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

[DanJT]

'Tis true !!

WD-40 actually stands for Water Displacement formula 40. I stopped using WD40 decades ago....

Use to use it to dry out my distributor after water crossings,
and burying it in mud.

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[Blade1668]

I spent 4 hours in urgent care yesterday - 4 days of migraine and so damned dizzy twice I had to go to the floor at home to keep from literally falling. Just bending over made the headache worse and made the room spin. No bending, stooping, leaning over, getting up and down makes me sick. I wasn't even able to spend more than a couple of minutes putting things back in and on my wife's new JLU. (and I discovered Total Truck that did the power step move from the 23 to the 26 screwed up more than expected and I'm thinking they took off those pieces bolted to the frame to prevent the front wheels from rolling under and into the cabin floor area.)
Why can't anyone do anything right?

Will be quite a while before I can actually do anything to the Jeeps the way I'm feeling - and at least 4 more weeks of caring for my wife with her shoulder replacement (for those who don't know, never met her - she only has one good arm, so I do everything, and I mean everything, for her for a while)

Parts unbolted from the frame after it was undercoated - what did they leave off?
Interior panels loose and off, wire terminal bent up at weird angle.

Sorry on everything you have been having happen.
In the pictures, isn't that where that bar or bracket was that some were asking about a few years back? I've not been impressed by more than a few places that work on vehicles. My Gladiator hood and few other things have to be replaced along with the solar panel on hood. . Then to find out if more damage is found on full inspection. Waiting for email back from Cascade on solar system replacement cost. Only good news of it is if total is under 10k it's handled right at local insurance office. Definitely not what your dealing with.

 

[azmojave]

After installing window visors everything is dark inside but the windshield so I wanted a tint strip installed. There’s no AS-1 mark on the shield so we winged it. It’s a bit lower than I was expecting so hopefully I don’t get harassed, but according to Arizona’s crazy law it’s actually legal.

“The bottom edge of the material is at least twenty-nine inches above the undepressed driver's seat when measured from a point five inches in front of the bottom of the backrest with the driver's seat in its rearmost and lowermost position with the vehicle on a level surface.”

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

AZDPS is pretty ok with that stuff Just be careful crossing into Cali.

 

[Freems]

After installing window visors everything is dark inside but the windshield so I wanted a tint strip installed. There’s no AS-1 mark on the shield so we winged it. It’s a bit lower than I was expecting so hopefully I don’t get harassed, but according to Arizona’s crazy law it’s actually legal.

“The bottom edge of the material is at least twenty-nine inches above the undepressed driver's seat when measured from a point five inches in front of the bottom of the backrest with the driver's seat in its rearmost and lowermost position with the vehicle on a level surface.”

I know you live about 10 miles from the sun…I’m 6’3” that new sun strip tint would drive me insane. I hope it works out for you. Stay cool.

 

[peter dragon]

Liked the idea of a delete seat setup but didn't want to take out the seat. Needed a flat interior surface for a PA and guitar to set on. The Cherokee works fine but didn't want them riding in the back of the Gladiator. So.... a compromise ensued by taking out the storage tray (barrier) and with some left over hickory flooring and 2x3's, I can remove if necessary. Cheap and easy. The net is to keep groceries from flying around the cab.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

Ran it up to full bump, opted to move it a bit driver for better clearance to the track bar brace when tucked. Got the coils in, got everything torqued, modified the ABS brackets/bales for the gussets, greased everything, adjusted the antirock, bolted up the driveshafts, clearanced the engine skid plate to the oil pan, swapped out the front diff cover for a new one, filled up the diffs, programmed the PCM for 4.88s and no sway bar disconnect, pressure washed the mud out of the wheels, rolled her out and filled up the tires.

Went for a drive.

Rides nice but the wheel is about 45° off so the TCS is freaking out, but I'll address that tomorrow. Time for work

Adjusted the TPMS settings.
Put the FAD skid back on, forgot about that fella.
Adjusted the wheel alignment. After three shots got it perfect.
Checked for any rubbing at full lock everywhere with the weight on it, since I moved the axle back and over. Looks good to me. It's intentionally about 1/4" towards driver side now.

Drove it around a bit. So for anybody not following along the main changes over the last month were 3.73 to 4.88 ratios, trussed and gusseted front with lower arm skids, rockjock joints in the upper front axle, and a front HD antirock to match the rear. And added a front track bar brace back into the mix.

