How do Gladiators handle on the highway?

[joeym7]

Well, so much great stuff on this thread from you guys, and for me, it has resolved the 3 issues I had in mind...

And I think "faith" is involved ;-), for the second time in 2 weeks a Red Gladiator-Rubicon was parked in my Doctors parking lot this morning. There aren't many JT's around here so think of the "odds" of this happening. Must be a sign. Awsome looking vehicle, looks more impressive in real life than on Jeeps website.

With the fantastic feedback of you owners, and the mystical appearance of the Gladiator-Rubican, I'm 99.99% settled on the Mohave. Always like to leave that .01% of uncertanty in any important decision until I lay the money down. .

I want to thank Nissan (where I started searching some months ago) for not offering a light colored interior with a sunroof on their Frontiers. For 2022, you can get one or the other but not bothe (because of the way they package the options). If not for that, I would have stopped my search premiturely.

I am fully convienced at this point the Gladiator is the superior vehicle for (my) needs and wants (and considering all around positive and negative attributes of each.)

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[Gvsukids]

Well, so much great stuff on this thread from you guys, and for me, it has resolved the 3 issues I had in mind...

And I think "faith" is involved ;-), for the second time in 2 weeks a Red Gladiator-Rubicon was parked in my Doctors parking lot this morning. There aren't many JT's around here so think of the "odds" of this happening. Must be a sign. Awsome looking vehicle, looks more impressive in real life than on Jeeps website.

With the fantastic feedback of you owners, and the mystical appearance of the Gladiator-Rubican, I'm 99.99% settled on the Mohave. Always like to leave that .01% of uncertanty in any important decision until I lay the money down. .

I want to thank Nissan (where I started searching some months ago) for not offering a light colored interior with a sunroof on their Frontiers. For 2022, you can get one or the other but not bothe (because of the way they package the options). If not for that, I would have stopped my search premiturely.

I am fully convienced at this point the Gladiator is the superior vehicle for (my) needs and wants (and considering all around positive and negative attributes of each.)

And with the Gladiator, you can take the doors and top off.

 

[Thefool]

The gladiator isnt really designed to be a luxury ride vehicle. It’s designed to be a off-road capable. I have driven mine 5 hours for camping trips. The suspension is stiffer than my grand Cherokee so the ride is a bit grabby over bumps. From a power and acceleration perspective though, it seemed fine. You have to choose what’s more important to you.

 

[Uparms]

Like a cadillac. It's Euphoric. Often times pulled over for DUI even though I gave up beer in 2018. (Kidding on that one, the DUIs).

I thinks it's a great ride, Sport, 4.10s auto, Max Tow. Especially stock.

Still a great ride now with 2 inch Mopar lift and 35 inch ATs. My most important co-pilot has me searching out some minor fine tuning of the ride for her ( seat, padding, lumbar, maybe control arm drop). but from where I sit, fantastic ride.

 

[dfwxjer]

The gladiator isnt really designed to be a luxury ride vehicle. It’s designed to be a off-road capable. I have driven mine 5 hours for camping trips. The suspension is stiffer than my grand Cherokee so the ride is a bit grabby over bumps. From a power and acceleration perspective though, it seemed fine. You have to choose what’s more important to you.

From my test drives, the Mojave ride is significantly better than the other trims. Especially for highway, or bumpy roads. I don't get near as much of the jolting or harshness over normal terrain.

I had every intention of buying the Rubicon but there was no comparison for me. Since most of my driving is fire road and highway the Mojave made the most sense for my needs.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The gladiator isnt really designed to be a luxury ride vehicle. It’s designed to be a off-road capable. I have driven mine 5 hours for camping trips. The suspension is stiffer than my grand Cherokee so the ride is a bit grabby over bumps. From a power and acceleration perspective though, it seemed fine. You have to choose what’s more important to you.

Can't totally agree. The Overland and Mojave have great rides. I have compared mine to how my wife's WK2s have ridden. I actually find my truck almost as comfortable ride-wise as her WK2s. I prefer my seats to the 2018 WK2 but the 2021 WK2 seats seem better than the 2018 did for some reason. I'm told they changed the dash and seats a bit?
In the stock form the JT Overland is a cushy ride. I can only imagine the ride of the Mojave - if it's as good or better, then they have many vehicles matched or beat for ride on the highway.
On the other hand, the WK2 is whisper quiet on the road! Of course it's shaped like a wedge with no drip rails and nothing for the wind to whistle past or through or around like the JT.

 

[jac04]

I am fully convienced at this point the Gladiator is the superior vehicle for (my) needs and wants (and considering all around positive and negative attributes of each.)

The important thing is to go into it with your eyes (and ears) wide open. You need to know exactly what you are getting yourself into. The Mojave seats & steering wheel are really comfy, and the suspension is super nice. The 'softer' sway bars allow a little bit more body roll in corners, but that's a trade-off for the nice ride, and it never feels concerning. Plenty of cabin room for 4 people. But, it is still a fairly crude vehicle in respect to overall refinement (fit & finish, road, wind & engine noise).

To be honest, the best vehicle for my needs was probably a Ridgeline. My kids and wife said they wouldn't be seen in it - ever. I agreed. So, I was going to wait for a new Frontier or get a Colorado ZR2 or Tacoma TRD Pro. But then I asked myself "what do I want?". I want a Gladiator Mojave. End of story.

The first time I pulled up in front of the High School to drop off my kids, the Principal (JKU owner) comes running over, waits for the kids to walk away, then says "dude, this thing is soooo badass!". I really couldn't help myself and I said "yeah it is!" This type of exchange will never happen with a Ridgeline, Frontier, Colorado or Tacoma

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Fit and finish on mine is great. I've not seen better on a midsize truck. No rattles or squeaks or ill fitting panels etc. No leaks, gaps are even all around.

