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

[bkeast17]

Looks great, wish I'd gone straight to the 37s (said everyone that ever bought 35s).

You'd be really happy with some aftermarket wheels. I went with Method 707 Bead Grips, which have just the slightest bit of poke. Even with 35s, the improvement in the ride quality was noticeable. Ride is now perfectly smooth, and the Mojave is much easier to keep straight on the road at interstate speeds. The K02s balanced with barely any weight on the Methods, whereas the same tires on the stock wheels took a ton of weight to balance. Quite frankly, I was astonished at how much better it drives now.

Yes I plan to get some different wheels I couldn’t make up my mind when I ordered the tires, lol.

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[bkeast17]

What do they measure not that they are on?

The Ko2 37’s measured out to 35.5 installed

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Underbody and frame work on the LJ today. Detail shop did the cleaning, I am just doing the Rust Converter 3M and HD metal protect coatings for rust prevention. Does @Lunentucker approve?

Dude, that driveshaft would drive me nuts!

 

[chorky]

Dude, that driveshaft would drive me nuts!

It will be getting replaced for sure. I'm just waiting to replace it until I have the 2Lo transfer case kit from teraflex and the OME 2" HD suspension - probably will go with a Tom Woods drive shaft as that is what is in the TJ and it has never failed or vibrated, even over 10 years of total neglect. It's not actually that rusty, most of it is caked on red clay after it got saturated with a little seep from the transfer case. But the stock drive shafts in the old TJ's, or really any vehicle of that time period, ended up with some surface rust after just a year of owning. They didn't have the nice coatings found on modern vehicles. Which is why it is so hard to find a high quality TJ/LJ with no rust.

This was a one owner, Atlanta vehicle. The only real rust on it is on the axles. It was owned by an old Vietnam vet who probably just took it to his VFW meetings or something. 65K miles, runs perfect. It was a pretty good find. There are a few door dings probably fro parking lots which is annoying but they can get fixed fairly easily. I think it even has the original spark plugs actually - so it is due for a full tune-up, just waiting on finishing the JT before adjusting and dumping all surplus funds into this LJ. It's going to be a fantastic weekend play/cruise vehicle when it's finished.

 

[RudeJeepin]

It will be getting replaced for sure. I'm just waiting to replace it until I have the 2Lo transfer case kit from teraflex and the OME 2" HD suspension - probably will go with a Tom Woods drive shaft as that is what is in the TJ and it has never failed or vibrated, even over 10 years of total neglect. It's not actually that rusty, most of it is caked on red clay after it got saturated with a little seep from the transfer case. But the stock drive shafts in the old TJ's, or really any vehicle of that time period, ended up with some surface rust after just a year of owning. They didn't have the nice coatings found on modern vehicles. Which is why it is so hard to find a high quality TJ/LJ with no rust.

This was a one owner, Atlanta vehicle. The only real rust on it is on the axles. It was owned by an old Vietnam vet who probably just took it to his VFW meetings or something. 65K miles, runs perfect. It was a pretty good find. There are a few door dings probably fro parking lots which is annoying but they can get fixed fairly easily. I think it even has the original spark plugs actually - so it is due for a full tune-up, just waiting on finishing the JT before adjusting and dumping all surplus funds into this LJ. It's going to be a fantastic weekend play/cruise vehicle when it's finished.

If my wife wasn't so set on getting a motorhome in a few years, I'd set my JTRD up with a canopy/RTT and find an LJR to tow around behind it. The LJ, IMHO is the perfect size offroader.
I think an LJ Rubi on 35/37s or so would be tits for any offroading I'd want to do.
Enjoy your Jeeps and consider yourself lucky with them.

 

[chorky]

If my wife wasn't so set on getting a motorhome in a few years, I'd set my JTRD up with a canopy/RTT and find an LJR to tow around behind it. The LJ, IMHO is the perfect size offroader.
I think an LJ Rubi on 35/37s or so would be tits for any offroading I'd want to do.
Enjoy your Jeeps and consider yourself lucky with them.

If getting a motorhome, why not have a LJ to tow behind it? That extra 10 inches of wheelbase sure does make it ride nice. It's funny actually my TJ on a 4" currie rock jock (first of the Johnny Joints) and 33s rides like absolute garbage. Mostly because the Fox 2.0's need to be rebuilt and JJ's just suck for ride quality. But the LJ, all stock with factory bushings, actually rides just as good if not even better than the JT. crazy enough. My dad was the one who made that initial comment. I think the LJ is the 'perfect' sized Jeep for doing normal Jeep things. Gladiator is amazing for having so much storage capacity. But I love the TJ/LJ for being so small it can turn around anywhere. Only the Isuzu is smaller.

