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

[agoldxj]

Funny how all your upgrades cost twice as much because you have to buy two.

Haha yes but I can only blame myself, she’s says I made her that way with vehicles ever since her first Jeep back in 2012.

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[JCappy]

Just purchased my JT - 2023 Rubicon. Love it so far. Handles the snow / ice unbelievably well.

Now starting to go down the rabbit hole with accessories. Purchased a new antenna, tri-fold hard top tonneau and starting to look into additional add ons.

Any recommendations for stores online for any custom grills? Headlights? Etc... I am very much looking into the JW Speaker headlights / fog lamps.

Love the truck so far. And landed it for a STEAL from my local dealership. 6600 mi, clean, almost new everything for $43k.

One question I did have. How does everyone wash? At home by hand? Local car wash? Touchless or ok with "soft touch" wash options? Reason I ask, the Mopar antenna currently installed is 'flimsy' and I am overly cautious washing the JT with a 'soft touch' wash because I feel that it'll just get ripped off and cause damage.

Thanks in advance and excited to finally be a full member of the Jeep fam!

Congrats on your new ride. Let the mods begin. I may be on an island but I only wash mine at home. I've heard nightmares about using a local car wash so I don't use them. I've always washed my own vehicles. If I am out of town I may use a self serve pressure wash to knock off some dirt but that's about it. Best of luck with your new truck.

 

[JRDuck40]

Congrats on your new ride. Let the mods begin. I may be on an island but I only wash mine at home. I've heard nightmares about using a local car wash so I don't use them. I've always washed my own vehicles. If I am out of town I may use a self serve pressure wash to knock off some dirt but that's about it. Best of luck with your new truck.

That is my biggest fear. I know a few other truck owners that sent their truck through an conveyor style wash and it severely damaged their vehicle. That's my biggest concern. I do have a pressure washer at home, but I also live in WI, where it's currently 10 degrees outside and I don't have a heated garage. Otherwise, YES, I would wash the JT myself with my equip on hand. Biggest concern on my end is the roadways in / around the area all are heavily salted and I will wash both of our Jeeps (JT & Grand Cherokee L) at least 2x times a week to remove the excess salt on the undercarriage and clean up side panels / wheel wells as well.

Thanks for the input JCappy!

 

[KevinM60]

Haha yes but I can only blame myself, she’s says I made her that way with vehicles ever since her first Jeep back in 2012.

My wife almost bought a 2-door JL. I am so glad she went with a Honda sedan instead because she was talking about doing all the upgrades I have done (about 5 grand so far). Not only is she not Offroad driving safe but I could barely swing upgrading my Gladiator let alone another Jeep.

 

[agoldxj]

My wife almost bought a 2-door JL. I am so glad she went with a Honda sedan instead because she was talking about doing all the upgrades I have done (about 5 grand so far). Not only is she not Offroad driving safe but I could barely swing upgrading my Gladiator let alone another Jeep.

I completely understand, I went a while with a stock 2nd gen Tacoma, but we just outgrew it. Wish I could had justified keeping it but such is life. My wife had a 4 runner when we randomly got the color high tide in on trade she wanted. It was ours that night, she had a 14 2 door that she never wanted to sell but it wasn’t ideal for the car seat. I forgot how addicting these things are. My last Jeep was a 2012 Call of Duty that ended up on 38’s. I’m trying to go slow on the mods but it’s tough.

 

[van_tri]

Today I did fender flare extensions at the same time as Weathertech mud flaps. I needed to buy some longer bolts due to the added thickness of the extenders. The Maiker extenders are a no brainer value plug and play.

 

[JCappy]

Today I did fender flare extensions at the same time as Weathertech mud flaps. I needed to buy some longer bolts due to the added thickness of the extenders. The Maiker extenders are a no brainer value plug and play.

So were the extenders that easy to put on? Do they require drilling out old rivets and installing new ones? Any pics?