 

[Chestnut]

(fit & finish, road, wind & engine noise).

Comparing the fit and finish to the GMC Canyon i had, and the GMC Yukon my dad has your way ahead of GM with a jeep, much better built and better fit and finish. Stuff isn't falling apart from the factory at least. I can't speak for the new Nissan and Toyota. Those are probably pretty good being Japanese companies and all.

 

[jac04]

Yeah, my fit & finish comment was really aimed more at a comparison to 'normal' vehicles, which might not be a fair comparison. I agree that the Colorado I looked at was horrible in term of F&F, especially exterior. I thought the Tacoma was pretty good overall.

My Mojave interior is really nice, although I did have to add some fuzzy Tesa tape between a few plastic trim pieces and the roll bar to get rid of some minor noises. IMO, the exterior is where every JT suffers (just like the JL). The body gaps are pretty good, but every panel is wavy. The paint also has quite a bit of texture, but that seems to be the case with a lot of newer vehicles. I've found 5 different specks of dust in the clear coat (a quick hit with 2000 grit paper and Meguiar's 105/205 took care of them). Every JT/JL I've ever seen has been the same way. Luckily, my JT is white, so it always looks good no matter what. For comparison, my wife has a 2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring. Fit & finish on that thing is absolutely amazing.

I'll also admit that I am very critical when it comes to fit & finish, so take my JT comments with a grain of salt. Now that I think about it, I was way more disappointed with the F&F on my 2019 Audi Allroad than I am with my Gladiator.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Panels not wavy on mine. I've seen people here talk about the panel with the fuel door being uneven. Mine is flat. I have fluorescent lights in my garage and go by the reflections - when the tubes and other items reflect straight without offset or jaggies, it's good.

When things reflect like this - not distorted, wavy, etc. - it's good -
Look how straight and undistorted reflections are. I need better close-ups but this is an example. Light tubes reflect straight, not wavy or jaggy or bent.
(bottom pic included to show how picky I can get....... reflection so straight you could read a news paper in the reflection on the hood )

 

[jac04]

I'm not talking about smaller ripples and waves. For example, if you look down the side of the vehicle at the reflection off the doors, they are far from flat. I've never seen a JT or JL with flat doors. The bed and hood are actually pretty nice.

Maybe I'm more picky than you:

 

[calicorks]

The Overland won't be as stable in strong winds due to the less wide axles. Yes, it's "only 1.5" " total width, but recall the old Pontiac ads.......
On the other hand, I was driving mine 80-85 mph with cross-winds of 70 mph at times - no real issues. It was enough wind to flatten thousands of acres of corn and blow steel interstate signs down flat. (luckily we made it home before the very worst hit - maybe......... trees already down, power already out when we got home. The garage door wouldn't open)

One time I was driving home in the wind. One of those tiny “tornadoes” appeared and came in my direction. It pushed my truck into the other lane when I didn’t want it too. Happened so fast too! Luckily no one was around. This was my first time driving through a “tornado “ but I would assume any car would be pushed like my Gladiator was. Freaked me out for a second, then shook it off and continued just fine. I live in NV, and it can be windy at times.

 

[Padre]

I have a Ridgeline and a new Gladiator. I passed the Ridgeline on to my wife (everyone calls it a girls truck anyway). Say what you want about the Ridgeline but that is one comfortable ride. You can do a 100 mph easy and it doesn't feel like it. Drove it this year from the east coast to the west coast and back and then from the Gulf coast to the Boundary Waters. Handled flawlessly. Even towed a an off-road trailer in March out west. Went off road and did fine. Not what the Gladiator can do though. I just got my Gladiator 2 weeks ago and drove it up to Michigan this week from Florida. I don't feel comfortable going over 75 in it and the RPMs start creeping up too. We did get a chance to take it to the sand dunes today in Silver Lake National Park. What a blast.
Definitely 2 different kinds of truck. If you are going to travel across the country or pull a small skiff, the Ridgeline is epic. But for the off roading we want to do, obviously the Gladiator.

 

[dfwxjer]

I have a Ridgeline and a new Gladiator. I passed the Ridgeline on to my wife (everyone calls it a girls truck anyway). Say what you want about the Ridgeline but that is one comfortable ride. You can do a 100 mph easy and it doesn't feel like it. Drove it this year from the east coast to the west coast and back and then from the Gulf coast to the Boundary Waters. Handled flawlessly. Even towed a an off-road trailer in March out west. Went off road and did fine. Not what the Gladiator can do though. I just got my Gladiator 2 weeks ago and drove it up to Michigan this week from Florida. I don't feel comfortable going over 75 in it and the RPMs start creeping up too. We did get a chance to take it to the sand dunes today in Silver Lake National Park. What a blast.
Definitely 2 different kinds of truck. If you are going to travel across the country or pull a small skiff, the Ridgeline is epic. But for the off roading we want to do, obviously the Gladiator.

The Ridgeline isn't a truck. It's a Honda mini van with a weird bed quasi glued on. No frame, FWD with optional AWD, no low range, etc. The Gladiator is a body on frame truck so the center of gravity is much higher.

Not to say the Ridgeline is a bad vehicle (although it is pitiful) but it's a far cry from a legit truck. My wife used to drive a Pilot which is the same platform and they're both based on the light duty Honda Odyssey. Sure one can drive 100mph... because it's an enlarged unibody car. If it handled all of your off-road needs then chances are the Gladiator is overkill for you. I couldn't get rid of her Pilot fast enough personally..

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