Thinking about a jeep...

It's not all taxes, a big part is because we have a different blend vs. the rest of the US, so they don't have to be price competitive. This really gets us every time they shut down a refinery for maintenance.

 

This morning, a San Diego resident posted up a pic of a gas pump and every option was over $4/gal.

 

Big tires kill you for sure. Mine is lifted a little with 305’s. Probably cost me 1-2 mpg

 

Yeah i just put 285/65/18's on and while it rides better, they are quite a bit heavier than the oem wheels/tires.

 

One of the best looking wheels for Toyotas.

Those are 10-ply, aren’t they?

I put BFG KO2 10-ply on my Silverado, in that same size. I just couldn’t bear the thought of spending so much money on a 6-ply and only getting ~60% of the tread depth. I can definitely feel those plies, unfortunately.

 

Wait till they are worn 1/2 way, you will need earplugs. My 12 Tundra came with the original KOs, 1/2 worn and you could barely carry on a conversation with someone in the passenger seat.

 

I dunno how many ply but they are E load rating. You can use D rating but I stuck with E cause that’s what came on it and because of towing.

 

Yep. Those are 10-ply.

I used to tow/haul a lot, so definitely beneficial for stability.

 

KO2s in stock size I put on my Duramax were 7 lbs heavier each than the stock street Goodyear’s. Didn’t care was tired of spinning out on grass. The KO2s do not do that. E rated. Yes they roar a little at 35 mph and again at 70 mph. Don’t care. Mileage was affected by 2 mpg again do not care the truck is still knocking 18 mpg daily out of the park on my little 32 mile city commute.

 

4300lb vehicle riding on 225 Blizzaks - Snow tank
4500lb vehicle riding on studded 285 Hakkas - Floaty McSnowBoat

Good thing I had lockers, needed them to get out of my driveway this morning?!

 

What grills are JL and/or JT owners going with? And/or, what grill guard has a built in light bar that people would recommend? To be clear, this is purely for poser aesthetics and has nothing to do with offroading or anything like that.

Was looking at this grill but wanted some feedback before pulling the trigger....

https://www.quadratec.com/p/westin/hdx-led-grille-jeep-wrangler-jl-gladiator-jt

I'd also entertain a grill guard with a built in light bar and would love any feedback that people had. All the ones that I'm seeing require a different bumper as well but I'd like to find one that fits the stock bumper (and is easy to install, to boot).

https://www.extremeterrain.com/roug...-20-black-series-led-light-bar-2018-wran.html

 

That grill is much better looking than the typical "angry eyes" one seen on most tactical mall crawlers around here.

 

I've heard they dont recommend restricting air flow at all on the gladiator due to cooling. It seems just about any aftermarket grill restricts airflow more than stock.

 

Do you have a link to that? It's the first I've heard of it, and even if it is the case, I assume it'd be for hardcore crawlers and shit like that.

 

No direct link. Just something I recalled seeing reading through the gladiator forums. I think it had to do with cooling during towing to reach the rating they wanted. So if you're not towing 5k+ lbs through the desert, you're probably fine.

 

Holy crap! $1150 for a grille?! That’s a set of tires, good shocks, or many other functional items.

Lightbars with those tiny 5W emitters and shallow, small diameter reflectors are a waste of money. They’re really bright at 30’ or 40’, but, they don’t project very far. For that, you need reflector depth and diameter and emitter wattage. Most of your offroad light companies offer large diameter, high wattage 25W+ lighting options. If you’re going to spend the money, may as well get stuff that works.

I run these on my Tiger at 50% power, with diffusers, on low-beam. When I hit my high-beams, they automatically go to 100% power. I enjoy melting the retinas of the douchebag lightbar crowd who drive around with them on at night.
https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/Long-Range-Extreme-LED-Light_p_61.html

 

Correct, the grill had to be redesigned for way more airflow on the Gladiator. You don't want to decrease air flow at all on that rig.

 

Not at all. I see these people with aftermarket grills/ screens on their Jeep and just cringe. They already run on the hot side. I run the close to the min amount of anti-freeze and a fair amount of water wetter and that helps a bit, plus have my fans come on very early but they still run on the hotter side. I also out in a large trans cooler and also added a fan I can manually turn on or have it turn on automatically once the high speed kicks in as the trans will get hot quick wheeling or towing. Jeeps need as much air as you can get plus a bit more.

do not put a grill like that especially with the light bars there.

 

, except the part about above the windshield.