Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Building the Jeep Gladiator for Overlanding

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Building the Jeep Gladiator for Overlanding · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I am
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: your host Scott Brady, and I am here with my
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: co host Matt Scott.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: And you just got back from Baja. Yeah, like three
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: weeks down in Baja. That's amazing. In my new Chief Gladiator,
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: well it's not necessarily new anymore. It isn't hit fifteen
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: thousand miles on it, that's right, But we're talking about
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: building a Chief Gladiator today. Yeah, we're going to talk
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: all about Gladiator. We're going to talk about which model
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: to purchase, what are some of the first things that
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: you should do to modify it, additional accessories around camping
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and overlanding, in general suspension. I think we will talk
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: about all those important topics. And it's certainly timely because
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: the vehicles incredibly popular and now there's enough of them
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: on the road that people are starting to modify them.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Not just the big aftermarket companies that we're able to
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: get some of the early ones. But you actually got
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: one of the very first Gladiators off the line. Wasn't
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: it a special package or something? So it was actually
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: one of the Gladiators that was prespect So the dealers said,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: you know, some long lines of yes, give me. The
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Gladiator were allocated a certain amount before the specifications were announced,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: so mine has basically the options that has are. Yes,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: it has pretty much everything it was prior to the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: trail cam being announced. But yeah, so mine's probably within
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the first you know, a few hundred bins. You know,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: normally that kind of means alarm bells go off for
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: reliability and things like that, but zero issues. I love
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: it's been really good for you, and I would say
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: that your Gladiator has been probably between yours and Clay's
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: odin Gladiator, some of the two more better traveled gladiators
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: in the country. Yeah, yeah, I mean definitely. I mean,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: like I said, fifteen thousand miles on mine. I got it,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: you know, two days before over an expo, and I
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: don't drive it every day. It's it's it's a it's
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: a vehicle that we've spent, We've invested some money into
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: in terms of you know, the overland summit camper and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the lithium batteries and and and very specific modifications enough
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: that we don't want to drive it every day because
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: that would you know, kind of just wear the vehicle
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: out prematurely. So those fifteen thousand miles of adventure. We
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: drove it out to over an expo after it was
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: kind of first built with the camper and everything, and
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: you know, just got back from a you know, I
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: don't know what do you want to call it a
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: traverse or whatever, all the way down Baja, all the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: way to Cabo, had my had my tacos down in Cabo,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and came back. Yeah, it's it's it's been a really
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: good vehicle. I have to say that I'm I'm pleasantly
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: surprised with it. You know, inside it gets maybe a
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: little bit cramped in the pastory compartment, and that's when
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: you recognize that it is still a GEP, still a
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: g prankler, but you know, still more spacious then let's
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: say a Defender one thirty, which was always my kind
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: of you know, dream car, and then this comes out
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: and yeah, it is the modern equivalent of a Defender. Word. Yeah,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: and having spent quite a bit of time into one thirty,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: this is one point five times better. Yeah, I mean
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: it's it's a modern car. It as radar cruise control,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: it's relatively powerful, I think sure, especially with that new transmission.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: I think it made a huge difference. Yeah, that that
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: eight speed, you know, that's the same eight speed that
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: BMW uses in almost all of their vehicles. It's in
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: it's in all Bentley products, it's in all Rolls Royce products.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: It is a it is a fantastic transmission. Yeah, you
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: really can feel it. I think it's a great pairing
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: to that three six. Yeah.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Well, so what what made you decide to buy one?
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, you do have vehicle ad D, but.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, we know that, we do know that I have
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: vehicle a DD.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: But what what made you decide after all of these
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: years of choosing to have more obscure vehicles? Yeah, what
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: made you decide to buy it? To buy a Jeep?
