VIDEO : CODEX - Building a 2-Door Extra Cab Gladiator Overland Truck with a HELLCAT

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
In what's sure to be a sea of big and built up Jeep JT Gladiators coming from just about every manufacturer and vendor out there, Dynatrac decided to take a different approach to the problem of, how to stand out in a crowd. Sure, the ultimate goal was to get theirs sitting on a set of ProRock axles, 40" tires and even get a Hellcat HEMI under the hood but to really set it apart from the rest, that would require something a bit more dramatic. In this short video, you'll get to see what it took to transform a bone stock Gladiator into CODEX, a 2-door extra cab overland pickup truck and with 717 horses under the hood.


I should note that this video only covers Stages 1 and 2. Essentially, the chopping of the body and frame, the installation of a supercharged 6.2L Hellcat HEMI, the mounting of a Patriot Camper PCOR box, the wrapping of the body by Sticky Finger Designs and the installation of Rhino Rack roof racks. All this was done to get CODEX out to the 2019 Overland Expo in Flagstaff, AZ and in just a nick of time. The 3rd and final stage will resume soon after and that will include the installation of a Rock Krawler suspension system, Dynatrac XD60 front axle, ProRock 80 rear axle and 40" tires and all at the hands of Savvy Off Road.

Please let us know what you think of the video and the build! :thumb:

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GCM 2.0

New member
Pretty Cool....

I stick with my original post from the other CODEX thread.

- A win in the function over form category.

-Aesthetically not the most pleasing thing to look at, but once you would arrive at the campsite with all that functional comfort, I am certain you would quickly forget about its weird "Australian Roots Looking" build.
 

Jeeeep

Member
damn, from showroom to chopping and a whole lot of work done fast!

Looks more like a stretched JL than a chopped JT but that may be because the bed is non-existent and replaced with the Aussi looking back end

The hemi is cool but I have to agree I'm not feeling the Aussi color scheme and overland look so much. :idontknow: :thinking:
 

frenchjk

Member
That thing is made to wheel Morroco, Mali Niger Chad and across to Egypt by the desert ...Alas it is a bit iffy-to say the least to do it now (well Morroco ok-ish).....
 

dixonk

Member
That thing is made to wheel Morroco, Mali Niger Chad and across to Egypt by the desert ...Alas it is a bit iffy-to say the least to do it now (well Morroco ok-ish).....

Mali, Niger, and Chad? I will stick with my inconspicuous armored Toyota Land Cruiser there.
 

OverlanderJL

Resident Smartass
I can appreciate the video and quality, the build though, just not sure why on any of it.


2012 JKUR Billet Silver
2012 JK Dozer
1975 DJ5 Postal
 

dixonk

Member
I found a pic of Dynatracs next overland project:

24616852178_ee250b20b0_b.jpg



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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I stick with my original post from the other CODEX thread.

- A win in the function over form category.

-Aesthetically not the most pleasing thing to look at, but once you would arrive at the campsite with all that functional comfort, I am certain you would quickly forget about its weird "Australian Roots Looking" build.

The function of the PCOR box is there for sure but I personally missed the point of chopping the frame even more so than the body. It would seem to me that a longer wheel base would be a benefit at least in terms of ride quality and towing capacity if nothing else. Sure, the 36 gallon gas tank is nice to have but being that range is an issue, I would have thought adding something like it in addition to the factory gas tank would have made a lot more sense. Also, for all the effort that went into carrying so much gear, I would think that having extra room in the cab would be helpful as well but then, that's just me. Clearly, this was Tony's vision and not mine :crazyeyes:

damn, from showroom to chopping and a whole lot of work done fast!

Looks more like a stretched JL than a chopped JT but that may be because the bed is non-existent and replaced with the Aussi looking back end

The hemi is cool but I have to agree I'm not feeling the Aussi color scheme and overland look so much. :idontknow: :thinking:

For all that was done, I think it might have been easier to start with a 2-door JL and work the other way around. But then, that's just me.
 

JTCO

Meme King
Great coverage. It was really cool seeing all the different companies doing their thing on this build.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I can appreciate the video and quality, the build though, just not sure why on any of it.


2012 JKUR Billet Silver
2012 JK Dozer
1975 DJ5 Postal

It's funny because if you look at the comments on our YouTube channel, pretty much everyone there loves this build. Here on JLWRANGLER and WAYALIFE, not so much.

Me personally, I'm glad that we got a chance to cover the build and appreciate the fact that everyone has their own idea of how to build up a Jeep or should I say, chop one up but like you, I can't say I'm a fan. Of course, that's just me.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Great coverage. It was really cool seeing all the different companies doing their thing on this build.

