How do Gladiators handle on the highway?

[mike921921]

I drive a 2020, came from a WK2, and am pleasantly surprised - I read a bit of negatives (prior to purchase) about handling/noise/drive ability and found it's really not that bad.

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[dcmdon]

I set my own air after getting the Jeep home... but, long drives in the heat push that PSI up. Maybe I need to air up with nitrogen so there isn't a 3-6 psi difference based on temperature. Man, I hate that my tires creep up to 40 in the middle of a long drive. )c:

The nitrogen thing is a myth. Google Boyle's Ideal Gas law. Pressure goes up with temperature. The pressure change with Nitrogen vs with air is because bottled nitrogen is dry. 0% humidity, which does increase the pressure change marginally. So rather than getting a 6 psi rise, you get a 5.8 psi rise.

Tire temps are meant to be taken cold. That's just how it is. You don't need to compensate for anything. Tires don't get firmer on a long drive. If anything they get more compliant. The carcas of the tire is very stiff at ambient temps and becomes much more supple when its warmed up.

Again, this system is all engineered to be optimized at running temp, not ambient.

 

[dcmdon]

Just completed a trip from Michigan to Minot North Dakota, to Deadwood South Dakota and back to Michigan. I loved the ride of my jeep. I have 0 wandering issues. The wind noise gets a bit much with the soft top at 83 mph but being able to have the top down at Custer State Park and Spearfish canyon were well worth it. Very happy with the Mojave.

Hank

Hank, just curious what size tires you have and how much lift. Thanks

Don

 

[DobaMark]

I came from a 2013 JKU and a Ram 1500 into my 2020 Gladiator.
I never expected the Gladiator to drive like the Ram, but I at least expected it to be as good as the JKU. It didn't until the steering box was replaced. The Gladiator was always fun around town, but was tiring at highway speeds. Now its fun to drive even on the highway with the new steering box.

 

[Hank_]

A couple pics from the trip.

Hank, just curious what size tires you have and how much lift. Thanks

Don

I have 35's with no lift.

Hank

 

[dcmdon]

A couple pics from the trip.


I have 35's with no lift.

Hank

Thank you. The truck looks great with that combination. Itseems like a good compromise.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The nitrogen thing is a myth. Google Boyle's Ideal Gas law. Pressure goes up with temperature. The pressure change with Nitrogen vs with air is because bottled nitrogen is dry. 0% humidity, which does increase the pressure change marginally. So rather than getting a 6 psi rise, you get a 5.8 psi rise.

Tire temps are meant to be taken cold. That's just how it is. You don't need to compensate for anything. Tires don't get firmer on a long drive. If anything they get more compliant. The carcas of the tire is very stiff at ambient temps and becomes much more supple when its warmed up.

Again, this system is all engineered to be optimized at running temp, not ambient.

Just google "air vs nitrogen tires" and you'll see some real world numbers that dispel the myth. The difference is miniscule - not worth the money and hassle.

As far as sidewalls - I would suggest even that varies with the tire. I noticed a lot more change with the Falken A/T tires vs. the stock H/T tires vs. the Generals I have now.
Load range, ply rating, as far as how they'll change with temperature. Since the sidewalls on the LS tires are more supple, less stiff, I submit there's not likely to be as much change as perhaps a C.

Coming back over the same exact pavement buckles, rail road tracks and so on, I can tell the difference in mine when they are warmed up after a long high-speed highway drive. Stiffer, more rough.

 

[Boogsnot]

Once I jumped to 35's it handled better

 

[MPMB]

The nitrogen thing is a myth. Google Boyle's Ideal Gas law. Pressure goes up with temperature. The pressure change with Nitrogen vs with air is because bottled nitrogen is dry. 0% humidity, which does increase the pressure change marginally. So rather than getting a 6 psi rise, you get a 5.8 psi rise.

Tire temps are meant to be taken cold. That's just how it is. You don't need to compensate for anything. Tires don't get firmer on a long drive. If anything they get more compliant. The carcas of the tire is very stiff at ambient temps and becomes much more supple when its warmed up.

Again, this system is all engineered to be optimized at running temp, not ambient.

Just google "air vs nitrogen tires" and you'll see some real world numbers that dispel the myth. The difference is miniscule - not worth the money and hassle.

For non-competitive activities, there's really no need for nitrogen-filled tires. N2 comes from racing, where moisture definitely negatively affects tires.

But the main reason we use N2 in tires is to mitigate pressure build up from tire temps. Street cars on the roads aren't hitting the temperature race cars hit. Off-road tires aren't either.

For example, our race tires (10" wide on 15" rims, bias-ply) will hit 180-220* on a hot day by the time the driver gets back to the pits. On track, it's probably 230-250*. With N2, we start the cold pressures at 10-12* on the left, 18-20* on the rights... all depends on what you want your hot pressures to be.

Why do we care about pressures? For one, the rule of thumb is +2psi adds 25# of spring rate. Secondly, tire circumference changes with tire pressure. That dramatically changes how the car handles in racing. We've lost races because my tires were .25" too big on one side.

Atmospheric air (from a compressor) contains tons of water vapor. Atmospheric air expands greater than nitrogen. How much? On that rare occasion our N2 ran out and we had to run atmospheric... 6-10 pounds. In racing, that's a 75# stiffer car at each corner, with tires 1/4"-1/2" bigger. Which meant roughly .5% more swaybar preload and more stagger. Tight in, loose middle, loose off.