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: And and what made you think that it needed to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: be the glad Eat? What was the thing that actually
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: made you decide to make that big purchase. That's it's
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit tough.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I I I had definitely always
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: been interested in the concept of a Jeep pickup truck.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: You know, you know, I guess when I started with
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Overlin Journal, we had that, we had that AAV route
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: and I drive that a little bit, and just that
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: the concept of it was just really nice. Like that had,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: in my mind, always been a vehicle that had really
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: great proportions. It was purpose built. I think that's that's
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: the reason why I fell for it so much. It
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: it doesn't feel like it does.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Feel like honest vehicle too. Yeah, and that's what I
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: like about That's what I like about the current Wrangler.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: They've not done anything to it to really screw it up.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So many car.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Manufacturers have taken long standing brands models and really kind
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: of screwed them up.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they've turned them into crossovers or some kind of
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: shared platform using the Blazer some it used to be
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: used me a solid axle. It's like some kind of
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Chevy Sedan thing or whatever.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: But yeah, the Gladiator seems really honest to me, particularly
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: in that work configuration with the Max tow package, Max payloaded.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really like it, you know, I I don't know.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I love the thing. It's a very personal vehicle for me, right,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: I Mean, like I've known Mark Allen, who's the head
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: of design for Jeep for quite a while now, you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: I know the guy that helped design the tires, another
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: guy that designed the camper, and it's just personal to me.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: I think I think that the Jeep team, I've seen
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: the changes that they've made. I've I've I see the
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: feedback that they take from people. I see how they
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: actually listen. I see how they're actually out on the trail.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: You can't fake driving skill, you know, and when journalists
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: can't get through something like we just did the Rubicon
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: and Gladiators stock with the two cohead engineers Pete and
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Liz for the Gladiator Mark who's the headed design and
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Jim Morrison from the doors. But you know the CEO
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: now of Jeep, and you can't fake driving skill, and
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: all of those guys are you know, they're driving manual
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: versions through the heart of obstacles there because they were,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: you know, probably the only ones that that could because
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: most of the journalists couldn't drive, maybe presently, but you know,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: for the journalists that were also on that trip, I'm sorry,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: but it's true. It's just it's just an honest vehicle.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: You know. It has great approach angles, you know, the
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: breakover angles not not super great. But that never really
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: bothered me because I knew the moment I saw that
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: way out concept at Easter Jeep Safari that I was
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: gonna put it on thirty sevens. Thirty sevens fit. They
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: look perfect, They look perfect. They fit with a two
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: inch factory lift. I mean I bought the vehicle and
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: then they put the lift kit on it. It was
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: it was fun. I mean that the rear shocks absolutely horrible,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: like they had they were they were so close, you know,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: they used basically it was a two and a half
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: inch Fox shock with factor was it underdampened or too
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: was it damping too firm or it just had no
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: damping at all. It would just blow through the travel. Yeah,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: just no no compression, no rebound. And it was like,
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know how to explain it.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Like that's interesting because the max toe capacity, max payload
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: unit that I drove actually drove really nice.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So the Rearo this is the aftermarket mopar thing,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I should say, right, Yeah, so they didn't get the
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: spring rates. Great, front shocks great. I'm on my second
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: set of rear shocks at this point, you know, basically
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: waiting for the aftermarket to kind of continually embrace this vehicle.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I have some kings on order. So for the Overlander, who,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: what would you say, is the is the right model
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: to buy in your opinion. You know, I really think
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: it's whatever you can afford, you know, Scott, I think
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: you have a lot of points with the Sport with
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: that Max toe package. I think now that you can
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: get those wide track Danta forty four axles on every model,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: you know, outside of the room con you just have
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: to have that Max toe package and those come with
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: four elevens. I don't know if it necessarily really matters anymore.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, normally I would saygo with the Rubicon because
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: then you get you get some advantage. There's definitely some advantages.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: You end up with locking differentials, yeah, which I think
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: can be can be a real advantage, although I was
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: surprised by how effective the traction control was. Yeah, you
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: have modern trash control on the JL and JT platform
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: and I think that just installed with that long wheelbase,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: just putting an air locker in the back could be
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: a pretty good solution. Yeah.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And then you have the factory high payload number, which
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: is now seventeen hundred pounds of payload. That's significant. It's
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: more than any other compact pickup on the market, more
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: than the Tacoma, more than the Colorado, It's more than
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: any of the other compact pickups.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: And you have half ton components. You know, the brakes
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: are large. I'll use mine for an example. You know,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: large tires. You know, I'm right with people right at
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: gross vehicle. Wait, and it drives like a normal vehicle.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Like it. It just it hand like the platform was
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: designed with modification in mind. And I think that that
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: is the largest thing that separates it from let's say
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: a ranger that you know probably rubs with a thirty
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: three inch tire, or it's a coma that if you
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: want to put thirty five's on, it requires fenders in
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: long travel and this and that. She just kind of knows, like, yeah,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: they're really good at it. Yeah, like they get it,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: they understand. I mean they're at they're at all the events.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: They know thirty five stock with no lift, thirty sevens
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: with with my factory lift. I do not rub at all.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: And if I remember, the Gladiator isn't just a stretched JL.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: They actually brought in the RAM engineers and designed an
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: entirely new chassis specifically for towing capacity and payload. I
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: know that some of my early conversations with Mark Allen
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: is he recognized that this was an opportunity for Jeep
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: to make one of the best, if not the best,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: mid sized overland vehicles sold today, and he wanted to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: make sure that they ticked all the right boxes. And
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: that's I have to say that that is absolutely one
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: of the things I appreciate most about Jeep. I was
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: at SEMA over ten years ago and one of the
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: guys who worked for me at the time says, hey,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: this guy just came running up to me down in
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the south hall and he says, you work for Overland
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Journal And he says yeah, and he handed me his
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: card and I look at the card and it was
