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Gladiator vs Bronco.

EddyArnold

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I cross shopped! 3 requirements - Topless, off-road, and could pull our small popup camper... I was all in on Bronco, mostly because it's new and cool looking... but had a late (oct) reservation and it was going to take a loooong time to get. Gladiator was #2 because truck! JTRD is on the way!! WOOT
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Willpower1

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The road manners of the Mojave are excellent. On road, off road, itā€™s great and Iā€™m not a jeep fanboy by any means, but itā€™s a solid truck and thereā€˜s nothing else like it. Iā€™ve had plenty of Fords in my day, but no way Iā€™d buy a modern one. Ford has deteriorated into the worst of the big three, IMO,, and all you have to do is read the BroncoG6 forum to know what a shitshow the Bronco has been so far. You couldnā€™t give me one, unless I could flip it of course. ;)
 
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dcmdon

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The road manners of the Mojave are excellent. On road, off road, itā€™s great and Iā€™m not a jeep fanboy by any means, but itā€™s a solid truck and thereā€˜s nothing else like it. Iā€™ve had plenty of Fords in my day, but no way Iā€™d buy a modern one. Ford has deteriorated into the worst of the big three, IMO,, and all you have to do is read the BroncoG6 forum to know what a shitshow the Bronco has been so far. You couldnā€™t give me one, unless I could flip it of course. ;)
As I've said a bunch of times, on road driving manners are important to me. I've driven 3 gladiators so far and the Mohave with AT tires was much better than all the others. (the Willys with MT tires was the worst).

I'm on the fence. Lets face it, neither Ford nor Chrysler are known for Toyota reliability. Its a crap shoot either way.

I think if they come out with a 4xe Gladiator for '22, I'll pull the trigger. I could not care less about the hybrid aspect, but just want more power. The 10yr/100k mile warranty on the electric drivetrain removes most of the reliability concern for the 4xe.

Its funny how some have said, "you can't cross shop the Gladiator with a bronco". ha. Ha. That's ridiculous.

When I sold cars, one of the first tings I learned was that buyers aren't rational. I'd get someone in shopping for a Saab Convertible then call them in a month and find they bought an Escalade.

Many people talk about their needs. But the reality is that they are just rationalizing their wants. Having a pickup bed is a nice thing for me. But its not absolutely necessary. If I've got gravel to haul, I'm going to use my 5x10 ft trailer anyway. (Which my 02 Volvo with a 3850 lb tow capacity pulls great)
 

BAT

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As I've said a bunch of times, on road driving manners are important to me. I've driven 3 gladiators so far and the Mohave with AT tires was much better than all the others. (the Willys with MT tires was the worst).

I'm on the fence. Lets face it, neither Ford nor Chrysler are known for Toyota reliability. Its a crap shoot either way.

I think if they come out with a 4xe Gladiator for '22, I'll pull the trigger. I could not care less about the hybrid aspect, but just want more power. The 10yr/100k mile warranty on the electric drivetrain removes most of the reliability concern for the 4xe.

Its funny how some have said, "you can't cross shop the Gladiator with a bronco". ha. Ha. That's ridiculous.

When I sold cars, one of the first tings I learned was that buyers aren't rational. I'd get someone in shopping for a Saab Convertible then call them in a month and find they bought an Escalade.

Many people talk about their needs. But the reality is that they are just rationalizing their wants. Having a pickup bed is a nice thing for me. But its not absolutely necessary. If I've got gravel to haul, I'm going to use my 5x10 ft trailer anyway. (Which my 02 Volvo with a 3850 lb tow capacity pulls great)
I get the Toyota deal my brother in law is that way. He loves Toyota having owned a few and never having any issues with them. He really wanted a Bronco when he recently went from his Tundra to smaller vehicle. But he went back to a Tacoma. He had taken my JT for a few spins and loved it but the Toyota pull was to much. My wife is like that with Honda having had 3 Accords and all rock solid driving well into 100-200000 mile range. But I have been in a few Tacoma and they don't drive or ride that well to me or at least the one's I was in. My truck was both a need and a want thus the gladiator filled that issue. Need for a light duty truck but wanted a jeep and the ability to take the top off, etc. No other vehicle filled that.
 

texanjeeper

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I owned a 2010 Ford Escape that was a good SUV, but when it rained it was hell trying to keep that vehicle on the road. Especially in an outpour, while on the highway. It got to where I really hated driving it when it was raining. Now, I don't know which frame the Bronco is built on, but the Escape was built on the Ranger frame and I've always been hesitant to even consider that vehicle because of the problems I saw. I would have no desire to buy a Bronco and spend the next 5 years white-knuckling it when the weather was bad.
 

