Punk'n the 2023 Jeep JT Gladiator Sport S Diesel with HD Towing

[meljr]

About the time the first Gladiators became available in late 2019, I thought it would be nice to order a 2020 Sport S model with the HD towing package. My wife and I test drove a Rubicon model at a local Jeep dealership and she decided that's what we needed, but it didn't have the Max Tow option I was holding out for. I started searching for a Rubi with the Max Tow Package and found a dealership that told me one was in transit and I could reserve it with a $500 deposit, so I sent them the money. It turns out the truck may have not been built yet and the dealer sales person couldn't give me the VIN, delivery date or where it was in the production queue, so we cancelled and lost our deposit.

Fast forward to January, 2024 and I noticed that a local dealer web site showed a 2023 Sport S Diesel with the HD Towing components in transit. They had a lot full of now heavily discounted Gladiators, but none were Sport S models, so I asked the salesperson to call me when one came in. A few days later, she did and worked out a deal that involved my getting rid of our 30 year old Viper RT/10 (wife rule #1: we have too many vehicles and one has to go to make room for the Gladiator). We took delivery of Punk'n, for lack of a better name, on February 2, 2024.

I should mention the wife had several other rules/demands:

• I had to submit to a Punk'n orange manicure and take her out for an expensive dinner at the local Casino.
• I could not lift Punk'n as we already owned a few highly modified Jeeps.
• I must agree to add steps and mud flaps.
• Punk'n has to tow her resto-mod 1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner glamper when she goes camping with her girlfriends.

So I went ahead and made my deal with the devil and immediately started looking for loopholes in the arrangement. This thread will document what I have done in the year or so past and what my vision is for Punk'n in the future, short of divorce court.

 

[benatc1]

lol we do what we have to do!

 

[jeeeep]

About the time the first Gladiators became available in late 2019, I thought it would be nice to order a 2020 Sport S model with the HD towing package. My wife and I test drove a Rubicon model at a local Jeep dealership and she decided that's what we needed, but it didn't have the Max Tow option I was holding out for. I started searching for a Rubi with the Max Tow Package and found a dealership that told me one was in transit and I could reserve it with a $500 deposit, so I sent them the money. It turns out the truck may have not been built yet and the dealer sales person couldn't give me the VIN, delivery date or where it was in the production queue, so we cancelled and lost our deposit.

Fast forward to January, 2024 and I noticed that a local dealer web site showed a 2023 Sport S Diesel with the HD Towing components in transit. They had a lot full of now heavily discounted Gladiators, but none were Sport S models, so I asked the salesperson to call me when one came in. A few days later, she did and worked out a deal that involved my getting rid of our 30 year old Viper RT/10 (wife rule #1: we have too many vehicles and one has to go to make room for the Gladiator). We took delivery of Punk'n, for lack of a better name, on February 2, 2024.

I should mention the wife had several other rules/demands:

• I had to submit to a Punk'n orange manicure and take her out for an expensive dinner at the local Casino.
• I could not lift Punk'n as we already owned a few highly modified Jeeps.
• I must agree to add steps and mud flaps.
• Punk'n has to tow her resto-mod 1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner glamper when she goes camping with her girlfriends.

So I went ahead and made my deal with the devil and immediately started looking for loopholes in the arrangement. This thread will document what I have done in the year or so past and what my vision is for Punk'n in the future, short of divorce court.

hmmm... does a Mopar lift count as modified? it is Mopar approved.