There really is no question that the all new Jeep JT Gladiator is all the rage and anyone who's anyone in the industry is working hard to build one up. As luck would have it, Cindy and I were invited down to Dynatrac and to get a glimpse of what they're doing with theirs. Needless to say, the following photos will show you what they've done so far and we'd love to hear what you think of it. :yup:
Unfortunately, we weren't able to cover this build from the very beginning like we had originally planned to but we were able to catch up on things soon after it arrived at Dynatrac. Here's a shot of what it looked like within hours of getting here - essentially, all stripped down and ready to get worked on again.
Of course, the single coolest mod on this this truck is the awesome Hellcat HEMI under the hood.
For the most part, it went it without too much effort but new JL motor mounts had to be installed to make it work and fitment was a bit tight on the passenger side.
From what I've been told, there was also an issue with the brake booster fitment and several different ones had be tested before one that worked was finally found.
Not a 100% sure what the deal is with the coils but there seemed to be an excessive amount of bowing on the front ones. Fortunately, these will get replaced.
Probably the single most unique feature about this Gladiator build is that nothing about it would make you think it once was a Gladiator. As you can see, the cab section has been chopped so that it could be made into a 2-door with an extra cab and the frame has been shorted as well to give it a shorter wheel base. Of course, a storage box made by Patriot Campers has been added as well.
Initially, the plan was to run a 2-door gas tank with the shortened frame but things didn't work out the way they had planned so a 36 gallon GenRight tank was used in its place.
It may be a little hard to see but if you look carefully, the frame rails had to be notched in order to make the tank fit.
Here's a shot of Sticky Finger Design wrapping CODEX's hood.
What it looks like now.
Shot of the windshield done as well.
Coming together. Here you can see the body with some color as well as the roof rack installed and a Rotopax mounted on the rear window location.
Doing a bit more shaping to the hard top.
Maybe not perfect but it does look a lot better now.
Going with the black and tan look, the factory wheels were painted matte black.
Getting a lot closer. Here's a shot from the rear with the roof top tent installed.
A few shots of the drawers and cubbys on this thing.
On the other side is a Dometic fridge
Switches on the outside that control lights.
Testing out the roof top tent.
Modifying the rear cross member to help give a bit more ground clearance.
Oh so close to being done.
Well, the body part of it all anyway. Suspension is gonna need some help for sure especially in the rear.
That's it for now. Hoping to post up more pics as soon as I can and with any luck, it'll look a lot more complete. Please let us know what you think of the build! :thumb:
Unfortunately, we weren't able to cover this build from the very beginning like we had originally planned to but we were able to catch up on things soon after it arrived at Dynatrac. Here's a shot of what it looked like within hours of getting here - essentially, all stripped down and ready to get worked on again.
Of course, the single coolest mod on this this truck is the awesome Hellcat HEMI under the hood.
For the most part, it went it without too much effort but new JL motor mounts had to be installed to make it work and fitment was a bit tight on the passenger side.
From what I've been told, there was also an issue with the brake booster fitment and several different ones had be tested before one that worked was finally found.
Not a 100% sure what the deal is with the coils but there seemed to be an excessive amount of bowing on the front ones. Fortunately, these will get replaced.
Probably the single most unique feature about this Gladiator build is that nothing about it would make you think it once was a Gladiator. As you can see, the cab section has been chopped so that it could be made into a 2-door with an extra cab and the frame has been shorted as well to give it a shorter wheel base. Of course, a storage box made by Patriot Campers has been added as well.
Initially, the plan was to run a 2-door gas tank with the shortened frame but things didn't work out the way they had planned so a 36 gallon GenRight tank was used in its place.
It may be a little hard to see but if you look carefully, the frame rails had to be notched in order to make the tank fit.
Here's a shot of Sticky Finger Design wrapping CODEX's hood.
What it looks like now.
Shot of the windshield done as well.
Coming together. Here you can see the body with some color as well as the roof rack installed and a Rotopax mounted on the rear window location.
Doing a bit more shaping to the hard top.
Maybe not perfect but it does look a lot better now.
Going with the black and tan look, the factory wheels were painted matte black.
Getting a lot closer. Here's a shot from the rear with the roof top tent installed.
A few shots of the drawers and cubbys on this thing.
On the other side is a Dometic fridge
Switches on the outside that control lights.
Testing out the roof top tent.
Modifying the rear cross member to help give a bit more ground clearance.
Oh so close to being done.
Well, the body part of it all anyway. Suspension is gonna need some help for sure especially in the rear.
That's it for now. Hoping to post up more pics as soon as I can and with any luck, it'll look a lot more complete. Please let us know what you think of the build! :thumb:
