How do Gladiators handle on the highway?

[ShadowsPapa]

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.

Wow, your experience with the Gladiator at speed was totally different than ours.
RPM creeping up? Uh, what do you mean? I'm used to cars and trucks doing 2500-3,000 RPM at 65-70. This thing idles at highway speed. I wish it rev'd higher but I "get" their reasoning.
Towing at 65 mine was typically in the 2200 RPM range and I was pleased to see it there.
We drove from Des Moines to Colorado Springs in June - my wife wanted to drive most of the way (and all the way back, she loves driving)
She had my JT at 80 clear up until we got back into eastern NE and into Iowa where the limits are lower. 75 limit she set the cruise at 80+ (she was ready to get home) and she was comfortable and fine. I relaxed most of the drive back with her driving. It was stable and steady. RPM was LOW LOW compared to pretty much anything else I've had save for her WK2s over the years.
I've had mine way up there for brief times - 85+, never felt concerned or unstable.
Granted it's a REAL TRUCK, based on a truck chassis (RAM trucks in part) and a full frame so feels different than many smaller trucks (Honda, perhaps?) but I don't feel bad about having it on the highway at all. And I was really happy to see the RPM out of what I call "lugging range". I hate seeing (gas) engines pulling a load at 1500 rpm.

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[bleda2002]

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..

Might not be a body on frame truck, but it has a payload of 1600 and tows 5K so for its size, it does truck stuff good. Plus it rides great and gets good fuel mileage. Its honestly a better midsize "truck" than pretty much all the other options at least objectively. Subjectively, I like honda's but it just doesnt have that tough look to me.

 

[dfwxjer]

Might not be a body on frame truck, but it has a payload of 1600 and tows 5K so for its size, it does truck stuff good. Plus it rides great and gets good fuel mileage. Its honestly a better midsize "truck" than pretty much all the other options at least objectively. Subjectively, I like honda's but it just doesnt have that tough look to me.

Again, no low range, front wheel drive, and it’s a Honda Odyssey with a garbage vanity bed fused on. Good luck with that. I thought our pilot was awful and the ridge line is the same thing.

 

[Padre]

Might not be a body on frame truck, but it has a payload of 1600 and tows 5K so for its size, it does truck stuff good. Plus it rides great and gets good fuel mileage. Its honestly a better midsize "truck" than pretty much all the other options at least objectively. Subjectively, I like honda's but it just doesnt have that tough look to me.

I saw tests where the Ridgeline scored better than the Gladiator in towing, accelerating under load, and sag under load. So it does those things well. For a midsize truck, it does well. Plus, it is comfortable and has a trunk. When I emptied out my trunk of the Ridgeline, it filled up the whole back of the pick up of the Gladiator. I loved that if I left that truck at a trailhead or a launch ramp for 3 days, you could lock stuff in the trunk and most people didn't know anything was in it. What I hated about it was the bed was shallow that I couldn't fit a Yeti in the bed under the Tonneau but same with the Gladiator. Don't get me wrong, I love my Gladiator. It looks badass and it is way better off-road.

 

[Padre]

Wow, your experience with the Gladiator at speed was totally different than ours.
RPM creeping up? Uh, what do you mean? I'm used to cars and trucks doing 2500-3,000 RPM at 65-70. This thing idles at highway speed. I wish it rev'd higher but I "get" their reasoning.
Towing at 65 mine was typically in the 2200 RPM range and I was pleased to see it there.
We drove from Des Moines to Colorado Springs in June - my wife wanted to drive most of the way (and all the way back, she loves driving)
She had my JT at 80 clear up until we got back into eastern NE and into Iowa where the limits are lower. 75 limit she set the cruise at 80+ (she was ready to get home) and she was comfortable and fine. I relaxed most of the drive back with her driving. It was stable and steady. RPM was LOW LOW compared to pretty much anything else I've had save for her WK2s over the years.
I've had mine way up there for brief times - 85+, never felt concerned or unstable.
Granted it's a REAL TRUCK, based on a truck chassis (RAM trucks in part) and a full frame so feels different than many smaller trucks (Honda, perhaps?) but I don't feel bad about having it on the highway at all. And I was really happy to see the RPM out of what I call "lugging range". I hate seeing (gas) engines pulling a load at 1500 rpm.

I don't know if it is because I have a the manual transmission but when I drove up here to Michigan this week, at 74 mph, I was doing about 2250 rpm. At 76, it was about 2350. I have been getting 13 MPG in the city and have been getting 18-19 on this trip. When I creeped up to 76 mph, my milage started creeping down. In the Ridgeline, I could tow a 2000 pound boat and trailer 75 mph and be at 2100 rpm. Without a trailer, I could cruise 80 mph at 2000 rpm. I could be doing 80 and punch it and be at 95 like that. And maybe because I am used to how comfortable the Ridgeline drives, the JT just seemed a little less. I get that though. I want what the Jt delivers. I didn't buy it for its cross country performance. I bought it because I want to go off road in a truck that I can also drive across the country.

 

[Gvsukids]

I don't know if it is because I have a the manual transmission but when I drove up here to Michigan this week, at 74 mph, I was doing about 2250 rpm. At 76, it was about 2350. I have been getting 13 MPG in the city and have been getting 18-19 on this trip. When I creeped up to 76 mph, my milage started creeping down. In the Ridgeline, I could tow a 2000 pound boat and trailer 75 mph and be at 2100 rpm. Without a trailer, I could cruise 80 mph at 2000 rpm. I could be doing 80 and punch it and be at 95 like that. And maybe because I am used to how comfortable the Ridgeline drives, the JT just seemed a little less. I get that though. I want what the Jt delivers. I didn't buy it for its cross country performance. I bought it because I want to go off road in a truck that I can also drive across the country.

