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Good Bye Gladiator - Hello Grand Cherokee and Challenger

olecarguy

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I wanted a new 4x4 Pickup, the wife wanted a Wrangler Unlimited. The natural compromise, a loooaded Gladiator Overland, or was it?

I did the usual doing a number of conservative upgrades myself; wheels/tires, mopar lift, front bumper, etc. Maybe 4K in total. I really, really, loved this vehicle. Fuel mileage, eh, 17/20 not bad for a brick (not great either), coolness factor A++, flat tow-ability A+, towing capability B+, I'm not a hard core off-roader so for me A+. Warrantee claims A+, only 2, steering box replacement TSB, and seat bolster replacement in 19.2K miles.

However, it's become clear to me, as good as the Gladiator is, and a much as I love this vehicle, it's a compromise vehicle attempting to serve several masters. As a pick up it has a much lighter payload and smaller bed than most, this to ensure off-road ability. As an off-road vehicle it's capable but still quite long to ensure being to be a pickup, and as a highway family hauler...it's the best Jeep design yet, but its a modified brick none-the-less.

It was our newest vehicle so it was also our long distance traveling vehicle from GA to OH, GA to AZ, GA to NY, GA to PA, GA to IL, and here is where it looses it's luster. Even with the major re-style, highway driving at 75+mph (wind noise, major drop in mph,, and 5 highway broken windshields later) meant a time for change to something or somethings which are more suited for the highway since this is where most of our driving of a newer with improved reliability occurs, and better serve each of our niche needs.

As a side note, our families stable includes 2 dodge journeys (2015 and 2015), a 300 (2012) , and the Gladiator (2020) all with the 3.6 V6. Combined, we have over 500K miles on them. The only repair, other than normal maintenance, have been a water pump, engine cooler, AC humidity sensor, and blue tooth module (all on the 2012 300). While theJourneys get 17/23, the 300 gets 23/32 mph all day long, jeep 17/20. Additionally we have a 08 Scion Xb, and a Ford Dually F350.

So, after much reflection, we pulled the trigger on modifying the stable to meet the load hauling, light towing/highway, flat tow, and coolness factor wants/needs. The daughter and family get the high-mileage 300, Journeys remain with the kids, leaving Mama and Olecarguy with the Gladiator, Xb, and F350. So, the Gladiator is going, going, gone.

Mama gets a new loaded Grand Cherokee 4x4 to roll-on down the highway solving the 75+ noise and comfort level, is flat-towable, will do the light towing needs, and broken windshield problems are significantly diminished, if not nearly gone.

Olecarguy well, he's back to using his F350 when a pickup is needed, Xb when needing a smaller van like hauler, and for the coolness gets a Challenger; Hell Cat - Hell No, SRT - nope, Scat Pack - not even, RT - no, GT - Yep, with....you guessed it 3.6 V6. At 23/30 it replaces the 300 on longer rides where the 30+ mpg and comfort is needed., and looks cool. Wanted a Challenger ever since a teen, but now I'm a bit more frugal with my gas money!

Even with it's compromises I will miss my Gladiator and this community.

In closing, I'd like to thank the many members of this forum for their insights, ideas, and suggestions, and stories, especially ShadowsPaPa. Hopefully, since I was a early Gladiator adopter doing the mods myself, my posting how-to pics and instructions I've been able to help a few as well.

PS - These trucks are still holding their value. Don't let anyone tell you differently. When trading in, I found a HUGH swing is value. Just as FYI, My JT listed at 53K in 20. Paid 46. First dealer offered me 33K, Carvana offered 38.2K, Carmax offered me 43.1K, and I ultimately got 45K against an under sticker priced Challenger, even when the dealers were marking them up +5-10K over sticker.

Cheers Ya'll.
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ShadowsPapa

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I understand your thinking. For me the JT was a bit of a compromise - but then when my wife suggested "so just go buy a lighter trailer" when I told her of the limited towing, that solved that. If I need to haul something big and heavy, I have trailers. So I'm fine there.
Windshields - 29 months and broke two so far.
Grand Cherokee - we've been Grand Cherokee owners since the ZJ. We've had several of each. Broken windshields - it's a Jeep thing. We've had two Grand Cherokee windshields replaced and at least 2 repaired. One was when I was driving my wife's Grand Cherokee (they are always hers, don't try to tell her otherwise) I was in the far left lane of 4 lanes, I had gotten around slower traffic in the middle lanes and was thinking of moving to the center. A cement truck entered the freeway in the right lane so I stayed left a while (don't fret, there was no one behind me at all - or I would have pulled over). That cement truck gained speed in the right lane and dropped a big rock. That rock hit the center lane and bounced a couple of times and became air-borne again and just like in slow motion - SMACK, hard right in the middle of my wife's GC windshield. There was no place to go, and we were separated by 2 lanes, I wasn't following him, the rock literally changed lanes twice before hitting that glass. Instant cracks, no little chip to get fixed.

