What are the "MUST HAVE" mods after buying your Gladiator? ($5,000 starting budget)

[ritojr]

So far the best $ I’ve spent was lift along with wheels, tires and spacers (~5k) The worst was tube doors instead of quality mirrors and a stubby antenna. My next 5k went into bumpers, winch and fenders. I don’t need to spend engine $ because I’m happy with the diesel.

Can I ask why the tube doors were such a regret?

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[Beewdawg]

Wheels & tires. $3200
Steel bumper, winch, nurf bars. $1750
Teraflex 1.5" leveling kit. $100
Total. $5050

So I'm $50 over. ?

 

[trailless]

Well I'm still waiting on my gladiator but I just ordered some parts today.

KMC beadlocks: $2,350
Cooper STT PRO 37": $1,650
Tazer Mini: $295
Spiderweb Shade: $190

So that's almost to the $5k mark already...

 

[VolatileA]

Well I'm still waiting on my gladiator but I just ordered some parts today.

KMC beadlocks: $2,350
Cooper STT PRO 37": $1,650
Tazer Mini: $295
Spiderweb Shade: $190

So that's almost already to the $5k mark...

I've been looking up suggestions from this thread and can't keep up but there have been great recommendations.

Already starting to order the pieces to the puzzle before the truck is ready for delivery.

I think my $5k starting budget was a bit modest haha, going to have to bump that up.

 

[Cape taco12]

The best purchase I made was the bestop soft doors and Lange coyote mirrors . I don’t have a garage so I can’t pick and choose my days. They take less than 30 seconds to toss both in the bed and I’m good to go, if a storm pops up still covered.

 

[trailless]

I've been looking up suggestions from this thread and can't keep up but there have been great recommendations.

Already starting to ordering the pieces to the puzzle before the truck is ready for delivery.

I think my $5k starting budget was a bit modest haha, going to have to bump that up.

LOL, I just sold my JK with 37s and I miss it. So I knew that I wanted 37s ASAP. Once I found out that you could fit 37s on a JTR without a lift, I was sold. (also didn't hurt that northridge4x4 has a 10% sale for the next couple of days)

Now I'm debating on which lift to get, leaning towards the EVO Manufacturing 4.5" Stage 4 Plus. But then I'm going to want to get new driveshafts, then a new steel bumper, then actual rock rails, then a winch. This is getting too expensive.....

 

[BBALL999]

Well I'm still waiting on my gladiator but I just ordered some parts today.

KMC beadlocks: $2,350
Cooper STT PRO 37": $1,650
Tazer Mini: $295
Spiderweb Shade: $190

So that's almost to the $5k mark already...

Where did you order your Cooper SST Pro 37" tires from?

Thanks

 

[trailless]

Where did you order your Cooper SST Pro 37" tires from?

Thanks

Northridge4x4

I got 10% off with a coupon code. Their out of stock but I'm in no rush to get them right now.

 

[VolatileA]

Northridge4x4

I got 10% off with a coupon code. Their out of stock but I'm in no rush to get them right now.

Your post made me checkout Northridge and ended up buying my tires tonight after hours of research on the Patagonia’s. ??

 

[VolatileA]

So far the best $ I’ve spent was lift along with wheels, tires and spacers (~5k) The worst was tube doors instead of quality mirrors and a stubby antenna. My next 5k went into bumpers, winch and fenders. I don’t need to spend engine $ because I’m happy with the diesel.

Why didn't you like the tube doors?

 

[VolatileA]

I’m in sort of the same boat with my JTRD. In total I will have spent about $15k on it since May when I got it building it up. It’s easy to get distracted focusing on big ticket items but there’s a lot of little things that are important that will nickel and dime you to death.

Some of this is assuming you want to go off road on something more than a dry fire road:

