2026 Gladiator Whitecap Announced

[WilldWilly]

Plot twist, they ARE releasing the v8, for the 250th anniversary. They confirmed the v8 for 2026, and would drop the ball the hardest if they failed to do this. then again, it's stellantis, and they can only fondle balls, not hold them.

Oh god, not this again. This never ends well. 50 people chime in to say they are all in, and a few chime in to tell you about tow ratings, and how they can do it in a Wrangler, but you have a better chance of going to the moon than getting a V8 in a gladiator. I agree this is a no brainer. I would settle for a 5k or even 4k tow limit on a V8 gladiator. Pretty simple, if you want to haul stuff get the V6 with the higher tow rating, if you want to haul ass get the V8. Seems pretty simple to me.

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[Oilburner]

So…. How is the V8 G_Wagon able to tow 7K?

 

[MPMB]

People's sarcasm meters are broken.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

You live in SoCal, how much better weather do you need? It's 30* and sleeting here and I changed the oil in my gravel driveway a few days ago. Man, I remember laughing when southerners thought 65* was cold and wore winter jackets, while I'm out in shorts

We had about 3 days of rain. The garage is occupied at the moment so can’t get in there to do it. Weather was good today and probably could have gotten to some of it but the wind decided to give the trees a trim so been out cutting away branches to process in a few weeks once they’re dry. Wifey is off tomorrow so I get to dig into the 4Runner tomorrow and figure out why her steering wheel is wobbling and fix the camera and rear wimper wiper sprayer. I may have forgotten to connect something when I tore it apart to install the rear camera. Mama is not impressed.

 

[Signing Spock]

I like this package in the Wranglers…not feeling it in the Gladiators. The top just looks …… weird.

 

[Mr Miami]

Oh god, not this again. This never ends well. 50 people chime in to say they are all in, and a few chime in to tell you about tow ratings, and how they can do it in a Wrangler, but you have a better chance of going to the moon than getting a V8 in a gladiator. I agree this is a no brainer. I would settle for a 5k or even 4k tow limit on a V8 gladiator. Pretty simple, if you want to haul stuff get the V6 with the higher tow rating, if you want to haul ass get the V8. Seems pretty simple to me.

Come on. A 4k-5k towing limit on a V8 powered Gladiator? The folks at Toyota, Nissan, Chev/GMC, Ford and whoever else I am forgetting will be laughing all the way to the motor vehicle agencies to register their sales when people look at the specs, share their heads, and ask themselves "what's wrong with the Gladiator?" If a person is buying one of the others and mentions to the salesperson that they are also looking at the Gladiator, the first thing they will hear is the "weak" or "light duty" Gladiator due to it's abysmal tow rating. A Subaru Outback/Forester (cars!) tows 3.5k. Their mid-sized SUV Accent tows 5k.

Not going to happen.

 

[JmattNYC]

It could've at least gotten retro white wheels, that would've completed the look imo

Agreed

 

[JmattNYC]

A factory installed turbo or supercharger on the 3.6 would be great.

I remember when Jeep was suppose to make a deal with Hamburger to provide factory backed supercharger for 3.6. Never happened.

 

[WilldWilly]

Come on. A 4k-5k towing limit on a V8 powered Gladiator? The folks at Toyota, Nissan, Chev/GMC, Ford and whoever else I am forgetting will be laughing all the way to the motor vehicle agencies to register their sales when people look at the specs, share their heads, and ask themselves "what's wrong with the Gladiator?" If a person is buying one of the others and mentions to the salesperson that they are also looking at the Gladiator, the first thing they will hear is the "weak" or "light duty" Gladiator due to it's abysmal tow rating. A Subaru Outback/Forester (cars!) tows 3.5k. Their mid-sized SUV Accent tows 5k.

Not going to happen.

This isn't me talking, it is the naysayers who say the reason they can't put the v8 in the gladiator is cooling and towing issues. I don't even own a trailer, I could care less how much it towed. I think it can be done, and keep towing ratings as is. But the offended ones who will jump in to tell me how stupid I am for even suggesting a v8 in a gladiator even when they already have one in the Wrangler.
I did not even ask the salesperson about tow ratings when I bought my gladiator. I almost bought the max tow package, but only because I wanted a limited slip differential, and since Jeep no longer offers the limited slip as a standalone option without buying a package or moving up to the Willys, the max tow is the only way you can get it.
And to answer your question I was only talking low ratings for the V8 Gladiator. A trade off I would be willing to make.

