UTAH (and Surrounding Areas) BS Thread

and a condom.

Good luck!

 

beautiful rig.

 

Thanks, I loved that thing. Still miss it sometimes.

 

Pedersen Toyota in Ft Collins. Seriously

 

Do tell us more…

 

Bought my 2017 there. Super easy. Did all negotiating over email. Saved ~2k even after flying to go pick it up.
I asked all of the local dealers to match. None would, one even flat out told me I was lying about the price I was getting.

This is all pre-Covid, of course. Not sure the deal would be as good today.

 

Anyone do anything fun this weekend?

I did the Cirque Series trail running race at Alta on Saturday. Great views, meh weather esp at the summit, but nice and cool.

The Route:


The greatest view of the day! I was gassed.


Time to fight gravity and the mud all the way down:


Finished!


Post-race beverage and recovery donut

 

oh man! good on yah! That's some serious trail running! How'd you do?

 

Hold up, trail running?? Was the scenery going by too fast on the mtb?

 

On the topic of selling toyotas, this winter I might list my rig. I have to take apart the front end and get my shocks rebuilt/ re-coated and then do some other Misc items before then. But I have been wanting a gladiator again. I am actually comfortable with the idea of getting rid of my rig. Back in 2020 I wasn't ready..

One of my buddies recently got a gladiator in the rubicon trim and that thing is sweet. Will getting rid of my Taco be a mistake? Perhaps, but I will never know unless I try it. I will miss the 13 cup holders in my taco....

Ill be sure to list it on here to see if any of you Utahans want it. When I do list it, I think ill be reasonable with the pricing given what I have done to it and the mileage.

 

IDK, I haven't seen an overall ranking, but I'll be the first to admit it ain't gonna be good stats wise. Hoping for top 80%. I underestimated how difficult it would be because I was equating bike vs running effort and I was way off.

1. Lateral stabilizer muscles are def underused in biking vs these running shenanigans
2. All 3ish weeks notice of my running training cycle were in town on flat ground, not at a steep grade at 8-11k feet.
3. I'm pretty sure I've run a combined 7 miles in as many years. I can hike/bike all day, but running, esp in a pack of 3-500 people is hard just because of the slinky effect and bottleneck features..

A good friend of mine (the shirtless guy) asked me if I'd run it with him, and I can't leave the homies hangin.

 

Gladiator Rubicons def look pretty sweet. I'd have a long chat with @crashnburn80 about his modded one before you sign the dotted line though. It def has its ups and downs.

 

I have been checking out the gladiator forums, especially the Warranty/ service bulletins. If I got one, the goal would basically be to leave it stock (lol), and just run 33's or 35's along with a full belly skid and beefier rock sliders. Maybe a manual swaybar disconnect for the front swaybar. I don't like the 15mph auto connect/ disconnect in 4wd. Getting the rubicon trim would give me factory e-lockers. I have never had an issue with my e-locker.

Some problems that I see are with the steering box (play), check engine light mainly from a low auto stop/ start battery (they have two batteries), cracked windshield, leaky roof panels, and the random death wobble after 1000mi. Everything is electronic, so its best to get the LED headlights/ aux switches installed from the factory so you dont need to visit the dealer to flash the ecu. Also, stay away from the Eco-Diesel. It costs 5K just to have that engine, and the long term maintenance kills the amount of $$ you might save by getting 24mpg.

I think a stock rubicon will have the same amount of articulation as my front/ rear long travel rig. I think jeeps that are on 40's and one tons are a bit crazy and are buggies at that point. The goal is to fit the largest tire with the smallest lift, and then just wheel it. Oh yea, I would definitely get the full warranty.. because its a Jeep ..

 

Also don't boost it, or your block will become much more aerodynamic.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...tor-mojave-build.700918/page-29#post-27257376

 

Oh yea. I am not sure why alot of jeep owners are charging the pentastar. The motor is not designed for it. At least with tacomas, you could have originally ordered it with a charger from the factory.

I follow the guy on Youtube, Story Till Now. He had a Ripp charger in his. Ripp was a sponsor for his channel, now he has a 2022 gladiator and Ripp is no longer a sponsor. I think he blew his engine out of his 2019 gladiator.

