Crashnburn80's Supercharged Gladiator Mojave Build

Wheels are wheels, Jeep specific wheels don't have to be heavy, that is just the choice a person makes based on wanting a look over less weight...... I ran some pro comps that were iirc 26 lbs per wheel at 17x9.......

 

It is all about balance. Yes, you can run F-load tires on ultra heavy steel wheels to be most indestructible, but then have it suck as a daily driver. All my builds are performance oriented, which means minimizing weight gain, especially rotational weight, and maximizing the balanced performance for on and off road use. If you are into the most extreme rock crawling, my builds won’t be for you. I want a truck that can pull the tires free on the highway, light rock crawl, navigate tight trails and function as a reasonable daily driver with reasonable mpg. I realize that is a tall order, but I was able to achieve it in my Tacoma.

 

True. But finding wheels with the right bolt pattern, and reasonable offset/backspacing that isn’t too wide while keeping weight to a minimum is far more of a challenge in the Jeep market than it is in the Toyota one.

 

Full agreement from my side!!

 

Perhaps these days, but when i was doing wheels for my JK there was seemingly endless availability a few yrs back. If you aren’t rushing i am confident you will find exactly what you want

 

I am a huge fan of not running 12.5 wide tires

 

I looked pretty hard before opting for the $1k OEM wheel upgrade. I saw lots of options, but nothing I’d consider equal or much less better than stock. I am hyper detail oriented, so it takes a lot to meet all my criteria. The Mojave wheels also have less offset than other JT models to push the wheels out slightly further than other models of JT or JL. Add keeping weight off, keeping width down, keeping reasonable negative offset, and generally keeping tires under the truck without excessive poke and the options quickly evaporate.

 

Chasing perfection is never easy! Hope you're loving the Mojave!

 

Got the shipping notification from OEM Audio Plus, delivery due Weds. Might take Friday off for the install.

 

Fully automatic top mod

I completed this mod today so the top literally powers open and down 100% on its own. Unlatch the front clips and drive about ~25mph. The top will suddenly and quickly flip open and down all on its own with no user effort required.

It was a bit of a surprise to say the least. I can’t fit in the garage with the top open, so I often flip it closed and don’t latch it as I intend to reopen it on the next drive. Works great as long as you remember.

 

“It’s a Jeep thing.”

ive been eyeballing that apyderweshade thingy for the freedom tops. I can’t remove the hardtop due to work perceptions. But, if I could, the weather is PERFECT this week.

 

Very similar to the Artec high clearance skid system, I found this one today by Next Venture Motorsports. Both increase ground clearance by 0.75" and provide a continuous aluminum skid surface. The Next Venture doesn't yet offer a JT kit (only JLU), but looks to have one in development. But as usual the devil is in the details. The Next Venture kit uses 5052 aluminum vs Artec's 6061 aluminum. The weakness of aluminum skid strength vs steel is obviously a trade off for significant weight savings. But there is a big difference in strength of 5052 vs 6061.

Yield strength (required to deform the metal)
5052 28,000psi
6061 40,000psi

The Artec 6061 aluminum is about 43% stronger than New Ventures 5052 aluminum. Flat out non-starter, I'll be going with the Artec kit.

 

Did you get a chance to compare the MORE off road skids?

 

I had not looked at them prior but checking out their products they do not meet the criteria I am looking for.

I want a fully integrated continuous flat skid system that increases ground clearance without adding significant weight, which means it must be made from aluminum. Ideally the systems replace the sad factory cross members with an improved ones. The above two skid systems were the only ones I have seen so far to do all that. MORE has 3/16-1/4 aluminum skids, but it isn't a system that bolts together as a continuous piece and does not increase the ground clearance of the truck. To increase the ground clearance, the factory gas tank skid must be completely replaced, which in the case of Artec also includes adding tank straps so you can remove the aftermarket skid without dropping the tank (not the case for OEM). MORE's gas tank skid installs over the factory skid, so it actually causes you to lose ground clearance. So if Artec gains 3/4" clearance and MORE installs over the skid with 3/16", it is likely near if not more than a 1" clearance difference at the tank, which is the clearance difference from going from 35s to 37s.

I've seen other continuous skid systems in both steel and aluminum, but none others that also increase ground clearance.

I think one of the primary weaknesses of the JL/JT platform is the low chassis, the Tacoma does a better job of keeping everything high and tight under the truck. On the JL/JT the weak cross members are just bolted to the bottom of the frame. That is just laziness in an off road vehicle where ground clearance should be prioritized. Toyota doesn't do that. From a design perspective, it really irritates me.

So my objective is to 'fix' the bottom of the truck to make it flat like it should be, gain needed ground clearance and armor protection while minimizing the weight gain. So far, Artec looks to do it the best.

 

OEM Audio Plus gear showed up yesterday. The gear is well packaged, the box the sub came in is huge. What surprised me most though was how small the DSP and amp is, which are mounted on opposing sides of a bracket.

 

I assume the amp is class D? They are much more efficient than the A/B amps so don’t need big heat sinks.

My first amp was a YPA-1000, the shop referred to it as "the surfboard".

 

Fed up with Morimoto's BS 9->7" headlight adapter that doesn't allow proper headlight adjustment, as they tie vertical and horizontal adjustment together in one plane. Going to pull the trigger on adapters that allow proper independent vertical and horizontal adjustment. Should have done this earlier this winter.
https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadratec/7-inch-headlight-adapter-brackets-jeep-wrangler-jl

This has also caught my eye. Still undecided. Goes with the proxy illumination project of tying rock lights to the bed lights. I'd tie these to the bed lights as well not the interior lights as designed. Side market signals would also be a nice safety upgrade. Not thrilled about an adhesive based installation.
https://www.oraclelights.com/collections/jeep-gladiator-products/products/sidetrack

 

Supercharger install planned for this weekend.

Spent last night watching the entire Magnuson install video. Looks like a really well thought out product, as one would expect. Only part I wasn't a fan of design-wise was mounting the intercooler pump to the lower radiator hoses. Yes, the pump mounts to the rubber hoses using a clamp, not onto anything structural. On the 2nd Gen it mounted to part of the center core support. Also questionable, the video by Magnuson is listed as JL/JT, but clearly shows a JK front grill, unsure what the differences would be if they are both running the 3.6. I was also surprised that the kit does not change out the plugs, granted 2nd Gen ran old school copper plugs that were changed out for iridium plugs whereas the more modern 3.6 in the JL/JT surely run iridium plugs from the factory, but still surprised they were not changed out for another temperature. Another pleasant surprise is the SC is driven off the main serpentine belt, so no dealing with the crank pulley to add a secondary pulley, no worry about aftermarket tensioners or dealing with running stacked belts which makes maintenance easier, though possibly less friendly to extreme mods of the SC.

 

Installed my OEM Audio Plus system yesterday. It is a much improvement over the factory JBL system.