Rugged Ridge deep-woods Gladiator leads SEMA Jeep trio of truck heroes

The Jeep Gladiator’s been on sale for months, so we’re still in the top of the first inning when it comes to accessories for what should become the market’s most heavily accessorized lifestyle pickup. Rugged Ridge keeps the river of wares at the high water mark with its 2019 SEMA builds, starting with a deep-woods Gladiator Rubicon. Angles and polygons fare heavy in the theme, starting with the Venator front bumper housing an Overrider Trekker S12.5 Winch, and an Amfib snorkel system that looks like it took design lessons from the mesh on a Lamborghini Huracán. The DRL chop brackets on the front fenders are a subtle change that makes a huge difference to the front-end sharpness; they remove the inner fender the normal LEDs sit in, so the LED DRL’s become the leaded edge.  

An Armis bed cover rolls up beneath the roof rack and accessories rack, protecting two Swingcase storage boxes, a heavy duty rear bumper below that. Fox shocks support a four-inch lift over bronze 17-inch Jesse Spade wheels in 29-inch BF Goodrich KM3s, a set of RRC rocker guards stretching between the arches.

The aftermarket brand from Georgia served up a couple standards, too, with a Wrangler and a Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon on display. The Wrangler stands four inches taller as well, this time thanks to King Shocks, with XHD wheels wrapped in 39-inch KM3s poking out from Max-Terrain fenders. A Trekker winch peeks out of a stubby Arcus front bumper hooked up with a skid plate. Only the low-mount entry applies to the Amfib snorkel. Out back, a Spartacus heavy duty tire carrier pairs with the Spartacus rear bumper, and LED CHMSL, and a soft-shackle hitch. And we are serious fans of that topo-map wrap.

The last of the trio stands out for its four Fortis tube doors and covers, plus a giant red set of 20-inch Drakon Wheels on 37-inch KM3s made possible by the four-inch lift. The otherwise mono Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon starts with a Rugged Ridge stubby bumper, another Trekker winch and skid plate, and shaved fenders with inner fender liners. The full-on Amfib sci-fi snorkel makes another appearance, as do the Spartacus tire carrier and LED CHMSL in back. A Rampge Trail View soft top hovers over the package.

You can check them out at the Truck Hero booth 30024 in the South Hall Upper.