 

[MPMB]

Come on. A 4k-5k towing limit on a V8 powered Gladiator? The folks at Toyota, Nissan, Chev/GMC, Ford and whoever else I am forgetting will be laughing all the way to the motor vehicle agencies to register their sales when people look at the specs, share their heads, and ask themselves "what's wrong with the Gladiator?" If a person is buying one of the others and mentions to the salesperson that they are also looking at the Gladiator, the first thing they will hear is the "weak" or "light duty" Gladiator due to it's abysmal tow rating. A Subaru Outback/Forester (cars!) tows 3.5k. Their mid-sized SUV Accent tows 5k.

Not going to happen.

I can tell you haven't been paying attention.

As been brought up countless times before, V8 cooling without serious deviation from the JT/JL similarities (which Jeep engineering has been VERBOTEN to do) will make the towing capacity of the V8 a lower rating than the V6. Whether that is a handicap in the market or not remains to be seen. Unless there's a way to shoehorn in a thicker heat exchanger, maybe a slower water pump?

For comparison:
2010 Ford F150 SVT Raptor: Towing capacity of 6000#. 6.2L engine 1020# payload.
2012 Ford F150 Raptor: Towing capacity of 8000#. 6.2L engine. 1020# payload.
2012 Ford F150 Lariat: Towing capacity of 11,300#. 5.0L engine. 1700# payload.

CLEARLY towing capacity is the only thing that people care about. And it better be maxxed out, otherwise no one will buy the truck. /s

 

[Mr Miami]

I can tell you haven't been paying attention.

As been brought up countless times before, V8 cooling without serious deviation from the JT/JL similarities (which Jeep engineering has been VERBOTEN to do) will make the towing capacity of the V8 a lower rating than the V6. Whether that is a handicap in the market or not remains to be seen. Unless there's a way to shoehorn in a thicker heat exchanger, maybe a slower water pump?

For comparison:
2010 Ford F150 SVT Raptor: Towing capacity of 6000#. 6.2L engine 1020# payload.
2012 Ford F150 Raptor: Towing capacity of 8000#. 6.2L engine. 1020# payload.
2012 Ford F150 Lariat: Towing capacity of 11,300#. 5.0L engine. 1700# payload.

CLEARLY towing capacity is the only thing that people care about. And it better be maxxed out, otherwise no one will buy the truck. /s

Please don't say that I haven't been paying attention. Perhaps you're viewing my apparent "inattentiveness" as a lack of interest in the topic.

I totally understand and generally agree with the apparent "facts" regarding the cooling issues.

Although not a sales nor marketing expert, I was speaking from the common perception (by most) that if I get a stronger, more powerful engine, I can reasonably tow more. If I'm the sales guy/gal and you are looking at the vehicle with the 6.2 and ask about towing, it would, IMO, be a bit awkward to say, "if you need higher towing, buy the 3.6 engine that (about half the size smaller).

I think it is just the perception of people in general: bigger engine and/or diesel equates to more power and more towing.

Now of course this can all be explained to a potential new customer (first time Gladiator owner). But if a company wants to increase sales of product, or even retain a current product, answers to some basic tenets that seem contradictory in nature could be problematic.

 

[JTGuy]

I have a 25 foot, 6000 pound outdoors RV travel trailer that I easily tow behind my Ram 2500 diesel. You can rate my Gladiator to anything you want, there is no way I m towing it with my JT. I know what a 30 MPH gust side wind feels like.

 

[Cwg33]

next release will be white top with Mojave orange and will be called the creamsicle edition ....

Honestly, I’ll wait for October with The Orange Topped Sleepy Hollow edition.

 

[WilldWilly]

I had snow on my Gladiator. Cost me nothing for the White cap edition, then I wiped that crap off.

How about the 'My little Pony" edition?

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Why waste money on product improvement, we sell everything we make.

People fail to understand this lol. Forum full of current owners, who bought happily with a V6, ranting about how they NEED a V8 to change their minds lol.

They confirmed the v8 for 2026,

This never, ever, one time, happened anywhere.

Just like your TSB.

And just like your TSB, I know you won't let any facts penetrate your mental bubble, because they're not FACTS by people dropping TRUTH to DESTROY the WOKE.

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