Gladiator is crap for towing

[Jeeperjamie]

We just bought a 4,086lb Grand design Imagine 22ft camper and my experience has been it tows great. I have a Max Tow with 4.10 gears and the only thing I might do is add my Max Tow Shocks back to the truck to see if it takes some bounce out of the suspension other than that it's been a joy to tow with and it doesn't struggle any more than I thought it would but still it gets the job done. No over heating and it doesn't feel like it's stressing the truck at all. I'm also on 37's and may go back to 35's for towing purposes but as long as it does as good as it's been doing I will not.

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[Jeeperjamie]

A Sport with factory tow package should to as well as my Overland does.
you don't specify the tires or tire size or other mods to the truck and if it still has the standard gear ratio.

Exactly - also didn't state speed and other things.
Mine handles 5,000 pounds just fine, it's not a struggle or problem at all. The suspension is good. But then mine has stock tire diameter and I stick to the old towing speed limit of 65 (that used to be the speed limit for towing in many states)
I find it a very good tow vehicle, stable and safe.
It's also very hilly where I live and where I typically tow (I80 eastern Iowa sucks, ask the OTR drivers out there) And it's usually windy here - Iowa is considered among the most, if not the most, windy state - it's almost aways windy. That has an impact on towing Still, not a major issue.
I'd buy another in a heart-beat.

That's me, no more than 70mph or under, mostly under. I ain't in no hurry

 

[bd100]

the only thing I might do is add my Max Tow Springs back to the truck to see if it takes some bounce out of the suspension

Sounds more like worn shocks instead of an issue with springs.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Sounds more like worn shocks instead of an issue with springs.

I mean't to say shocks and not springs. I got the Rubicon Fox Shocks on and Honestly I haven't really been a fan since I put them on.

My Max Tow Shocks have less than 12,000 miles on them.

 

[Jems007]

Lots of chatter on this. My hot take is that the gladiator is subpar for towing anything more than 3500lbs.
I have and still do tow a lot on mine across many states.

if you live in a flat state, you’ll probably be happy with the performance. Even better if you’re stock.

If you live at elevation and in mountains, you’ll quickly find it lacking. And that’s is backed by our low HP and Torque (285/260). If you even go up to 35s it’ll eat into that even more.

I am not saying it’s a “bad” truck to tow with, but there are other mid size truck options with more power.

To be fair on flats with a WDH it towed all of my trailers gracefully—just need to he light on the gas pedal.

if jeep increased payload by 500lbs and got us into the 350-400 lb-ft torque I think i would have a better appreciation.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Lots of chatter on this. My hot take is that the gladiator is subpar for towing anything more than 3500lbs.
I have and still do tow a lot on mine across many states.

if you live in a flat state, you’ll probably be happy with the performance. Even better if you’re stock.

If you live at elevation and in mountains, you’ll quickly find it lacking. And that’s is backed by our low HP and Torque (285/260). If you even go up to 35s it’ll eat into that even more.

I am not saying it’s a “bad” truck to tow with, but there are other mid size truck options with more power.

To be fair on flats with a WDH it towed all of my trailers gracefully—just need to he light on the gas pedal.

if jeep increased payload by 500lbs and got us into the 350-400 lb-ft torque I think i would have a better appreciation.

Let me guess - could be wrong, but you are among those who believe you need to keep the RPM down below 3,000 and anything above that is an indication of inadequate power.....

I have to totally disagree as I've been towing 5,000 pounds without trouble.
My Silverado - with a nice aluminum LS V8 had to wind up above 4,000 to make some of the same grades at the same speeds as my JT does at a slightly lower RPM.
These don't even get into full valve lift and power-making valve timing until above 2800 RPM so keeping it below that is not only inefficient as heck for power and torque - it's not how things were intended to be used. There's a reason for the way these are designed and the 8 speed automatic.
And before anyone jumps up and down and says "yeah, but........ Iowa, it's flat". I'll laugh in your face. You've not been through all of Iowa, obviously.

