Gladiator is crap for towing

[Jeeperjamie]

The tacoma V6 sucks. Its terrible. The V6 in the Colorado up to 2022 was ok. Way better than the Tacoma.

The new Colorado 2.7L HO has 310hp and 430 ft-lbs of torque. The new Ranger will have the Ford 2.7L at 315hp and 400 ft-lbs of torque. The thing is, those torque values come in at 1600 rpm lower than the Pentastars 260 ft-lbs. So at say, 3000 rpm, those engines are making 100hp more than the Pentastar. Then if you are at high elevation where the Pentastar loses HP, those engines will be making potentially 130-150 more HP at 3000 rpm. Not 130 hp total, 130hp MORE.

That previous gen ranger with the 2.3L should have more low end torque than the pentastar, but not by a huge amount. But once you go up in elevation, the Ranger will retain its power and torque and the pentastar will not. I would pick the Ranger at elevation all day from an engine standpoint.




Whatever ranger you are driving does not have a 2.7L V6. It has the 2.3L inline 4. The 2.7L makes and extra 55hp and 85 ft-lbs of torque.

It's 100% the 2.7 V6 not the inline 4. The Tacoma's we have are the same with a V6

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[Jeeperjamie]

I don’t know. Are you sure the engine it has is the one with higher torque? The pentastar might be better on flats. My friend has the f150 4cyl and I couldn’t keep up with him in pulling out trailers which is the same size as mine in the mountains. And he had a full family with him. Anecdotal but the forced induction makes a huge difference at higher elevations .

It's the 2.7 V6, I'm not sure about higher torque or whatever but we got 4 2022's and 2 2023 models. They only keep them for 2 years at a time because of the miles the sellers put on them.

 

[maSS-hole]

It's 100% the 2.7 V6 not the inline 4. The Tacoma's we have are the same with a V6

No. It is not. The Ranger is not getting the 2.7L until the 2024 model year which has not even hit lots yet. The only engine in the 2019-2023 ranger is the 2.3L Ecoboost.

Its kind of ironic that the year everyone else decides to start throwing half ton engines in their mid-sized trucks, Jeep pulls the plug on the Ecodiesel.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

No. It is not. The Ranger is not getting the 2.7L until the 2024 model year which has not even hit lots yet. The only engine in the 2019-2023 ranger is the 2.3L Ecoboost.

Ok, you are absolutely correct. I was under the impression that it had a V6 but I'm wrong and will admit that.

 

[Sweetums]

if jeep increased payload by 500lbs and got us into the 350-400 lb-ft torque I think i would have a better appreciation.

Sorry, I can't hear you over the clattering diesel and 442 ft/lb of torque.

 

[JTRDistraction]

Our "rolling hills" have decent elevation changes as shown on my JT's nav when watching the elevation numbers.

I wish it said elevation....instead, I pretend I'm Snoopy on top of his dog house with aviator glasses on and make loud airplane noises when I look at my "altitude." Haha.

I know it's technically correct because I looked it up out of disbelief, but bleh! It doesn't look right at all.

 

[Shitbox]

My 2017 F150 with a 5.0 V8 had a tow rating of over 12,000 pounds. I towed trailers that maxed out that weight on a regular basis and it still used overdrive and got 18 mpg doing it. It also had an 8 foot bed and could haul all my tools to the job site.

The F150 was hands down the better truck for pulling and hauling. But there is one main thing the Gladiator is for ME that the F150 wasn’t……………Exciting!
The F150 was a great truck but it was boring. I can’t wait to drive the Gladiator even with its issues and shortcomings that I haven’t quite worked out.

So every day I hook up a cargo trailer to the Gladiator and drag my tools to the job site With a huge smile on my face. Not as convenient as the full size truck but way more fun.

 

[RubiAR]

No. It is not. The Ranger is not getting the 2.7L until the 2024 model year which has not even hit lots yet. The only engine in the 2019-2023 ranger is the 2.3L Ecoboost.

Its kind of ironic that the year everyone else decides to start throwing half ton engines in their mid-sized trucks, Jeep pulls the plug on the Ecodiesel.

To make room for the 392

 

[obrianmcc]

sport
Yes factory tow package

Big difference between a Sport with a tow package and the Max Tow trimmed Sport S ... it sounds like you need to pile in and do some home work. All vehicles typically need some re-work to optimize them for the type of towing you are going to do ... example... I have a Sport S w/ the Max Tow Pkg ... 37's on a EVO lift ... the 4.10 gearing does the job, but a re-gear to at least 4.88's will be in the future. I regularly tow 2500 lbs with out any issues. If you tow frequently and are pushing the tow limit you should consider a 1/2 ton. Don't talk trash about a mid-sized not being a tow rig ... that's not really what their focus point is.

 

[Krusher]

I feel the Gladiator will tow up to (in my case) 5500 pounds. There is a cost. The motor doesn't make a lot of torque so any load (wind or hills) have great impact while trying to maintain 65 or better. The truck never ever sees 8th gear and rarely 7th. I am ok with that knowing the torque generated. I have foregone putting larger tires because of it. I was losing a bit of sleep knowing that I am burning the edge of reliability and durability on this vehicle. So much so that I decided to get a new tow specific vehicle and reliability was the main reason. I picked up a 24 Tundra. Much better at towing and I got rid of the Jeep Wrangler the wife had (as a trade in offering).

So, back to 2 pick up trucks. But the wife is happy she is back in a Tundra (she hated that I traded the 2018 Tundra).

Now I can put 35's on the truck and enjoy only having to tow the toys on a flatbed. Leave the towing of bricks to the Tundra.
[/QUOTE

Agree having the right vehicle is critical for towing. Hopefully you have a great experience with your Tundra. I had 40k on my 22 Tundra and sold it for better towing. It liked to get hot when backing up a 7k trailer or if much back and forth to get in a spot. Was my 5 th Tundra.

 

[PuddleJumper]

I regularly tow a 4000lb camper, occasionally a U-haul 6x12 with 3k in it, and my buddy's 6500lb rig. I haven't had a single issue and it does it all with minimal struggle. the only thing i got is higher capacity rear springs, everything else is still stock.

 

[BearFootSam]

I don’t know, I towed a trailer from MD to NW Washington the hard way over some of the biggest passes in the west and I thought the truck was excellent. Transmission damage is perplexing since heat is your primary enemy and even at the highest I never saw temperatures above 215 and even then only briefly. I was totally impressed that on average we ran 190ish towing at 70mph.

Presumably, you got a bad unit, which even in the best auto box ever made, is possible. The wide ratio spread over 8 gears and the ability to quickly lock the torque converter, in conjunction with 4.10 axles should really keep the transmission from being the weak link in the drivetrain.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I wish it said elevation....instead, I pretend I'm Snoopy on top of his dog house with aviator glasses on and make loud airplane noises when I look at my "altitude." Haha.

I know it's technically correct because I looked it up out of disbelief, but bleh! It doesn't look right at all.

on a map, which I have used a lot to see the elevation changes around the country or even just the big changes here from one mile to the next, it's elevation.
Like elevation above sea level.
A topographic map shows elevation.

This is an "elevation map"

On the Jeep, yeah, it's altitude as if flying. It's weird - like this was an airplane or something.

Interesting that the average elevation of IA isn't much different than the average for PA. Shows that comparing just one or two numbers doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

[Sweetums]

Statistician: (n) a person who will drown in a river with an average depth of three feet.

 

[MPMB]

So when's the GTG at the Grand Canyon where we all drive our JTs off the cliff because they're horrible at towing/driving in snow/on the road?

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