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Mark Allen, chief designer for Jeep, and Mark was a
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: subscriber to the magazine. Mark is a traveler himself. I
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: remember him telling me about his motorcycle trips down in
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Costa Rica, and he's truly a traveler himself, and we
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: see that reflected in the vehicle. And that's probably why
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: it feels so honest.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: It's just practical and good for travel. I mean, you know,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: you have a lot of right angles with the camper
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: at Summit on the back. You know, I have a
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: lot of vertical walls that same camper on a a
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Tacoma or Ranger or something like that. You know, you'd
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: kind of have a fifteen degree angle or something going
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: down to the bed, which, yeah, granded means your bed's
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: a little bit wider, But I think that the space
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: is so much more usable on a Gladiator. You know.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: We took the back seats out for our Greyhound, you know,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: and there's there's a lot of room back there. It's
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: it's just it's a well thought out vehicle. It's very purposeful,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: and I think it's important if you are somebody that
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: you know is kind of moving around on vehicles to
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: support companies that are supporting this industry. And G has
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: been there from the get go, and they are, hey, listen,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: you know I can take this vehicle absolutely everywhere in comfort.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know, people always try and oh, well, my
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: vehicle's better, or this is better, this model is better,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Like I don't really care. Like I probably won't have
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: this struck in a year anyways, and I'll probably be
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: eating my own words. But you know, the breath of
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: capability that this machine has. I mean, you know, I
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: hit like ninety mile an hour on a dirt road
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: in Baja, and a truck on thirty sevens with a
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: little V six and it was really smooth as could be.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I really enjoyed driving the one that we had.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: We even did some toying with it, connecting some of
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: the bigger trailers that we had. It was really impressive
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: in that regard.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: I think if you had to own one vehicle that
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: you expected to do everything, yeah, technical terrain, daily driving capabilities,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: you wanted to tow your sailboat up the Lake Powell,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: whatever that was, and you can only own one car.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: The Gladiator might be it. Well yeah, and it's what
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: what is the vehicle that everybody wants or like, oh,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: well it doesn't have a solid axel, I don't want it. Okay,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: well this does? I want what the diesel enginde, all
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: the diesel engend it's coming now, Like oh, I want
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: a manual transmission, Well, transmissions coming out, I want lockers
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: like whatever. Excuse people like, there's really no excuses to
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: this vehicle.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: That it's expensive, And I think that's my own that's
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: my only dig against the vehicle. Is it is expensive
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: once you trim it up.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is expensive, but you can also you know
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: everything that I'm talking about on mine. Mine was over sixty.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: But you can get one, you know, in the mid
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: thirties too. And everything that I'm saying, you know, it
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: equally applies. You know, you're not going to have the
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: subtle other interior and the nave and the and whatever.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: But who cares. All the important parts are there. All
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: the important parts are there. I mean, I challenge you
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: to take a you know, a base Ladiator and a
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Tacoma or a Ranger and put thirty five's on them
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: and see see how quickly the Tacoma falls apart. Even
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: with the best of the aftermarket. It's going to squeak,
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: it's going to drive like crap. You're still at the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: limits of the you are a differential diameter in the Yeah,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: you're you're blowing cvs. You're you know, you're spending to
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: make that pack. You're liable, which can be done. I
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: know there's people that have that have done it, but
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I don't have that much dedication to a single platform
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: and I just don't. So it's just it's a very
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: easy vehicle. Mine really isn't that modified. You know, I
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: use factory bumpers. The mopar bumpers are great. If I
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: want to take the wings off to make it a
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: stubby bumper, because I don't know that looks cool on Instagram.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: I can do that. It doesn't really do anything for me.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: But factory Winch Mount factory sliders that like I've taken
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: across the room kind I've dragged them across rocks. They're
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: for overlanding. They're all you need. You don't need to
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: put these garage built you know, hitch steel super heavy
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: sliders on there. This is a hydroformed piece of steel
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: that's purpose built for the vehicle, and they work really well.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: I think it's some of the best factory sliders I've
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: ever seen. Yeah, yeah, the ones for the ring. You know,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: there's always somebody that's like, you know, try and will
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: always try and break everything. And if you're that guy, cool,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: go buy some sliders. It's jeep. There's a million of
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: them out there. You know, they're real.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I think if we're thinking of it purely from travel perspective,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: I think that the way that they come in, like.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Your jeep totally is perfect. And it has like that
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: rear slider which is incredibly incredibly effective and it will
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: I've had, you know, the vehicle hung up on it
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: before and it's it works. Have you used a high
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: lift off of the rock sliders yet? No, I haven't
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: used a high lift in like if I should be
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: careful there, But I don't generally carry around boat anchors. Yeah,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: I'm a I'm more of a traveler than I am
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: a technical crawler, So I just I don't even carry
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: one with me. Well, and the challenge with a high
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: lift off of a off of a wrangler is that
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: the suspension has so much travel. Yeah, and it's so
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: close to off the reach reached the limit of the
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: high lift extension before the wheels even come off the ground. Yeah,
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. It's it's bottle jack, right, bottlejack,
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: bottlejack max tracks. Whatever I have to do, you know,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: changing the wheels not necessarily a huge thing. Yeah. You
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: just bring along a piece of thick wood that supports
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: the vehicle in soft conditions. Yeah, I mean, not that
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: a high lift doesn't have its place. I guess it
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: certainly does, just for it just depends on the conditions
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: that you're in. Yeah. Yeah, Well, one of the things
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I was thinking about is from my experience with the vehicle,
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: I think it does benefit from a little bit of
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: suspension lift, and that's because of that break Oh yeah,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: because of that breakover angle. When I was testing.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: The Max tow package vehicle, even in Sedona trails that
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't normally even notice, I had to take some
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: different lines because of the ability to hit the belly pan.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: So I think adding an inch or two, maybe three
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: inches of suspension lift and then accompanying that with some
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: thirty seven inch tall tires seems to really resolve that problem.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: What are your thoughts on suspension right now? What would
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: be if you were right now to look.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: At a couple different options, two or three options for
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: suspension on the Gladiator? What are you leaning towards right now?
