NoDoorsNoProblem
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TL;DR, I test drove a new 2021 Rubicon at one dealership, steering was atrocious. Test drove a 2021 Overland and used 2020 Rubicon the next day at a different dealer, steering was fine. Huh??
Hi all, long time lurker, 1st time poster. In 2019 I was looking to replace my 2016 GMC Canyon Duramax with a Gladiator around this time in 2021, then the Bronco got revealed and I caught the fever. It seemed like it had a ton of stuff that was lacking from the Jeep that I wish it had, and I reserved and ordered one. Unfortunately due to publicized delays, and my late reservation time, I am probably not getting one until at least a year from now.
Which has rekindled my interest in the Gladiator. I’ve been in these forums a ton, all over YouTube watching TFL, JK Gear and Gadgets, and others with JT builds, and am pretty familiar with the JT and what people have done with it. I have never owned or driven any Jeep product before and my biggest apprehension is the SFA limitations, as this would be my DD as well as trail toy. I’ve seen and read what a lot of people have done, between steering stabilizers, the Synergy sector shaft brace, and upgraded Fox steering stabilizers, all of which I would consider doing. I also am mostly interested in the Mojave, partly because it will do 90% of rock crawling the Rubi will with a set of manual discos, but with so much of a better ride and higher speed capability. The reinforced frame and steering knuckles don’t hurt either. I’m also considering a Rubi too and adding mild lift and upgraded shocks to it, to make it similar to the Mojave.
So, went to a dealer in my town and test drove a brand new 21 JTR. Holy hell, was the drive awful. There was 3-4 inches of play in the steering wheel before there was any direction change, wouldn’t track in a straight line, bump steer going over train tracks and bumps, and it wandered aggressively. Going through 90 degree turns at stop lights in the city, I felt like I couldn’t even keep it in a straight and predictable arc, and it was a guess to try and keep it in the lane I was turning into. I walked away extremely disappointed.
Fast forward to today, I went to a different dealer and testdrove first a new 21 overland, then a used 5000 mile 20 Rubicon. The overland’s driving difference was hugely noticeable. I understood the “it’s a jeep thing” with how the SFA drives differently, and this felt like an appropriate description. Dead spot in the center was much much less, less feedback from bumps, tracked fine on the highway. Definitely different from my IFS Canyon, but absolutely livable. I got it up to 75 on the freeway and it was fine, I wouldn’t have wanted to do that with the first Rubicon I drove. After that at the same dealer, I drive the only Rubicon they had in the lot, the used one. Honestly it drove pretty much identical to the Overland I just drove, every comment above I’d apply to that. I did check the steering box too, and from what I could tell, it was the pre-TSB box that isn’t the all black steel. I came away super confused with the completely different experiences from the two trucks.
Is there really this much variation when it comes to trucks as they come out of the factory? Should I keep test driving and see how the Mojave feels? There’s none close by otherwise I would have tried to test one. Any thoughts?
Hi all, long time lurker, 1st time poster. In 2019 I was looking to replace my 2016 GMC Canyon Duramax with a Gladiator around this time in 2021, then the Bronco got revealed and I caught the fever. It seemed like it had a ton of stuff that was lacking from the Jeep that I wish it had, and I reserved and ordered one. Unfortunately due to publicized delays, and my late reservation time, I am probably not getting one until at least a year from now.
Which has rekindled my interest in the Gladiator. I’ve been in these forums a ton, all over YouTube watching TFL, JK Gear and Gadgets, and others with JT builds, and am pretty familiar with the JT and what people have done with it. I have never owned or driven any Jeep product before and my biggest apprehension is the SFA limitations, as this would be my DD as well as trail toy. I’ve seen and read what a lot of people have done, between steering stabilizers, the Synergy sector shaft brace, and upgraded Fox steering stabilizers, all of which I would consider doing. I also am mostly interested in the Mojave, partly because it will do 90% of rock crawling the Rubi will with a set of manual discos, but with so much of a better ride and higher speed capability. The reinforced frame and steering knuckles don’t hurt either. I’m also considering a Rubi too and adding mild lift and upgraded shocks to it, to make it similar to the Mojave.
So, went to a dealer in my town and test drove a brand new 21 JTR. Holy hell, was the drive awful. There was 3-4 inches of play in the steering wheel before there was any direction change, wouldn’t track in a straight line, bump steer going over train tracks and bumps, and it wandered aggressively. Going through 90 degree turns at stop lights in the city, I felt like I couldn’t even keep it in a straight and predictable arc, and it was a guess to try and keep it in the lane I was turning into. I walked away extremely disappointed.
Fast forward to today, I went to a different dealer and testdrove first a new 21 overland, then a used 5000 mile 20 Rubicon. The overland’s driving difference was hugely noticeable. I understood the “it’s a jeep thing” with how the SFA drives differently, and this felt like an appropriate description. Dead spot in the center was much much less, less feedback from bumps, tracked fine on the highway. Definitely different from my IFS Canyon, but absolutely livable. I got it up to 75 on the freeway and it was fine, I wouldn’t have wanted to do that with the first Rubicon I drove. After that at the same dealer, I drive the only Rubicon they had in the lot, the used one. Honestly it drove pretty much identical to the Overland I just drove, every comment above I’d apply to that. I did check the steering box too, and from what I could tell, it was the pre-TSB box that isn’t the all black steel. I came away super confused with the completely different experiences from the two trucks.
Is there really this much variation when it comes to trucks as they come out of the factory? Should I keep test driving and see how the Mojave feels? There’s none close by otherwise I would have tried to test one. Any thoughts?
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