Photo: BaT User: Tacomedic
Called it a Wrangler with a bed at the rear or not a real truck all you want, but the modern JT-series Jeep Gladiator is a powerful force in the mid-size truck segment. Over 75,000 Gladiators left Jeep dealer lots last year, but the question of long-term reliability orbits the truck's periphery like an albatross around its neck. Will modern Gladiators fall apart after a few years? Well, you won't be asking the same about this Cummins-swapped 1969 Gladiator J3000. This is the kind of custom restomod built to last.
Long before Jeep became the brand that kept Chrysler alive in the 21st century and even before its buyout by AMC in 1970, the Kaiser-Jeep J3000 was a truck built to be strong and durable first and everything else a distant second. Back when now-mundane things like overhead-cam engines and independent front suspension were enough to make people's heads explode, J3000s hauled up to two tons of payload depending on the variant and put hundreds of thousands of trouble-free miles behind themselves before they were replaced.
It's that same spirit of endurance that permeates every nut and bold of this Cummins 6BT-swapped Gladiator J3000 we see before us. This generation of Jeep left the factory with a litany of different engines from Kaiser, General Motors, and eventually, an entirely AMC-sourced engine lineup topped by a 401-cubic inch (6.6-L) gas V8.
Safe to say, the tried-and-true 5.9-liter Cummins 6BT turbodiesel blows all those old engines out of the water. With added trinkets like a Scheid Diesel Stock-Street turbo kit, a larger oil pan from Novak Conversions, and APR head studs that won't blow their tops when you stomp your foot down, this is a truck built to go above and beyond the workload than even what stock Kaiser Jeeps used to haul.
This motherload of torque is sent to either the rear or all four wheels through a Dana 300 twin-stick transfer case and a New Venture Gear 4500 five-speed manual transmission. With Dana 60 axles at the front and rear riding on old-fashioned leaf springs, this is the kind of off-roader setup built in the same spirit as all old Kaiser Jeeps.
By keeping things simple and putting parts known to work well with each other together, this custom rig should have no problem putting half a million miles on behind itself if its owner was so inclined. They could haul a trailer behind them the whole time with no problems.
Add on a fully-custom black interior with modern leather bucket seats, and this is the kind of restomod you wouldn't mind driving all day long. It's one of the cleanest classic Jeep rigs we've seen in quite some time.
It's that same spirit of endurance that permeates every nut and bold of this Cummins 6BT-swapped Gladiator J3000 we see before us. This generation of Jeep left the factory with a litany of different engines from Kaiser, General Motors, and eventually, an entirely AMC-sourced engine lineup topped by a 401-cubic inch (6.6-L) gas V8.
Safe to say, the tried-and-true 5.9-liter Cummins 6BT turbodiesel blows all those old engines out of the water. With added trinkets like a Scheid Diesel Stock-Street turbo kit, a larger oil pan from Novak Conversions, and APR head studs that won't blow their tops when you stomp your foot down, this is a truck built to go above and beyond the workload than even what stock Kaiser Jeeps used to haul.
This motherload of torque is sent to either the rear or all four wheels through a Dana 300 twin-stick transfer case and a New Venture Gear 4500 five-speed manual transmission. With Dana 60 axles at the front and rear riding on old-fashioned leaf springs, this is the kind of off-roader setup built in the same spirit as all old Kaiser Jeeps.
By keeping things simple and putting parts known to work well with each other together, this custom rig should have no problem putting half a million miles on behind itself if its owner was so inclined. They could haul a trailer behind them the whole time with no problems.
Add on a fully-custom black interior with modern leather bucket seats, and this is the kind of restomod you wouldn't mind driving all day long. It's one of the cleanest classic Jeep rigs we've seen in quite some time.
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