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

[WILDHOBO]

The gantry crane itself will lift a whole sprint car straight up - but the seller kept his chain hoist so I bought this one - good enough for my use - it could lift my SX4 (minus the drive train) up so I could slide the engine and drivetrain under the car and install it all as a unit from the bottom like the factory did.

I have an engine hoist, too - people call a "cherry picker" although I don't know how it would help in picking cherries........... I made that one from plans in a Popular Mechanics many decades ago. It doesn't fold or some apart and takes a ton of space in the shop but it works well for my uses.

Mine definitely won’t lift that much. Super cool.

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[40x40]

this isn't so much of what i did today but the last 10 days. around memorial day 2024 i ordered from expedition one their bumper mounted tire carrier. they were correct when they said delivery in eight weeks. i painted it immediately with vht rollbar paint and then got involved in a multitude of projects with the house, yard and barn. part of the workshop build out included a 1500 lb electric winch from harbor freight. its primary use will be for mower maintenance but would come in handy for this project. the oem rubicon bumper removal was easy however exp 1 required cutting the harness to add new license plate lights. i opted to crimp on a pair of open spades on each new light, cut one leg of each and insert them into the oem plug. a little wire shrink wrap and black tape later, all was good. when working alone it is easy to develop a 3rd and 4th hand when installing heavy or bulky parts. at about this time the bride comes out and asks "what's in the tire?". so after a brief interruption i finished the spare tire project. i topped it off with a hitch mounted skid plate from body armor. it got a workout at morris mountain off road park in AL this past weekend. it is an excellent venue that the Georgia Jeep Alliance recommended. the 3rd brake light is two 4" exterior LED strips that i got at a parts store. i wired it into the oem 3rd brake light in the same manner as the l p lights. the oem camera is now in an unused sensor hole in the bumper. yes it is low, yes it is off centered, yes it does see the side off the hitch skid. from 1977-2021 i never owned a vehicle with a backup camera. i'm ok with what i have now.
a second delayed project was installing the noco genius 2d charger and AC port plug. i bought this last summer to stave off the inevitable battery death, primary or auxiliary. regrettably the primary gave up the ghost 3 months ago. my new 74 series is on charge every night while the aux was bypassed.
a project i started a year ago was installing an ecomoment gt801 camera system. i did everything then except hard mount the rear facing camera as i wanted to do it after the tire relocation. the unit was wired so it would turn on when the vehicle was turned off. the motion sensor will fire it up if the jeep is jarred. think motel parking lot at 3am.
now before the haters start hating i know about extra weight behind the rear axle. view it if you will as constantly pulling a trailer with a 250 lb tongue weight. additionally i do not engage in high speed whoopie-doos so i shouldn't fold the jeep in half. it is a nice piece of mind knowing that i now carry a full size spare. 40" spare.

 

[Stan H]

The gantry crane itself will lift a whole sprint car straight up - but the seller kept his chain hoist so I bought this one - good enough for my use - it could lift my SX4 (minus the drive train) up so I could slide the engine and drivetrain under the car and install it all as a unit from the bottom like the factory did.

I have an engine hoist, too - people call a "cherry picker" although I don't know how it would help in picking cherries........... I made that one from plans in a Popular Mechanics many decades ago. It doesn't fold or some apart and takes a ton of space in the shop but it works well for my uses.

My uncle has a Car Hoist in the Garage him and my other Uncle a retired mechanic run and operate.
I l8ve their set up .. would love to have something like that myself but unfortunately I don't have e room where I live.
I do however get shop privileges and lots of mechanical brain advice .
One of the things I love about going to my Uncles Garage is heated and there is every kinda tool a guy ever dreamt of having right at my fingertips.
Dang I need a hoist like that !!!

 

[TheTrailGeek]

Installed the American Adventure Labs Rear Molle Overhead Panel + Starlink Mini + Starlink Mini AALabs mount.

Starlink Mini operates great. Kiddo enjoys it. Great use for work + hunting + watching some of y'all's youtube videos on the go when I need to fix my certified shit box.

Cons; No instructions + Had to remove my headliner from my hardtop

Cheers.

X

I love AAL's stuff, but their instructions—when they’re included—are pretty much worthless. I bought their LBE and, more recently, their bumper, and I ran into fitment issues and missing hardware with both orders. When I reached out to them, the response I got was basically, “Well, it works in CAD,” with the implication that the problem must be with my Jeep.

I couldn’t even fully secure the front end of their end caps without having to drill and tap two extra holes in the frame. (Not the end of the world, but still...)

They’re super nice, and their products are really cool, but after having issues and missing parts with both things I purchased—combined with support that seems to just blame the Jeep—I’m not sure how much more I’ll be buying from them.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

More progress on the new lighting going into an on my canopy.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Very minor continued stripping and returning to stock for trade-in.
But the front license plate back on
Finished taking off hood struts, put the original non-locking hood latches back on, removed the diode and auxiliary backup light pigtail from behind the right tail lights. Tried working under to take out the bumper-mounted backup lights but the damn dizzy sickness set in again so didn't get them out.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

Very minor continued stripping and returning to stock for trade-in.
But the front license plate back on
Finished taking off hood struts, put the original non-locking hood latches back on, removed the diode and auxiliary backup light pigtail from behind the right tail lights. Tried working under to take out the bumper-mounted backup lights but the damn dizzy sickness set in again so didn't get them out.