And to put things in comparison, just sitting in the sun the tires would gain 3-4psi. Mistakes are made if you set your pressures on tires that had been sitting in the sun.

 

[MPMB]

As far as driving the Gladiator on the highway, it's fine. I'm coming from an Expedition and Audi Q3. The JT handles just fine, without problems. It's not going to win any best-handling truck awards, but it's far from difficult or unnerving. I've found no problems <91mph.

The worst vehicle I ever drove was a mid-70s F-150. I only had to drive it about a mile or so... but wow. I had to turn it 1/4 turn before the wheels started to turn. The brakes were nothing to write home about, either. Stiff pedal, weak clamping. No matter how hard I pressed the brake, the truck slowed at the same rate of speed.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

For non-competitive activities, there's really no need for nitrogen-filled tires. N2 comes from racing, where moisture definitely negatively affects tires.

But the main reason we use N2 in tires is to mitigate pressure build up from tire temps. Street cars on the roads aren't hitting the temperature race cars hit. Off-road tires aren't either.

For example, our race tires (10" wide on 15" rims, bias-ply) will hit 180-220* on a hot day by the time the driver gets back to the pits. On track, it's probably 230-250*. With N2, we start the cold pressures at 10-12* on the left, 18-20* on the rights... all depends on what you want your hot pressures to be.

Why do we care about pressures? For one, the rule of thumb is +2psi adds 25# of spring rate. Secondly, tire circumference changes with tire pressure. That dramatically changes how the car handles in racing. We've lost races because my tires were .25" too big on one side.

Atmospheric air (from a compressor) contains tons of water vapor. Atmospheric air expands greater than nitrogen. How much? On that rare occasion our N2 ran out and we had to run atmospheric... 6-10 pounds. In racing, that's a 75# stiffer car at each corner, with tires 1/4"-1/2" bigger. Which meant roughly .5% more swaybar preload and more stagger. Tight in, loose middle, loose off.

And to put things in comparison, just sitting in the sun the tires would gain 3-4psi. Mistakes are made if you set your pressures on tires that had been sitting in the sun.

My Silverado came to me with nitrogen filled tires. There was a sticker on the driver side of the windshield. I don't know if that was factory or dealer, but the sticker sure "looked" factory.

As far as moisture in the air - fail to drain your compressor on a regular basis and watch it rust out in just a few short years. I have water drains in my shop air system. I used a larger pipe for the air to come out of the compressor into, with a drain there, then it goes up to a high central point and all of my "taps" are taken from the TOP of the mains, then down, with a drain at the bottom of each - and each main run slopes slightly downward as it runs along the walls, with falls at each end with drains at the bottom of those.
I've never had a problem with moisture in my air tools - likely because I went crazy with cheap ways to keep it out of the connections for the tools. Any water that collects in the main runs can't get to my air tools, and will run to the ends and drain out.
There was a lot of planning, a whole lot of fittings used, and hours of work to put it up, but my water filter next to the air connection for my blast cabinets stays pretty dry. I had trouble with the blast nozzles getting wet years ago and beads would plug up the gun, trapped by moisture.

 

[TYJ]

There is something to be said when the Gladiator is compared to one of the quirkiest cool vehicles out there, the VW van or bus 60's-70's. I can think of one other vehicle that holds that crown, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 70's. the quirkiness is what gives them personality. So we deal with cross winds

I also owned a FJ55 for a while. Loved it!

 

[TYJ]

I have to ask, being that your profile says you have a 2020 now - how do you like it? PLEASE forgive me if that's answered later in this thread, i'm going to go through it now and look LOL

30k miles later I still love it! I’d buy another without hesitation.

I think the one I test drove must have had the steering box issue. The one I purchased handled much better. I haven’t needed to replace the steering box as mine doesn’t wander like what others talk about here on the forum.

 

[Smittie]

I drive 400 to 600 miles across Montana on a regular basis. I recently drove from SW Montana to Fort Bragg, NC. I own a 2021 Willys Gladiator. On the trip to NC I drove 14 hours straight two days in a row. The vehicle does 80 mph comfortably but gets slightly better gas milage in the low 70's. The ride is comfortable enough that I was not tired or sore even after the long days.

As others have stated, it is a Jeep with a straight axle up front. It does not drive or ride like a truck with independent A arm suspension at all four corners. For a Jeep, the highway ride is very comfortable.

Smittie

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Why would the ride on the highway be different? That old straight axle stuff is tired and dead. On the highway, mine does just about the same as my silverado. Highway driving makes no difference on the front suspension IFS vs straight axle.
Mine also drives quite well.
We have to keep in mind - these aren't as massive or heavy as modern full-size trucks.

MPG - DUH. OF course speeds over about 60 will see a drop in MPG - and speeds over 70 will be a bigger drop. It's an exponential change. So each successive gain in mph means a bigger drop in mpg. That's a given with any vehicle, no matter what it is, but a brick like the JT it will be more noticeable.

But please - the straight axle stuff? That's so 1940s. Especially when comparing HIGHWAY or city streets. It's only on uneven roads, bumps and ruts, tight uneven corners, etc. that IFS is really going to be felt.
I will say it again -if straight front axle was such a problem - then the ZJ and WJ would have failed to gain female buyers and family buyers. Ride and handling were great!

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