Our non-flat 2/3 consists of some pretty good grades, including I80 east. Our "rolling hills" have decent elevation changes as shown on my JT's nav when watching the elevation numbers. So while I don't generally tow in mountains, I do tow where even the OTR guys have trouble keeping up speed and you constantly see and hear them shifting down and up.
My JT does fine, it makes those hills as well engine-wise as my Chevy did and much easier than my Ford 351 did.

If you even go up to 35s it’ll eat into that even more.

Sorry, but that deserves a "DUH!"
That's true of any truck and it's been discussed beyond belief in this thread and several other towing threads.
You are adding mass, changing rolling resistance, you are changing the engine's RPM at speed, messing with the heat rejection already figured into these - thus the tire size, axle ratios and so on - taking away braking ability and more.
If you want a tow vehicle, you don't go making serious mods and then expect the same as before mods. Any truck loses.
You can't toss bigger tires on these and then gripe about towing.
They tow fine as designed. anything else is your own doing "your fault".

 

[Stan H]

I live in WV and we have intense grades. And I think it does fine. I didn't buy it cause I wanted something to tow like my previous 6.7 diesel I got it for its ability off road and smaller stance in tight places. That said I think this is all a matter of how one looks at it .
I have to agree with @ShadowsPapa on this one.

 

[Jems007]

Let me guess - could be wrong, but you are among those who believe you need to keep the RPM down below 3,000 and anything above that is an indication of inadequate power.....

I have to totally disagree as I've been towing 5,000 pounds without trouble.
My Silverado - with a nice aluminum LS V8 had to wind up above 4,000 to make some of the same grades at the same speeds as my JT does at a slightly lower RPM.
These don't even get into full valve lift and power-making valve timing until above 2800 RPM so keeping it below that is not only inefficient as heck for power and torque - it's not how things were intended to be used. There's a reason for the way these are designed and the 8 speed automatic.
And before anyone jumps up and down and says "yeah, but........ Iowa, it's flat". I'll laugh in your face. You've not been through all of Iowa, obviously.

Our non-flat 2/3 consists of some pretty good grades, including I80 east. Our "rolling hills" have decent elevation changes as shown on my JT's nav when watching the elevation numbers. So while I don't generally tow in mountains, I do tow where even the OTR guys have trouble keeping up speed and you constantly see and hear them shifting down and up.
My JT does fine, it makes those hills as well engine-wise as my Chevy did and much easier than my Ford 351 did.



Sorry, but that deserves a "DUH!"
That's true of any truck and it's been discussed beyond belief in this thread and several other towing threads.
You are adding mass, changing rolling resistance, you are changing the engine's RPM at speed, messing with the heat rejection already figured into these - thus the tire size, axle ratios and so on - taking away braking ability and more.
If you want a tow vehicle, you don't go making serious mods and then expect the same as before mods. Any truck loses.
You can't toss bigger tires on these and then gripe about towing.
They tow fine as designed. anything else is your own doing "your fault".

Look, take your jeep up to 7500' - 10,000' on the regular and get back to me. I said nothing about RPMs. I am not afraid to go up in RPM's. I know its not a diesel--nice of you to make assumptions. We can agree to disagree but you are looking at this from a narrow lens.

Compared to other mid-size trucks they are underpowered due to the engine type. I know you're respected here and I value your opinion but I think you're way off base.

I didn't say they are horrible towers. I said that at elevation they lack power and if you're in a flat state (okay, whatever, rolling hills), you're probably fine. We have long canyons that last 10-30 mi or more that go up and even in a low gear these things struggle--RPM's aside. You're in the right lane with hazards on as you should be going 10-25 MPH in an 75. Big rigs passing you and all.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Look, take your jeep up to 7500' - 10,000' on the regular and get back to me. I said nothing about RPMs. I am not afraid to go up in RPM's. I know its not a diesel--nice of you to make assumptions. We can agree to disagree but you are looking at this from a narrow lens.

