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

[TheTrailGeek]

Finally got the house battery system 95% installed. I still need to build the electrical panel that will go in the bed, waiting on a bus bar to finish that. Everything ended up taking more space than I anticipated and I don't like seeing the cabling (even though its under the rear platform, so I'll eventually redo it all and hide the components, I just need to find a way to do so with everything still accessible.

100ah lithium battery, 20a Renogy DC-DC charger with monitor, Anderson plugs to make removal easy. Simple fuse panel in the cab for the 12 outlets and fridge. Electrical panel in the bed will have an Auxbeam for controlling everything else.

I 3d printed panels for the battery monitor and 12v outlets that replace the bus bar panels on the rear wall. They pop into place well enough but still felt like they aren't quite right, so I'm curious if they stay in place on the trail.

I also ran an extension for the Wolfbox camera down to a plug on the bumper so I can plug in my trailer camera. The Wolfbox wire is tiny and takes some finesse to strip and solder without breaking it. Unfortunately my dumb ass forgot to record what wire went to which pin, so I have to pull it back out, strip the heat shrink off and figure it out.

Awesome work!!

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[Shibbyjeep]

Well... I didn't do it but... I got the honor of putting the branding of my friends and shop that I frequent on my Jeep today and will get to show it off during the Jeep Invasion this weekend in their vendor booth.

I was wondering if I would see your rig while I am out there, now I know I will! Haha

 

[Stan H]

Well... I didn't do it but... I got the honor of putting the branding of my friends and shop that I frequent on my Jeep today and will get to show it off during the Jeep Invasion this weekend in their vendor booth.

Who did your Bob? Oh and what size tires are those Mickey Thompson's ..Geesh Louise

 

[Alaskantinbender]

Installed some airbags to help firm up the bouncy Rubicon springs.

 

[Freems]

Looks Great!

Installed some airbags to help firm up the bouncy Rubicon springs.

im going down the same trail…

 

[Alaskantinbender]

im going down the same trail…

I'm on 25 psi, which seems to get rid of hitting the bump stops on all but the "big" bumps. I estimate my load to be about + - 700 lbs in the back.
I may go with some heavy springs at some point, but $100 is certainly a lot cheaper for now.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Looks like most of the welds held, the bad cop here is the extrude aluminum it mostly tore off by the welds…if it can find motion in aluminum world, it’s doomed. A steel knuckle may help with longevity for that piviot?

Every weld failed. They didn’t fail around the full circumference which I wouldn’t expect, but once a small portion fails and the arm can move, it’s just a matter of where it breaks or shears on its way up and over. Once one arm goes, it’s now pulling on the next arm from the opposite side while the wind pushes from underneath and they all go in a cascading effect. Inspecting the arms, a number failed in the middle of the bead. This is particularly true if the first 2 that went. Their welds failed right in the middle of the bead at the bottom of the arms. The bead literally cracked in half. You can see on the mounting side where the bead penetration on the inside of the extrusions is poorly shaped and uneven on most of the arms. I do see lots of the failures where the extrusion failed along the outer edge of the bead on the arm side of the weld. This is still poor penetration, inadequate filler and poor heat control and/or cooling. Also keep in mind, some of the arms didn’t fully come off and were hanging from torn metal. I had to break them off fully to get the mess gathered together to get off the beach. You can see some the shearing of the arms bending down at the bottom of the arms and where I had to break the weld at the top of the arm and yank them off. Overall as someone who’s welded it looks like poor penetration, bead formation, inadequate/uneven filler metal and poor heat control all around.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

FInally got my new tires on this morning. 37x12.50 Toyo Open Country RT Pros. Tires are great so far, they dont roar while going down the road and that is what I was looking for!

Also installed my Metalcloak Rear Sway Bar Reinforcement Brackets, I bought them as a preventative measure, but when I took apart the passenger side the factory bracket was already cracked and was headed towards being Bluetooth. So caught that before it was an issue.

 

[Sbro2021]

Replaced glow plug 4 this morning.. Another 100$
To anyone that cares, here is the spec diagnostic sheet from the dealer with the ring out range to determine bad/not bad. Mine was a lil out as in BURNED OUT! 200 mOhm to 5 Ohm is good.. As can see, a bit high..
<<<<See avatar because....

 

[JCappy]

FInally got my new tires on this morning. 37x12.50 Toyo Open Country RT Pros. Tires are great so far, they dont roar while going down the road and that is what I was looking for!

Also installed my Metalcloak Rear Sway Bar Reinforcement Brackets, I bought them as a preventative measure, but when I took apart the passenger side the factory bracket was already cracked and was headed towards being Bluetooth. So caught that before it was an issue.

That's nice and all but what concerns me is it looks like your SG is being neglected.

 

[Stan H]

FInally got my new tires on this morning. 37x12.50 Toyo Open Country RT Pros. Tires are great so far, they dont roar while going down the road and that is what I was looking for!

Also installed my Metalcloak Rear Sway Bar Reinforcement Brackets, I bought them as a preventative measure, but when I took apart the passenger side the factory bracket was already cracked and was headed towards being Bluetooth. So caught that before it was an issue.

They are nice looking tires but extremely similar to you old ones

 

[freakin_elrod]

Threw on the grill that I painted over the weekend.

not bad for a rattle can job and 2k clear coat.....

 

[Stan H]

Threw on the grill that I painted over the weekend.

not bad for a rattle can job and 2k clear coat.....

What did ya do swit have grills or break tbe old one ?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What did ya do swit have grills or break tbe old one ?

You spray the protectant on the battery terminals, not inhale it......

 

[Stan H]

You spray the protectant on the battery terminals, not inhale it......

Dang typos

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