Max Tow vs Rubicon for Towing

[eaglerugby04]

That was really a joke as a friend has one and that became its nickname for a variety of reasons.

Last year, I was in NC for a meeting and my Uber driver picked me up in his 2015 Prius. Not too impressive, but then when I got back to Atlanta, I was picked up by a 2019 Prius. Wow, it was quite nice and very peppy. Nothing like the instant torque of an electric motor.

I love to joke on mine all the time too, its just to easy. lol

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[Jaxmax]

New member been researching in anticipation of buying a Gladiator to replace my 2008 Suburbabn for towing camper ,landscape trailer and boat all under 5.000 lbs. actual weight, live in Pa. not much rock or mud time at all but am a surf fisherman running the east coaat and kayak fish from Chesapeake to Salem Mass. Have had mostly jeeps 46' CJ2A, Scrambler, Jeep pickup up Wrangler edition, then Chevy trucks two pickups, two tahoes and lastly the 1500 Suburban , towed with all including the flat fender.Wife drivess 2019 Wranger UL, had 2010 wrangler UL.

The difference in the three Gladiator heavy tow rating editions as I see it are:

Sport Max tow........Highest Tow and payload due to, same drive train, but heavier rated springs , lowest gearing due to smaller tires.

Rubicon.....................Second highest tow and payload due mainly to softer springs designed more for off road articulation then work , and larger /wider tires. Plus I guess some amount of weight is added.

Mojave.......................Lowest of the three Payload and towing due to the softest springs designed for soft ride at high speeds before valving kicks in on the "big" hits, and the same larger tires compared to Sport Max Tow.

My choice backed up with an order( 7/15) for a 2021 Hydra Blue Mojave, listed at $55,000. Decided Mojave for better ride all around ,no need for front locker , no front sway bar disconnect, rear locker can lock in in 4H up to 55mph, did not get unnessacary things like remote access, 8.4 inch screen, but did get leather heated seats, bed liner ,select trac transfer case, and I hate black wheels so dropped the over $900 for optonal polished wheels.( really annoyed but it's my one thing on there I splurged on) Truck is getting an RSI smart cap, roof rack to carry surf rods and kayaks, and a front mounted cooler/ surf rod rack. Suburban I have has Air-lift bags in rear springs and I have liked them, might put in Mojave if I feel the need. I'm an electrician hench pretty anal, but I do know running down the highway with surf rod rack with cooler on front raises the tranny tempeture about ten degrees, removing just the cooler and putting in back of Suburban temp. stays at normal temp. Yes we drove down the highway getting the cooler in and out of the truck three times to prove it.
Hopefully Mojave and Smart cap both come around beginning of October!.....Jack ,

 

[Jeeperjamie]

New member been researching in anticipation of buying a Gladiator to replace my 2008 Suburbabn for towing camper ,landscape trailer and boat all under 5.000 lbs. actual weight, live in Pa. not much rock or mud time at all but am a surf fisherman running the east coaat and kayak fish from Chesapeake to Salem Mass. Have had mostly jeeps 46' CJ2A, Scrambler, Jeep pickup up Wrangler edition, then Chevy trucks two pickups, two tahoes and lastly the 1500 Suburban , towed with all including the flat fender.Wife drivess 2019 Wranger UL, had 2010 wrangler UL.

The difference in the three Gladiator heavy tow rating editions as I see it are:

Sport Max tow........Highest Tow and payload due to, same drive train, but heavier rated springs , lowest gearing due to smaller tires.

Rubicon.....................Second highest tow and payload due mainly to softer springs designed more for off road articulation then work , and larger /wider tires. Plus I guess some amount of weight is added.

Mojave.......................Lowest of the three Payload and towing due to the softest springs designed for soft ride at high speeds before valving kicks in on the "big" hits, and the same larger tires compared to Sport Max Tow.

My choice backed up with an order( 7/15) for a 2021 Hydra Blue Mojave, listed at $55,000. Decided Mojave for better ride all around ,no need for front locker , no front sway bar disconnect, rear locker can lock in in 4H up to 55mph, did not get unnessacary things like remote access, 8.4 inch screen, but did get leather heated seats, bed liner ,select trac transfer case, and I hate black wheels so dropped the over $900 for optonal polished wheels.( really annoyed but it's my one thing on there I splurged on) Truck is getting an RSI smart cap, roof rack to carry surf rods and kayaks, and a front mounted cooler/ surf rod rack. Suburban I have has Air-lift bags in rear springs and I have liked them, might put in Mojave if I feel the need. I'm an electrician hench pretty anal, but I do know running down the highway with surf rod rack with cooler on front raises the tranny tempeture about ten degrees, removing just the cooler and putting in back of Suburban temp. stays at normal temp. Yes we drove down the highway getting the cooler in and out of the truck three times to prove it.
Hopefully Mojave and Smart cap both come around beginning of October!.....Jack ,

Sport Max tow and Rubicon both have 4.10 gears,

 

[Jaxmax]

Both have same gearing at 4.10 rears but tires on Rubicon are 33” from factory, while 31.5” on Sport Max tow, from Goodyear website. One and a half inches makes a difference in the Max Tow favor not sure how much but a difference. A lot of people when making the choice on models plan on increasing tires on Max Tow, while not as many would on a Rubicon.....Jack

 

[Phljeeper]

I am looking at campers in the 3000-3500lbs range, hoping to keep it under 4000-4500lbs loaded up just to be safe on the JTR. Just needs enough room for me and the wife.
More concerned about the trailer brake and getting that squared away. I watched plenty of videos of others installing and not comfortable doing it myself.

