So the AZ DIY Guy Honda Ridgeline is long gone; in its place is a new truck. I’ve always wanted a Jeep, but it just wasn’t practical. I needed a mid-size pickup truck for all my DIY adventures. When the Gladiator was announced, with its truck-bed, I was super interested.
I haven’t shown it on the blog yet, but if you follow my social channels, you’ve seen the new rig.
Meet Greedo
Greedo, is my 2020 Gator-Green Gladiator, Sport S with a nice bit of modern tech that wasn’t common back in 2010. Backup camera, touch screen radio with Bluetooth, keyless, remote, etc. It’s a big change from a 10-year-old Honda with an LCD screen CD player as key feature.
It’s been doing its primary AZ DIY Truck job, of hauling my project material for months.
Business in the front, party in the back
It’s crazy how “Gator Green” looks different depending on the light. They don’t make the color anymore, as Jeep likes to mix things up year-to-year. I’m glad I snagged it.
We’ve been having a blast doing light off-road trails around the state.
Margie’s Cove Trail, Buckeye, AZ
Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ
Modifications
Since Jeep’s lineage goes back to the Second World War, there’s a thriving parts and upgrades industry. I’m not planning on building this thing up into a monster truck/rock crawler or anything, but I have been doing some simple modifications. Some have been super easy, some let me get my tools out and play.
All this stuff is available on the AZ DIY Guy Amazon Storefront.
Side Step | Nerf BaR | Running Boards
Difficulty: Moderate/Unwieldy
The first project I did on Greedo was to add these multi-purpose running boards. First and foremost, I have a couple of vertically challenged ladies in the house. A nice step helps ascent into a bit taller vehicle, especially with a bit of a lip below the doors. They also protect the midsection of the jeep from offending rocks in a trail situation or offending shopping carts in a grocery store situation. Finally, they look cool; I love having a vehicle that has a unique touch or two.
At a little under 50 lbs each, these are beefy side steps best installed with two people. Rather than wait for my son to get home, I used a combination of the Styrofoam packaging material, a woodworking clamp, and my knees to maneuver them in place alone.
The mounting brackets lined up perfectly with existing holes in the Jeep, so it was quick work to slip the bolts in and tighten them up with a cordless impact wrench. It didn’t require any cutting or drilling on the truck.
What do you think? I feel like it ads some balance to the look of the truck.
Tyger Auto TG-JA2J2359B Star Armor Kit Fits 2020 Jeep Gladiator JT 4 Doors | Textured Black | Side Step | Nerf Bars | Running Boards (Amazon link)
Roll Bar Fire Extinguisher Holder
Difficulty: Easy / Fussy
If you are going to be wandering around the backcountry, a little extra precaution is important. I’ve seen a few forum discussions where people wonder where to install a fire extinguisher in a Gladiator. The trick is, unlike a Wrangler, the back of the rear-seat cabin is so close to the roll bar.
I fiddled around with the Velcro straps, reversing some of the ways they were laced together, and installed my fire extinguisher in this out-of-the-way little nook above the rear passenger’s shoulder.
Bartact TAOFEH - Roll Bar Fire Extinguisher Holder steel brackets ABC (Black) (Amazon Link)
Rubber Truck Bed Mat
Difficulty: Easy / The Easiest
My previous vehicle, the Ridgeline, came with a factory bed protective treatment. The Gladiator comes with standard pickup truck painted metal. It certainly wouldn’t stay nice for long with me lobbing home improvement materials in there all the time. Rather than pony up the big bucks for a spray-in bed liner. I lobbed this beefy rubber mat in.
So easy it can be installed barefoot
SMARTLINER K0459 Truck Bed Mat Liner for 2020 2021 Jeep Gladiator (Amazon link)
Upgraded Floor Mats
Difficulty: It’s just too easy.
If a rubber mat is going to protect the bed, why can’t it protect the floors. I upgraded from the normal carpet mats to these sweet Jeep brand floormats that snap right into place. They contain the biggest of spills and nearly cover all the visible carpet. They even have a built-in drain that clips into a drain port on the floor of the jeep. I don’t know if I’m going to ford any rivers in Greedo, but I could!
Dusty feet go here.
Jeep 2020 Gladiator All-Weather Floor Mats Red Lettering OEM Mopar (Amazon Link)
Rubber Antenna Replacement
Difficulty: Easy / One Tool
Nearly all cars used to have an antenna sticking up out of the front fenders throughout my childhood. Jeeps are still the holdouts. I suspect it’s because the fold-down front windshield prevents it from being embedded there.
I just couldn’t get used to seeing the full-size whip flipping around in the wind out of the corner of my eye. It also cracked around quite a bit in the car wash.
Rydonair Antenna Compatible with Jeep Wrangler JK JKU JL JLU Rubicon Sahara (2007-2021) & Gladiator | 13 inches Flexible Rubber Antenna Replacement (Amazon link)
A quick nudge with an adjustable wrench and the original antenna threaded off. The new one sits below my eyesight and works perfectly for my local classic rock channel (although I am really getting used to satellite and will probably renew when the free trial expires.)