Crawlers aren't supposed to be fast...

 

The Tacoma's were not designed to be boosted either. Yes, you could order a Magnuson supercharger under the TRD label as an OEM accessory, but the engine wasn't designed for the supercharger, Magnuson designed a supercharger for the 4.0, just as Magnuson designed a supercharger for the 3.6 Pentastar, and the 3rd Gen Tacoma 3.5L. Difference though, Toyota did the ECU tuning for the 4.0 and HP Tuners did it for the Pentastar. Really it I think comes down to the weight savings program in the latest Gen Pentastar design, ideas like cutting oil capacity to save weight... The latest gen light weighted units seem more failure prone. Crawlers are not supposed to be fast, but desert runners like the Mojave are.

33s and even 35s gives you poor belly ground clearance on the Gladiator. With the belly hanging down below the frame rails, overall ground clearance isn't that great. I had a Mojave with the factory 1" front lift and 37s are about where it needed to be to be acceptable. There are products to help lift the belly 3/4", but it will still hang down below the frame rails. You notice on a Tacoma, everything but the crossmember and exhaust crossover is tucked up inside the frame. The Gladiator has the fuel tank below the frame. And while the truck is only 6" longer than the Tacoma, the wheel base is 10" longer so break-over angles really take a hit. My 2nd Gen Taco with 2" lift and 32s still had better belly clearance and break-over.

They are cool trucks, I owed one for about a year and a half. You can build them to be far more beastly than a Tacoma, much more simply and a factory solid front axle is pretty sweet. But the Tacoma is a much more well rounded truck in every way. Toyota is also on the top for quality, and FCA is on the bottom. I'll never buy an FCA product again and picked up another Tacoma.

 

Good insight from a former JT owner. I would get the Rubicon trim if I did sell my rig to make way for a JT. If I don't like it, the Rubicon trim definitely hold it's value. I know the QA for stellantis is not the best, but that's why you get a decent warranty.

I think if I make it past the Initial couple thousand miles , I should be able to put 100k on it. I keep my vehicles a long time. As far as belly scraping, I guess I'll deal with it. Artec makes a nice full skid for the JT that would probably be an initial purchase.

 

Yeah, I had purchased the Artec skids, which seemed like a well thought out product. It requires a 2” lift though to clear the front axle. I put a 2” AEV lift on mine and it made it too tall IMO, also made the 37s seem a bit small. I didn’t like it, so I ended up taking the lift off. I was going to run the Artec skids then without the engine skid, since I’d get the benefit of the belly lift that way, without needing additional lift for the engine skid to clear the front axle. That does leave you with no front skid though. If looking at 37s, check out the 2022 Raptor KO2s, 37x12.5r17s C-loads that are about 2lbs heavier than the stock 33s. Unless you really want the front locker or 4:1 T-case I think the Mojave is a better buy with the awesome suspension, 1” lift and better sport seats. It will easily fit 37s stock. They both have ATRAC style systems for for simulated lockers, so the front locker is only a mild advantage on the Rubicon. Both hold their value well. If going for a true crawler though, the Rubicon is a better choice, but I’d drive and evaluate both.

I had weird electrical gremlins that would never repo at the dealer. Systems failures after a couple hours of driving taking all the traction and stability controls offline, and sometimes more. They’d work again the next day after the Jeep sat a while. Never got them resolved. Jeep also seems to look for any reason to try and deny warranty work (like mods) and seeing inside of their service shops it looks like a 3rd rate garage, nothing at all like the professionalism of Toyota. I’ve never felt uncomfortable leaving my vehicle at a dealer, except there after seeing their garage. I had walked into the service facility where the customers were not supposed to go since the dealer was being difficult about bringing a non-running vehicle to the off-site service bay.

 

If I had the money for one I'd get it in a heartbeat. Much better out of the factory off roader than any Toyota. Sure you might run into some issues but most brands now a days have issues including toyota. They all essentially get their parts from the same place just assembled in different locations haha. I'd just go with the v6 motor, they've been using it for a while and it's pretty reliable as long as you don't screw with it. My wife really likes them so in a couple years we'll pick up a rubicon.

 

Off the current topic:


Who should I look at for chopping my cab mounts and welding a cover plate?