Chris' Overland Built Jeep Gladiator 

It's no secret that at Northridge4x4, we are huge fans of the Jeep Gladiator. After all, who wouldn't be? It is the perfect platform for overlanding, rock crawling, camping, daily driving, and doing truck stuff. We aren't shy about our love for the Gladiator, which is reflected in the expansive list of Jeep Gladiator parts and upgrades we offer at Northridge4x4. Our goal is to ensure every Jeep Gladiator owner can find what they need to enhance every aspect of their truck, taking its capability and everyday functionality to the limit.

Chris Schoening, a Northridge4x4 customer, provides a prime example of how you can outfit your Jeep Gladiator—from a stock pickup truck to a purpose-built overlanding rig—with our catalog of parts and accessories. We wanted to take a minute to highlight Chris' excellent Gladiator in the hopes that you'll be inspired to build up your own Gladiator or 4x4 and go on the off-road adventure of a lifetime. Once you've checked out Chris' Gladiator, please let us know in the comments below what you think of his truck and how you would build out your own dream overlanding rig!

Suspension and Steering

Your suspension is responsible for absorbing every road imperfection and trail obstacle, so needless to say, it's important to choose wisely. We're not here to point fingers, but a subpar suspension system will leave you kicking yourself every time you hit a bump on the road and your Gladiator feels more like a horse-drawn wagon than the refined 4x4 truck it actually is. Luckily, Northridge4x4 has already done the legwork and offers a curated selection of high-quality suspension components to ensure your suspension is durable while gliding down the road like a Cadillac.

Chris upgraded his Gladiator’s suspension to emphasize strength, comfort, and capability. To ensure that long highway drives and countless hours on rugged trails are spent enjoying the scenery and experience, rather than feeling every bump, Chris upgraded his Gladiator with Bilstein 5100 Front and Rear shocks. These shocks are perfectly tuned for his lifted suspension, ensuring maximum flexibility while tackling tall obstacles and deep ruts. To beef up his front-end strength, he swapped out the flimsy factory aluminum knuckles for Reid Racing HD Replacement Steel Knuckles. These provide much-needed strength to run larger tires on your Gladiator with confidence. The factory ball joints were never designed to handle larger tires, leading them to wear out quickly and cause vibrations and wandering. Chris upgraded, or rather deleted, his factory ball joints with the American Off-Road Dana 30/44 Ball Joint Delete Kit. This kit provides much-needed durability and longevity when running oversized tires on your Jeep.

Continuing the theme of off-road capability, Chris upgraded his factory front sway bar with RockJock's Antirock Front Sway Bar Kit. The Antirock is designed to offer greater suspension flexibility without the need to disconnect the sway bar end links. This provides a seamless experience, from driving on the road to flexing your suspension on obstacles off-road. This upgrade is especially useful since Chris' Jeep is not a Rubicon, meaning it doesn’t come from the factory with an electronic sway bar disconnect.

Recovery and Armor

An adventure wouldnt be complete without a bit of misadventure, which is why equipping your Gladiator with reliable and durable Recovery gear and Armor is important to ensure your misadventures dont turn into disasters! Chris finds himself in rugged terrain and snowy landscapes which is why he is equipped with a Winch, which allows for the recovery of himself and his buddies while out on the trail. To mount his winch to the Gladiator, he opted for Grimm Offroad's Steel Bumper Winch Plate, this provides an incredibly strong mounting point for his winch. The Grimm Offroad Steel Bumper Winch Plate perfectly integrates into his Mopar 3 Piece Steel Front Bumper.

The Mopar Steel Bumper provides much needed extra front end protection on the trail over the plastic bumper, as well as allowing for the seamless integration of a winch into the bumper. While a steel bumper is great for off-roading, it often seems like your Jeep is more vulnerable to damage on the road, than on the trail. Luckily a steel front bumper will help protect your precious Jeep from careless parking lot priuses. 

Chris added Artecs Apex Front Axle Truss to give his axle housings extra rigidity for running his 38 inch tires. This truss is welded to the housing, providing protection from axle flex and bending while hitting it hard on the trail. By reinforcing his axle with Artecs truss his front end is more than capable of handling his oversized tires with ease. 

To complete his recovery system, Chris chose the Factor 55 Hawse Fairlead and UltraHook. The Factor 55 Hawse Fairlead not only gives his front-end recovery system a low-profile, rugged appearance but also protects his synthetic winch rope by providing a smooth surface for it to glide over during use. The Factor 55 UltraHook is the perfect finishing touch, offering a safe and secure attachment point for vehicle recoveries. Unlike traditional hooks, the UltraHook features a locking mechanism that ensures it stays securely connected to D-rings and soft shackles. 