If the plug is there (due to buying a factory tow package) then there is nothing to the install. Literally stick the controller to the dash somewhere and plug the controller into the plug using the pre made harness.

 

[ADK Tiro]

can anybody tell me why the tow rating drops 2500 lbs for the JTR when you switch from aurmatic transmission to manual transmission?

 

[PyrPatriot]

can anybody tell me why the tow rating drops 2500 lbs for the JTR when you switch from aurmatic transmission to manual transmission?

cooling issues. Clutch plates were literally catching on fire when not towing, but for unrelated reasons

 

[steelponycowboy]

I ended up having to go with the Rubicon because the Mojave is not available with the diesel, a real disappointment as the Mojave IMO was a better option for me.

 

[ADK Tiro]

cooling issues. Clutch plates were literally catching on fire when not towing, but for unrelated reasons

Are you telling me they haven’t fixed this issue yet? They had recalls out for that issue for months now. They built me one that still has the same issue?

 

[PyrPatriot]

Are you telling me they haven’t fixed this issue yet? They had recalls out for that issue for months now. They built me one that still has the same issue?

Cant say that is the case. I DOUBT that FCA would not have fixed the problem in such a way that it doesnt happen again. I was referring to the recall and didnt know that folks could order manuals again

 

[ADK Tiro]

Cant say that is the case. I DOUBT that FCA would not have fixed the problem in such a way that it doesnt happen again. I was referring to the recall and didnt know that folks could order manuals again

I would hope not! I was able to order the 2020 at the end of June. It’s a Rubicon with manual tranny. It’s supposed to be here by the end of the week! From what I’ve been reading, it was a good thing I didn’t want to wait for the 2021 diesel. It looks like they’re going to have even less tow capacity. Of course, I didn’t really want a diesel anyway...

The more my wife and I talk about it, she seems to be up more for buying a smaller camper. Maybe we won’t wait until I retire...Sell the travel trailer we have now while everyone’s looking for campers, do some tenting until things have blown over, and buy cheaper in the winter this year or next... Man, I love to rationalize

 

[ADK Tiro]

Ok. I now have the new Gladiator and am trying to find its towing capacity. Nothing on the doors. I sign up for Mopar App and it tells me -1lb or -4,538,252.45 kg. So...I call Mopar and the girl is friendly, but she looks it up and comes back with the answer of 632kg. Still not right (it better not be!). So I call the dealer and they say they can look it up, but haven’t gotten back to me yet. I insisted they not give the 4500 lb answer that is in the manual. After all, my Gladiator was built in the last month, so they’ve hopefully figured out the manual case issue and it should be rated for higher capacity, right? Let me know your opinions. Is there any way to contact Jeep directly? I don’t want to go through Mopar any more. They also state the payload capacity is 1145lbs.

 

[ADK Tiro]

Is there any way to contact Jeep directly? I don’t want to go through Mopar any more.

And the number is not the 1-877-IAM-JEEP number that it states at the Jeep.com website. That takes you to Mopar.

 

[ADK Tiro]

Ok. I now have the new Gladiator and am trying to find its towing capacity. Nothing on the doors. I sign up for Mopar App and it tells me -1lb or -4,538,252.45 kg. So...I call Mopar and the girl is friendly, but she looks it up and comes back with the answer of 632kg. Still not right (it better not be!). So I call the dealer and they say they can look it up, but haven’t gotten back to me yet. I insisted they not give the 4500 lb answer that is in the manual. After all, my Gladiator was built in the last month, so they’ve hopefully figured out the manual case issue and it should be rated for higher capacity, right? Let me know your opinions. Is there any way to contact Jeep directly? I don’t want to go through Mopar any more. They also state the payload capacity is 1145lbs.

Even the dealer salesman couldn’t give me a definitive answer. He said 4000lbs was what he found, but I don’t think he took into account the Tow package. He also couldn’t tell me if they were updated stats for the new MT or not. He did state that they fixed the issue with the MT clutch plate. So again, shouldn’t that give it a higher rating?

 

[MrFahrenheit]

The towing capacity for any MT is except the Rubicon/Mojave is 4000 lbs. The Rubicon/Mojave MT's are rated at 4500 lbs There was a clutch plate overheating recall which is what your dealer was referring to. There is no new MT with any updated towing capacity.

Info on Recall: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...miss-overheating-clutch-pressure-plate.28863/

From Jeeps' site, you can see any Manual transmission (except Rubicon/Mojave which is 4500 lbs) has a towing capacity of 4000 lbs.

https://www.jeep.com/model-compare....2TS|CUJ202011JTJL98D,2TL|CUJ202011JTJP98A,2TG

There's also some towing capacity numbers listed in the spec sheets here (scroll down to page 7 and 8 of the Specifications sheet):

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ecifications-sheet-feature-availability.8468/

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