W.T.F.D.I.G.M.I - Turning my daily drive into a trail rig.

[drewcnit]

Finished the bumper mounts and bumper last night, added the crossmember to the rear and the spacers to the front bed mounts.
A little bit about the bumper mounts - this was the second hardest part of the build so far.
Now the directions are like put the mount on, mark the holes, drill them out to 1/2".

No biggie, but the very next step, you are also inserting part of the mount inside the frame, which also has to line up with those holes, but doesn't have any movement.

So if I was to do it again, I'd only drill the pilot holes, insert the interior mounts and readjust the holes accordingly.
I didn't do that this time, so I have slightly elongated bolt holes, but not to the extent where it should cause any failures.
Overall very tight fit but feels secure and snug once mounted and tightened down.
There was a 250+ lb guy bouncing up and down on the bumper this morning and it held him, don't know who that weirdo was... ??

Lunch break right now, but this morning has been a doozie too -

Big time progress, but time for the first batch of Tylenol as well. Those two pieces the bed floor and back cab wall are the heaviest individual pieces of steel and mounting that back wall calls for you to be double-jointed or a contortionist monkey....

The lip of the cab wall piece, sits below the lip of the floor and is attached by 3 countersunk screws, that you are supposed to reach behind the wall and attach from the bottom.

Pro-tip - I grabbed my unpaid, forced laborers (aka kids) and we moved it all back (towards the rear with the bed floor overhanging the bumper by about 2 ft. This allowed for easier access to start the nuts on those countersunk bolts, then we moved it back in place.

Back at it after lunch, see how much I can finish off today.

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[BAT]

So ya maybe should have just bought a jeep instead of a Gladiator. Seems like it would have been a lot less work

 

[drewcnit]

So ya maybe should have just bought a jeep instead of a Gladiator. Seems like it would have been a lot less work

 

[Minty JL]

Great thread and build man! I love how it all snowballed in short order!

BTW, if you have not tried this one yet......add it to your short list..........so tasty and decent price point

 

[JTenn]

So ya maybe should have just bought a jeep instead of a Gladiator. Seems like it would have been a lot less work

But there's so much satisfaction when you see and hear the Wrangler crowd being amazed at what that "tank" will do on the trails. I do stuff all the time that some of the others in the group won't even attempt. I get told all the time "I can't believe that gladiator will do what it does"
For me it's about the build and seeing the fruits of my labor. Oddly I find it therapeutic to work on my rig, lol ?

 

[drewcnit]

For me it's about the build and seeing the fruits of my labor. Oddly I find it therapeutic to work on my rig, lol ?

^^THIS^^ I took a week of PTO from my 'office job' to de-stress and build this lol

 

[JTenn]

^^THIS^^ I took a week of PTO from my 'office job' to de-stress and build this lol

When I did my Rubicon axle swap I had a vacation week planned just to allow enough time. I started on a Friday evening when I got home and literally had the whole job done Sunday morning. Lol

 

[drewcnit]

When I did my Rubicon axle swap I had a vacation week planned just to allow enough time. I started on a Friday evening when I got home and literally had the whole job done Sunday morning. Lol

I'm pushing myself to be done by Wednesday, I'd like a rest day or two. I have a club ride at windrock on Saturday.

Current status - cleaning up for dinner but here's where it's at now. I'll write up notes on the side panels later.

 

[Hootbro]

How are the now long wire harnesses addressed?

 

[drewcnit]

How are the now long wire harnesses addressed?

If you mean by the instructions... they aren't at all, they have a wiring diagram and that's it.
I haven't gotten to them yet, I know there's another sheet in with the lights, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to cut the harnesses and splice the new lights/etc in or what from the instructions.

I reuse the backup camera in the bumper, so I'm assuming I reuse that same harness (part of the tailgate harness) as that is an optic connector but again haven't dived into that part yet.

Wiring will be interesting... That part might be more than I was planning on, but in short if nothing else I'll zip tie them up out the way.

The fuel filler is next tonight after dinner, I want to get it re-setup in the new housing for it and to do so means I need to cut off some of the old brackets to bolt up the new....

All the fun stuff I've been dreading is up next. I really hate messing with the fuel filler and wiring.

 

[JTenn]

I'm pushing myself to be done by Wednesday, I'd like a rest day or two. I have a club ride at windrock on Saturday.

Current status - cleaning up for dinner but here's where it's at now. I'll write up notes on the side panels later.

Have fun at Windrock. I need to go do some rides with J&W. I'm wheeling with a different group at Stoney Lonesome this weekend. Otherwise I would have tried to maybe go to Windrock.

 

[RubiNewbCB]

^^THIS^^ I took a week of PTO from my 'office job' to de-stress and build this lol

Hence..."Built, not BOUGHT!"

 

[drewcnit]

Thoughts on the walls -
Some of those bolt holes require some ingenuity to get to if you got thick/big hands...
I used some more forced labor from the kids to help push, pull, hold, and shove things the right direction for some of the bolts.
I used needle nose pliers to hold washers and then bolts in a couple spots my hands wouldn't reach.
I used a combination wrench and a small piece of painters tape to hold a nut and washer in other spaces, I couldn't reach...

On the passenger side, I've still got like 5 bolts to get in holes. I'll get them squared away in the morning and get the rest of the driver's side on after fooling with the fuel filler nozzle hacks and location.

On another note, the instructions call for many of the close out panels, tie down hooks for the bed, roll bar mounting plates, and 120V close off panel (if not equipped) to be added after pretty much everything else is put together. Which would make some of them very awkward or more difficult to install. I installed them early, because I don't like how my back was feeling trying to contort for some of the bolts already.

 

[drewcnit]

Dinner time update -
Started off the day with tackling the fuel filler, it ended up being more mentally intimidating than the actual work to take care of it, these are the small brackets that I cut off -

New set up mounted -

Got the other side on next -

Got it squared now -

I'm at the stage of the instructions where I have to go back and tighten the 60+ fasteners they've told me to leave loose until now....................
Random bed pics -

Got an interesting trade offer for my take off OEM bed -

Back to tightening fasteners, tailgate is next!!

 

[JTenn]

Dinner time update -
Started off the day with tackling the fuel filler, it ended up being more mentally intimidating than the actual work to take care of it, these are the small brackets that I cut off -

New set up mounted -

Got the other side on next -

Got it squared now -

I'm at the stage of the instructions where I have to go back and tighten the 60+ fasteners they've told me to leave loose until now....................
Random bed pics -

Got an interesting trade offer for my take off OEM bed -

Back to tightening fasteners, tailgate is next!!

Savage is making some super nice precision rifles now. Project is looking great!!

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