Head of Jeep Brand NA is bullish on Gladiator future

[ChrisNLA]

So what was the purpose of buying a butt terrible truck at gas milage, tiny bed, to do some plywood hauling? Seems like a waste of money to run it just for some street stuff.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ullish-on-gladiator-future.89513/post-1667571

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[GeekJT]

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ullish-on-gladiator-future.89513/post-1667571

So for off-roading. LOL

 

[ChrisNLA]

So for off-roading. LOL

Yep.

Funny how life changes, though.

As I said. I'll make do.

 

[Mightytalldude]

Definitely didn't read all of the 17+ pages. Stop trying to do full size stuff with a midsize truck. It's a niche vehicle. What it does, it does well. What it doesn't do well is be a full size truck with IFS. What I would like to see, better power plants, more stout drivetrain, slightly longer bed, maybe slightly wider cab and bed, fit to more of the actual midsize size, also embrace the original gladiator looks, be less step child of the Wrangler. There's no room for Jeep to have a full size Gladiator, but there's definitely room for a true midsize Gladiator.

 

[NC_Overland]

Definitely didn't read all of the 17+ pages. Stop trying to do full size stuff with a midsize truck. It's a niche vehicle. What it does, it does well. What it doesn't do well is be a full size truck with IFS. What I would like to see, better power plants, more stout drivetrain, slightly longer bed, maybe slightly wider cab and bed, fit to more of the actual midsize size, also embrace the original gladiator looks, be less step child of the Wrangler. There's no room for Jeep to have a full size Gladiator, but there's definitely room for a true midsize Gladiator.

Did I misunderstand you in saying that other mid sized trucks are wider? I don’t think they are except for the Ranger Raptor. My Colorado’s bed is a few inches longer and taller. That’s handy sometimes.

 

[Mightytalldude]

Did I misunderstand you in saying that other mid sized trucks are wider? I don’t think they are except for the Ranger Raptor. My Colorado’s bed is a few inches longer and taller. That’s handy sometimes.

I spent multiple hours in my daughter's Colorado about 2 weeks ago. There's more headroom and legroom in a Gladiator over the Colorado, I'm not short, I definitely felt that, but I didn't feel I was as squeezed into the cab on the width, I could share the center armrest, that I can't in my Gladiator. Maybe it's the width of the Colorado bed panels, but the body and cab extends out to the wheels more, whereas the gladiator has the flares filling and inch or two more of that void. The Gladiator definitely has a wider track.

 

[NC_Overland]

I spent multiple hours in my daughter's Colorado about 2 weeks ago. There's more headroom and legroom in a Gladiator over the Colorado, I'm not short, I definitely felt that, but I didn't feel I was as squeezed into the cab on the width, I could share the center armrest, that I can't in my Gladiator. Maybe it's the width of the Colorado bed panels, but the body and cab extends out to the wheels more, whereas the gladiator has the flares filling and inch or two more of that void. The Gladiator definitely has a wider track.

The gladiator back seat is definitely a lot bigger and it’s way more comfortable with the overland leather seats.

 

[Q Tip]

Heres my take fwiw:
Gladiator has a great:
Transmission
Axles
4wd
Convertibility, ie., roof/doors/windshield
Name recommendation
U.S. branding (imho this is way under utilized by Jeep

I dont think they need to change a whole lot with the vehicle itself.
Gladiator needs
Truly bulletproof motors. An efi 4cyl and v6
Truly excellent manual transmissions with a granny low
Factory supported bolt on supercharger/ racing parts like Toyotas TRD
Factory off road racing team
A totally revised dash, ie., one large analog round speedo/tach/etc and CABLE PULL venting etc. Embrace tech but make it so retro/bulletproof people will be fascinated.
Use old school stamped steel valve covers and uncover the plugs. Clean up the motors. Make basic maintenance user friendly. Encourage the owner to wrench.
Bulletproof the motors to where people brag on them.