Anyway, Jeeps are rock magnets.

I tried to get my wife to look at other things, even other Jeeps, when she decided it was time to trade, no way.
It's just the two of us - I have the JT and my 2 cars, she has her WK2 - the 2021 before they changed things up, ordered September, received October 2020.
 

Charles 236

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I understand about compromise, all vehicles are compromised in some way. For the past ten years, I have driven a Challenger R/T and thoroughly enjoy it. I am looking forward to a change, looking to replace the Challenger with a Gladiator. Different compromises, a bed instead of a trunk, four doors and a useable back seat, V6 instead of Hemi. It will take some getting used to, but I expect to be able to get more use out of a Gladiator overall than my Challenger, which is a great driver but lacking in carrying capability.
 

CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail

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The Gladiator really isn't meant to be practical (except as an overlander), so I totally understand. It is meant to be fun - and that fun is rarely had in a JT at 75mph. I'm glad you got to own one and suspect having done so will age well in your memories. Thanks for being part of this group and well wishes to you.
 

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Mister Lamb

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I had a 5.7L Challenger before my Gladiator. One of the best cars I've ever owned. Miss her :(
Jeep Gladiator Good Bye Gladiator - Hello Grand Cherokee and Challenger IMG_6176.JPG

Enjoy the AWD and the luxury of not throwing weights in your trunk lol
 

NC_Overland

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I agree that there are compromises, but mine is fantastic for road trips. The wind noise is louder than it should be, but that’s what the alpine system is for. It’s so comfortable on road trips. The seats and ride and alpine system/Apple CarPlay are all great on road trips. I do have a loaded Overland, but it has a Rubicon LE suspension under it and 285s/70/18 Revo 3s under it.

I’ve recently had new Audis and BMWs and I still really enjoy it on road trips.
 

The Bean

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I think it’s pretty common to switch between a Dodge product and a Jeep product.

2018 Challenger I traded for my JT

Jeep Gladiator Good Bye Gladiator - Hello Grand Cherokee and Challenger 56FAC9A0-6D8F-478F-8E65-1C067E0C8C28




Jeep Gladiator Good Bye Gladiator - Hello Grand Cherokee and Challenger 76585CDD-A133-4177-9423-CF450BD5330B
 

ShadowsPapa

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I see people saying the Gladiator isn't practical............... it's actually been more practical for me than I expected. It's a truck. I haul things, I tow things.
I had a Silverado 1500 extended cab - it got worse fuel economy.
Yes, it could tow more weight, but I don't need to tow more weight.
It could haul more in the bed - if I need to haul more than 1,000 pounds, I can take one of my trailers.
What do other similar size trucks do this won't that make them more practical for my uses?
We've traveled in this - been into the mountains, hauled supplies for my wife, hauled car parts for me, it gets decent economy for a truck - it did 13.9 average towing while my Chevy couldn't touch that. So it's cheaper when hauling my cars to shows or parts to and from swap meets.
It's been a good daily driver, comfortable.
It's not for everyone for sure - but I find it practical.
We were going to drive it to FL this summer but with the new one up in the air as far as timing, and needing to keep miles down since it's been "traded", and the price of gas what it is, we may cancel that trip.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what vehicle fits their needs or wants. It's personal transportation, personal property.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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I think it’s pretty common to switch between a Dodge product and a Jeep product.
I sold an AMC to help pay for my JT - does that count?
 

Rahkmalla

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Nothing that I'm capable of affording was going to be more comfortable on long trips than my K900, so anything I bought was going to be a compromise there. As for utility, my bed is just a big trunk with occasional hauling duties. One day it'll be a place to sleep with a bed tent and airbedz, but that's a couple years off. But it's not like I'm some of you full size guys trading down to a midsize truck. Fuel economy matches my K900 as well (I enjoyed that 420hp V8) so no loses there.

I get that for some people this is a jack of all trades car, and the lack of a mastery feels like a concession. But for me it's a 4dr convertible for on and off road. And I love it.
 

The Bean

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Jeeperjamie

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Enjoy the Grand Cherokee and the challenger, I'll probably have another Grand Cherokee sooner than later. I'll be keeping the Gladiator though. We got the BMW X5 50i for long trips, We will probably hold onto it as well. I sold my 2017 Mustang 5.0 last year for a profit because of the crazy market, using that money to fund a Porsche 911 buy hopefully in the next year or so.
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