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: You know, the the unfortunate reality for overlanders right now
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: is that there really aren't many options. You know, they're
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: av kit now finally, Yeah, but I don't think it's
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: actually out is the problem? So that that is what
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: I will go towards. AEV springs. You know, they actually
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: kind of consider payload and things like that. But right now,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of junk out there. There's a lot
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: of companies that were really quick to repurpose their JK stuff.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of companies that are really quick to
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: throw whatever whatever out there. There's a lot of cheap
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: stuff on the market for the Gladiator right now, and
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: that's where I'm personally struggling. You know, having more weight
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: in the back of the vehicle. I need a coil
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: that is, you know, has a proper spring rate for
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: more weight. Yeah. Old man EMU has not released new
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: coils yet for the for the Gladiator. Icon Is has
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: some stuff out unfortunately, just and work out and timing, uh.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: For for the Baja trip an Icon does a good job,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: kind does a great job. You know that they actually
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: they have a gladiator, they actually use it. You know,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: they're they're big prototype vehicle. I guess is Clay's that
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: exhibition overland Odin and that's that's probably about as heavy
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: as you could could or should get a gladiator with
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: their p core Patriot campers set up on the back. Yeah.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: So so unfortunately, right now, if you wanna if you
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: want to buy a gladiator and you want to lift it,
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: I I just say go with them OPAR set up
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: because you're getting you know, factory tuned spring rate, spring frequencies,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: things like that. But if you add any kind of
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: weight in the in the back. The rear shocks just
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: need to be thrown away, you know, otherwise they would
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: actually be a really great shock. They're just you know,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: they're under so horribly valved that it's hard to begin
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: to start why they're so bad. Yeah, but there will
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: be stuff coming out. I mean, you know, King has
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: shocks coming out, Fox has shocks coming out. Icon has
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: some you know, adjustable CDCV shocks coming out. Yeah, so
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: in the AV stuff will the AV stuff will will
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: essentially come out because they always address payload with their springs. Yeah,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I have to think that the next evolution of of
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: of my truck will probably see maybe an AEV bumper.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: One of the things I like about their bumpers is
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: that they actually kind of meet the fenders. You can
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: actually reduce a lot of wind noise in the in
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: the wrangler, and again it increase that approach angle in
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: front of the tire by at AEV bumper, and they're
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: not that much heavier as well. They're very thoughtfully designed.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: And you end up with quite a bit of animal
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: strike protection, which is always something that we when we
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: fit a bumper to our vehicles. We're looking for a
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: couple we're looking at a couple of things in mind.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: We want to be able to fit a winch for
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: self recovery, particularly when we travel solo, which is what
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: you did in Baja, you traveled all all by yourself.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: And then also the ability to prevent animal strike damage
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: or even small small vehicle impacts when you're traveling. You
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: know you're in a village and somebody backs up into you.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: You don't want your air bags to go off in
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: your vehicle to be disabled. So I do like to
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: run a front bumper that that does well. It's robust
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: enough to manage those small vehicle impacts, animal strikes, and
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: then of course self recovery. I'm much less interested in
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: like ultimate technical terrain performance of the bumper, like day
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: after day of abuse. There are certainly applications for that,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: but I don't tend to seek that out because I'm
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: often so remote that I just simply can't take those
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: kinds of risks every single day with the vehicle. So
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I do like the idea of the ARB bullbar or
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: the AEV bullbar because it does give a lot more
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: protection and they both do a great job on theirs.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I again, I'm partial that AV stuff. I mean,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: I bought this truck because it is a factory Brute. Yeah, yeah,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: they're They're just great. AV deserves a lot of.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, acknowledgment and respect for the fact that
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: they they no doubt well, they were the proof of
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: concept for Jeep.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: If I was in a position back then to buy
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: a Brute, I would have Yeah, you know, it's just
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: this is just how it worked out. I guess. Yeah.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: They were very, very very cool vehicles. Now, once you
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: get that little bit of suspension on there, what are
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: your thoughts around tires and wheels right now? Did you
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: change your offset at all? I did I deal with
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: on the thirty sevens. You know, I can't remember the
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: exact offset, but I know I run methods seven O
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: two S. It's a it's a fairly aggressive offset, you know.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I kind of like that. I have a I have
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: a fairly high center gravity with the with the camper,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: I've done my best to keep things low, but a
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: little bit of increased track with isn't necessarily a bad thing,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: you know. I kept the vehicle and Rubicon Speck comes
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: with Falcon tires. Your choice of either MTS or A TIES,
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: which again is like jeep listening, right, I mean, yeah,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: you live in the desert gets yeah, exactly. So I'm
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: a really big fan of the Falcon at three W
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: you know again, I'm I'm not a rock crawler. I'm
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: not the guy that looks, oh can I can? I
