Sick LC250 build

https://youtu.be/_ZmIPnulamg?si=JnNI2XAk1X8XqdR_

 

That thing is sick!

 

That’s pretty nice but I would take the gladiator. More space, less likely to break the front suspension and a fraction of the cost.

 

I'll be that guy an say I would take all the stuff on the Gladiator and toss them onto a JLU.

 

That would be better off road but I would still prefer the extra space in the gladiator. In reality if I lived near a place with trails like that I would get a side by side rather than beating up my daily driver.

 

What do you guys think that LC cost? $100k?

 

If if wasn't so unreliable, I'd still be in my Gladiator. Not even a Rubicon and it was still absurdly capable with just 35s. Tossed on a 3" lift and never had trouble on any trail that wasn't rated for two lockers. A JLU is nice, but I could load so much shit and still keep up with most.

 

It has portals, so yeah...That sounds about right.

 

With those tires you can break the front axle of the Gladiator too unless it is a Dana 80 or 60

 

Probably more. The wheels and tires alone maybe $10,000

 

Pretty sure you've seen this but an excellent example of what NOT to do...Gladiator in Hot Tub

 

Didn't watch the full video, but from the first 30 seconds looks like the ball joints came out of the knuckles lol. Axle is fine. There was a Gladiator that snapped the Dana 44 in half

 

Not hard to do, the FAD is a known weak spot which is why anyone wheeling on anything above 37s does a truss on the front axle. Otherwise, the housing is totally good to go for 40s because they're .375 wall.

 

A JLU would be able to carry as much as the LC250. I guess an apple to apple comparison would be a 4th gen Taco vs the JT. If I was ordering one I might just get a base sport and throw an air locker aftermarket and use the price difference to add the offroad goodies. Base trim JL/JLU/JT with the 3.6 and ZF 8 speed are fairly simple and not a whole lot to go wrong.

 

Seems rad but anything can become a beast if you throw enough money at it.. thankfully, you can just throw a sticker on it and call it a business write-off.

 

Going for that "Slanted Wheel" look I see...

 

Jeep Recon is coming this year or next. If you are looking for an EV crossover with some serious offroad chops, check it out.

 

What went wrong with your Gladiator?

 

Typical Jeep CAN bus issues... random no-starts half a dozen times that required waiting 10m for full system power-down or disconnecting the batteries and random modules (radio, hvac, seat heaters) randomly cutting out until I restarted nearly monthly. Then the transmission whine started and no dealer would validate because it was at freeway speed on >7% grades and in phoenix... yeah that's like a 2 hour test drive into the mountains. Final straw was it nearly leaving me stranded in Albuquerque and shifting poorly all the way home. Dealers were no help so dumped it just shy of 36k on the clock in 4 years.

 

Sorry, you got unlucky. Lemon Law couldn't help?

 

Still gotta verify the problem and they wouldn't even get that far. I wrenched for Jeep years ago when they first introduced CAN so I sorta knew what I was getting in to but it's sad they still have the same kinds of issues.

I'm not sure I'd call it unlucky given how many have weird issues... Toyota is no saint but at least they get them sorted out and the later years of a generation are solid. Jeep just can't seem to get it figured out.

 

And some of them run flawlessly Including my friends. It's early to tell in his case. It's really like playing Russian roulette when it comes to these Jeeps lol