passing power it's still going strong. It's a very enjoyable truck to drive, especially for a lifted SFA vehicle.

-Upcoming mods: Steering upgrade, brake upgrade (near term), Accuair suspension (mid term), Hemi swap??(long term)

What fog lights are on your bumper?

 

[Tango270]

What fog lights are on your bumper?

Those are the Morimoto XD fogs, to match the headlights.

 

[Tango270]

Small update:

I got some new wheels, as I was going to need to move to more backspacing here soon. @Discount Tire (shoutout to your Madison, AL store, great guys there) was running a badass sale on Fifteen52 wheels, so I picked up the Turbomac HD Classic in Bronze. Absolutely in love with the combo:

Then I did some work on the backseat area. Trimmed a kennel mat for the dogs, got travel bags hung on the molle panel, and got the fridge rigged up about where I want it. Test fitting for a different fridge later.

And put some little stickers on!

 

[Discount Tire]

Small update:

I got some new wheels, as I was going to need to move to more backspacing here soon. @Discount Tire (shoutout to your Madison, AL store, great guys there) was running a badass sale on Fifteen52 wheels, so I picked up the Turbomac HD Classic in Bronze. Absolutely in love with the combo:

Then I did some work on the backseat area. Trimmed a kennel mat for the dogs, got travel bags hung on the molle panel, and got the fridge rigged up about where I want it. Test fitting for a different fridge later.

And put some little stickers on!

A very capable and good looking rig! Thank you for your continued support!

 

[Tango270]

So, after waiting for some sales, I finally got my Accuair suspension installed!

Here's down to the bumps:

And here's Lvl 3 (max) with the camper reinstalled:

So far I love the way it drives. And it seems more stable and comfortable with the camper than my AEV HD springs did, which surprised me!

 

[Jteakus]

How do you like the Goose Gear seat delete? I need more room for dry/secure storage and I'm leaning that way,

 

[NC_Overland]

Nice jeep man. Mine looks more like your first round of upgrades, but I still love it. I’m especially jealous of that AEV front bumper. I just didn’t have the $3k for the bumper. That was like 2/3 of what I paid for my bumpers, bed cover, lights, and winch.

I put tires and a Rubicon LE take off suspension on it when I first got it. I just recently did everything else I just mentioned.

 

[Tango270]

How do you like the Goose Gear seat delete? I need more room for dry/secure storage and I'm leaning that way,

I love it for what it provides. It's worth noting that when I bought it, it was the only seat delete on the market. There's a few of them now, some that have nice drawers and such.

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