HELP ME DECIDE! Gladiator Mojave VS 2023 Ranger Raptor

[KSP938]

I have a 21 stingray Mojave I came from a suburban and a HD Chevy pickup and a lots of Tahoes. I’ve always owned full-size vehicles. I had not driven a jeep since high school in the 80’s. I can say without a doubt go with a the Mojave. Drive both and what feels best to you is it and don’t look back.
i love the old school feel of the Jeep. It’s not the best ride and by far not the worst but you can take the doors off and enjoy yourself. Who give a____ what anyone thinks or says drive and buy what’s best for you and your family.

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[Tommyd]

The new ranger raptor is probably the better dune runner, as ifs is just better on sand. Add in the live valve shocks, more power, lighter weight and it's just more capable for that specific environment. If you are doing dunes the only thing that would be better would be the full size raptor.

Raptor R ?

 

[Rico]

I have a 21 stingray Mojave I came from a suburban and a HD Chevy pickup and a lots of Tahoes. I’ve always owned full-size vehicles. I had not driven a jeep since high school in the 80’s. I can say without a doubt go with a the Mojave. Drive both and what feels best to you is it and don’t look back.
i love the old school feel of the Jeep. It’s not the best ride and by far not the worst but you can take the doors off and enjoy yourself. Who give a____ what anyone thinks or says drive and buy what’s best for you and your family.

Ya I made my mind on getting the Gladiator Mojave. Sadly there is none in stock in my country haha. So who knows how long that will take.

 

[Lunentucker]

A peek at the Ranger frame.

 

[OHJeeper]

That’s what I heard from couple of my friends and people online. That the transmission skips gears, harsh shifting at times and jerk when down shifting. Which doesn’t sound fun when thinking about specially when I’m going to buy the truck brand new.

My wife has a 2020 Explorer ST - same motor and trans as the Raptors. We had both catalytic converters replaced at 35k miles (JUST barely before warranty was expired!) and I can also say the transmission is weird at best. But, damn is it fun to outrun all kinds of sports cars with the whole family in the car!

Someone mentioned earlier in Sport mode it's better - on her car it's worse on the downshifts. When slowing down (engine braking) and you get to a point where it needs to downshift it's the harshest thing I've ever felt - the entire cars lurches like you hit the brakes. Ford says this is expected behavior. They claim a "hard" shift is better for the life of the transmission but I can't figure out how this is true. with all that weight slamming the drivetrain, torque converter, engine crankshaft, etc.

 

[Rico]

My wife has a 2020 Explorer ST - same motor and trans as the Raptors. We had both catalytic converters replaced at 35k miles (JUST barely before warranty was expired!) and I can also say the transmission is weird at best. But, damn is it fun to outrun all kinds of sports cars with the whole family in the car!

Someone mentioned earlier in Sport mode it's better - on her car it's worse on the downshifts. When slowing down (engine braking) and you get to a point where it needs to downshift it's the harshest thing I've ever felt - the entire cars lurches like you hit the brakes. Ford says this is expected behavior. They claim a "hard" shift is better for the life of the transmission but I can't figure out how this is true. with all that weight slamming the drivetrain, torque converter, engine crankshaft, etc.

I can’t disagree with all off that power I don’t doubt that it will be fun to drive.
That what scares me more that Ford themselves are saying this is normal and hard shifts are better for the life of the transmission which doesn’t make sense to me. That tells me that Ford doesn’t intend to fix it which worries me more.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

My wife has a 2020 Explorer ST - same motor and trans as the Raptors. We had both catalytic converters replaced at 35k miles (JUST barely before warranty was expired!) and I can also say the transmission is weird at best. But, damn is it fun to outrun all kinds of sports cars with the whole family in the car!

Someone mentioned earlier in Sport mode it's better - on her car it's worse on the downshifts. When slowing down (engine braking) and you get to a point where it needs to downshift it's the harshest thing I've ever felt - the entire cars lurches like you hit the brakes. Ford says this is expected behavior. They claim a "hard" shift is better for the life of the transmission but I can't figure out how this is true. with all that weight slamming the drivetrain, torque converter, engine crankshaft, etc.

I can’t disagree with all off that power I don’t doubt that it will be fun to drive.
That what scares me more that Ford themselves are saying this is normal and hard shifts are better for the life of the transmission which doesn’t make sense to me. That tells me that Ford doesn’t intend to fix it which worries me more.

The transmission has to slip more when it shifts slow and smooth.

Hard shifts = less slipping, longer life for clutches, less heat.

 

[OHJeeper]

The transmission has to slip more when it shifts slow and smooth.

Hard shifts = less slipping, longer life for clutches, less heat.

I agree, but in this case it's not so much that it shifts hard/quick, it's that it downshifts too far. Like from 4th to 1st instead of 4th to 3rd or 2nd.

And since the shift is rapid (and not slipping the clutch to rev match) the entire car feels like someone tapped the brake unexpectedly. To me, that can't be good for everything connected to the drivetrain.

 

[sharpsicle]

The transmission has to slip more when it shifts slow and smooth.

Hard shifts = less slipping, longer life for clutches, less heat.

This isn't like manual transmissions though. The old adage of "slow is smooth" isn't really true in modern automatics. Modern autos are designed to shift smoothly and quickly. So just because it's smooth, doesn't mean it's slow and slipping and damaging.

Even on manual transmissions, "hard" shifts impose stress on other components that shouldn't be receiving them. So you're "prolonging" the life of a wear item at the expense of other non-wear items. Even so, that extra clutch life is minimal unless you're absolutely roasting it each time. But those transmission systems are completely different beasts from today's automatics.

The problem with the Ford transmissions is that they're not always quick about shifting like they should be. They get sloppy with the timing and that results in a "hard" shift. When it comes to automatics like these, the "hard" shift is definitely worse.

The other problem the Ford 10 speed has is the gearing is quite close together, and combined with a underdeveloped control system, it causes it to constantly shift and hunt for a gear. This often leads to the slow response time in shifting because of its own indecisiveness and a resulting "hard" shift.

But all this has nothing to do with the clutches. It has to do with the transmission design and control systems. Plus the fact Ford put out their 10 speed transmission before it was really done being developed. If working properly, these wouldn't have "hard" shifts in them at all, so it's kinda bogus to claim there's nothing wrong with a "hard" shift.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

This isn't like manual transmissions though. The old adage of "slow is smooth" isn't really true in modern automatics. Modern autos are designed to shift smoothly and quickly. So just because it's smooth, doesn't mean it's slow and slipping.

The problem with the Ford transmissions is that they're not always quick about it like they should be. They get sloppy with the timing and that results in a "hard" shift. When it comes to automatics like these, the "hard" shift is definitely worse.

The other problem the Ford 10 speed has is the gearing is too close together, causing it to constantly shift and hunt for a gear. This often leads to the slow response time in shifting because of its own indecisiveness and a resulting "hard" shift.

Hard shifts in these transmissions are definitely worse.

But all this has nothing to do with the clutches. It has to do with the transmission design and control systems. Plus the fact Ford put out their 10 speed transmission before it was really done being developed.

I have about 50k miles on a Ford 10 speed and I like it. It’s fun to drive. The only time it seems to act weird is when you’re easy on it and it doesn’t happen that often.

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