Mirrors
Difficulty: Easy / Fussy
A big part of Jeep fun is taking the doors and roof off. So far, I’ve only done the doors and front half of the roof, but it is an absolute blast. It’s like a big convertible.
The only hindrance is that when the doors come off, so do the mirrors. Temporary mirrors do the trick.
These slip into the empty door hinges and get tightened up snug with a screwdriver. It takes a bit to get them positioned properly for the best angle. We’re so spoiled by power mirrors these days.
We get a couple of seasons in Phoenix where it’s just awesome to roll around with the doors off. I just need to get a good vehicle cover for overnight storage, since my garage is in workshop mode and won’t fit a vehicle.
Joytutus Mirrors Doors Off Compatible with Wrangler, Wide Vision Mirrors Easy to Install Doors Off Mirror, Doorless Side Quick Release Mirror for Wrangler JK JKU JL JLU JT Gladiator 1996 to 2021 (Amazon link)
Fire in the skies!
Grab Handles
Difficulty: Super Easy
Even a stock Jeep Wrangler or Gladiator is a little bit more to climb into than a normal pickup truck. These cool grab handles help with the short ladies in the family, plus I like to drive around hanging onto one sometimes.
They simply loop over the rollbars, front and back, and do not interfere with the roof panels.
Savadicar 2 x Roll Bar Grab Handles Grip Handle for Jeep Wrangler YJ TJ JK JL & Gladiator JT 1987-2020, UTV, ATV, Interior Accessories, Black (Amazon Link)
Passenger Tray
Difficulty: Easier than easy
When we travel and all the cupholders are full of frosty beverages, my wife needed a place to set her cell phone and not have to tug it in and out of her purse along the way.
This simple tray pops into the passenger grab handle, low on the dash. It just sets in there perfectly.
Savadicar JL GrabTray Passenger Storage Tray Organizer Grab Handle Accessory Box for 2018-2021 Jeep Wrangler JL JLU & Jeep Gladiator JT, Interior Accessories, Black (Amazon link)
Phone/GoPro Mount
Difficulty: Easy / Some precision
It’s been a little tricky to find what I wanted in stock lately, but I did find this cool magnetic holder that also features a GoPro mount. The ball-mounts accept a bunch of other mounting accessories, by several manufactures. This one holds my Galaxy Note 9 really well and has never dropped it once. I’m thinking about getting another one for the passenger side too.
Installation was peel and stick, along with one mounting screw. I also had to cut plastic liner that filled the dash cavity. Simple.
Magnetic Jeep Compatible JL Phone Mount Driver Side - Heavy Duty Metal Series Phone Holder + Camera Mount (Amazon link)
Trailer Brake Controller
Difficulty: Moderate / Complex
We’ve been considering adding an RV to the family. Nothing too large, but large enough to require brakes. Although I got the factory towing package, the truck didn’t come with a brake controller. I’d need one to safely tow something over 3,000 lbs.
This project was on another level. For something that would be cosmetically almost invisible (if done well), it would be the most invasive. Butt-puckeringly invasive in fact…
Cracking into the dash
If popping the better part of the dashboard controls off of a brand new vehicle after only a few payments don’t give you the sweats, drilling some holes through it certainly will.
One for the wire, one for the mounting screw.
I blew the camera focus on a great many of my intended to be step-by-step photos, so I’m regaling you with the highlights, instead of doing a stand-alone blog post.
After I fished the cable from the controller located on the dash down to the driver side footwell, I installed the electronic brains of the unit to the back of the knee panel, under the steering wheel. A nerve-wracking of moments was correctly terminating the connector plug to the cable, tiny wire by wire, without screwing it up. It’s time for a new eyeglass prescription, my friends
I’d ordered the proper wiring harness to connect the whole assemblage to the Jeep.
Since the Jeep was pre-wired from the factory, there was a connection somewhere up behind the pedals. It was only took the awkwardness of convolutions whilst hanging upside down with a flashlight clenched in my teeth to find it and plug the new harness in. I plugged it into the controller’s little black box and closed everything up.
It’s tricky to find a good place to mount the Curt Spectrum in the dash, but this little space seems to allow it to blend in. It almost looks like it came from the factory like that.
Knobs for twiddling.
I took it to work and hooked it up to a construction trailer to test it out. It worked! I could adjust the speed and strength of the breaks.
CURT 51170 Spectrum Original Equipment Style, Integrated Electric Trailer Brake Controller, Proportional (Amazon Link)
CURT 51527 Quick Plug Electric Trailer Brake Controller Wiring Harness, Select Jeep Wrangler JL, Gladiator (Amazon Link)
With that, we rolled out of town with a rental. The controller worked like a champ for the two hour trip to Tucson.
Did you know you can rent all different kinds of RVs from private owners, just like you can with AirBnB and houses? We had a great experience with Outdoorsy and will be doing it again soon. Use my referral link and save $50 off your first trip over $200.
The Gladiator pulled the 22 foot, 3,760 lb. (dry weight) RV with ease.
That’s it so far for about 8 months of ownership. All these things have been pretty affordable and fairly easy to install.
I absolutely love this truck. The only thing I wish I had done was to buy the Max-Tow option, instead of the Factory Tow option. As we look at RV's, I’d like to have more towing capacity for a slightly larger trailer.