• winch and recovery gear to go with it (tree saver, recovery strap, shackles and snatch block). This stuff will pay for itself one day. Id rather have a winch than big tires. I’m not stepping into the winch flame war so I’ll spare you my opinion on that cost, but I’ve yet to see cheap recovery gear. It will add up quickly. Don’t buy brandX shackles from Amazon.
• Winch bumper or winch plate if you already have the steel bumper.
• Good quality floor liners. Again, off road you’ll wreck the carpet and stock floor mats. These are nice regardless.
• Some basic tools, good low pressure tire gauge, tape, rope, etc. and a bag to put it in.
• Some basic emergency camping gear, water jugs, fire starter, etc.
• A quality first aid kit
• Snake boots. Seriously. At least some tall rubber boots for crossings.
• Out West in these dry conditions your vehicle becomes a potential fire starter. One more reason to buy a good fire extinguisher and some kitty litter and bucket for spills. Tread lightly.
• Incidentals: chargers, power brick, phone mounts, tablet mounts, some towels to keep in the jeep, flashlight for the Jeep, center console organizer.
• Bungee cords and ratchet straps. It’s a truck after all.
• A mesh bikini top like spider web shade for when you have your panels off or run topless so you don’t cook.
• A good shovel and maybe traction boards. I got away without them for years, but moved a lot of rocks and did a lot of digging in my time.
• There’s no correct answer for air inflation. I have a power tank. Lot of folks are using compressors. Some folks have both. All are expensive to get good performance.
• I’ve got hot head liners and their sound assassin floor liner and love it.
• Random Jeep accoutrements like Yeti ramblers with 7 slot grills on them, flip me over stickers, Jeep keychains, bottle openers that mount to the door hinges. We all know we buy this crap.
• Rubber tubing for the gaps in the fenders. My favorite mod so far.
• Lights are nice and run the gamut in terms of cost. The LED lights on the new Jeeps are actually pretty adequate for once.

Most of that stuff above is pretty unglamorous but it will add up quickly. If you lift it, that’s obviously 3 big expenses right there (wheels, tires, lift). But you’ll then most likely be taking on more challenging terrain. Paradoxically the need for recovery increases with that additional capability and the stresses on components also increases so you’ll break more stuff. You’ll need to consider carrying more replacement parts, stronger recovery equipment, upgrades to steering components not provided by the lift, etc.

You can get away with the stock scissor jack for an unlifted Jeep or a jack base for a mildly lifted one, but consider a good larger bottle jack. I’ve owned highlift jacks but I think they’re too dangerous and mostly a waste of money. I’ve seen someone permanently disfigured by one and I’ve narrowly avoided serious injuries despite treating my 60 inch high lift with proper respect. I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the folks with 48 inch ones are unaware that their jack won’t even get their lifted Jeep’s tires off the ground with axle drop. From a bumper lift point my 60 inch high lift could get my TJs closest tire 2 inches off the ground at full extension. So that’s 4500lbs balancing on a steel stick. It’s as dangerous as it looks. Bottle jacks are easier, safer and more convenient in most circumstances. Buy some coveralls for crawling under the Jeep to place it.

Probably one the best responses with rationale behind all of it, thank you for this.

I'm already feeling the nickel and diming, you're not lying haha.

Seriously thank you for this.

 

[FloridaJT6MT]

Wheels & tires. $3200
Steel bumper, winch, nurf bars. $1750
Teraflex 1.5" leveling kit. $100
Total. $5050

So I'm $50 over. ?

That’s the exact bumper/winch setup I want. How long did it take to get and how was the install? The bumper is currently out of stock on Quadratec. Are you happy with it?

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Probably one the best responses with rational behind all of it, thank you for this.

I'm already feeling the nickel and diming, you're not lying haha.

Seriously thank you for this.

No problem at all! I’m glad I could help!

I’m starting to get all my stuff for my build in this week. My foyer is full of boxes from Quadratec, AEV, Rubitrux, Ok4wd, Factor55, etc! It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.

As an example of stuff adding up quick, I’m going to set this winch up with a disconnect switch. I’ve always just wired winches directly into the battery (Warn’s recommendation) but especially with wireless controls, this strikes me as potentially dangerous.

I’m not using the Aux switches/solenoid method. I don’t want Uconnect updates hosing up my winch on/off and I don’t want to run a new switch to the cab; I want simple, so I’m using a blue sea systems 600A (since the winch can draw 450A) manual on/off switch (the big grey one). Then I need a mounting board under the hood (probably phenolic resin bolted to the fuse box lid), a short 2AWG cable, 1/2 ID lugs, 5/16 ID lugs, heavy duty lug crimper, a mini busbar for grounding lights/accessories and I decided to splurge upgrade the cast iron Warn hawse fairlead to factor55. This is another $300 Amazon order!

Just the fid for weaving the winch rope so I could go with a spliced flat link and make rope splices down the road was $45 (Factor55 crap is overpriced, I know).

I was looking at replacing my recovery gear bag. Some of these are $150. I’m probably going to get a good ol’ tool bag from hardware store instead.

The words “Jeep” “recovery” “overland” all add about 100% to the price of anything.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Wheels & tires. $3200
Steel bumper, winch, nurf bars. $1750
Teraflex 1.5" leveling kit. $100
Total. $5050

So I'm $50 over. ?

What wheels are those? They look familiar but I can't put a name to them.

Looks awesome!

 

[Beewdawg]

What wheels are those? They look familiar but I can't put a name to them.

Looks awesome!

Those are Method 312's with Ridge Grapplers

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