Is the jeep Gladiator the best off road truck?

[Rusty PW]

Coming from a Power Wagon that did most of the trails in Moab. And the trails at Rausch Creek, AAOA, and the Badlands.

I will say this. Fast desert running. The TRX, then the Rapturd.

Mid size truck. The Gladiator. I consider the Rubi a small version of the Power Wagon.

Full size truck. Power Wagon. Don't even consider the Temor. They don't flex well. I had my Power Wagon places where people in Jeeps have asked me how in the f@#k did you get back here. Have never seen a Rapturd on the trails in Moab or Rausch Creek.

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[alpineovernappa]

I don't know. I just went on the Tacoma forum and they all told me that the Taco was the best off roading truck.​

If the number one requirement for being best offroad is reliability, they ain’t wrong. Long gone are the days of the 4L where just about everything could go wrong and you could still fix it or drive it back to pavement. But I didn’t buy a Tacoma because best for me means most fun and a taco is about as fun as a colonoscopy-

 

[alpineovernappa]

unfortunately i think the gladiator/wrangler are some of the worst most outdated vehicles available. still using solid axles from the 50s when everyone knows ifs is the best. im sure excited to see the new bronco raptor truck! just trolling but the bronco truck looks cool.

sorry to soggy your biscuit but the bronco truck was cancelled last year. You can still have a mighty fine maverick hybrid tho!
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a37398076/ford-bronco-pickup-canceled/

 

[guarnibl]

Unpopular opinion. The Gladiator is terrible. its way too long for serious wheeling, cant tow well for crap due to stock brakes, the inside is way to cramped, and for 50k you would expect more... That being said, the gladiator is by far the best Jeep for me. For the life of me i could not justify the wrangler, but as soon as the diesel jeep truck came out i went full retard. i mean im probably 70-75k in and my rig can tow normal loads, climb any mountain, and looks way better next to a G63 any day of the week. a raptor, nor a TRX couldn'y match it in terms of rock crawling or just for looks. everyone just admires my dust covered jeep truck that has monster tires and i cant stop admiring from a distance. lol that being said. I will probably get a raptor after this, as i enjoy desert running way more. its a different use case, but my gladiator will always be a fantastic vehicle for this part of my life.

i agree that the gladiator is a terrible truck and a terrible Jeep. I love mine. I’m completely serious too. It’s not a good truck. It’s not a good Jeep. But it does both of those things barely well enough that if you have the use case it’s perfect. Just not for everyone.

 

[chadinsc]

sorry to soggy your biscuit but the bronco truck was cancelled last year. You can still have a mighty fine maverick hybrid tho!
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a37398076/ford-bronco-pickup-canceled/

dang it! i honestly had no idea. i wasn’t going to buy one but i really wanted to see it come to life.

 

[UnforseenWeather]

i agree that the gladiator is a terrible truck and a terrible Jeep. I love mine. I’m completely serious too. It’s not a good truck. It’s not a good Jeep. But it does both of those things barely well enough that if you have the use case it’s perfect. Just not for everyone.

Maybe my expectations are like mega low (I don’t think so) but my Gladiator is an excellent Jeep as well as an excellent truck. (The bar is low for trucks though, it just has to have a bed to be a truck ?).

 

[guarnibl]

Maybe my expectations are like mega low (I don’t think so) but my Gladiator is an excellent Jeep as well as an excellent truck. (The bar is low for trucks though, it just has to have a bed to be a truck ?).

Just my opinion... but departure/breakover angles are poor and I'll consistently drag it on stuff even on 40's. It also struggles in tight spaces on trails. It goes everywhere though... just have to approach things a bit differently. I don't have to typically think about any of that stuff in my 392.

Also, bed is way too shallow/small for much -- can't comment on towing.

For me I don't need a full size truck and wanted one that could be a second off road vehicle for Moab, etc... for my use case, it's perfect.

 

[alpineovernappa]

i agree that the gladiator is a terrible truck and a terrible Jeep. I love mine. I’m completely serious too. It’s not a good truck. It’s not a good Jeep. But it does both of those things barely well enough that if you have the use case it’s perfect. Just not for everyone.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a terrible truck. The bed is too small, the interior is cramped and lacks any real storage. It’s a terrible jeep on anything technical or with moderate break over and departure angles. If I thought of it as a replacement for my wrangler I’d hate it. If I thought of it as a replacement for my FST I’d hate it. To me, it’s a jeep with a fixed utility bed that’s great for car camping and suburban daily life. I love my gladiator for what it is, but it’s first on the chopping block (since the other two are a FST and an LJ). The JT is pretty much the definition of a compromise vehicle, but its really good at being just ok at everything! Really, I’m just bitter that they won’t sell me a J6

 

[brianinca]

I miss my '97 Ranger, I think it's hilarious the "small bed" gave me a higher payload rating, by a LOT, than the rental 2002 RAM pickup I had to drive for two months following a t-bone incident with a Mercury Grand Marquis.

Lots of extra sheetmetal doesn't do you any favors off road. Come to think of it, not many favors ON road, either.

