Partysub
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While I was shopping for my gladiator one of the things I researched the most was towing reviews and noticed they were all over the place with opinions and not many really fit my scenario so after my first tow with my truck I figured I'd do my own review. My gladiator is a 22 mojave with auto trans and my only mods at the moment are ace rails, rugged ridge stubby bumper and uptop overland rack. My previous vehicle was an 18 tacoma trd offroad with the manual transmission. I live in utah and drove from SLC to capitol reef on back roads, the freeway and mountain passes, so a pretty good mix of everything. I'm aware that the gladiator isn't the ideal towing vehicle, but where I go we are boondocking with no services and take my vehicle on trails while down there, so I didn't want a bigger truck.
When I had my tacoma I pulled campers ranging from about 3k pounds (rpod) up to somewhere in the 5k pound area (sunset trail super lite) down to maob multiple times. This time with the gladiator was a Rockwood geopro that was fully stocked with water tanks full. The owner of the camper said it was probably close to 5k with how he had it loaded and filled. There were 2 adults and 2 kids in the jeep with all of our stuff and some extras. I have no airbags installed and no weight distribution hitch and use a teknosha p3 brake controller. There was a decent amount of squat, but nothing too crazy.
Towing on "city" streets was significantly easier than my tacoma mostly due to the auto trans. Neither vehicle felt like it couldn't get up and go and navigating utahs terrible drivers was easy, but the gladiator just felt more "solid" and able to maneuver easier. The freeway was also easier with the gladiator, although 65-70 was about all I was comfortable driving which made me a slow poke, but im used to that towing here. The gladiator stayed in 6th or 7th on the freeway almost the whole time and I was getting about 15mpg during that chunk. The tacoma was very similar except for when I'd get passed by another camper or semi where it would get pushed around a little more.
Once off the freeway we were on back roads and had a 3k elevation gain going over a 8k elevation pass. The gladiator handled this ok and dropped down to 2nd gear towards the top and I was struggling to maintain over 45 which was very similar to the tacoma. Again, the big difference was the transmission that made this easier in the gladiator. Down hills were easy for both with the brake controller and never felt uncomfortable. Down in capitol reef the spot we chose was down a relatively rough dirt road and the gladiator handled it no problem. When I had the tacoma on similar dirt roads I'd have to throw it in 4lo to handle the inclines without burning the clutch. The whole trip down I averaged 12mpg which was pretty much identical to the tacoma.
On the ride home we had an almost constant 20+ mph head and cross wind the whole ride with gusts that were higher which made it significantly more difficult for the gladiator and it had to work much harder. It did ok and only have a few white knuckle moments where the camper was tipping hard from the gusts. I averaged 8mpg on the way home due to the wind.
Overall I am happy with how it towed and am anxious to use a weight distribution hitch next time we head out since that made a pretty big difference in the tacoma. Hope this review helps someone else in the same situation as me.
UPDATE! Recently I installed a lift and 37s and towed a camper down to Bryce canyon, so I figured this would add to my review for anyone looking to run 37s on stock 4.10 gears. The lift is the AEV 2 inch spacer lift with the rancho control arm drop brackets and the rims are method 305s with 37x12.5x17 patagonias. The wheels weighed roughly 90lbs each and measured 36.25 inches once mounted. I used a tazer mini to get everything calibrated and accurate. I kept my stock wheels to use for towing until I got around to a re-gear, but this trip was 75% on the freeway so I figured I'd see how good or bad it's like to tow with 37s and the 4.10s. Without towing the trailer I was averaging low to mid 16 mpg with the 37s.
The camper I pulled this time is a forester river mini lite model 1909s. The owner said its around 3300lbs dry and we had it filled with 40 gallons or fresh water and all our gear. He was confident it weighed in the low 4000s as it was setup. This time I used a weight distribution hitch and the trailer had a Bluetooth brake controller. The weather on the trip down to Bryce was about 102 and there was the normal 10 to 20 mph winds that are always in utah. The first half of the trip was very easy with the truck staying in either 5th 6th or 7th depending on the grade and speed and honestly didn't feel much different than stock...until I hit the first long incline. With the AC on hi and some constant headwind the truck struggled and dropped all the way to 2nd gear and about 45 mph going up the hill. Coolant temp shot up past the half mark and the trans temp got up to 210 and oil temp up to 240 before they all leveled off and the climb ended. These inclines continued for the last hour of the trip on the freeway and had me watching the gauges each time. Once off the freeway it was similar, but with slower speed limits it wasnt as tough on the truck. Once we got to Bryce we camped in the woods and the gladiator had no problem pulling the camper off road. The trip down I averaged 8mpg. On the way home I emptied the fresh, gray and black tanks before we hit the road to try to shed some weight. On the ride back to SLC the weather was mid 80s with spotty rain and on and off 20 mph winds that were mostly cross winds. Now I'm not sure if the inclines on the way back home were less steep or if the loss of the water weight helped or of the lower temps helped or all of the above, but the pull home was a much better experience and honestly felt very similar to stock. Coolant and trans and oil temp never got anywhere near what they did on the ride down and I was able to maintain a much more respectable speed on the freeway. I averaged just below 11 mpg on the way home. Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm still leaning towards a regear, but this trip is making me question if I really need to. Hope this helps anyone in a similar situation.