Compared to other mid-size trucks they are underpowered due to the engine type. I know you're respected here and I value your opinion but I think you're way off base.

I didn't say they are horrible towers. I said that at elevation they lack power and if you're in a flat state (okay, whatever, rolling hills), you're probably fine. We have long canyons that last 10-30 mi or more that go up and even in a low gear these things struggle--RPM's aside. You're in the right lane with hazards on as you should be going 10-25 MPH in an 75. Big rigs passing you and all.

What midsized truck tows better? We have new Rangers and Tacoma's at my job as fleet trucks and tow on the regular with those to shows and they don't tow stock as good as my jeep tows on 37's. I have little experience with towing at elevation but I would imagine if they aren't as good on flatter ground, a Ranger or Tacoma wouldn't out tow a Gladiator at elevation.

 

[Jems007]

What midsized truck tows better? We have new Rangers and Tacoma's at my job as fleet trucks and tow on the regular with those to shows and they don't tow stock as good as my jeep tows on 37's. I have little experience with towing at elevation but I would imagine if they aren't as good on flatter ground, a Ranger or Tacoma wouldn't out tow a Gladiator at elevation.

not the Tacoma. The ZR2 has a turbo charged engine which will be exceptionally better specifically at elevation. 310 and 430 lb ft torque on the Zr2 and the ranger 2.7 even has 310 lb-ft vs the gladiators 260.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

not the Tacoma. The ZR2 has a turbo charged engine which will be exceptionally better specifically at elevation. 310 and 430 lb ft torque on the Zr2 and the ranger 2.7 even has 310 lb-ft vs the gladiators 260.

Ok then why does the Ranger struggle more than the Gladiator when towing identical weight then. I have no experience with the ZR2 but have towed with a 2022 Ranger we have here at work and the 2.7 struggled worse with 3200lbs than my jeep does with our 4086lb camper, on the same terrain and elevation pretty much. I'm in the piedmont Foothills section in NC about 1hr and half from the Smokies.

 

[aprez27]

You said you had the tow package. If my memory serves me correct that didn't come with a heavy duty transmission cooler. Towing across country for long distances probably broke down your tranny fluid due to excessive heat. You could probably benefit from a heavy duty trans cooler, and regearing your axles to compensate for any added weight to the Jeep. I would also try to stay as close to half of your towing capacity as possible.

 

[Jems007]

Ok then why does the Ranger struggle more than the Gladiator when towing identical weight then. I have no experience with the ZR2 but have towed with a 2022 Ranger we have here at work and the 2.7 struggled worse with 3200lbs than my jeep does with our 4086lb camper, on the same terrain and elevation pretty much. I'm in the piedmont Foothills section in NC about 1hr and half from the Smokies.

I don’t know. Are you sure the engine it has is the one with higher torque? The pentastar might be better on flats. My friend has the f150 4cyl and I couldn’t keep up with him in pulling out trailers which is the same size as mine in the mountains. And he had a full family with him. Anecdotal but the forced induction makes a huge difference at higher elevations .

 

[maSS-hole]

Let me guess - could be wrong, but you are among those who believe you need to keep the RPM down below 3,000 and anything above that is an indication of inadequate power.....

I have to totally disagree as I've been towing 5,000 pounds without trouble.
My Silverado - with a nice aluminum LS V8 had to wind up above 4,000 to make some of the same grades at the same speeds as my JT does at a slightly lower RPM.
These don't even get into full valve lift and power-making valve timing until above 2800 RPM so keeping it below that is not only inefficient as heck for power and torque - it's not how things were intended to be used. There's a reason for the way these are designed and the 8 speed automatic.
And before anyone jumps up and down and says "yeah, but........ Iowa, it's flat". I'll laugh in your face. You've not been through all of Iowa, obviously.

