Family guys/gals? gladiator with a family of 4 and a golden retriever..comfortable?

[Crableg85]

What are your thoughts for getting the JT Jeep with a family of 4 and a medium size dog. would it be comfortable or pushing the limit for tightness? Family guys/gals thoughts opinions?

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[DMoney]

What are your thoughts for getting the JT Jeep with a family of 4 and a medium size dog. would it be comfortable or pushing the limit for tightness? Family guys/gals thoughts opinions?

Adults up front, then put the one kid in the middle then put the dog in the back. Won't be very comfortable but it will work.

When I was a kid we would pack our family of 5 and our lab/husky mix in a pickup truck. But it had a bench seat in the front, my step mom would sit in the front middle then my dog in the front passenger, all three kids in the back seat. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was doable on long trips.

 

[lrtexasman]

Pretty tight with 4 if you all plan to be in the cab. Go sit in a JL and see how you fit without using the back. You’ll fit just fine if you get a softtopper and put your pup in the bed when 4 of you are in the car. When less than 4 you can flip up one of the rear seats and be fine.

 

[Oilburner]

There are several threads here w/ camper/utility bed shell ideas on them.
Dog has leash
Bed has tie-downs
Bed cap to keep doggie & stuff dry
Just sayin'...

 

[pilotpat]

I told my wife it would work!

 

[eternus]

I do trips in a JKU which is pretty comparable (people-wise) and it's been 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 ~60 lb dogs... works fine, if you have another place to pack your stuff. I plan to go w/ the truck, add a camper and stick the dogs back there. There will still be room in the bed for other stuff and then we tow a camper. I think the size of this truck is perfect for your configuration.

 

[Epb1981]

Adults up front, then put the one kid in the middle then put the dog in the back. Won't be very comfortable but it will work.

When I was a kid we would pack our family of 5 and our lab/husky mix in a pickup truck. But it had a bench seat in the front, my step mom would sit in the front middle then my dog in the front passenger, all three kids in the back seat. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was doable on long trips.

Bench seat is the one option I wish the gladiator had. My tundra has it and though we don't use it often; . It is real nice to be able to swing up the console and fit a 6th person in.

 

[MOPAR Boy]

IMHO, I think such an arrangement would be 100% impractical, not to mention horribly uncomfortable after even just 10 miles, or so. And, sans a canapy (yuk!), there’s zero room for all of your various carry-ons in the interior passenger compartment space, like a bunch of suitcases, etc. for trips, and the like. Without a canapy, you can’t stop for lunch without all of your stuff getting ripped off from an open bed pickup bed.

I think you’d be a whole lot better off solving your particular dilemma with something akin to the 2019 Subaru Ascent, especially with its all new X-Mode Drive v2.0. You may want to consider taking a test drive at your local Subaru dealer. Trust me, your Golden Retriever will thank you! Won’t hurt to check it out. Keep an open mind.

JM2C, IMHO, and YMMV.

 

[IWantAJeepGladiator]

Here is a car seat in the back and a comment about it .

 

[drogers]

What are your thoughts for getting the JT Jeep with a family of 4 and a medium size dog. would it be comfortable or pushing the limit for tightness? Family guys/gals thoughts opinions?

I did 2 kids in car seats, with 2 adults and a smaller dog in my JK with no problems at all, and the JT seems to have more rear space. Granted this wasn’t our primary family car - that’s was the wife’s venza, but we took the Jeep a lot of places.

 

[Matstock4]

This is my biggest struggle with buying the Gladiator... I have a family of 5 and a dog. The good news is that my JLU I am able to get 3 car seats across. From my perspective a family of 4 + a dog would be easy.

I wish mid sized trucks had a bench seat up front like some of the full sizers. It's a great extra backup seat. The problem is there isn't much of an uptake on the bench seat with full size trucks anymore... Which baffles me. The extra center console only stores small crap which the back of the bench seat has plenty of space for.

 

[Rex3rd]

You could always strap someone to the bed ...just get you some of that plywood that fits great in the truck bed and bolt some extra seats to it ha ha

 

[steffen707]

i'm in a similar boat. We have a pacifica and are planning to get a 30lb ish full grown dog. In the van it'll be great, but my ride will be the Gladiator. If we wanna go camping or on a fun journey, i think the Gladiator will work. Its designed to fit 3 people in the back. 2 kids and a dog should work. I'm going to have a topper of some sort, so i'm not worried about all of our stuff.

 

[Ichthus]

MOPAR boy up there trying to sell you a Subaru . Crableg, are you sure that your wife didn’t sign up with that user name to pitch you on buying her a new Ascent?

I’ve got 2 kids and an 85 lb Weimaraner, so I’ll be in essentially the same boat. The back seat of a JKU definitely doesn’t work when car seats are involved, but it is noticeably smaller than that of a JL. I’m hoping that with one kid or the dog in the middle, that things will work out. Here’s a guarantee: my kids will have more room than when my parents crammed 3 kids and a dog in the back of a Ford Festiva or Escort wagon for road trips.

With a camper shell or soft topper, the dog and gear will definitely learn to enjoy the bed area. The added advantage of keeping the dog in back is that not many thieves probably know just how harmless a Weim is once the low pitched rumbling-barking stops ‍

 

[DMoney]

Hey OP, I just thought of this, if you are worried about fitting everyone then you should wait for the 3 row full size jeep. But I still think a gladiator could do.

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