Gladiator Long distance heavy tow review

[ShadowsPapa]

Damn... Safety and weight considerations aside- if that mpg is accurate it is remarkable. Ive done alot of towing at similar weight with full size and hd gasser trucks and never seen more than about 12-13mpg tops on highway trips. My current F150 with the 3.5 ecoboost and 10spd doesnt get 15mpg towing my 3000lb boat downhill. 4.10 gears and 8 spd trans must really work well together.

I agree - my Silverado with LS V8, 6 speed auto, tow mode, and geared slightly higher got a whopping 13.5 at best hauling my car hauler. It got down into the sub-12 area in our hills, went up to 13.x once I left Iowa and hit Illinois where it's a lot more flat.
If I could get 13-14 towing I'd be very happy. 15 would make me really thrilled. IF I can do at least as well as my Chevy did for MPG while towing, that's all I'm hoping for or expecting. I am already amazed at the no-load MPG for this tall brick. Impressive.
I think my wife likes riding in the JT - she wanted to go to a quilt store today, an hour away - and she asked if I wanted to go along..... yeah, then she asked if I was driving.... ok LOL

If my JT Overland engine and transmission combo can tow 5,000 pounds of car and trailer and do as well as this seems to imply is possible, I'll be beyond happy. I'll deal with the springs and such - as long as it can pull.

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[PyrPatriot]

Try loading the car on the trailer backwards. In what I did see I noticed that the trailer had a nose he

U-haul wont let you. Someone on YT pulled their Mustang with a JT and said they were not allowed to load it backwards

 

[ShadowsPapa]

U-haul wont let you. Someone on YT pulled their Mustang with a JT and said they were not allowed to load it backwards

Yet hundreds of pounds over tongue weight is ok? If max tongue weight is 500 or 600 and you are at 800 - that's ok?

 

[PyrPatriot]

Yet hundreds of pounds over tongue weight is ok? If max tongue weight is 500 or 600 and you are at 800 - that's ok?

No, but they have no way of knowing that. Their systems look up the vehicle doing the towing and the vehicle being towed, that is it

 

[ShadowsPapa]

No, but they have no way of knowing that. Their systems look up the vehicle doing the towing and the vehicle being towed, that is it

Yeah I always found it ironic how they err on "the side of safety" in so many ways and yet would allow you to tow something that may end up with hundreds of pounds too much tongue weight - dangerous.

 

[WXman]

And you had nearly 2000lbs in payload (occupants plus stuff in the cab and bed plus tongue weight of trailer)? If so, that's almost double the payload rating of most JTR doorjams I have seen

800 pounds in the box, 700 pounds tongue weight (I'll bet that much because uhaul has the cars clean to the front, a light-assed car will be close to 3/4 of the weight ahead of the center of the axles). Let's be nice and say 400 in the cab. He said 500 with driver and tools and boxes. 1900-2000 pounds payload. At least.

That little Rubicon was more than maxed out on payload. Isn't the basic Rubicon payload 1250 or something like that? So it's already maxed out payload-wise before the trailer was hooked up.
Towing likely close to the 7,000 pound limit.
Very good thing those trailers have the surge brakes! That's a heck of a lot of trailer weight back there to run no brakes.
Wow.

U-haul wont let you. Someone on YT pulled their Mustang with a JT and said they were not allowed to load it backwards

No, but they have no way of knowing that. Their systems look up the vehicle doing the towing and the vehicle being towed, that is it

That person on YouTube was me, and my Max Tow was well within all specs. Trailer plus car was a little over 6,000 lbs. Tongue weight was in spec, payload was in spec, and gross axle weights were good.

Uhaul should have never let him do this with a Rubicon. They know what your truck weighs and what the car you're towing weighs because they enter it all into the computer. Somebody bent the rules bad for this guy.

 

[PyrPatriot]

I came across a clip that reminded me of OP's endeavor. 0:38 if the video link doesn't go to it

 

[pgh1994]

Good job trying to do a review. Don't pay any attention to folks that just want to pick you apart.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Good job trying to do a review. Don't pay any attention to folks that just want to pick you apart.

Regardless of details - the trailer stuff which is u-haul's fault and problem, whether or not he's overloaded, etc. - he's proven to me I have little to worry about as far as engine and drivetrain towing my stuff.

Just got off the phone with a Jeep guy who has had wranglers and other types for years - he loves the Gladiator and we got to talking about towing and all and he said I should be just fine - only iffy part is how the Overland springs handle the tongue weight. That's a very easy item to deal with. Multiple ways.

 

[PyrPatriot]

I have little to worry about as far as engine and drivetrain towing my stuff.

Can the JT go over posted maximums? Sure. My Element rated for 675lbs carried 1000lbs all the time. It went months loaded with 500lbs of stuff in it. Over 15 years and 160k miles that took a toll on the axles, brakes, etc. I have spent thousands each year fixing one thing or another, lately. So I guess really the JT, designed for tougher situations, would do well

 

[Big Red Gladiator]

This one is a great review on towing, 4000 miles near max load. Heck, no reason to duplicate words, check out my video on it please. happy new year all.

WOW! The little Jeep that could.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

WOW! The little Jeep that could.

Yeah, like someone once said - don't misunderestimate the JT......... LOL

It just kept on saying "bring it on, buddy, bring it on"

 

[Klutch]

U-haul wont let you. Someone on YT pulled their Mustang with a JT and said they were not allowed to load it backwards

This is a scale model demonstration, but it demonstrates why putting more weight at the rear of the trailer is a bad idea.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is a scale model demonstration, but it demonstrates why putting more weight at the rear of the trailer is a bad idea.

We know not enough causes sway and issues, but uhaul has you going the other extreme. For trailers under a certain weight you want about 8% of the trailer weight as tongue weight. Heavier and you want about 10%.
I haul cars - and how far ahead or not ahead I load can be critical - but i'd never load like that uhaul trailer is loaded with the car clear to the front, ever.

Even my car trailer is loaded just a tad tongue-heavy. It's a very front-heavy car and the bulk of the trailer is ahead of the axles.

 

[jwilson2899]

We know not enough causes sway and issues, but uhaul has you going the other extreme. For trailers under a certain weight you want about 8% of the trailer weight as tongue weight. Heavier and you want about 10%.
I haul cars - and how far ahead or not ahead I load can be critical - but i'd never load like that uhaul trailer is loaded with the car clear to the front, ever.

Even my car trailer is loaded just a tad tongue-heavy. It's a very front-heavy car and the bulk of the trailer is ahead of the axles.

Forget the trailer towing, that’s probably the nicest SX/4 I’ve seen in years!

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