In addition, cut the unnecessary track bar bracket off the axle and welded the rear bridge well enough I could lose the u straps on the rear axle. Really cleans up the look from the rear.

The gearing is so nice, but I'm going light on the throttle and keeping it below 55 until I can get around to changing the diff fluid again. Pretty much idling around at 50 mph in 8th and climbing steep hills at 35 mph in 4th is a nice change. It feels 1500 lbs lighter. Really looking forward to seeing how it behaves on the highway. But I'm going to keep babying and heat cycling it for the first 100 miles.

And the front HD antirock feels very comparable to the stock bar. I'll be cutting the tusks off the bumper and fabricating brackets to hold the rear of the winch to the frame higher up.

 

[shockingtruth22]

Recently installed a Kicker Key 200.4 DSP amp on a 2024 w/ base audio and was surprised at how well it turned out. If it ever craps out, I'll put in a Helix but for now the improvement is more than sufficient. The difference is pretty much night and day after running its auto tune. Already had some MB Quart speakers and a 10" Hideaway sub installed.

Also wasn't sure how permanent I wanted this - I wired it to Aux 2 for power + Acc for remote turn on for now. Used a PAC LPHCH42 T-Harness and some load resistors (the built-in speaker detect on the 200.4 aren't sufficient for the Jeep) to make the install easy.

 

[Balor]

When putting the RCV back together. Use a zip tie.

Use silicone spray.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Vacuumed the interior and wiped it down Didn't even wash the outside.

My typical commute is now 90 minutes a day round trip - so been taking notes on little things to do that may make it more pleasant.

 

[peter dragon]

Looked at molle racks but they can be expensive. Replacement grille grates fit perfectly in the 8mm slot, with a dab or black RTV to stop any rattling. 2 for $34. Working on a bed light off of the AUX4 switch.

 

[Mud Pie]

Vacuumed the interior and wiped it down Didn't even wash the outside.

My typical commute is now 90 minutes a day round trip - so been taking notes on little things to do that may make it more pleasant.

I feel for you...for the last 28 years, my commute varied from 90 minutes to over 2 hours, each way !! And my travels were East/West. Sun in your face each way, sucked !! Now that I'm retired, I think I'm on the same tank of gas for over a week now. I used to fill up 2, sometimes 3 times a week. That takes some getting used to.

For me, the lifesaver in sitting behind the wheel for so long was XM radio. I couldn't take OTA radio anymore, the DJ's were driving me bat-crap crazy with all their stupid comments, pranks, etc.. And then all the commercials, for minutes at a time. I did do the USB route, but then I only hear songs that I already knew because I'm the one that burned it. With XM, you'll hear a song from high school that you totally forgot you loved, you couldn't burn it because you forgot it !! But you still knew ALL the words !! Spotify, Pandora, etc., were options, but as much as I was behind the wheel, I was sucking up data FAST. I have Unlimited in data, but it does slow down after X amount of gigs.

Some, well most, do not like satellite radio. They claim, "I am NOT going to pay to listen to the radio !!". Okay, but you'll pay dearly to watch TV ?? That ain't free anymore, be it cable/satellite/streaming, etc.. Sure you can OTA television, too, but who does that nowadays ??

For me it was a sanity-saver and worth every dime.

 

[Mud Pie]

Looked at molle racks but they can be expensive. Replacement grille grates fit perfectly in the 8mm slot, with a dab or black RTV to stop any rattling. 2 for $34. Working on a bed light off of the AUX4 switch.

Pretty inventive !! My only concern is weight; them racks are designed to hold a couple burgers horizontally, I don't know how well those grill welds will hold if something is strapped vertically. Weight and vibration may effect it. I don't know, of course, just hypothesizing here.....

 

[Trauma PA]

Wish I had waited for the single drawer. The double wastes a lot of space in the middle.

Interesting. I have the single drawer and wish I had the double drawer.

 

[peter dragon]

Pretty inventive !! My only concern is weight; them racks are designed to hold a couple burgers horizontally, I don't know how well those grill welds will hold if something is strapped vertically. Weight and vibration may effect it. I don't know, of course, just hypothesizing here.....

I considered that. Collectively they should work and the SS horz rods are inserted 1/2" so they aren't going anywhere. I look at it as a redundancy issue and the something else is going to break on the jeep before that does. After all, it is a Jeep!

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