What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[DanW]

The hammer and punch method is not intended to pound it into submission. What you do is use a small punch and lightly tap wherever you can get a good register onto the broken bolt. Tap in the direction of loosening the bolt and it will walk out. It doesn't take much force unless the bolt is bottomed out in the bore, or loc-tighted into place, which in your case I don't think it should be.

I'm talking little micro-turns but it does work.

Thank you so much! That makes perfect sense. They were the bolts supplied by Dana with the new cover and they did appear to have some kind of thread locker on them. I´m hoping it is not too strong.

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[Ragbagger]

What did I do? I put the top and doors back on after enjoying the beautiful weather and running her naked for about 3 weeks - and now I has a little bit of a sad. On the other hand I love how my Gladiator looks with the softopper, so it’s just a small sad.

 

[Greg_L]

Thank you so much! That makes perfect sense. They were the bolts supplied by Dana with the new cover and they did appear to have some kind of thread locker on them. I´m hoping it is not too strong.

Well if there's threadlock on them it may be difficult. That shit is evil, I hate it. When building engines we NEVER used that stuff on anything and those bolts and studs were WAY more critical than a stupid diff cover....which needs to be removable!

Anyway I digress....

Try it anyway and just see how it goes. Localized heat from a small torch might break down the threadlocking goo. Be careful and patient. If you can grab the nub with vice grips then try that first obviously.

 

[JCappy]

Got new door pockets on Amazon. Much better than the net pockets, which were starting to stretch and lose elasticity. These are nice because the front part isn't so wide (to hold drinks) that my leg rubs on it.

Really like that idea. I looked at those and read the reviews. One person said that the front section that sticks out rubs against the seat and makes it difficult to close the door when the seat is pulled forward. To me it looks like that piece is too far forward to actually interfere with the seat. What are your thoughts on that since you have it installed? It really shouldn't be an issue for me since I am the only one that drives the truck but I am just curious. Thanks

 

[Jeepmonster]

Really like that idea. I looked at those and read the reviews. One person said that the front section that sticks out rubs against the seat and makes it difficult to close the door when the seat is pulled forward. To me it looks like that piece is too far forward to actually interfere with the seat. What are your thoughts on that since you have it installed? It really shouldn't be an issue for me since I am the only one that drives the truck but I am just curious. Thanks

That's funny. I saw that review after I posted mine. That person is correct. With the seat all the way forward, the lumbar adjustment knob interferes. Here is what it looks like:

I have a 30 inch inseam, so mine is just fine. This is what it looks like. Not sure how far back yours would have to be.

The deeper pockets are nice for carrying thicker items.

My wife hates driving my Jeep (separate story), so this will make things a bit challenging if she ever has to drive it. I may have to consider the shallow versions. Darn, this wasn't a problem until today and that darn review. LOL.

 

[JCappy]

That's funny. I saw that review after I posted mine. That person is correct. With the seat all the way forward, the lumbar adjustment knob interferes. Here is what it looks like:

I have a 30 inch inseam, so mine is just fine. This is what it looks like. Not sure how far back yours would have to be.

The deeper pockets are nice for carrying thicker items.

My wife hates driving my Jeep (separate story), so this will make things a bit challenging if she ever has to drive it. I may have to consider the shallow versions. Darn, this wasn't a problem until today and that darn review. LOL.

WOW. That's a lot closer to the lumbar adjustment than I thought it would be. My seat is almost all the way back so I would not have any issues closing the door and I really like the deeper pockets but I may need to look at other options as that is really tight. I have not seen any others yet that I like better than the one you have but I will keep looking. Appreciate you taking the time to get those photos for me. Thanks Bud

 

[Gene26]

So not today but over the past 5 years and 90,000 miles...

Interior:

3W auto window roll down switch, Kicker 8" Hideaway Sub, Twin ARB Compressor, 813 FAB under seat mount, Custom Airline and Doors off switch mounts, Midland Radio and GMRS antenna, Ram Phone mount and Charger, USB in Dash, AjT Key Fob, Airjack, 4 Line air up kit, Snapp Lock Covers. American Brothers design Shift and 4x4 knobs, Mag light holder, Front and rear dash cam, Tazer, Dessert Does Seat Jackers, QMParts visor cover and some fun patches... I am told each one adds 5 horsepower....

