Towed a Defender 90 for a friend today

[Phljeeper]

I towed my friends Defender 90 from Virginia to Philadelphia today. It did great. The D90 was about 3800 lb and the trailer another 2200 lb. Got an average of 12.1 mpg on the trip.

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[futzin']

Thanks for posting this, and with stats and a pic!

 

[JT614]

Love your JT (and mine of course) but the Defender is a sexy, beefy, manly beast of a truck .

 

[Phljeeper]

Love your JT (and mine of course) but the Defender is a sexy, beefy, manly beast of a truck .

Thanks. For sure the Defender is awesome but the JT is a lot more comfortable to drive and very close to the capability of the Defender.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Fuel mileage?

 

[Phljeeper]

Fuel mileage?

Jeep computer said 12.1 average for the trip.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Very nice!

 

[BigSteve484]

I towed my friends Defender 90 from Virginia to Philadelphia today. It did great. The D90 was about 3800 lb and the trailer another 2200 lb. Got an average of 11.5 mpg on the trip.

I'd love to hear your impression of towing with the Rubi vs. whatever you have towed with in the past. I'm currently at looking to pull the trigger on a Gladiator whenever they integrate a brake controller to be my DD/tow/race car tow-rig and am curious how the off-roady'er suspension feels with over 5K lbs behind it.

 

[Phljeeper]

I'd love to hear your impression of towing with the Rubi vs. whatever you have towed with in the past. I'm currently at looking to pull the trigger on a Gladiator whenever they integrate a brake controller to be my DD/tow/race car tow-rig and am curious how the off-roady'er suspension feels with over 5K lbs behind it.

Overall I am very happy with the Gladiator Rubicon for towing. I traded in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with the 5.7L V8 and while it towed stronger up hills, the Gladiator seems more stable. I haven't tried out the Sport S to see if the stiffer suspension would be better than the softer Rubicon suspension but overall I am happy and feel confident with towing capabilities. I will admit when the Diesel comes out (maybe after the bugs are shaken out) I will evaluate a trade just to be able to pull stronger up hills. But most of my towing is east coast and minimal mountain passes so no issues.

BTW, the after market brake controllers work just fine.

 

[BigSteve484]

BTW, the after market brake controllers work just fine.

Good to hear about the towing! I imagine the stability is from the wheelbase. Although I imagine anything would be an upgrade from my 98 GC in the handling department.

The desire for a factory controller mostly for aesthetics and integration - and that I won't be in the market until next year. Finally having a rig with one integrated from the factory makes me drool.

 

[Phljeeper]

Good to hear about the towing! I imagine the stability is from the wheelbase. Although I imagine anything would be an upgrade from my 98 GC in the handling department.

The desire for a factory controller mostly for aesthetics and integration - and that I won't be in the market until next year. Finally having a rig with one integrated from the factory makes me drool.

Definitely the wheelbase makes all the different in the world on stability. My GC was a 2018 so drove great but I rarely miss it with the Gladiator. I did a cross country tow with the GC last summer pulling my 4500lb travel trailer and appreciated both the V8 power and seating comfort of the GC that I would miss if I did the same trip in the Gladiator but overall the fun of being back in a Wrangler(ish) vehicle and still being able to tow is worth the trade-offs.

Also, the aftermarket Curt brake controller looks very stock.

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