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: drive up that for the sake of driving up. But
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: there has to be something on the other end for me.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: So to be able to have a you know, a
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: snow peak rated tire, that's just that's huge for me.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: And there's only two tires out there I believe that
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: have that, and that's the the BFG All Terrain KO
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: two and the and the Falcons. And in my experience,
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: the Falcons just seem to last a little bit longer.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: And I like the fact that it's kind of a
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: still an oe tire, yeah tire. And the methods look great.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: You know. My kind of thing these days is black
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: vehicles with bronze wheels. And the methods look looks good,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: they look they look really good. You know, how did
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: the black hole it up to all the desert pin
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: striping in bah It is fine, Like it's pretty good paint.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: You know. The nice thing with the Wrangler is again
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: it's purpose it's purpose built, you know, so you have
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: your fenders that are out you know, probably at the
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: max from the center of the body twelve inches, so
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: you can really kind of if you're a skilled driver,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: you can you can kind of work your way around it.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Like I don't have really any pin striping on the car.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: That's you know, if you think about it, the cab
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: isn't actually that long, right, And I'm used to driving
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: press cars. We're scratching them. It's not an option. So
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: that's good. Yeah, that the paint quality seems good. I mean,
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: you know, it's it's had a lot of gas station
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: car washes. And when I say gas station car wash,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I mean everything is so dirty. I literally take the
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: little squeegee and clean it. Yeah. I'm just impressed with
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: the build quality on the vehicle. I know a lot
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: of people with Chrysler and with cheap have quality control concerns,
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: and it's just never been an option. It's never been
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: an issue for me. I mean, how many miles ordered
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: a lot of that out in the last decade. How
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: many miles have we put on you know, cheap press cars. Yeah,
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands, and not a single failure ever. I mean,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: the only thing is that, like the windshields constantly break,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Like mine's broken right now, and I just mine's been
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: broken for ten thousand miles, and I just because you
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: know it's going to happen again, you know, anytime you
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: take a flat upright piece of glass.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but somehow the gw wagon windows don't get broken.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the difference is. So maybe the
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: g wagons are just always driving so much slower. Yeah, yeah,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: mine's broken. I had to replace mine recently. Yeah, but
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: the jeeps always always need to replace the glass, it
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: seems like.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but I think the big thing is the camper
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: on this. You know, it's it's actually not that modified.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: You know, stock bumpers, stock Winch Mount. I put a
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: worn Xeon Winch on there with their spider, a synthetic grope.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: It's the platinum great one, just fantastic. You know. The
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: thing that I actually like, I like at you know,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: the remote control kind of set up. It's it's pretty beefy.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: You know. It also means that no, there's no traditional
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: you know release put release on it, so nobody can
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: really mess with it.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that is that's definitely an advantage. I wish that
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: they had some form of a an override, yeah, of
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: a of a way to plug in another remote, even
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: as an option. I think that that would be nice
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: because there's times where you forget to charge the remote,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: you lose the charge cable or definitely the tides coming in.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: As far as performance, so that that winch is unbelievable.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and obviously you know I put Max Tracks
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: on it. I'm full disclosure, I'm the Max Tracks guy
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: this truck. The reason I can have these things is
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: because I'm the I'm the import for Extracts in the US,
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: so you can see it at all the shows that
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: we're at. I regeared it to four eighty eight. So
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I think one of the interesting things on the Gladiator
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: from what I'm talking to the engineers that actually designed it,
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: you know that the payload of the vehicles kind of
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: you know, limited by two things. One was actually the
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: airflow coming into the engine. That's why the Gladiator has
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: the different mesh behind the behind the grill is to
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: promote more airflow from the higher wattage fan. And the
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: second is actually the gearing. So one of the reasons
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: why the sport model has such a higher payload, is
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: one that has less less features on its ways less
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: but also it has smaller tires with the four elevens,
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: So I actually went to four eighty eights and I
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: used the Dana Spicer gear so factory gears that went
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: into the data axles. I used Dana Spicer dift covers,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: and you know, it's all just a it's a good
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: factory looking package. You know, everything's kind of salt spray
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: to factory specifications. It's not going to rust. I actually,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: you know, I said a kind of joked around that
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: I won't have this vehicle. I I really think this
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: might be the one that I have for a while. Again,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: especially with that camper on the back, I think is
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: so well insulaid and so well made. Yeah, let's talk.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: About that at Overland camper. What what made you decide
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: on that on that model? I know was one of
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the first ones available. It was one of the first ones.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: You know, our warehouse is right next to a t