Initially I though ill of Toyota for taking the Taco platform and putting a bigger body on it to make a 7/8 scale F150. It put to lie the "half ton" designation, as just extra sheet metal. Nissan Titan, D44's, 97 F150 has an 8.8 like the "compact" Ford Explorers (31 spline at least, slightly beefier than the Ranger's). Wait, all that running gear is "half ton", so what's with the bloat?

As for interior, the Ranger was more generously sized than the TJ/YJ and don't I remember THAT when I put the doors back on my YJ!

As a pickup truck, the Gladiator is nearly ideal size to my mind, I'd note the Rivian is very similar in size as well. Buying vehicles by the pound was an odd way to do things in 1949, the car reviews thought it was important though - it's archaic today.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a terrible truck. The bed is too small, the interior is cramped and lacks any real storage. It’s a terrible jeep on anything technical or with moderate break over and departure angles. If I thought of it as a replacement for my wrangler I’d hate it. If I thought of it as a replacement for my FST I’d hate it. To me, it’s a jeep with a fixed utility bed that’s great for car camping and suburban daily life. I love my gladiator for what it is, but it’s first on the chopping block (since the other two are a FST and an LJ). The JT is pretty much the definition of a compromise vehicle, but its really good at being just ok at everything! Really, I’m just bitter that they won’t sell me a J6

 

[alpineovernappa]

I miss my '97 Ranger, I think it's hilarious the "small bed" gave me a higher payload rating, by a LOT, than the rental 2002 RAM pickup I had to drive for two months following a t-bone incident with a Mercury Grand Marquis.

Lots of extra sheetmetal doesn't do you any favors off road. Come to think of it, not many favors ON road, either.

Initially I though ill of Toyota for taking the Taco platform and putting a bigger body on it to make a 7/8 scale F150. It put to lie the "half ton" designation, as just extra sheet metal. Nissan Titan, D44's, 97 F150 has an 8.8 like the "compact" Ford Explorers (31 spline at least, slightly beefier than the Ranger's). Wait, all that running gear is "half ton", so what's with the bloat?

As for interior, the Ranger was more generously sized than the TJ/YJ and don't I remember THAT when I put the doors back on my YJ!

As a pickup truck, the Gladiator is nearly ideal size to my mind, I'd note the Rivian is very similar in size as well. Buying vehicles by the pound was an odd way to do things in 1949, the car reviews thought it was important though - it's archaic today.

I wish the gladiator had been modeled after the ranger or Comanche. Those are the perfect sized small truck. Even their small truck beds gave you an extra foot of length (6ft short bed), two if you opted for the long bed (7ft). Not everybody needs or wants a full 4 doors, especially if it means sacrificing bed length. Ford, Toyota, and Chevy all offer extended cab 6ft bed variants of their small trucks. I wish Jeep would too. I can’t even fit my bicycle in my gladiator with the tailgate up.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

It’s perfect for me!

I think it’s pretty ridiculous to compare it to high end full sized trucks like the F150 Raptor and Ram TRX. Add enough options and you can get two Gladiators for the price of one TRX. Comparing apples to apples in midsized trucks, the only thing else that comes close (and hasn’t been mentioned) is the Colorado ZR2. It has a trick suspension that’s pretty magic, good ground clearance, and lockers front and rear. I nixed it because I hated the front seats, the back seats are small, and overall the interior is a bit crap. Plus I wanted the ability to remove the doors and top. But it’s a really capable truck. The upcoming Ranger Raptor will also bring some nice competition, though if Ford follows the same recipe as the Bronco we won’t see them on the street until about 2030.

 

[brianinca]

Fellow at work has had a ZR2 for several years now. Great truck, he's a big Chevy guy but is happier with the smaller Colorado over the Silverado he traded off. Not as luxurious by a long shot, but way better for his "old man out hunting" activities and driving around town.

Same problems as the Taco for putting serious tires on it, though. I don't expect it to fit 37's like an H2, but 31's are so 1995.

It’s perfect for me!

I think it’s pretty ridiculous to compare it to high end full sized trucks like the F150 Raptor and Ram TRX. Add enough options and you can get two Gladiators for the price of one TRX. Comparing apples to apples in midsized trucks, the only thing else that comes close (and hasn’t been mentioned) is the Colorado ZR2. It has a trick suspension that’s pretty magic, good ground clearance, and lockers front and rear. I nixed it because I hated the front seats, the back seats are small, and overall the interior is a bit crap. Plus I wanted the ability to remove the doors and top. But it’s a really capable truck. The upcoming Ranger Raptor will also bring some nice competition, though if Ford follows the same recipe as the Bronco we won’t see them on the street until about 2030.

 

[Gvsukids]

I can’t even fit my bicycle in my gladiator with the tailgate up.

Take the front wheel off...

 

[spanishmack]

I don't know. I just went on the Tacoma forum and they all told me that the Taco was the best off roading truck.​

Lies!

 

[alpineovernappa]

Take the front wheel off...

I do and I had to build a custom fork mount bed rack so my carbon fork doesn’t get damaged bouncing on the bed floor. Even with the front wheel off the hoods still rub the tailgate. 5ft really isn’t long enough for a “truck”. If we’re all honest with ourselves, the gladiator was designed to haul yeti coolers and beach chairs.

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