Waypoints: Jeep Donates 2026 Gladiator Red Rock Concept, Spring Soft Top Readiness With The Haartz Corporation, Arizona To The Arctic In A Grenadier, And More At Off Road Xtreme

Jeep has donated a purpose-built 2026 Gladiator Rubicon to the Red Rock 4-Wheelers, recognizing the Moab club’s more than 40 years of trail stewardship. Named “Red Rock,” the truck was developed with Jeep Performance Parts by Mopar as a working support vehicle for year-round trail maintenance, cleanup, and restoration across Moab’s rugged terrain. Rather than focusing on appearance alone, Jeep outfitted the Gladiator for real utility with a 3-inch lift, 37-inch BFGoodrich KM3 tires, beadlock wheels, a steel front bumper, a Warn winch, TYRI lighting, rock rails, an onboard air system, and a cargo rack with storage pods. Inside, durable Armorlite flooring and added grab handles support heavy use in harsh conditions. The donation also highlights Jeep’s ongoing partnership with the Red Rock 4-Wheelers and the Bureau of Land Management during Easter Jeep Safari, where volunteers help with trail repairs, fencing, cleanup, and route preservation to keep Moab accessible for future generations.

After months of winter storage or limited use, your soft top deserves a thorough check before heading back out on the trail. For off-road vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, spring preparation is especially important as exposure to mud, dust, UV rays, and changing weather conditions can take a toll on soft-top materials.

A proper spring inspection and cleaning routine not only keeps your vehicle looking its best but also helps protect performance and extend the life of your soft top in demanding environments.

With more than 100 years of experience engineering premium soft top materials, The Haartz Corporation partners with manufacturers to develop fabrics designed for durability, weather resistance, and long-term performance in real-world conditions.

The following steps are recommended when preparing your soft top for the off-road season ahead:

1. Inspect the Fabric: Begin with a careful visual inspection of your soft top fabric. Look for tears, fraying edges, loose stitching, or areas of excessive wear that may have developed during storage or prior trail use. Off-road driving can introduce additional stress from branches, debris, and repeated flexing. Identifying minor issues early can help prevent more significant damage once you're back in action.

2. Clean Thoroughly: Storage and off-road use often leave behind dirt, dust, mud residue, and environmental buildup on the fabric surface. Use a gentle cleaner specifically formulated for automotive soft tops to safely remove contaminants, including mildew, without compromising the material.

Avoid harsh household detergents, which can strip protective coatings or cause discoloration. We recommend products from the Wolfsteins Pro Series line, designed specifically for automotive soft top fabrics.

3. Protect and Condition: Once clean, apply a UV protectant and water-repellent treatment to restore the fabric’s resistance to sun exposure, moisture, and environmental wear. This step is especially important for off-road vehicles that spend extended time outdoors and exposed to the elements.

Proper protection helps keep the top clean, maintain flexibility, reduce fading, and ensure your soft top continues to perform in rugged conditions. Again, products from Wolfsteins Pro Series are well-suited for this step.

If your inspection reveals damage that requires replacement, consult your vehicle manufacturer or a trusted installer and request a replacement top made with materials from The Haartz Corporation—the same fabrics trusted by leading automotive brands worldwide.

One final tip: skip the mechanical car wash. Give your soft top the care it deserves and get ready for spring with The Haartz Corporation.

For a quick visual overview of these care tips, watch Haartz's short video.

THE HIT LIST - TOP STORIES FROM AROUND THE WEB

Cybertruck Tried To Rescue A SxS…Huge Mistake! - A Cybertruck’s attempt to recover a side-by-side goes sideways fast, showing that serious off-road recovery takes more than Elon Musk fandom and good intentions.

High HP Power Wheels Testing - Grind Hard Plumbing Co takes high-horsepower Power Wheels builds from goofy idea to all-out test session, turning toy cars into unexpectedly fast off-road machines.

Mercedes Has Built The Most Powerful And Luxurious Unimog Ever! - This Mercedes Unimog shows why the platform is still one of the wildest off-road trucks out there, mixing serious capability with a level of comfort you’d never expect from something this extreme.

Cummins 4-Wheeler Durability Testing - This Cummins-powered four-wheeler test shows just how far the build has come, with the video focused on putting the machine through real durability testing instead of just making noise in the shop.

Lucky 7 Episode 1 "The Return To Dirt" - This one follows the return of Lucky 7 to the dirt, with the focus on getting an old-school open-wheel race car back where it belongs and back in the mix at the Mint 400.

Haartz has supplied convertible top materials to the open-air SUV market since its earliest days. When people think of classic SUVs, they think of the Jeep CJ5, Chevy K5 Blazer, and original square-body Bronco—and Haartz materials have been part of that story from the start. The company first supported the segment through the aftermarket, when many OEMs still operated their own vinyl plants, and later became an OEM supplier of both vinyl and cloth topping materials. Today, Haartz remains a strong presence in both the aftermarket and OEM segments.

Wyn Geiser has more than 50 years of wheeling experience, so it makes sense that shortly after purchasing his 2024 Ineos Grenadier Trialmaster he pointed the 4x4 on an epic adventure. The journey covered roughly 9,000 miles, taking him from his home in Mesa, Arizona, to Alaska and back again, with plenty of dirt along the way.

A Solid Starting Point
The Ineos Grenadier Trialmaster was a solid starting point for a trip of this magnitude. The full-frame vehicle is powered by a gutsy BMW 3.0-liter I6 gas engine paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. It features solid axles front and rear, a two-speed transfer case, a center differential lock, locking differentials, front and rear skid plates, and more. But even with these solid features there was still room for improvement from a mechanical standpoint.

Suspension Upgrades For The Long Haul
One of the first areas Wyn addressed on the Grenadier was the suspension. He owns Geiser Off-Road, which specializes in progressive springs for 4x4s, so naturally a set of his company’s springs were part of the build plan. The setup pairs 2-inch-lift progressive springs with MetalCloak Duroflex adjustable control arms and Evictus 2.65 Prerunner remote-reservoir shocks.

The additional lift also created space for larger tires. Wyn ditched the stock 32-inch tires in favor of 35-inch Goodyear Territory MTs. These were take-offs from his other vehicle, a Ram 1500 TRX. They are mounted on 18x9-inch KMC Grenade Crawl beadlock wheels.

Outside And Inside Mods
Every inch of the Grenadier, inside and out, was outfitted for the trip with usability in mind. On the outside, the rig wears a TrailRax roof rack. It serves as the mounting point for Wyn’s lodging-on-the-go, an Alu-Cab Gen 3-R rooftop tent. A Renogy flexible 200-watt solar panel is mounted to the roof of the RTT, and the Grenadier’s optional solar integration package simplified installation of the solar power system.

Inside, the Grenadier packs smart storage and trail-ready gear. An Engel 40-liter fridge-freezer rides on a sliding mount alongside the solar power system components. Wyn made use of nearly every inch of interior space, aided by several aftermarket additions. These include a Bison Gear roof shelf that stores the RTT ladder when not in use, overhead cubby shelves, a LeTech drawer system, and strategically placed MOLLE panels.

Trip Report
Wyn’s trip began in Mesa and took him to Bellingham, Washington, where the SUV was loaded onto a ferry bound for Haines, Alaska. After disembarking in Haines, he explored the state with stops in Tok, Anchorage, Mount McKinley, Fairbanks, and the Arctic Circle, among others. From there, he aimed the Grenadier toward the gravel Top of the World Highway and Dawson City in the Yukon. Eventually, the route brought him back through Bellingham and down to Mesa.