When I had my tacoma I pulled campers ranging from about 3k pounds (rpod) up to somewhere in the 5k pound area (sunset trail super lite) down to maob multiple times. This time with the gladiator was a Rockwood geopro that was fully stocked with water tanks full. The owner of the camper said it was probably close to 5k with how he had it loaded and filled. There were 2 adults and 2 kids in the jeep with all of our stuff and some extras. I have no airbags installed and no weight distribution hitch and use a teknosha p3 brake controller. There was a decent amount of squat, but nothing too crazy.
Towing on "city" streets was significantly easier than my tacoma mostly due to the auto trans. Neither vehicle felt like it couldn't get up and go and navigating utahs terrible drivers was easy, but the gladiator just felt more "solid" and able to maneuver easier. The freeway was also easier with the gladiator, although 65-70 was about all I was comfortable driving which made me a slow poke, but im used to that towing here. The gladiator stayed in 6th or 7th on the freeway almost the whole time and I was getting about 15mpg during that chunk. The tacoma was very similar except for when I'd get passed by another camper or semi where it would get pushed around a little more.
Once off the freeway we were on back roads and had a 3k elevation gain going over a 8k elevation pass. The gladiator handled this ok and dropped down to 2nd gear towards the top and I was struggling to maintain over 45 which was very similar to the tacoma. Again, the big difference was the transmission that made this easier in the gladiator. Down hills were easy for both with the brake controller and never felt uncomfortable. Down in capitol reef the spot we chose was down a relatively rough dirt road and the gladiator handled it no problem. When I had the tacoma on similar dirt roads I'd have to throw it in 4lo to handle the inclines without burning the clutch. The whole trip down I averaged 12mpg which was pretty much identical to the tacoma.
On the ride home we had an almost constant 20+ mph head and cross wind the whole ride with gusts that were higher which made it significantly more difficult for the gladiator and it had to work much harder. It did ok and only have a few white knuckle moments where the camper was tipping hard from the gusts. I averaged 8mpg on the way home due to the wind.
Overall I am happy with how it towed and am anxious to use a weight distribution hitch next time we head out since that made a pretty big difference in the tacoma. Hope this review helps someone else in the same situation as me.
UPDATE! Recently I installed a lift and 37s and towed a camper down to Bryce canyon, so I figured this would add to my review for anyone looking to run 37s on stock 4.10 gears. The lift is the AEV 2 inch spacer lift with the rancho control arm drop brackets and the rims are method 305s with 37x12.5x17 patagonias. The wheels weighed roughly 90lbs each and measured 36.25 inches once mounted. I used a tazer mini to get everything calibrated and accurate. I kept my stock wheels to use for towing until I got around to a re-gear, but this trip was 75% on the freeway so I figured I'd see how good or bad it's like to tow with 37s and the 4.10s. Without towing the trailer I was averaging low to mid 16 mpg with the 37s.
The camper I pulled this time is a forester river mini lite model 1909s. The owner said its around 3300lbs dry and we had it filled with 40 gallons or fresh water and all our gear. He was confident it weighed in the low 4000s as it was setup. This time I used a weight distribution hitch and the trailer had a Bluetooth brake controller. The weather on the trip down to Bryce was about 102 and there was the normal 10 to 20 mph winds that are always in utah. The first half of the trip was very easy with the truck staying in either 5th 6th or 7th depending on the grade and speed and honestly didn't feel much different than stock...until I hit the first long incline. With the AC on hi and some constant headwind the truck struggled and dropped all the way to 2nd gear and about 45 mph going up the hill. Coolant temp shot up past the half mark and the trans temp got up to 210 and oil temp up to 240 before they all leveled off and the climb ended. These inclines continued for the last hour of the trip on the freeway and had me watching the gauges each time. Once off the freeway it was similar, but with slower speed limits it wasnt as tough on the truck. Once we got to Bryce we camped in the woods and the gladiator had no problem pulling the camper off road. The trip down I averaged 8mpg. On the way home I emptied the fresh, gray and black tanks before we hit the road to try to shed some weight. On the ride back to SLC the weather was mid 80s with spotty rain and on and off 20 mph winds that were mostly cross winds. Now I'm not sure if the inclines on the way back home were less steep or if the loss of the water weight helped or of the lower temps helped or all of the above, but the pull home was a much better experience and honestly felt very similar to stock. Coolant and trans and oil temp never got anywhere near what they did on the ride down and I was able to maintain a much more respectable speed on the freeway. I averaged just below 11 mpg on the way home. Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm still leaning towards a regear, but this trip is making me question if I really need to. Hope this helps anyone in a similar situation.
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