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I've had other wedge campers. I think the go Fast
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: is a great option too. You know, we really we
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: really wanted to build more of a little sailboat inside
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: and what the what the at Summit offered me was
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the ability to have things like a dual pain crylic window.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: It allowed me to have the run. Yeah, the turnoverland windows.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: It's it's a foam core, you know, sandwiched aluminum construction,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: so it actually has thirty milimeters of insulation and the
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: built into the walls and then it's carpeted inside for condensation.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: It's really easy to put up and down. They can
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: put solar panels on the roof. It has channels for
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: that for all your wiring, you know, the roof is
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: actually insulated as well. And then the tent fabric actually
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: has four layers on it. Now there's a there's an
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: insulation kit that is that is optional but literally just
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: pulls out like a jacket liner with bevel Crow, and
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: that has an outer layer, you know, to kind of
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: prevent that conversation coming from the tent itself has thin
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: slate and then another white interior layer.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: And it's really quiet inside. I have to say, we
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: sleep really well so you don't get a lot of
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: flapping and zipper noise flapping. Well, there's no zippers. Everything's
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: all Velcrow. You know, he's designed Mario knows what he's doing.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: He's you know, he spends a lot of time in
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: these things. And yeah, we put a we put a
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: diesel heater in it. You know, we have the m
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: s A drawers in it. You know, we have a
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: drop slide with a National Luna Weekend or fifty fridge.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: We really like that fridge because it we have the
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: ability to make ice and yeah, Marguerite is without ice,
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: really really un civilized. And that's not overlanding. That's called
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: car camping, you know. So the diesel heater is great.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: We finally kind of got that thing figured out, and
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: you know, we we even use that thing down in Baja.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: It's it's it has the ability to smoke you out
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: or the ability to kind of keep you warm. And
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: in terms of use the space, that bed also articulates
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: up so when you're in the camper, you not only
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: do you have about three feet at the end of
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: the bed, since the bed does go over the cab
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: of the truck quite a bit, you know, you can
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: then push that bed up is on struts. Again, the
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: bed is also thirty milimeters foam core insulated material, so
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: you're not sleeping on a cold surface. But then you
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: get the full use of the space inside. You don't
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: have to you know, make your bed every day, you
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: leave your bedding in there. There's enough space. So if
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: you've got a hunker down in bad weather, you can
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: do it. Yeah, you can hang out in there. And
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: you know we've put some alley kept the interior very simple.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: You have to respect a load of capacity of a vehicle,
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: and I think a lot of overlanders just they throw
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: them more and more and more and more and more.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: They never take it way and more and more. Yeah,
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: this is really modular for us. So you know, we
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: have a lifesaver jerry can for water. It's very light.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Also we do a lot of travel overseas and maybe
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: we'll take this vehicle on the Silk Road. So the
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: ability to have water filtration, pressurized water and water storage
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: and what you know, it was huge. And those value
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: boxes are great because you're just so light. We can
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: leave them outside their waterproof. So then we get that
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: interior space. If we have to hunker down and it's
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: bad weather, we can put all that stuff outside and
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: get that space.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: And you don't have much on top. I think you've
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: got some Max tracks and.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: MAX tracks are on the side, and we just have
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: an overlain solar one hundred and sixty watt panel. Okay,
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: and does that seem to run everything that you needed to?
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: You know, we have one hundred and seventy amp hour
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: lithium battery. That's huge. It's it's massive. It's like what
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: you would put in an RV essentially for those that
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: don't know, lithium has one hundred percent state of charge.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: So there's actually one hundred and seventy usable ampowers roughly
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: in that battery. And I'm sure the few bottom ones
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: are not there. But as compared to an AGM battery,
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: this is like four almost three or four lead acid batteries. Yeah,
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: impressive technology in like fifty pounds or something. So so, yeah,
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: that the solar panels there, but I have to worry
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: about that like a week into camping. So well, there's
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: a couple other campers on the market. Now there's the
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: new one from fifty ten, the one. Yeah, that one.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: One thing I liked about that was it was really
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: big on the inside, huge because.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: Of the way it overhangs the back of the vehicle.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Great use of space. Yeah, you have to use the
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: flatbed system that they provide as well, and it does
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: end up getting very expensive, look near the nearly the
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: price of the vehicle by the time you get it
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: all done, more than the sport that you're talking about
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: if you want the fully built out interior. But they
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: do it. They do a great job with I think
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: Goose is the US distributor for that.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Bringing those in. I really did like the big open
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: space on the inside of that. And then there's a
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: couple others on the market. There's the there's the pe
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Core from.