Oof, that's horrible. My dad had something about a year ago where he kept getting vertigo and getting sick. He was miserable.

Going after another Jeep?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Oof, that's horrible. My dad had something about a year ago where he kept getting vertigo and getting sick. He was miserable.

Going after another Jeep?

2025 Mojave X in Mojito! color coming in about a week and a half.
I've lost over 50% functionality of my left inner ear - that with the Meniere's I have already had for years, it literally makes me sick to lay on my back and try to do anything, looking or reaching upward. Then getting up again really triggers it.
It was nasty working under the dash yesterday, getting down in there and back out - wow.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

2025 Mojave X in Mojito! color coming in about a week and a half.
I've lost over 50% functionality of my left inner ear - that with the Meniere's I have already had for years, it literally makes me sick to lay on my back and try to do anything, looking or reaching upward. Then getting up again really triggers it.
It was nasty working under the dash yesterday, getting down in there and back out - wow.

Sounds rough. Congrats on the new ride though! Love Mojito.

 

[NC_Overland]

I’m regretting purchasing this MP concepts bumper. It’s been nothing but a PITA. The winch plate is junk and I couldn’t get it to line up after many hours of messing with it and even modifying it. For my sanity, I order a Warn winch plate. It’s stronger and a better design. Now, I’m really not happy with the finish. The flat powder coat scratches super easily. Since, I’m waiting on the new winch plate, today I pulled it all apart and repainted it. I’m on the fence if I’m going to clear it. I might let it cure for a week and clear it or I might leave it. Anyway, several hundred dollars later, I should have just bought a different bumper. $400 for the winch plate and $80 worth of paint and supplies. It’s a sunk cost now and I’m making the best of it. I’ll probably end up clearing it. I already bought the flat clear and that semi gloss is shinier than my rear bumper. Oh yeah, I painted the bolts too because the finish was poorly adhered and coming off.

I’ve been really pleased with the quality of my body armor rear bumper, but I cannot recommend this MP Concepts front bumper. I wish I’d read more reviews. I saw a lot of similar complaints when I was looking for some work arounds to the issues I encountered.

 

[Stan H]

2025 Mojave X in Mojito! color coming in about a week and a half.
I've lost over 50% functionality of my left inner ear - that with the Meniere's I have already had for years, it literally makes me sick to lay on my back and try to do anything, looking or reaching upward. Then getting up again really triggers it.
It was nasty working under the dash yesterday, getting down in there and back out - wow.

Is that caused from an inner ear damage ?
Sorry to hear that , I knew a guy who had that.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Is that caused from an inner ear damage ?
Sorry to hear that , I knew a guy who had that.

Cause of the loss of function is unknown. What it does is causes a difference between left and right - right thinks everything is fine, left says - uh, we seem to have a problem here...........I believe they said 52% loss of function on the left.
I literally can't carry anything heavy down a flight of stairs now. I tried to carry Koko down to the litter boxes last night (he seemed to be looking where he should not have been looking) and I had to lean against the wall and hold myself up as I carried him down. He's only about 10 pounds. Stairs are a bitch.

 

[Idlethunder]

A couple days ago I took the Baja boss AT 37x12.5 tires off the 17x9 Fuel wheels with -12 offset because I didn’t like that much poke and mounted them on a set of 17x7.5” 392 takeoffs. This morning I drove them over an hour to the closest Discount Tire and had them road force balanced. I had tried two local shops but was still getting some feedback thru the steering wheel at highway speeds.

DIscount tire did a great job and they drove fine on the ride home. Now it seems I may be looking to trade the 5 Fuels with -12 offset for a set with 0 to get my full range of steering back. The tires don’t rub now after I added a few washers to the steering stops but the loss is noticeable

 

[Supazuk]

Have 2 friends with 4 posts and they like them. You can do about 95% of the stuff as a twin post with them.

exactly! Both have advantages and disadvantages
While 2 post is way better for truck axle swaps and FWD engine/tranny swaps ( just lift the body and drop the cradle) even an asymmetrical2 post can be a pain if during any diag that requires frequent door opening.
Most of us that are looking for a home lift is becuase we no longer want to be crawling on the floor. That is where a 4 post really shines, unlike a 2 post, there is no getting down to find the jack points on a uni body or stacking pucks for a truck frame you just have to drive on it.

 

[Supazuk]

Installed a Amazon special Trail Rail System today. Kept my expectations pretty low before receiving it but was pleasantly surprised as it seemed of decent quality with decent hardware. Chased the threads in the bed because of the bedliner material but everything installed easily with decent fit and finish.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBTB93LK

I bought that kit I was impressed withthe beef of the rails and that it came with more tie downs. However the plastic end caps at the tail gate came broken so I returned it and bought and installed the terraflex one

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