Theres no better feeling than hitting the trail knowing you are equipped with high quality recovery gear to get yourself and your friends out of any sticky situation. The right recovery gear allows you to truly explore with confidence and hit trails you never thought you could do. 

Overlanding Gear 

Overlanding adventures often span for multiple days to multi week long trips living out of your Jeep or 4x4. While this is the perfect time to connect with nature and enjoy the great outdoors, it is important to ensure you are equipped with everything you need for a comfortable, convienent and safe adventure. Chris has outfitted his Jeep Gladiator to transform it into his home away from home. 

By equipping his rig with a Roof Top Tent, mounted to his Bed Rack, he can set up and break down camp in minutes. The quick and easy setup of a rooftop tent allows him to focus more on enjoying the adventure and less on dealing with gear. One of the great advantages of rooftop tents is that they elevate you off the ground, letting you get the restful sleep you need without worrying about critters or insects invading your space. Chris' rooftop tent also includes an annex, which provides additional shelter extending from the tent to the ground. A rooftop tent annex offers extra sleeping space, a private area for changing clothes, or simply a cozy spot to hang out with friends and family on a rainy day at camp. If you're ready to upgrade your overlanding setup and leave behind the hassle of tent poles and ground tents, a rooftop tent is an excellent choice.

Wheels and Tires

No matter what 4x4 you drive, we can all appreciate how a set of wheels and oversized tires can truly transform off-road capability all while giving it an epic and rugged stance. Whether you're looking to tackle tough trails or you just want your truck to the look the part, upgrading the wheels and tires certainly makes a big impact.

One of his most recent upgrades to his Gladiator was a set of 38x12.5r17 Nitto Ridge Grappler tires. These give his truck a huge boost in underbody clearance and are much grippier off-road. It also goes without saying a set of 38's will take any Gladiator's appearance to the next level. He wrapped his 38 inch tires around Method's 312 Series Wheel 17x8.5 in Bronze with a Matte Black Lip. Bronze wheels have been increasingly rising in popularity, and for good reason, they add a unique pop of color to your Jeep. We're personally loving the black and bronze aesthetic Chris is going for on his Gladiator. 

Lighting

Arriving at camp after dark is something most of us will face at some point while overlanding in the wilderness, making proper lighting equipment essential to see every obstacle and hazard on the trail. To ensure he's prepared for any situation, Chris has upgraded his Jeep Gladiator with ample lighting to illuminate even the darkest trails. Among his upgrades is a set of Morimoto 4Banger NCS LED Light Pods in a Combo/Yellow configuration, which provide a bright beam of light that can easily cut through the darkness and illuminate any path ahead. While lights are especially effective for night-time off-roading, they also offer excellent visibility even in other low visibility conditions like dense trail dust. Best of all, these lights are street legal ensuring he can light the way wherever he finds himself. Whether navigating tricky terrain or setting up camp after sunset, Chris' lighting setup ensures he’s always ready to tackle whatever the wilderness throws his way. 

To get his morimoto lights securely mounted to the front cowl of his Jeep, he added EVO's A-Pillar Light Mount with Morimotos 4Banger Universal U-mount brackets. This ensure his lights remain stable while driving on the highway and brushing up against vegetation on the trail. 

The rear taillights on the Jeep Gladiator stick out about two inches past the truck bed, which unfortunately can often lead to them getting smashed while navigating tight off-road trails. To prevent this from happening and give his truck a sleek, modern LED style, Chris opted for Oracle's Flush Mount LED Taillights. These taillights fit tightly to the body lines of the truck bed, making them much less prone to being hit by off-road obstacles such as boulders, trees, and deep ruts. They feature a direct replacement installation, ensuring that almost anyone can easily get these bolted up in an afternoon.

Your One Stop Shop For All Things Gladiator

While we love all 4x4s and Jeeps at Northridge4x4, the Jeep Gladiator has a special place in our hearts. After all, it takes what we adore about the Jeep Wrangler to the highly practical truck world. The Gladiator continues the Jeep legacy of being easy to modify and incredibly capable right out of the box. Northridge4x4 customers across the country, like Chris, are building out their Gladiators with high-quality parts and accessories from our vast catalog. Whether you want to build an overlanding machine complete with a roof top tent, a rock crawling beast on massive tires, a comfortable tow rig, or maybe a mix of everything, Northridge4x4 stands as the primier destination for your Jeep Gladiator. Its our mission to ensure Jeep Gladiator owners have a complete selection of top quality parts and accessories to make their dream off-road adventures a reality.

We'd love to hear from you in the comments below! What do you think of Chris' Jeep Gladiator. What is your dream off-road rig, and how would you build it up? 

The Adventure Begins Where the Road Ends