Hurley82
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Got a chance to take my Gladiator out on a trail here in Colorado. The trail is 20 miles or so from my house nothing to crazy. Wanted to ease into wheeling it, considering what these things cost and its my daily.
The trail has some pretty steep climbs through tight tress. The climbs are littered with loose softball to basketball sized boulders throughout. There are really only two main, obstacles on the trail. The first is in the middle of a steep climb that's very loose. This makes stopping and picking a line somewhat tricky. The obstacle itself a rock ledge that puts the jeep completely off balance. A large hole at the base of the rock ledge tests the suspension flex fairly well. The second obstacle is a very tight left hand turn that immediately begins a steep uphill climb. In the middle of the turn a rock outcropping crosses the full width of the trail and slopes down and towards the steep drop-off. The Gladiator did both obstacles without incident.
The 6 speed... Most recently I owned an auto JK that wheeled well, prior to that I had a 5 speed YJ. The Gladiator manual performed exceptionally well. I was worried I would need to work the hell out of the clutch but that simply wasn't the case. It did really well in 4H but 4L just made everything so easy. I will say 4L 1st gear in the Rubicon is extremely low. I will only use it on the most technical of obstacles where I need extra control. I had no problem starting in second gear and a few times in 3rd even on the steepest of sections. The manual wheeled very well, it was almost impossible to kill while in 4 low, which took some of the worry out of the climbs.
Overall I was very impressed, I thought for sure I would drag in places but I made it home without a scratch on the underside. I tested the lockers on the first big ledge climb and everything worked perfectly climbing the obstacle in slow controlled manner without so much as a wheel spin.
My gripe: let me unlock the sway bar in 2wd. On the trail I don't always need to be in 4wd and its crazy that I cant do this from the factory. The ride quality with the sway bar unlocked was sooo good. Connected it throws you all over the place. Let me unlock up to 30 or 40 mph. I realize the Tazer can do this but it is a lot to spend.
Sorry didn't get pics of the main obstacles as it was just me and my 4 year old son and most of my focus was on not destroying the new ride.
Gladiator Info:
Rubicon
6 Speed
1100 Miles
Averaging 19 MPG (excluding the wheeling trip)
The trail has some pretty steep climbs through tight tress. The climbs are littered with loose softball to basketball sized boulders throughout. There are really only two main, obstacles on the trail. The first is in the middle of a steep climb that's very loose. This makes stopping and picking a line somewhat tricky. The obstacle itself a rock ledge that puts the jeep completely off balance. A large hole at the base of the rock ledge tests the suspension flex fairly well. The second obstacle is a very tight left hand turn that immediately begins a steep uphill climb. In the middle of the turn a rock outcropping crosses the full width of the trail and slopes down and towards the steep drop-off. The Gladiator did both obstacles without incident.
The 6 speed... Most recently I owned an auto JK that wheeled well, prior to that I had a 5 speed YJ. The Gladiator manual performed exceptionally well. I was worried I would need to work the hell out of the clutch but that simply wasn't the case. It did really well in 4H but 4L just made everything so easy. I will say 4L 1st gear in the Rubicon is extremely low. I will only use it on the most technical of obstacles where I need extra control. I had no problem starting in second gear and a few times in 3rd even on the steepest of sections. The manual wheeled very well, it was almost impossible to kill while in 4 low, which took some of the worry out of the climbs.
Overall I was very impressed, I thought for sure I would drag in places but I made it home without a scratch on the underside. I tested the lockers on the first big ledge climb and everything worked perfectly climbing the obstacle in slow controlled manner without so much as a wheel spin.
My gripe: let me unlock the sway bar in 2wd. On the trail I don't always need to be in 4wd and its crazy that I cant do this from the factory. The ride quality with the sway bar unlocked was sooo good. Connected it throws you all over the place. Let me unlock up to 30 or 40 mph. I realize the Tazer can do this but it is a lot to spend.
Sorry didn't get pics of the main obstacles as it was just me and my 4 year old son and most of my focus was on not destroying the new ride.
Gladiator Info:
Rubicon
6 Speed
1100 Miles
Averaging 19 MPG (excluding the wheeling trip)
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