Our non-flat 2/3 consists of some pretty good grades, including I80 east. Our "rolling hills" have decent elevation changes as shown on my JT's nav when watching the elevation numbers. So while I don't generally tow in mountains, I do tow where even the OTR guys have trouble keeping up speed and you constantly see and hear them shifting down and up.
My JT does fine, it makes those hills as well engine-wise as my Chevy did and much easier than my Ford 351 did.



Sorry, but that deserves a "DUH!"
That's true of any truck and it's been discussed beyond belief in this thread and several other towing threads.
You are adding mass, changing rolling resistance, you are changing the engine's RPM at speed, messing with the heat rejection already figured into these - thus the tire size, axle ratios and so on - taking away braking ability and more.
If you want a tow vehicle, you don't go making serious mods and then expect the same as before mods. Any truck loses.
You can't toss bigger tires on these and then gripe about towing.
They tow fine as designed. anything else is your own doing "your fault".

Like he said, when you are at high elevations in the mountains, inadequate power can be an issue. Especially towing something like a travel trailer with a huge aerodynamic load. My house is at 6500' and so a 285hp pentastar would be making like 228 hp. I've been in headwinds with my F150 towing where I was using north of 200hp just to tow on flat ground, never mind pulling a 7% grade. Luckily my Ecoboost makes 200hp at 2500 rpm. A pentastar would be turning 5000 rpm's to do that here.

I have a lexus GX460 with a 4.6L V8 making 301hp/330 ft-lbs at 3400 rpm. Even that thing really struggles to tow my travel trailer here in UT in all but perfect conditions. I wouldnt even bother to tow with it if it was hot and windy. 90* and 20 mph headwinds and I doubt it could even pull the trailer much faster than 55mph.

If I were to buy another naturally aspirated gas engine to tow my trailer, my minimum requirement would be 350hp and probably 375 torque. I give turbo gas motors more leeway since they can retain power at altitude and heat since they have load based tuning. I think I could get away with more like 275hp/325 tq in a turbo gasser and tow somewhat comfortably.

The new Colorado 2.7L and Ranger 2.7L are very appealing from that standpoint. They will tow like locomotives even compared to most V8's.

 

[maSS-hole]

What midsized truck tows better? We have new Rangers and Tacoma's at my job as fleet trucks and tow on the regular with those to shows and they don't tow stock as good as my jeep tows on 37's. I have little experience with towing at elevation but I would imagine if they aren't as good on flatter ground, a Ranger or Tacoma wouldn't out tow a Gladiator at elevation.

The tacoma V6 sucks. Its terrible. The V6 in the Colorado up to 2022 was ok. Way better than the Tacoma.

The new Colorado 2.7L HO has 310hp and 430 ft-lbs of torque. The new Ranger will have the Ford 2.7L at 315hp and 400 ft-lbs of torque. The thing is, those torque values come in at 1600 rpm lower than the Pentastars 260 ft-lbs. So at say, 3000 rpm, those engines are making 100hp more than the Pentastar. Then if you are at high elevation where the Pentastar loses HP, those engines will be making potentially 130-150 more HP at 3000 rpm. Not 130 hp total, 130hp MORE.

That previous gen ranger with the 2.3L should have more low end torque than the pentastar, but not by a huge amount. But once you go up in elevation, the Ranger will retain its power and torque and the pentastar will not. I would pick the Ranger at elevation all day from an engine standpoint.

Ok then why does the Ranger struggle more than the Gladiator when towing identical weight then. I have no experience with the ZR2 but have towed with a 2022 Ranger we have here at work and the 2.7 struggled worse with 3200lbs than my jeep does with our 4086lb camper, on the same terrain and elevation pretty much. I'm in the piedmont Foothills section in NC about 1hr and half from the Smokies.

Whatever ranger you are driving does not have a 2.7L V6. It has the 2.3L inline 4. The 2.7L makes and extra 55hp and 85 ft-lbs of torque.

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