I think my own personal future 'retirement' plan will be to build up, mildly, the LJ - 2" with 33's (I dont need or want the complexities to put 35's on it), and tow it on a flatbed behind a Tiger. If you're in the RV market look at these guys. They are amazing. https://www.tigervehicles.com/. They are basically the poor man's Earth Roamer, but they have been out longer than Earth Roamer and I think they are the 'original' in terms of modern RV on truck company.

 

[Sw00per]

315/70/17 = 33.5”

Oh OK maybe I and confused. I thought I read 37s. 315s and roughly equal to 35s I think. ?

The Ko2 37’s measured out to 35.5 installed

Thanks... I think the stock Mojave can only do 35" under load for full articulation. I can live with that for now... Likely at some point in the future with my 35 K02s wear out I would maybe do something like the AEV option with the geometry correction brackets to keep the factory suspension. There are some dependencies i.e. if I install a cap I like might need to reconsider the suspension components.

 

[Rusty PW]

If my wife wasn't so set on getting a motorhome in a few years, I'd set my JTRD up with a canopy/RTT and find an LJR to tow around behind it. The LJ, IMHO is the perfect size offroader.
I think an LJ Rubi on 35/37s or so would be tits for any offroading I'd want to do.
Enjoy your Jeeps and consider yourself lucky with them.

Owning 2 class A motor homes. One a V10, the other a diesel pusher. Get the diesel pusher. But they are all money pits.

 

[Vanishing Point]

Got my Hella 4000 Halogen Rallye Lights mounted. Nect project is to buy the switches and wire them up. Think I'm going to go with VoSwitch.

 

[ArchEtech]

Well technically yesterday but….

 

[mx5red]

Well technically yesterday but….

What is the Thule device, a canoe rack?

 

[ArchEtech]

What is the Thule device, a canoe rack?

Nope - locking fishing rod vault so I don’t have to break them down. They do fit in the cab but it’s kind of in the way….and really in the way with passengers and gear. I have some really expensive fishing rods and don’t want them to get stuck in doors are broken because somebody shifts around in the cab. I need to figure out is a much quicker disconnect to pop them off of the rails.

Thule Rod Vault ST Rod Carrier
It’s a little less known than the fly rod holders. They have a bigger storage area in the back for bait casters and spinning rails and you can still fit fly rods in there. If you break them down into two piece they’re 8 foot tubes.
https://a.co/d/2htQOuO

 

[Shibbyjeep]

It was yesterday, but was too busy to post. Took the top completely off for thr first time!

 

[mx5red]

Welp, I broke it
Was going to pick up a friend from the airport in stop n go rush hour, started feeling some shuddering. Road didn’t seem that bumpy? When I started driving again shuddering got instantly worse then passenger rear wheel locked up.
Luckily I was right in front of an exit median so got another ten feet forward dragging the tire.
When I looked underneath, I saw the bottom caliper bolt had come out, and the caliper pivoted down and got wedged by the rotation of the wheel.

Shifted the dust shield forward. Can’t tell if it bent the hub. Ground a groove into the inside of the wheel.

did you know front sway bar bolts are same thread?
I still had my old ones sitting in my toolbox, so I was able to make a quick “trail” repair so I could at least get off the highway.
Could hear on and off grinding and my tire slowly lost pressure.

want to guess what all will be broken? Just a bent brake caliper + I’m guessing the wheels since it’s leaking. Will the hub be bent? Will the whole axle be bent/trashed?

I thought I had mentioned this in a follow up post, but there is a TSB about this as posted by @ShadowsPapa.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/warning-check-your-caliper-bolts.58993/post-969290

Replace caliper adapter bolts with part #06513551AA M12x1.5x33mm flanged bolt.

Funny, but when I look that part number up on various sources it’s listed as M12x1.5x30.?‍

 

[JCappy]

I thought I had mentioned this in a follow up post, but there is a TSB about this as posted by @ShadowsPapa.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/warning-check-your-caliper-bolts.58993/post-969290

Replace caliper adapter bolts with part #06513551AA M12x1.5x33mm flanged bolt.

Funny, but when I look that part number up on various sources it’s listed as M12x1.5x30.?‍

Do you know if this only applies to certain year vehicles? Should I be worrying about my '23?

Edit. After reading more. looks like it applies to the 2020 and 2021 models. Wonder if anyone has had this issue with later models.

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