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dcmdon

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I owned a 2010 Ford Escape that was a good SUV, but when it rained it was hell trying to keep that vehicle on the road. Especially in an outpour, while on the highway. It got to where I really hated driving it when it was raining. Now, I don't know which frame the Bronco is built on, but the Escape was built on the Ranger frame and I've always been hesitant to even consider that vehicle because of the problems I saw. I would have no desire to buy a Bronco and spend the next 5 years white-knuckling it when the weather was bad.
The escape is a front wheel drive based vehicle with unibody construction.
The Ranger is a rear drive based body on frame construction.

Totally different vehicles. If there is one thing that I've learned over the years its that wet and snow performance are probably 80% tires. you may have just suffered from a poor choice of tires by Ford on the Escape.

My wife's Miata was about as bad in the rain and snow as you could imagine a car could be. (light with relatively wide tires and rear wheel drive) When the OEM tires wore out, I went on tire rack.com and researched all season tires for it. The results were dramatic. Dry performance was reduced, but that didn't really matter to her, but the car was rock solid in the rain after that.

The new Bronco is based on the next generation Ranger. Body of frame. Rear/4 wheel drive setup.
The base Bronco, like the base Wrangler and Gladiator comes with essentially car tires. So it will not be anything special in the mud or the snow. It goes up from there.

I get the Toyota deal my brother in law is that way. He loves Toyota having owned a few and never having any issues with them. He really wanted a Bronco when he recently went from his Tundra to smaller vehicle. But he went back to a Tacoma. He had taken my JT for a few spins and loved it but the Toyota pull was to much. My wife is like that with Honda having had 3 Accords and all rock solid driving well into 100-200000 mile range. But I have been in a few Tacoma and they don't drive or ride that well to me or at least the one's I was in. My truck was both a need and a want thus the gladiator filled that issue. Need for a light duty truck but wanted a jeep and the ability to take the top off, etc. No other vehicle filled that.
I'm not a "Jeep Guy". I'm a car / truck guy. I like all of them as long as they are interesting.

The thing that the Bronco brings to the table is on-road manners equivalent to any other IFS Body on Frame SUV (4 runner, Tahoe, Expedition) with the off road abilities of a Wrangler and removable top/doors.

Its an appealing compromise. There are a lot of people just based on this and the JL forum, who wanted a vehicle with removable top and doors and because of that, tolerate the way these vehicles drive on the street.
 

DailyMoparGuy

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I was driving through Plymouth, NH and saw a 2 door CyberOrange Bronco on the dealer's lot. I was with my Daughter and we were just poking around on our way to Maahhket Basket so we puled in.

I walked in expecting the sales guy to say "Sorry, ordered, sold, can't drive it". And he said Sure its our demo!!.

Nice. My daughter got into the back seat. Its not bad once you are in, but its a pain in the butt to get in. I flipped the seat forward and it didn't slide forward on its own. I had todo that as a separate operation. She got in and immediately complained that there weren't any roll down windows.

Other than that she had more room than she could ever need. (5'3")

The first thing I noticed appearance wise is that the 2 door looks great with the 285/70s. Even better than the Sasquatch in my opinion. Its just right. I think the 2 door Sas looks like it needs a bit of a lift with the 35s. These looked perfect.

I am on the fence between this and a Gladiator Mojave, since that model seems to have the best road livability. Acceleration and a pickup body are wants not a needs.

Pulling out of the dealer, I could feel that the Bronco was softly sprung, but well damped. Body motions were well controlled, but there was noticeable dive on braking. Body roll was fine. This isn't a car you are going to drive hard for fun but its nice that it felt like you could hustle it down a road if you needed to. Overall, I'd say it is a very good compromise.

Accleration was lively, but not fast by any means. I held it full throttle several times, just short of the kick down trigger and it torqued its way up to speed very well. I'd say that acceleration is more than adequate for a vehicle of this type. It might feel "fast", but its not. (Not even a Raptor is actually fast). Overall this motor is much more satisfying to drive than anything offered in the Gladiator, though the 4xe Wrangler is probably even better.

In all I was very impressed. It makes my decision between the Bronco and the Gladiator that much more difficult. The most important and relevant thing to me was that the Bronco had no bad manners on the road and sas such will be a MUCH easier vehicle to live with day to day. It essentially drove on the road like an Explorer with a lot of wind noise.

As an aside, The salesman I spoke with was named Jason Meier. He was polite and professional. He seemed to be well informed and was low key. If you are in the Plymouth NH area and have an interest in a Ford, he's a good guy to talk to.
The 2-door is freakin sweet. Thereā€™s no doubt about that. I agree with you on the 33s looks as well.
 

BAT

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The escape is a front wheel drive based vehicle with unibody construction.
The Ranger is a rear drive based body on frame construction.

Totally different vehicles. If there is one thing that I've learned over the years its that wet and snow performance are probably 80% tires. you may have just suffered from a poor choice of tires by Ford on the Escape.

My wife's Miata was about as bad in the rain and snow as you could imagine a car could be. (light with relatively wide tires and rear wheel drive) When the OEM tires wore out, I went on tire rack.com and researched all season tires for it. The results were dramatic. Dry performance was reduced, but that didn't really matter to her, but the car was rock solid in the rain after that.

