Great build Dan, I just got home from a Massachusetts to Alaska and back roadie. INSPIRED by your content. A couple Provencial camps , the rest boondocking. Thanks
To get the spare tire down, you can hook a strap or rope to it. Drop that off one side with some slack tied to rock rail or something/ some one holds it then slide off other side. After it's started go slowly lower it down using the strap. I hauled 4 33x10.5 tires on my XJ roof rack to get mounted that way. I actually pulled them up that way too, at the time I was recovering from severe injury to my left foot and using crutches. My XJ's roof rack is about 7 ft from the ground at the time. BTW, greetings from the Gladiator forum.
And now I have the answer to my roof rack question! Thank you! I will likely be doing something similar on my Gladiator when the GFC camper shows up. The tricky part for me is going to be finding a way to switch between a half rack when the camper is on, and a full length cab rack for summer when I just use a tonneau cover. You’ve got me thinking!
Awesome! Everything is custom, nothing is easy 🙂I can't imagine how many hours and how much back and forth you two went through to come up with the final plan on fitting/mounting that rack, impressive.👍👍
So impressed with the build quality detail you and Michael are adhering to. This is really high quality custom work. The only issue I can think of is how you’re going to top this in a few years! This looks like it would be a perfect shell for the life of the Jeep.
I have the pioneer rack system on my TJ Wrangler's Highlander Hard Top and it's been amazing, I've been verify impressed with how durable and rugged it's been so far! Another great video, this is a great one of a kind build!
Hi , a suggestion for the spare tire . If you go hurt taking it down or putting it up there , you know the problems this this could cause . My idea is to see if you can get 3 of those Rino roof rack slats , then you will need 1 piece of aluminum pipe and 1 piece of aluminum square tubing . Machine slots into the length of pipe & square tubing. Now you can insert the end of the slats into the machined slot , and secure them counter sunk bolts and ny-loc nuts . What you are building is slide for getting the spare up & down from the roof added benefits are it will keep some UV off the tire and 2 add a little security for the tire . So the round pipe end goes up top to help the tire slide onto the top or down off the top . You put a little ATV winch up top or just knotted rope with a handle . You take the slide off the tire hook it onto the roof rach hook your means of bringing it down give it a little push and it slide down or up nicely .You should use a strap sling to go around the tire to hook to , just make sure the strap come from under the to avoid any binding .
Gladiator fitted with a PCOR, MITTS alloy etc. Canopy system with on board water carrier (50+litres), long range fuel tank, dual tyres spare(optional), redarc manager 30 inverter system (200w), solar charger, dual batteries. A good RTT. A roof rack on the front half to mount alu boxes for storage, awning, maxtrax mount, shovel mount, 37 inch tyres with 4.8 gear etc. In my humble opinion it is the best setup for long distance touring on and off road.
I am a great admirer of your journeys and yes I have read your books. I really appreciated the practical sensible advice that you offered on RU-vid which reaffirmed my own beliefs. And I have a front number plate thanks to you that has been quite helpful! However this build does not seem to fit the original brief of a vehicle to buy in North America and drive. I love your belief in Jeeps but this is a highly specialized two off build that goes far beyond most people’s capacities. Please don’t take this as thoughtless RU-vid criticism because I have every respect for you and your achievements but I don’t see this hyper custom Jeep as the vehicle you teased before revealing the build. I really do wish you every success as I enjoy the PanAmericana in my dreary old van. With a winch that has yet to pretzel anything. But I did have to splice the rope once! Cheers from the road.
Thanks for the support, and I completely understand what you are saying. The way I see it, is there are "base" vehicles that people build out how they want. Some people go huge tires and a supercharger, some people go water tanks and a pop-up roof (my Africa Jeep). They are the same base, but built differently for different purposes. The same goes for what I'm doing now - it's a perfectly ordinary vehicle that anyone in North America (basically the world) can buy and have adventures in. They could leave it stock and sleep inside, throw a pop-up on it like I had, or even create more living space like I am. I don't think how any individual outfits their vehicle is actually the important part, it's more about WHY they do what they do, and what each of us can learn from that to incorporate into our own vehicles based on our own needs. Of course hardly anyone is going to drive around Africa, so it doesn't make sense for them to build a vehicle exactly like I did last time. Same for this new one - not many people want to adventure at -40C/F !
Your build is looking fantastic! Great job on everything! I love the attention to detail and precision for all the changes you and your friend have made!
This Jeep is awesome! I'm really curious about the winching system for the spare tyre. It's finally looking like a vehicle for adventure, it no longer looks like the baker's van. 🤣
There must be some lesson from boat building on isolating the canopy from the frame, but I can't think of it. I guess another solution might be using a rubber bellowed 0-ring around the frame-to-rack stand-off. The rack would be rigidly mounted to the frame and the o-ring would allow relative movement of the canopy to the frame and rack. Taking lessons learned to another level....
Incredible to see! Just a question, as I'm not too familiar with this, but how legal is it to fully modify it and be able to drive it in Canada? Are you able to do this and still drive it with absolutely no problems legally?
