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

[cdyoung9799]

Well two weeks in and it is escalating quickly. Picked up tires and wheels today

BFG KM3 37x12.5x17 on ICON Wheels only ones I could find in stock yesterday. Glad they fit stock as the Metal Cloak 3.5 is not here yet

ICON Bumper and Smitty 12,000lb winch going on tomorrow. Along with Rigid lights

5:13 Dana Gears along with the new one wire Eaton E Locker for the front diff should be here mid November

Man, those look awesome. I'm running the KM3's myself, because that's the only 37" M/T I could find when I bought my wheels. I've never had good luck with BFG's in the past, but these have changed my mind. Very happy with them so far.

BTW, if you ever need someone to baby sit that Laguna Seca in the background, I'm your guy. That's a rare car. Better hang on to it.

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[polarisTXguy]

I’ve been running Toyo’s on previous rigs but I was happy to find the BFG’s also.

As for the LS she was 10 Years old this past summer. I have two kids that will probably fight over it once I’m gone.

It has had a work out over the years about 9,000 miles on track. I’ve been all over the US. Here’s one of my favorite pics.

 

[atxatxatx]

I’ve been running Toyo’s on previous rigs but I was happy to find the BFG’s also.

As for the LS she was 10 Years old this past summer. I have two kids that will probably fight over it once I’m gone.

It has had a work out over the years about 9,000 miles on track. I’ve been all over the US. Here’s one of my favorite pics.

Something looked familiar to me: I believe we were at the same event back in Feb 2015 rather cold weather at COTA

 

[polarisTXguy]

Crazy what ties people together! Wild weather that weekend.

I’ve been running Toyo’s on previous rigs but I was happy to find the BFG’s also.

As for the LS she was 10 Years old this past summer. I have two kids that will probably fight over it once I’m gone.

It has had a work out over the years about 9,000 miles on track. I’ve been all over the US. Here’s one of my favorite pics.

 

[atxatxatx]

Crazy what ties people together! Wild weather that weekend.

Indeed, it's a small world.

I remember struggling to get to the drivers meeting due to the freeway flyovers being shutdown due to the freezing weather. But at least the track stayed open. It was a fun 3 day track event.

 

[WhippetTaxi]

I’m curious why the McLaren is always running behind you guys on the track. Looks like fun!

 

[Rubi_Rhod]

Would you say this tightened up your steering?

It did. I did have the factory pieces loosen up on me in a small fender bender. But that joint was clicking, and the ball joint was loosened from factory. So it was all loose and sloppy and really didn’t take much to get that out of whack.

All in all, these components are a good 2-3x the mass of the factory pieces and should keep it locked and tight for many miles to come.

I’ve been so used to constantly correcting it for the past few months, today took it on a mountain pass and was surprised at how linear and smooth the inputs are now on sweepers and nary a lick of bumpsteer.

Drag Link
Tie tod
Rear swaybar
A good toe alignment

All of which really has it handling tightly now.

 

[atxatxatx]

I’m curious why the McLaren is always running behind you guys on the track. Looks like fun!

Haha, we were holding him up. With his downforce and hybrid power he was amazing fast. My hand was cold from having it out the window doing point-by's all the time

 

[NonHyphenated American]

Picked up some rock rails.

 

[4xRadDad]

Samson got a set of 37-inch Cooper Discoverer XLT AT3 shoes with new Black Rhino Rapid wheels thanks to @Discount Tire (his previous 35-inch Falken WildPeak AT3’s on LE wheels are up for sale in the member marketplace).

The 3.5-inch @Clayton Off Road lift was screaming at me everyday for a larger set of tires. And YES, as you can see in the last picture, the lift allowed me to fit my 37-inch spare under the JT!

Can’t say enough good things about the customer support and service from the Tega Cay store - outstanding folks!

Note: one of the reasons that I chose this wheel/tire combo is weight. The Rapid wheel is 26 lbs and the Discoverer XLT AT is a 68 lb tire. Plus I tow a camper - the Cooper Discoverer is designed for towing. The wheel was my fourth choice wheel, but in the supply chain limited environment that we are currently experiencing - it was my best option. I really do like the wheel, really happy. Just wanted the Black Rhino Bantam or Dugger a little more.

Looks good! Have you noticed a difference between the lighter 37’s and the 35’s? Still on 4:10 gears??

 

[akamax_power]

Installed Rugged Ridge hard rolling bed cover. Required a quick run to Home Depot to pick up some hardware since one of the supplied bolts wasn’t quite right.

 

[polarisTXguy]

Hate to say it but he wasn’t there long. Mainly how we came out on track each session. One session I was taking turn 11 to start down the back straight and the McLaren was coming out of 9 hot and I was waiting to give the point by and I was accelerating down the back straight around 125mph and climbing and he blew by me like I was dragging a boat anchor.

Had to be doing 150+ when he passed me

I’m curious why the McLaren is always running behind you guys on the track. Looks like fun!

 

[freebird_78]

Nothing major, just a 6 pack of rock lights, wired to aux switches. I'm an EE by trade, so am really OCD about wiring, so took a bit. Marine grade solder spliced it all together.

 

[TexasTJ]

Removed both aftermarket bumpers, winch, skid plates, Armorlite flooring, 37s and a few other things. All thats left to remove is the Diamondback, and she'll be gone.

 

[VolatileA]

Something looked familiar to me: I believe we were at the same event back in Feb 2015 rather cold weather at COTA

Which event was this?

Does COTA do a lot of open track days?

Coming from LA, Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca was home turf to have fun.

Can’t wait to try COTA.

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