New member thinking of trading my F250 for a Gladiator...

[crimsondave]

I'll miss him but he sure was harder to get in the garage....

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[DailyMoparGuy]

Hell yea man! Getting in shape and a new truck. Congrats!!!

 

[AdrianVall]

Congrats man! I went from a 2500 Power Wagon to my Gladiator. It’s just sooooo much easier to drive and just as fun. I do miss the power, but that cylinder deactivation was awful. I loathed it so much. I’d rather deal with ESS than MDS. ?

 

[Like-a-virgin]

Hear me out. I know it sounds ridiculous.

Two years ago I bought a 2020 F250 with a 7.3 gas engine and 4.33 gears. I've never had a trailer on it. If I did tow with it, it would be a 18 foot John boat or a four wheeler trailer. I bought the truck because I liked it and it had an old school big V8 with NO cylinder deactivation. I got the 4.33 gears because I thought it was cool how slow it would crawl in 4 low. That's it. I have a company truck I drive for work so I don't put many miles on my truck. It has less than 14,000 miles on it now. That's why I don't care that it drinks gas. I wanted a truck that would last 20 years and Ford claims that the 7.3 was built to last. Thus far, no problems and the heavy truck mechanic at the Ford dealer said they aren't having issues with them. When I bought the truck it was between it and a Gladiator simply because those where the two model trucks I liked even thought they aren't really similar.

However, I've been thrown a curve ball on my truck. I've been offered more for the dang thing than I paid for it new 2 years ago! F250s are apparently very hard to get right now. I can't replace my truck with another F250, BUT I can buy a brand new 2022 Gladiator for under MSRP and get 0%. If I make the same payment I make now I'll pay it off the exact same month I'd have paid off my 2 year old truck.

I drove a 2022 Gladiator Overland with the 3.6 and the tow package today. It is more cramped for a fat boy than my truck. However, even though it's a solid axle Jeep it rode substantially better than my F250. It was a nicer trim level than my XL STX Ford too. I really liked it. To be honest I still SLIGHTLY prefer my truck but not by much. I'm just not sure it makes sense to keep it at this point.

I guess my question is how reliable are Gladiators typically? I kept my 2004 GMC 16 years and I expected to keep the F250 20. The ridiculous car market is the only reason I'm even considering this. I've seen plenty of articles saying the newer 3.6 is a great and reliable engine but there's a post in the 3.6 section about a blown engine. Am I missing something important regarding how long I can expect a Gladiator to last? Can I expect it to hold its value the same way a Wrangler does? Sorry for the rambling but I thought the idea of swapping a F250 for a Gladiator needed a bit of explaining.

I’m rather chunky (profile pic) and I think of the inside of my 2023 sg JTS as a cockpit and there’s a coziness to that for me. I’m also soooo ignorant about mechanics but if they made this engine anything like the straight 6 from before it will last forever. I’m sure the real monkey wrenchers will have facts and not blond optimism like me.
But go for it!

 

[Like-a-virgin]

V6 Pentastar has been in production for ages so bugs have been worked out. it is reliable. Never had an F250 but had a 150. Nice truck.

But the Jeep is a different animal. Its main purpose is fun. Customize the hell it of it. Drive with top down (get soft top - you will enjoy it more) and take doors as much as possible. Or leave doors off all summer and drive work truck on rainy days.

The fun is what makes a Jeep. If you decide to have it as open as possible as much as possible and take as many dirt roads and trails as possible, you will love driving it like no other. If you just keep the top and doors on and drive it on paved roads, it is just another vehicle with slightly bad road manners.

I will keep mine forever.

Man, that’s a commercial right there. You just made me so proud to be a new member (12-20-23) of the club.

 

[Like-a-virgin]

There are other threads of people in similar situations regarding trading in a larger vehicle for the Gladiator.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...d-gas-for-a-new-2021-gladiator-rubicon.53865/

We use ours for towing our boat, off-roading and daily driver. We have 43,000 mi since August 2020.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/100000-mile-gladiator-owner-review/

Hey! I’m just down south from you in Paw Paw. Under two weeks w the sg JTS. Maybe you can educate me on some places around this side of the state. I hear there are dunes that you can drive with ORV stuff (not sure if that’s obtained through DNR or DMV). So far I have only driven over a curb from a parking lot but man, it felt pretty good.

 

[Like-a-virgin]

You got the Sarge! Sweet, man!

 

[Gvsukids]

Hey! I’m just down south from you in Paw Paw. Under two weeks w the sg JTS. Maybe you can educate me on some places around this side of the state. I hear there are dunes that you can drive with ORV stuff (not sure if that’s obtained through DNR or DMV). So far I have only driven over a curb from a parking lot but man, it felt pretty good.

Anywhere you can purchase a hunting license, you can purchase the needed stickers for the dunes, Drummond Island, and the state forests.

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