Rhino should make the rack slide to the side and tilt down at a 45-55 degree angle ( enough to clear the mirror) that would let you get the tire off and on easier.
@@TheRoadChoseMe Agree Dan, ideally it would be aluminum. When I outfitted utility vehicles for a company years ago, I chose roof top ladder carrying racks featuring a lever that you rotated that flopped the ladders down over the side of the van. Much safer than climbing up on vehicle. This could be developed on a smaller scale for wheels. Just a thought. Cheers.
The fog light niced and tucked away but wouldn't it be hard to clean it with that plastic skid plate in its way 🤔that roof mounting system is the go would be very strong mate 👌
@@TheRoadChoseMeSteel cool , but getting to the light to clean behind looks hard or mabe the camera angle makes it look tricky , great thing tho she's coming along great going to be a nice rig I recon gee u lifting the game 4 the others 👍and from a side view it all looks like the weight package is perfect you guys nailed it
HEY, mate interesting stuff are you the guy that did a storey in Jeep Action mag ? Yeah good to see, need more Action there. Hope to do old Jeep kit out story ourselves with FS militery Ambulance ventures . JEEP ON...Cheers.
This is some first rate fabrication! Was there any concern about the expansion and contraction of the fiberglass panels versus the aluminum spacers? I know the black freedom panels get extremely hot in the sun!
@@TheRoadChoseMe I hope it all works out for you. It’s an awesome concept and you’re much braver than me! I’ve cut jeeps up before but never a new one.
Dumb question. Why didn't you rig the hood to hold the spare (like some old school Rovers) or mount it on the back? Seems that would be easier for a one person retrieval. I had a older Jeep Grand Cherokee where my spare was on my roof rack. PITA to rotate tires or replace a flat tire, so that's why I ask. Other than that.....solid build. I look forward to seeing this on the trail.
Tire on the hood for a Wrangler just doesn't work, the seating position means you basically can't see over it. The hood is also just aluminum, it would require a LOT of weight to be added to make it strong enough. The back was the other viable option, it also would have required a lot of strength to be added to the rear of the camper. Likely if more of these are built the spare location will be the first improvement.
It's pretty cool, but I'm not sure that amount of work justifys it. I do believe I've seen something similar. I bought an ice cream sandwich from it! Hahaha.
Dan: it is my understanding that for diesel Wranglers and Diesel Gladiators, if you put anything in front of the grill you will void the engine warranty from Jeep. Seriously. If yours is a diesel, PLEASE check the fine print in the warranty. Diesel Jeeps running "overland heavy" often have overheating problems, especially the oil temperature. So at the very least you may want to keep an eye on that under loads.
I've been told by a few people it will de-rate itself when the oil temp gets to a certain point, but I've also been told that will only happen on US interstates when you're holding 70+mph pulling huge mountain passes. I know one major company was working on an oil cooler for it, but I think it's on the backburner right now. I'll keep an eye on it for sure
@@TheRoadChoseMe Cool. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the possible results of putting so much in front of the radiator on a diesel Wrangler. Safe travels!
Hilariously Michael (The guy who designed this whole thing and who I'm working with, and who answered my "Who Keeps the metric system down"), worked on space shuttle and was at NASA for many years :)
Those driving lights look like they block a lot of airflow Rack: instead of drilling big holes in the roof, why not make the spacer a few mm shorter and put it entirely inside the vehicle, with just the small bolt hole penetrating the roof. Then, a couple of gaskets will have you sealed.
100k ha, My Wrangler has 253000 miles on it. Second clutch, starter radiator and water pump, heater core lights switches, heater control switch and few u-joints. 18 years and still going strong.
Depending on how long the spare tire is up there, do you have any concerns about UV degradation? I suppose it depends on where you're traveling and for how long, but if it lives up there forever I could see the sun taking a toll on it.
@@TheRoadChoseMe Get yourself some Formula 303. Started out as an aerospace protectant, migrated to automotive, solid UV protection for 6 months, then re-apply. I've used it for decades, swear by it.
@@TheRoadChoseMe Yes. recall the old Jeep soft tops, how the windows would yellow and spider web and crack? 303 to the rescue, this is back in the 80's. It "almost" restored them to perfect, certainly you could once again see out of them.
Need to mention, it doesn't just shine them up like the armour alls, or the silicone ones etc. It provides UV protection for 6 months after application. My last vehicle was 17 years old, 400,000 kms on it. Interior looked as new.
I love to see what you are doing but can't relate to it since this isn't something I can have on mine. Likely, the amount of work will put this outside my price range--Elon Musk will likely get to enjoy this sort of ultra custom builds.
We cut away so much sheet metal glass and interior stuff the jeep actually weighs less now than when it was stock. Replacing steel and glass with composites is like magic!
The first two have been built as prototypes to determine if it's worth putting them in production. That decision will be made once these have been used extensively to see if they are strong, durable and a big enough living space.
So far over about 3000 miles the average is 22mpg. There is more wind noise than I was hoping for, I'll put some liners on the inside of the freedom panels to cut it down