Sounds like the automatic transmission in the Gladiator would be better suited for you.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

at 74 mph, I was doing about 2250 rpm. At 76, it was about 2350. I have been getting 13 MPG in the city and have been getting 18-19 on this trip. When I creeped up to 76 mph, my milage started creeping down. In the Ridgeline, I could tow a 2000 pound boat and trailer 75 mph and be at 2100 rpm.

I'd not worry about the RPM differences. Mine towed great at 2200-2300 and got 13.8 mpg at 65 mph. I'd rather have the slightly higher RPM, personally.
And the Honda engine likely has a very different sweet spot power and torque-wise. Hard to compare or say one is doing better than the other.
As far as mpg - wind resistance increases exponentially as speed increases. Anything over 60 or so is going to see mpg drop really fast. Your comment on mpg dropping - yeah, makes sense but I'm surprised you didn't see a huge drop going even 70 vs 65.

 

[lance54r]

I traded in a 2019 Ridgeline for my Gladiator. The Ridgeline was probably the best truck I ever owned. That encompasses Tundra, F-150 Ecoboost, Avalanche, Dakota, and my current Gladiator. The problem was that the Ridgeline was as exciting as my dishwasher.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The problem was that the Ridgeline was as exciting as my dishwasher.

I dunno, I married my dishwasher.........

 

[ShadowsPapa]

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:

LOL - I'll take that bet Ask my friends and those I work for.

Anyway, I actually set out to prove you right and myself wrong on the doors as far as panels being flat or not flat, any indentations or uneven spots, that sort of thing. The reflections are pretty true to life without distortions. I was looking to find something.
All I found was by one of the driver door hinges it's like the hinge being bolted on pulled the panel in that area just a bit - not really unexpected. Unless it's totally clean and you lean down to that level, not noticeable. So in that respect - you got it.

The paint isn't like a grossly over-restored show car - it's a factory mass-painted truck, but the doors - no waves, ripples, no distortions or areas not flat.
The paint is about what I expect on ordinary production vehicles other than Lexus and so on (I expect perfection on those, on every square inch)

 

[jac04]

All I found was by one of the driver door hinges it's like the hinge being bolted on pulled the panel in that area just a bit - not really unexpected. Unless it's totally clean and you lean down to that level, not noticeable. So in that respect - you got it.
...
The paint is about what I expect on ordinary production vehicles ...

Agreed, it's just around the hinges, and you have to catch it just right in the light, bit it's there. I call it wavy, but I'll admit that's an exaggeration - it's really just minor distortion.

 

[ciagw]

Be honest. Asking about stock not modified Gladiators. I was fairly unimpressed when I test drove a Gladiator on the highway. It reminded me of a VW van getting pushed around in crosswinds. Off the highway it felt like any other decent modern vehicle... no issues. But on the highway at 75 mph I wondered how much I would enjoy a 5 hour drive... or not.

2021 gladiator Rubicon diesel - to be honest it is a bit of a pain in the ass on long trips at 70 mph ok less than even roads. Nothing crazy, it's just the solid front axle makes it wander way more than a Tacoma would. I've had a number of solid axle vehicles and the gladiator is definitely the best of the bunch in terms of highway handling, but it is considerably less comfortable than my 2018 ram 1500 outdoorsman was on long trips. In the ram I felt like I could do an 8 hour drive without batting an eye, in the gladiator after 2 hours I'm wanting a bit of a break. But that's also part of the character of driving a jeep, it ain't no Honda Ridgeline and frankly I like that. Just be prepared to constantly be steering as.opposed to holding the wheel with one finger at 70mph.

It does however feel very stable when cornering, passing, has plenty of power (at least my diesel does) and is way more engaging and fun to drive than my Ram was, not to mention 10 times better offroad and it turns heads the way a silver ram 1500 never will

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Nothing crazy, it's just the solid front axle makes it wander way more than a Tacoma would.

Solid front axles don't wander - not any more than another vehicle on a highway that's reasonably good. Wander is loose parts, lack of caster, tire issues, toe or other alignment issues.
Grand Cherokees used solid front axles for year without wander or issues.
When it's not windy, mine track right down the highway just fine. A bit more caster would be good, but it's no issue.
Sounds like yours needs to be looked at.
No, it's not a Jeep thing, nor is it a solid axle thing.

 

[DenverBob]

For context my previous truck was a GMC Denali HD and for fun I have a 2004 Porsche Boxster S. Of course the JTRD is not close in spec to either of these. But since picking up this machine in Feb. I have done 3 major highway road trips. Gupton to Denver in heavy wind. Denver round trip to San Fran to pickup a camper. Denver to Moab EJS towing the camper. This truck has far exceeded my expectations for comfort and control at 80+mph (not when towing) long distance road trips. I have done 12 hour days with no fatigue. For a 58 Y OLD FART… pretty impressive for a Jeep…and it was massively impressive on EJS trails. So… highway, daily driver, awesome four wheeler, tow vehicle… plus the most fun ‘naked’ on wheels. All that, and the best owner community on the planet…IMHO

caveat. I had the mopar 2” lift installed before I picked up the JT. So kinda stock but maybe not really.

side note: I pulled the trailer over Vail pass during freezing rain/snow, and not once did I ever feel the JT wasn’t up to the task, or that our lives were in danger. It’s when the going get’s tough that really matters.

 

[DenverBob]

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:

Wow that is sweet. I had a red 67 Camaro convertible…the sexiest lines for a car. Is that a stock color-68 or 69?

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