Top 5 Budget-Friendly Mods for The Jeep Gladiator

• July 8, 2021
• Story By
  Ali Mansour

The aftermarket for the 2020 to present Jeep Gladiator is on fire. It seems like each week we are seeing some new bumper, lift, or widget roll out of the aftermarket for the Jeep truck platform. Of course, we are always looking for parts that will expand our JT’s capabilities or simply make it more practical for our daily needs. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of five affordable upgrades.

Each of these modifications we’ve spent considerable time with and found them well worth the cost of entry.  

Record Your Adventure

If you like to capture your off-road adventures or simply want a nice line-of-site spot to put your cell phone, the dual-mount from Bulletproof Mounting Solutions is a great option. It uses an existing dash screw along with double-sided adhesive to secure it in place. While Bulletproof does provide additional mounting screws, we found that for simply holding our phone and action camera, the single screw and adhesive works just fine. You can watch our full install and review on it HERE.

Price: $84.99

Bed Protection

When we originally purchased our Gator-colored Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, it didn’t have a spray-in bed liner. With the assortment of gear and parts we are constantly hauling in the back, we wanted something to prevent the paint from being damaged. If you are in the same boat, we’d recommend looking at the DeeZee bed mat. It’s designed specifically for the Jeep Gladiator, so you don’t have to trim or modify it in any way. It’s made of a thick rubber, and we’ve found it easy to clean and works well to keep gear from sliding around. Our only complaint are the white spots that came on it. We assume this is the result of the build process, but it doesn’t look great. Ours stays under a bed cover, so it’s not an eyesore that we have to see too often. Overall, for a fraction of what a spray-in liner cost, the DeeZee mat is a great investment.

Price: $101

Budget Boost

If you want to get rid of the nose-down rake of the Gladiator, an easy way to do it is with a 1.5-inch leveling kit from TeraFlex. We like that the kit splits the spacer into two sizes (1-inch, and .5-inch). We recommend trying it with the 1-inch only at first, as we’ve found it’s enough to level the Jeep. For those with a Rubicon Gladiator looking to run a larger tire on the cheap, this is a great option as this kit combined with the included 1-inch front bumpstop will give you room to run up-to a 37-inch-tall tire. We’ve actually tested this in-depth, which you can watch HERE.

Price: $99

Low Profile Bed Rack

A bed rack can help make hauling gear, tents, and bed toys a bit easier. However, if you want one that is Gladiator-specific, it’s not going to be cheap. We went with a more budget route with a universal bed rack system from AA Products. The APX2503 all-aluminum setup clamps to Gladiator’s bedrails and has a 300-pound on-road and 180-pound off-road rating. This means you can add on something as heavy as a spare tire or roof top tent and hit the trail without worry. When we purchased our rack, you could only get the full-size crossbars with the kit, which we cut down to create a more form-finished appearance. You can watch us walk you through that process HERE. Thankfully, AA Products is now working on a kit that is intended for midsized truck applications, so you get the right length directly from them.

Price: $264

Delete The Nannies!

It’s the most expensive item on our list and the smallest! It’s called the Tazer Mini from Z Automotive. It plugs in under the dash of your Jeep and allows you to modify a wide array of parameters on your Jeep. Some of the most beneficial being tire and gear size, TMPS threshold, add LED lights, permanently turn off Stop/Start, and our personal favorite- full traction control delete (this includes 2WD!). It takes a few minutes to get used to how to navigate the menu using the steering wheel controls, but once you get the hang of it, it will be second nature. You can watch our full install and review on it HERE.

Price: $329

Bonus Rubicon Mod

If you are interested in upgrading the tires on your Jeep Gladiator, and you happen to have a Rubicon model, we’d like to present you with one of the best bang-for-your-buck tire upgrades on the market. Given the Rubicon (and Mojave) Gladiators come with highline fenders from the factory, we’ve found that they allow room for up to a 35-inch-tall tire without a lift. Since aftermarket wheels can be extremely pricy, we decided to showcase the biggest 35 we’ve tested that still remains within spec for the factory 17-inch Rubicon wheel. It’s a 35x11.50R17 Nitto Trail Grappler. This is a very sophisticated mud-terrain radial that works phenomenal off-road and is extremely quiet on the highway. Given this LT tire comes with a load range C sidewall, it retains factory-like ride quality, but with a more durable tire carcass overall. So, if no lift and 35s on the stock wheel sounds exciting to you, we’d recommend checking them out. 

Price: $356 (each)