Thinking about a jeep...

But apparently that's part of the problem, I don't think anyone has figured out a solid fix.

 

Agree with that.

 

So, my eyes are red and I am running a slight fever so I believe have caught Jeepitis once again. I come down with it every 10 years or so it seems.
This will be my 3rd (CJ-7 and TJ in the past), but my first as a legit (I guess) cyclist so I have roadbike questions:
1. Will my bikerack fit behind the spare with just a hitch extender or is there more to it?
2. Guy I train with has a 4 door JK ('15 I think) and said his bike fits in back seat with both wheels on which is super convenient for my longer workout days when I bike and run. Can anyone verify this?
3. What the hell does JK even stand for?

 

1- most do
2- no idea
3- just vehicle code they use internally and they carry it over. Example : Ram is DJ, Cherokee is WK, etc.

 

Uh oh, I thought YJ/TJ actually stood for Yesterday's/Today's Jeep.
Have I been living a lie all these years?

 

The way people pretend to drive these days, I wouldn’t risk any valuable roadbike on a hitchrack. When someone ass-packs you, it’ll be a nightmare trying to get your bike replaced. Pop the front wheel and slide it across the rear floorboard. Or, buy a Gladiator and use a bed-mount setup.

 

I’m back in the game! Picked up a 1990 YJ last week. RUST. FREE. In Wisconsin. I could not believe it. Jeep lived its entire life in Cali and was stored the only winter it spent in Wisconsin. Other than that, it’ll need a bunch. The 2.5 is getting yanked and I’m putting in a small block backed by an AX15. Probably a FI system also. Unsure on wheels/tires, but looking to keep it very street friendly. Probably 33s. I’ll most likely keep the suspension at stock height and cut the fenders and run tubes.

 

Why not LS-swap it with one of the budget ECM’s? It’s a far superior engine to the SBC and there’s an AX15 adapter available from Advanced Adapters for pretty cheap. Throw a cam and springs into it and you can easily have upper 300’s rwhp, through stock truck manifolds.

You can just do a factory GM harness and ECM and just use HP Tuners to tweak it, for even less money than a stand-alone ECM.

 

It’s not less money. The harness is much more expensive than people think, and I have a 350hp gen 1 small block sitting here. Holley Sniper EFI can be done for under $1000 and will even work with my existing fuel pump.

 

Congrats!

Now we can finally take you off the Rodger Doyle/Dave K list of eternal tire kickers.

 

Have my neighbors Gladiator today. It’s nice, against my advice he had all that stuff put on from the dealer and got @ss raped on cost but he has the $. The interior is a lot nicer than the jk, mine, even being lifted more and even when I have the MT’s on rides a lot better. I do like the bed and he has color matched hard cover for it which would be nice to have.

 

On the JK you don’t just replace the bushings on the track bar, also replace the bolts for control arms, etc with the proper size ones. Most get replaced with SAE bolts vs metric.

 

I sure hope those steps retract.

 

look like there's a slot for it to retract into.

the whole thing is pretty ugly though

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I kinda dig it. However, one of the main things that bugs me about the truck is that they didn't spend a few dollars on retooling/reengineering on the rear doors. It's a direct part swap from the Wrangler. On the Wrangler, the cut corner on the back door is necessary to clear the fender. On the Gladiator, there is no reason for the cut corner.

 

Lift it. It’s too easy to not do it.

I did 2.5” and 33s and it’s not enough. When the tires wear out I’ll probably go 4” and 35s. I like the drivability but it’s a Jeep after all.

 

4” should get you 37’s, with the right flares.

 

Save millions?

 

No FUNCTIONAL reason.

 

Purposeful choice to allow the Gladiator to have immediate aftermarket options at launch. The functional justification IS direct swapping with JKs.