 

[DanW]

Heres my take fwiw:
Gladiator has a great:
Transmission
Axles
4wd
Convertibility, ie., roof/doors/windshield
Name recommendation
U.S. branding (imho this is way under utilized by Jeep

I dont think they need to change a whole lot with the vehicle itself.
Gladiator needs
Truly bulletproof motors. An efi 4cyl and v6
Truly excellent manual transmissions with a granny low
Factory supported bolt on supercharger/ racing parts like Toyotas TRD
Factory off road racing team
A totally revised dash, ie., one large analog round speedo/tach/etc and CABLE PULL venting etc. Embrace tech but make it so retro/bulletproof people will be fascinated.
Use old school stamped steel valve covers and uncover the plugs. Clean up the motors. Make basic maintenance user friendly. Encourage the owner to wrench.
Bulletproof the motors to where people brag on them.

Stellantis/Jeep is one of the industry leaders in proprietary repair and maintenance, so I wouldn´t hold my breath on them making anything simpler for DIY people, other than easy oil and filter changes. A turbo 4 might make plug changes easier, though. But I don´t really want a turbo 4.

 

[gonemad]

But I don´t really want a turbo 4.

#METOO

Turbo 4s in all the other “midsize” trucks (aside from Nissan, which I don’t fit in) are how I ended up in a Glad.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Heres my take fwiw:
Gladiator has a great:
Transmission
Axles
4wd
Convertibility, ie., roof/doors/windshield
Name recommendation
U.S. branding (imho this is way under utilized by Jeep

I dont think they need to change a whole lot with the vehicle itself.
Gladiator needs
Truly bulletproof motors. An efi 4cyl and v6
Truly excellent manual transmissions with a granny low
Factory supported bolt on supercharger/ racing parts like Toyotas TRD
Factory off road racing team
A totally revised dash, ie., one large analog round speedo/tach/etc and CABLE PULL venting etc. Embrace tech but make it so retro/bulletproof people will be fascinated.
Use old school stamped steel valve covers and uncover the plugs. Clean up the motors. Make basic maintenance user friendly. Encourage the owner to wrench.
Bulletproof the motors to where people brag on them.

I agree with all of this but I'm not holding my breath.

The complexity of everything under the hood and in the dash is a result of bureaucratic diktats on efficiency, safety and general operations as interpreted by engineers who are overseen by iron fisted bean counters. It's a perfect shitstorm.

There are logical things they do, like reusable gaskets but they're balanced out by things like the dumber than a soup sandwich auxiliary battery system or the brittle plastic coolant reservoir.

 

[ChrisNLA]

#METOO

Turbo 4s in all the other “midsize” trucks (aside from Nissan, which I don’t fit in) are how I ended up in a Glad.

I don't think I'd buy a Stellantis turbo 4 because of how they package it, but I'd buy the 2.7L Turbomax in the GM trucks. It's relatively proven in the fullsizes and the packaging looks like it won't be a complete nightmare to work on.

 

[gonemad]

I don't think I'd buy a Stellantis turbo 4 because of how they package it, but I'd buy the 2.7L Turbomax in the GM trucks. It's relatively proven in the fullsizes and the packaging looks like it won't be a complete nightmare to work on.

Well, that’s good to know because I believe they put that same engine in the Chevy Colorado and there’s a Chevy dealer 2 miles from us where we’ve had a really good past experience. In fact that’s how I ended up at their Chrysler store 12 miles away to buy my first Gladiator but I haven’t had the same good experience with that store, so my wife says she wants her own small truck next so it might be a Chevy with the Turbo Max.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Well, that’s good to know because I believe they put that same engine in the Chevy Colorado and there’s a Chevy dealer 2 miles from us where we’ve had a really good past experience. In fact that’s how I ended up at their Chrysler store 12 miles away to buy my first Gladiator but I haven’t had the same good experience with that store, so my wife says she wants her own small truck next so it might be a Chevy with the Turbo Max.

Like I said, no personal experience - but it seems solid in all the research I've done.

It's a single turbo, unlike the twins Stellantis likes to use. It uses an electric water pump which looks reasonably accessible, intercooler is in the cooling stack with the radiator, not sandwiched on the side of the engine. The sliding camshaft its a bit wacky but seems better than GM and their lifter history.

My stance so far is I'd totally buy a Canyon/Colorado with the 2.7L. I'd be more worried about their transmissions - but even that is *supposedly* better recently.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

There's at least 3 Turbomax Silverado's out in my parking lot right now.

One I know for a fact hauls a SxS up north occasionally. The other's, probably little to nothing, home Depot, mulch, BS.

They sound weird AF, but they seem to do the job just fine.

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