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: Which it's more of a canopy style. It's definitely not
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: a camper. It looks great, I mean it looks really
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: really Yeah, if I wanted a utilitarian setup, you know,
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: with that flatbed, you'd really gain a lot of usability
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: from the truck and the ability to take that at
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: canopy on and off so easily. They've really designed that well.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: And I want to say it integrates water. Yeah, And
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: they're like they're under ten grand for that for the
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: tray and it's quite attractive. Yeah.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I think it looks really good on the truck. It
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: looks very purposeful. You just can't sleep in it. You
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: still have to sleep in a row, so you.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Have to have a tent or something like that. Yeah,
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: go Fast does make something for it too. They're they're
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: a great option. The thing I like with them is
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: they're really light. They're great for somebody that wants something
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: maybe a step above a roof tent, if you have
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: no ambitions of you know, making your little sailboat inside.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: I think that that's also a really great option. And
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: I'm sure most of the wedge camper people have one.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: I haven't seen anything from four wheel Camper. Yeah, that's
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: what I was thinking about.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: It'll be it'll be cool when we start to see, yeah,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: four wheel Camper releasing models that fit in the Gladiator
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: because with a seventeen hundred pound payload, it's I mean,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: they sell those things all day long for Tacoma's.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is such a better platform. I think
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: you just tell that it handles the weight better for sure.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: You know, my partner's dad has a new RAM fifteen
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: hundred and we were kind of sitting underneath and comparing
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: his to mine, and there's there are truths for a
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: lot of shared components in the same yer makes sense. Yeah, Yeah,
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: and that's great. You know, it's it's I want to say,
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: it's the only vehicle that has weird discs. Does the
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Ranger have riot? I think so, yeah, and then so
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: does the Colorado. Colorado does now too that Tacoma.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Is the only one that doesn't. It still has drums
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: in the back. Yeah, I think they had some reason
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: for it that made no sense. But yeah, I don't know.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: But so what's next for the Gladiator? I mean, you've
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: you've driven it down Baja. Where do you want to
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: take it next? What do you next plan to modify
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: on the vehicle?
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: You know, we're we're definitely looking at you know, Yukon
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: Northwest Territories, Alaska this summer, if if work allows it.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: You know, we're lucky that we're able to travel as
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: much as we are. We have to kind of respect
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: that too. We do have a business to run. So
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: hopefully that's the next big trip. I mean, we're always
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: doing weekend stuff. You know, we're gonna intend to hit
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: some more stuff in in Arizona and probably go back
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: down to Baja in March weather. It's just so perfect there,
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: you know. Eventually, even though I built this, I built
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: my dream Land Cruiser diesel has all the secondary fuel tanks,
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: everything you could imagine like completely mechanically injected and everything.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: It's also one of our show trucks. And I don't know,
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's the vehicle a driver on
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: the world anymore. You know, we're we're starting to kind
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: of plan the Silk Road idea maybe for twenty twenty one,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: and I think it would be hard to take the Gladiator.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: It's the fatigue on the driver is so much less
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: because there are those days when you when you don't
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: have unlimited time, you do have to put in those
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: and twelve fourteen hour driving days and the ability to
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: turn on that radar, cruise control and just kind of go.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: And I don't know, it's nice when you get to Mongolia,
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: you'll it'll only shut off with the camels. Yeah, it's
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: and it's it's quiet inside too. I mean, I know
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: that's kind of where the Gladiator has received some negative marks,
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: is interior cabin noise. But I think it really depends
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: on how you have it set up. I actually I
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: put a downloaded an app a decibel meter, and I
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: was read about sixty eight if I remember correctly, and
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: that's kind of what they considered a conversation level. Definitely,
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: if you're doing a ninety mile an hour with the headwind,
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: which the truck will do like we did across Texas
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: from you know, coming back from over the next week. Yeah,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: it's a little bit louder.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: But that's when I noticed it is once once the
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: speed gets up over legal limits, that's when it really
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: gets a lot louder.
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's only so much you can do it.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: But you're only doing that in America, that's right. You'd
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: never get going that fast. No, so unless you're on
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: the Autobahn maybe.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so that that's that's kind of take it around
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: the Nurburg Reen, Yeah, your first time around the Nurburg Yeah,
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: we'll be in a gladiator. I love it. Yeah, so
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: big plans for the for the vehicle in terms of
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: where you want to do, where we want to take it,
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: I don't really know, Like, yeah, I need to find
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: a better solution for for reer shocks, But other than that,
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: I think what's great about the Gladiator is Jeep has
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: done so much, Like I don't have to do an
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: S pod because I already have the factory thing that's
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: controlled through the screen. I there's just so much I
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: don't have to do it. It has great lights, it
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: rides well. It you know, the control arm angles are
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: nearly flat lifted.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that keeps that rule center really low.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It's we built this vehicle to travel, and that's
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: that's our modification is travel.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully all the money that you'd think you need
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: to spend on modifications because it doesn't need it, you
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: can just spend on fuel now exactly, love it exactly. Well,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: anything else going on with like any new gadgets you've
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: been recently.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, I do have one. I do have one. I
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: used it extensively in Baha, and I now use it
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: to light my my nightly camp fire inside my house.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: That was the wrong way to say that. I'm not
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: called fireplace. I don't light fires inside of my house. Yeah,
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: it's this little Covea butane torch. It's called the fire Z.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I think I bought it on Amazon.