Thanks! Funny thing was that everyone working at the same time actually made it pretty hard for us to film it all. We were actually worried that we wouldn't have enough to make something of it and so we're glad that you found the coverage to be adequate :crazyeyes:
 

GrayBeard

New member
Personally, I think they missed the mark on this build. It has some nice features and the possibilities are endless. To me, it's lacks style and to bulky looking. But it's a Jeep, so [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

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GCM 2.0

New member
The function of the PCOR box is there for sure but I personally missed the point of chopping the frame even more so than the body. It would seem to me that a longer wheel base would be a benefit at least in terms of ride quality and towing capacity if nothing else. Sure, the 36 gallon gas tank is nice to have but being that range is an issue, I would have thought adding something like it in addition to the factory gas tank would have made a lot more sense. Also, for all the effort that went into carrying so much gear, I would think that having extra room in the cab would be helpful as well but then, that's just me. Clearly, this was Tony's vision and not mine :crazyeyes:

Completely agree, its more like a JK8 than a JT. I also hope that is not the truck’s final stance in the rear, it looks really heavy and burdened. Reminds me of the stance of the original version of Discount Tire’s RESQ1, before Mel realized the actual “shop model size” tire machine out on the tail of the already heavy service body was a bit too much. Turned out even the service body was also too much weight and became a service trailer that I towed to KOH. I have a feeling this CODEX might have the same sprung weight issues

IMG_1380.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Completely agree, its more like a JK8 than a JT. I also hope that is not the truck’s final stance in the rear, it looks really heavy and burdened. Reminds me of the stance of the original version of Discount Tire’s RESQ1, before Mel realized the actual “shop model size” tire machine out on the tail of the already heavy service body was a bit too much. Turned out even the service body was also too much weight and became a service trailer that I towed to KOH. I have a feeling this CODEX might have the same sprung weight issues

The stance as you see it in the video was with Mopar 2" lift coils up front and factory coils in the rear. Initially, the weight of the Hellcat was significant enough to warrant help up front. However, the PCOR box completely negated that and Tony was going to address it with new coils, spacers or a combination of both. Unfortunately, Cindy and I had to take off before they got to that.

That being said... the sprung weight is definitely an issue and one that suspect will be a challenge to address. Certainly, I find it hard to believe that this thing will be doing any "pre-running" let alone ANY driving at speeds that the Hellcat should be able to offer.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I think the build will come together once the tires come. Looks good Dynatrac. They have a dedicated team that has built American made projects for a while now. Plus they got Tony on the job. [emoji4]

40's will for sure change the look. I just wish they would have chosen to run American made tires instead of china tires. I am also a bit disappointed that they chose to run a china winch too especially being that they've always run WARN in the past.
 

Danny

Member
40's will for sure change the look. I just wish they would have chosen to run American made tires instead of china tires. I am also a bit disappointed that they chose to run a china winch too especially being that they've always run WARN in the past.
40's make everything better! Yup. I resemble that remark. Times have changed. Apparently I'm learning that I'm a Warn winch elitist. Because I have many Warn products over the years. Well, If something works don't fix it. Warn makes good stuff that is dependable. Go figure. And 2 wrongs don't make a right. I agree USA is the way to go.

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NFRs2000NYC

Member
It's funny because if you look at the comments on our YouTube channel, pretty much everyone there loves this build. Here on JLWRANGLER and WAYALIFE, not so much.

Me personally, I'm glad that we got a chance to cover the build and appreciate the fact that everyone has their own idea of how to build up a Jeep or should I say, chop one up but like you, I can't say I'm a fan. Of course, that's just me.

I think this forum just has a higher percentage of straight shooters. I can appreciate all the work on an individual level, but as a whole, like you said, nothing makes sense. The PCOR box is fantastic, but heavy, having a longer frame would have made more sense. For an overland rig, you want the extra interior room, so chopping the back doors out make no sense. Generally speaking, the US is wide open spaces so "tightness" isn't really an issue, you don't overland through the rubicon trail. The hellcat engine, while again, awesome for something like the sandtrooper, but for an overland build going 20mph? Makes no sense. Fun building exercise, but the end result IMHO, kind of makes no sense. The EVO build is much more useful for "overlanding." I did meet Justin from PCOR a while back, he was a cool dude, very lively. Anywho, the video was great as always.
 

JIMBOX

New member
:D Thanx for the video, Ed, but I'm not in favor of the modifications to the NEW GLADIATOR--but

I appreciate your coverage !

;) JIMBO
 

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