Exterior:

Mopar Bumper hoop, 13,500 Winch, Salman Winch Hook, Tera Flex Rims with quick air down, 37x13.5r17 Falken Wild peak RT01 Tires, Falcon 3.1 Shocks, Metal Cloak 3.5 in lift. 5.13 Yukon Gears, Tom Woods front drive shaft, Best Top Sunrider and roller shade, RC Light Bar, RC Amber DRL Pod Lights, Amber Vent light hooked to turn signals, Carr Ditch Light brackets modified not to block amfib snorkel, Valkyrie Hood Vents, Rockslide Engineering V3 Power steps with doors off kit rigged to work with remote locks, Metal Cloak Inner fender Liners, Antenna Delete, Bolt Hitch lock, 41.22 Hitch Slider,
Specgate and a bunch fun stickers... Again I am told each one adds 5 horse power....

As you can imagine I love this thing and will not be getting rid of anytime soon. If you have questions about anything I have done just reach out..

Special thanks to my son Tyler for helping with most of the build and to a local shop called Dirty Dog Offroad for your help on some of the hard stuff.

 

[SpecGate]

So not today but over the past 5 years and 90,000 miles...

Mopar Bumper hoop, 13,500 Winch, Salman Winch Hook, Tera Flex Rims with quick air down, 37x13.5r17 Falken Wild peak RT01 Tires, Falcon 3.1 Shocks, Metal Cloak 3.5 in lift. 5.13 Yukon Gears, Tom Woods front drive shaft, Best Top Sunrider and roller shade, RC Light Bar, RC Amber DRL Pod Lights, Amber Vent light hooked to turn signals, Carr Ditch Light brackets modified not to block amfib snorkel, Valkyrie Hood Vents, Rockslide Engineering V3 Power steps with doors off kit rigged to work with remote locks, Metal Cloak Inner fender Liners, Antenna Delete, Bolt Hitch lock, 41.22 Hitch Slider,
Specgate and a bunch fun stickers... Again I am told each one adds 5 horse power....

Dig the Tera Flex rims. I remember when they first released those and thought it was a great idea. No doubt Dennis probably made a great product video about them when they first dropped.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

Picked up a 2" Mopar lift today. Possibly going on Sat.

 

[Rusty PW]

On a trip from home (south of Pittsburgh) to Denver for MIL funeral service. Coming across Kansas today. Must have been a 50 mph headwind. Fuel mileage dropped from 24 to 14. Ripped the right front inner fender liner in the front. It was flapping against the tire. Making a left turn into a gas station for fuel. It sounded like I had a bad wheel bearing. Also killed a shit load of tumbleweeds on I70.

 

[Greatwhite]

Had a productive weekend. Swapped out my 7” headunit for a Stinger, added blindspot cameras, changed the Launch Edition alloy wheels and Wildpeaks for steelies with Territory MT 315s. Very happy with all the changes.

How do you like that head unit, and what features did you lose? I gave read the literature, but I suspect the list of lost features is not complete.

 

[Angry]

How do you like that head unit, and what features did you lose? I gave read the literature, but I suspect the list of lost features is not complete.

I like it quite a bit. The larger display is great, the sound from my audio system is noticeably better, and I like the blindspot cameras I added. I also like the auto start/stop cutoff. I find I don't use all the info gauges but those are still pretty cool. I find the whole system to be a second or two slower to change screens than the stock radio but not a deal breaker for me. It connects just as quickly to my wireless carplay adapter too. Features I lost: my instrument cluster no longer shows the clock or the compass. These are not a big deal to me.

 

[Overland_Dreamrz]

Installed my freshly wrapped Combat Offroad taillights. Since my JT is black, the stock powder coated color of the taillights looked crappy (to me). Bought some 3M 2080 Gloss Black wrap and had a shop do the wrap. I'll be on a eastern Indiana Jeep run tomorrow, so I'll definitely be posting more pics.

 

[Jeepmonster]

Installed paddle switches for the radio. Now I can bang through the channels and crank up the volume with authority. Kind of gimmicky, but they do provide larger surface area for your fingers. If you have sausage or banana fingers, these might be for you. It has the dull chrome look that matches the steering wheel trim. I wish these controlled a Hemi, but the radio will do for now.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Boring. Changed the oil. I accidentally bumped the hose on the valve just before it was completely drained. Oops. Spilled a little. No big deal.

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