The new Bronco is based on the next generation Ranger. Body of frame. Rear/4 wheel drive setup.
The base Bronco, like the base Wrangler and Gladiator comes with essentially car tires. So it will not be anything special in the mud or the snow. It goes up from there.



I'm not a "Jeep Guy". I'm a car / truck guy. I like all of them as long as they are interesting.

The thing that the Bronco brings to the table is on-road manners equivalent to any other IFS Body on Frame SUV (4 runner, Tahoe, Expedition) with the off road abilities of a Wrangler and removable top/doors.

Its an appealing compromise. There are a lot of people just based on this and the JL forum, who wanted a vehicle with removable top and doors and because of that, tolerate the way these vehicles drive on the street.
Never had a jeep before so can't say about past but my Gladiator drives and handles very well. Is it as well as my Ram no but I didn't expect that but it drives comparable to many other vehicles I have drivin. My daughter has 2019 Sentra and I find my truck drives and has a better ride than her vehicle and same for my wife's Toyota Highlander. That think is a friggin tank.
 
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dcmdon

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Never had a jeep before so can't say about past but my Gladiator drives and handles very well. Is it as well as my Ram no but I didn't expect that but it drives comparable to many other vehicles I have drivin. My daughter has 2019 Sentra and I find my truck drives and has a better ride than her vehicle and same for my wife's Toyota Highlander. That think is a friggin tank.
I need to get another Mojave out for a ride. The last one I took was in Newton, MA. Just a terrible place to test any vehicle. I should check into the nearest Jeep dealer while I'm up in NH.
 

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I need to get another Mojave out for a ride. The last one I took was in Newton, MA. Just a terrible place to test any vehicle. I should check into the nearest Jeep dealer while I'm up in NH.
Good luck finding one in NH! They are pretty popular, and coupled with the general shortage, Gladiators of any trim scarce. A quick check shows ONE Mojave in the entire state in stock. Foss Motors in Exeter. EDIT: I looked again, it's in transit, not in stock.
BTW, have you test driven the Overland? Not that there are any of those in NH either. Nucar in Tilton and Crosstown in Littleton are probably your 2 closest dealers. Tilton has 1 Rubi in stock, that's it. Littleton has a nicely optioned Sport S max tow.

BTW, I have a friend who is a long time Toyota dealership mechanic. Guess what he and his wife drive? No, not Jeeps, but not toyota either. They have a diesel F350, and I think a Chevy. He's done way to many Toyota frame replacements to ever buy another one.
 
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dcmdon

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BTW, I have a friend who is a long time Toyota dealership mechanic. Guess what he and his wife drive? No, not Jeeps, but not toyota either. They have a diesel F350, and I think a Chevy. He's done way to many Toyota frame replacements to ever buy another one.
Re driving an overland. I don't think the Overland is any different than a sport, right? I considered the Sport and Willys that I drove to be over-sprung and under-damped. The Mojave fixes that.

I forgot about the whole Toyota frame problem. The truck never breaks, but it rusts itself to pieces.
When I used to work at a Subaru dealer in the 90s we would see that all the time. Mechanically sound Subarus that had to be junked because the unibody was rotting away.
 

IamPro2A

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Re driving an overland. I don't think the Overland is any different than a sport, right? I considered the Sport and Willys that I drove to be over-sprung and under-damped. The Mojave fixes that.
I don't know for sure. I just seem to remember when I was researching my purchase, that the Overland was supposedly the model geared more to street driving. I might very well be wrong.
 

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All of the major sub models have different springs.
So sport, overland, Rubicon, and Mojave have unique springs and tuning. The max tow is also uniquely sprung
 
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That may be true. Like I said I've driven 3 kinds. The one that rode better to me was the Mojave. The springs seemed to be softer / more compliant and the damping seemed to better control body motion.

This makes sense because trucks tend to be oversprung and underdamped. Trucks tend to be oversprung because it needs to be able to deal with weight in the bed without sagging too much.
 

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And Iā€™m not sure how relevant this really is but Iā€™ve been looking for a small SUV so I donā€™t log so many miles on my gladiator and in my research I have discovered that apparently a lot of the turbos have direct injection and this puts a great deal of pressure and over the long run carbon buildup on the valves pistons leading to premature failure of the motors and I donā€™t know if this would apply to a typical we 60s are mostly tiny little four-cylinder 1.5 to 2.0 LIters for that reason alone Iā€™d be reluctant to go with anything thatā€™s turbo especially for an off-road vehicle where youā€™re going to suck in a lot of dirt or do you have a really good filter or not perhaps someone more educated than I regarding this Ken comment I watched a video the other day of the new bronco itā€™s the big one versus the Rubicon andGoing up a rocky trail the Rubicon kept all four wheels on the ground but the bronco kept lifting one of the rear Wheels
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