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: It was like twenty bucks or something. And what I
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: like is it uses little but tane canisters, which you're
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: available everywhere in the world. Everywhere in the world. We
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: actually move all of our stuff over to Covea with
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: the little buttane canisters because it's a very energy dense source.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: But with this, even on full blast, it doesn't seem
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: to use much and it is the the best fire
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: starter I've used. I've had the snow Peak one. I
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: still have the Snowpeak one and actually used them side
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: by side. There's this called the Giga torch. But the
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: problem with theirs, while it is more aesthetically pleasing and
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: more unique, more of an experience to start that fire,
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: which is what Snowpeak is about, there's no you still
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: have to have a separate lighter. Yeah.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: It's like kicking off of an F four phantom when
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: I think, and it's kind of scary because it's like,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: you know, it starts and then it goes where this
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: thing has a little trigger. It's very very ergonomic. I
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: use it every night.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know why more people don't
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: carry something like that with them, because it's all about
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: fire when you're out camping. Yeah, I mean, I get
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: some people if they're only doing this on a weekend,
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: they want to be the boy scout and they want
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: to start the perk fire. Well talking about for a
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: few hundred nights and you just started, so that's right.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: I don't know what about you what's what's your Well,
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: I bought this, this g X four seventy a couple
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: of years ago, and I've just been daily driving it
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: or taking it on such great cars they are and
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: form factors perfect, and I just haven't done anything to
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: it yet. I mean literally, it's still stock after a
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: couple years, which I think that's the longest I've gone
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: with any vehicle ever. But I just now got everything
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: on order, so cool, Almost everything is here at the
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: office and we're going to start building that truck up.
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: Got a bunch of ARB goodies and cool some AV
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: wheels and yeah, yeah, I think it'll look I think
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: it'll look yeah, because AV does wheels for six lug Toyota. Now,
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: are you doing anything in interior. Not.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: It's going to be a typical Scottie build, so it'll
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: be super sano, very understated, not a bunch of of
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: complex systems. But one thing I would like to do
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: is look at like a Shielman Seed or a Racaro
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: or something like that, because the factory it's the one
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: real negative in most Toyotas is the factory seats. The
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: factory leather is just garbage, so it definitely needs a
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: seat upgrade, So that might be the one thing that
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: I do on the interior. I was thinking about maybe
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: taking out part of the rear seat and running the
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: fridge back there to get the weight a little further forward.
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: But cool. Do like a goosecar seat delete? We did.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: We did a Goose scar seat delete in the Gladiator.
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: You like that. Yeah, that's that's Dak's actual seat. Now
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: I did whatever they call it, the three quarter deletes.
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: We still have the one seat, and oh man, fantastic.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: And do you do you put him in a harness
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: when he's in the car, do you?
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: He's he's almost eighty pounds, and he's big, and he
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: moves around a lot of greyhounds are are are very particular,
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: little little wonderful guys and girls. But I wish I could.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: It's just he would. It would be the greyhound stream
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: of death. The moment he got himself tangled and healthy
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: was locked down. You know, we just drive like we
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: have an infant in the car going home your baby. Yeah.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Well, and speaking of that, tell us a little bit
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: more about what people can do either to help support
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: greyhound rescues or to get their own greyhound.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, I've talked with this before,
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: but a huge greyhound guy absolutely changed my life. You know,
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: look at your local greyhound adoption club. They're all usually
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: volunteer run. You know, these dogs don't have the best
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: life usually. You know, they're they come from the track.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: They're not I don't want to say that they're abused,
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: but they're treated like a commodity. They don't feel like
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: part of the family. Yeah, and man, they're just they're
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: they're so sweet, such a sweet dog. Amazing this guy.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: We we had them for a month and took him
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: down Baja and now this is his second trip and
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: the second you know, going to the second year we've
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: had him. It doesn't bark. They're just they're They're great.
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: There's a great community on Instagram surrounding these dogs. If
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: you want to look at you know, I always say
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: hashtag you know, hashtag greyhound, hashtag adopted greyhound. Take a
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: look at them. There, They're wonderful little creatures. Yeah, no doubt. Well,
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: thanks for sharing that, Matt, and thanks for telling us
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: all about your Gladiator.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: And it's going to be really exciting to see this
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: vehicle come to market in more numbers and see how
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: people start to personalize them. See the integrated social systems
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: that are going to come out. I think it's gonna
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: be very cool to see how this car develops over
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the years.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The fact that in twenty twenty we have all
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: soon to be available turbod easel, but a turbo diasel
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: manual solid axle pickup truck that you can take the
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: doors and roof off. Yeah, it's like, how is that
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: not cool? Like like why would you want to drive
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: the I don't know whatever anything else, like, I don't know. Yeah,
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: it's pretty cool. Life is fun, have fun, Yeah, no doubt.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you all for listening, and remember it's all
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: about the experience. Spend less on your vehicle than you
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: do on your trips, and we will talk to you
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: next time.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: Take care, guys,