Contributor I
Hello, this is a bit of catch up on my 2020 Jeep Gladiator JT Sport S Max Tow... you know how us Jeepers love all the details of Jeep models. I’ve been an avid car guy and off road enthusiast. I started with a German car and then Japanese models. Cars, Opel Manta then Honda CRXs , hot civic hatches. I modified every one of them to go faster and handle curvy roads. After many tickets and realizing I’m not responsible with speed I bought a Toyota pickup...4x4 Toyota pickup... which means the “mini trucks” as back then Toyota didn’t have a mid size truck let alone a full size truck. I love Toyota trucks and cars. I only switched to a Jeep because I wanted a convertible; 1st a YJ then a CJ-8 with a full hard top so cool and i will always miss that one. I got married and when we had our 1st baby girl the CJ-8 very reluctantly had to go. In 1997 I bought a ‘96 Jeep Cherokee XJ 4x4, 4 door with the venerable in-line 6 and... the AW4 Japanese automatic transmission. I got carried away with rock crawling but kept the XJ as a daily driver and took many family camping trips... yes that’s what we called Overlanding back then. The XJ ended up with 7”s of lift, cut fenders and 35’s (yes it took all of that for 35’s) lockers, with etc. a finely tuned rig that I kept for 5 Year’s. I bought a ‘96 LC non-locked lifted with OME and 35’s with 4:88 gears. I also had Ford diesel trucks for DD duty and more XJ’s as well as Jeep GC ZJ’s (including a 5.9L) even an MJ beast on 38’s, all built for off road. I would build them, keep for a bit then sell them. FINALLY, bought the “end all be all” Jeep 2016 JKURHR () that was an awesome rig, less the rear locker and sway bar dc issues. Then JEEP had to go ahead with making the Gladiator. Remember the CJ-8 I’ve been missing? So, I bought one, a Gladiator that is. This time no Rubicon but the Max Tow with the right equipment (for those that don’t know the Max Tow has the wider HD Rubicon axles with 4:10 gears no lockers or sway bar dc... I’ll leave those to the aftermarket).
When I bought the Gladiator there weren’t many offerings for bed racks or bed covers. So I made my own out of a free ladder rack, some uni-strut 3/4 marine plywood with textured deck paint, and some Yakima parts for carrying my Mntn bikes as well as a load bar mounted to the hard top for longer loads. This served well on a UP Michigan trip last summer.
Off road the JT is very capable and on the road with the little baby tires and 4:10’s there is plenty of towing power. I opted for the 8 speed German auto and it is fantastic. Eventually the JT will become more off-road capable with lockers gears and a small lift with 37” tires a mix of Overlanding and mild to hard trails. For now it is a fantastic camping... er’ Overlanding rig!
When I bought the Gladiator there weren’t many offerings for bed racks or bed covers. So I made my own out of a free ladder rack, some uni-strut 3/4 marine plywood with textured deck paint, and some Yakima parts for carrying my Mntn bikes as well as a load bar mounted to the hard top for longer loads. This served well on a UP Michigan trip last summer.
Off road the JT is very capable and on the road with the little baby tires and 4:10’s there is plenty of towing power. I opted for the 8 speed German auto and it is fantastic. Eventually the JT will become more off-road capable with lockers gears and a small lift with 37” tires a mix of Overlanding and mild to hard trails. For now it is a fantastic camping... er’ Overlanding rig!