 

[NewGladdyOWNR]

Long story short, I had an engine misfire code about 4 hours away from home. When I got to my local dealer they had replaced my passenger intake camshaft, tappets, oil valve etc, at 43K miles under my powertrain warranty. I found a great deal on a 2024 Rubicon that fit within my price range so I jumped on it.

Out with the old

In with the new...it feels weird driving a stock jeep, but I’m excited for this build. I‘ve learned soooo much from my last gladiator and I look forward to using the knowledge gained and applying it.

 

[GlennBeck]

Have you noticed any additional wind noise?

Had these mounts but went with Morimoto 4Banger LED A-Pillar Mounting Brackets. They are a higher mount so I could instal my snorkel. I also mounted these backward (swapped sides) to clear the neck of the snorkel. Hood clears these even tho they are further forward. I haven't noticed any increase in wind noise.

 

[Dougstdig]

Got new shoes and socks for the weekend.

Extended flares

two front then two rear measurements

 

[van_tri]

So were the extenders that easy to put on? Do they require drilling out old rivets and installing new ones? Any pics?

I'll post pics once I finish the front passenger extender and mud flap installation. In short, yes, every corresponding hole in the extenders requires the OE rivets to be drilled and pried out. Start slow with a sharp drill bit so it doesn't "walk" off the rivet and mar the factory flare lip and then use a plastic pry tool to remove each rivet. I already had a Harbor Freight rivet tool from previous JK work.

The Maiker rear High Fender flare extenders line-up almost perfectly to each factory rivet hole, i used a heat gun to persuade the holes to line up ... no slit cuts were needed to be made for them to fit the curvature.

The front High Fender flare extenders have three extra holes that do not correspond to a rivet but the kit supplies black screws with washers you can use by drilling a pilot hole. I chose not to use any screws, however, the last hole in the front extenders at the bottom don't line-up with a hole and should be secured with a supplied screw. I did not drill/screw the bottom in-place because the Weathertech mud flap cover and secure the bottom of the front extenders.

 

[Dougstdig]

So were the extenders that easy to put on? Do they require drilling out old rivets and installing new ones? Any pics?

Mine didn’t require any additional holes to be drilled. The fronds did however require 3 3/8 Philips head screws. The factory rivet locations all lined up.

these are for the high line fenders only…

They may have them for the lower fenders.

https://a.co/d/5xF7JCL

looks like Van_Tri and I got the same ones except mine didn’t come with washers. The screw head was large enough to handle it.

I’m going with the RokBlokz since they are quick disconnect if needed depending on the terrain.

 

[brsnow2585]

Long story short, I had an engine misfire code about 4 hours away from home. When I got to my local dealer they had replaced my passenger intake camshaft, tappets, oil valve etc, at 43K miles under my powertrain warranty. I found a great deal on a 2024 Rubicon that fit within my price range so I jumped on it.

Out with the old

In with the new...it feels weird driving a stock jeep, but I’m excited for this build. I‘ve learned soooo much from my last gladiator and I look forward to using the knowledge gained and applying it.

Bad and good news at the same time, congratulations on the new ride, let the stock feel settle in for a bit, it'll make what's to come even more better.

 

[van_tri]

Mine didn’t require any additional holes to be drilled. The fronds did however require 3 3/8 Philips head screws. The factory rivet locations all lined up.

looks like Van_Tri and I got the same ones except mine didn’t come with washers. The screw head was large enough to handle it.

Yep, looks like the same set of high fender extenders I got. I just left the extra holes empty on the fronts. If they make any noise while driving I’ll use the screws supplied. The holes I left open can be seen between the rivets in the green circles in your pic.

Also, the washers are part of the WeatherTech mud flap installation. Once it warms up I’m going to spray paint them black.

 

[Rusty PW]

Got new shoes and socks for the weekend.

Extended flares

two front then two rear measurements

Shouldn't you be using this tape measure?

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