Overland or Rubicon - Can't Decide

[tncruiser]

Some benefits of Rubicon:

4.10 gears
Wide track axles
Lockers
Electronic swaybar disconnect
Highline fender flares
Nicer looking hood
Fox shocks
Bigger/nicer tires AT or MT

Overland

More of a feminine model
Better daily driver
More luxurious

"More of a feminine model "
Does the Rubicon make up for "a certain deficiency"
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Asking for a friend

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[dsgood78]

Hi guys – longtime reader / first-time poster. I am preparing to place my Gladiator order and I remain torn between the Rubicon and Overland. Based on my configuration, there is “only” a $3K difference between the two models. Although I don’t plan to tap into the capability of the Rubicon, I do like the aesthetic look of the vented hood, Fox shocks, chunkier tires, and steel bumper. In my view, if I elected to make any of these modifications on my own to the Overland, even if for purely aesthetic reasons, I’d already be approaching Rubicon cost, and so I might as well just go with the Rubicon to start with, which, beyond the aesthetic appeal, brings the added capability of the locking diffs, disconnecting sway bar, etc… This is not as big of a deal for me, but I could see the Rubicon holding its value slightly better for someone looking to take it off my hands in a few years purely as an offroad / adventure vehicle.

As for the Overland, I really prefer the leather covering on the dash to the painted plastic look of the Rubicon. I’m planning to go with the saddle brown leather, so I would lose the red accents in the Rubicon (which I do not prefer). I also like the functionality of the side step on the Overland (versus the rock rails on the Rubicon), although I’m not a huge fan of the gray plastic. If I go with the Rubicon, I’d probably add an electric side step at some point down the line, which would give me the functionality without all of the plastic.

I’m probably 80% sold on the Rubicon at this point, but interested in getting others’ thoughts! I suppose I should drive a Rubicon / Sahara JL in stock form for a driving comparison as well, but any comparative thoughts on driving dynamics would be very helpful also, even considering that the Gladiator rear end has more in common with the Ram 1500 than the JL.

My decision was made for me as my Overland North had every possible option except leather, and was $13000 off MSRP (dealer holdbacks, employee pricing, and a discount for being a demo with 800 miles). A Rubicon for me (even during pricing discounts) was going to be 7k more at least.

Mine will be a street daily driver and appears perfectly tuned for it. Do I want 35s? You bet. Do I want Fox (or better) shocks? Certainly! But I got what I could afford and what was comfortable for me AND I can change the things I want later (for a little more, sure...)

I have ZERO regrets getting my Overland North.

 

[jbn40301]

Just my opinion--- but nothing screams insecurity to me than someone trying to label things as 'feminine' or less 'masculine'.

P.S. I'm hoping you don't get offended by this reply. But if you do, I understand. Feeling like someone questioning your masculinity will sometimes make folks with insecurities even angrier.

Vote TRUMP and you will be ok.

 

[WXman]

OK, let's say you've got a payload of 1,148 lbs. and towing rating of 7,000 lbs.

Let's say you're going camping. Rarely does a guy camp alone, so let's say you're going to take your family. Assuming a 200 lb. driver, 150 lb. spouse, and two kids with a total weight of 200 lbs, that's a total of 550 lbs. right?

So now you've got 598 lbs. of payload remaining, because the owners manual specifically states that the driver, passengers, cargo, and tongue weight all subtract from the payload.

So now IF you do not put anything else at all in the cargo box, and your trailer applies 10% of its weight to the tongue, you can tow a 5,980 lb. trailer.

If you add, let's say, 150 lbs. worth of camping gear into the bed of the truck, then you're left with 448 lbs. of payload which, at 10% tongue weight, would cap you at a 4,480 lb. trailer.

My point being, it is VERY hard to reach the maximum trailer towing capacity (called GTW in the manual) on a Gladiator, and this is especially true of the Rubicon model. There are VERY specific conditions in which you can get anywhere close to the 7,000 lb. number, and so far Jeep has done a terrible job of explaining this in printed materials.

I still think Jeep needs to increase payload significantly, especially on the Overland model. If you're only getting groceries, why do you need a pickup anyway? To make this a truly useful truck trim level, it needs more payload.

 

[GRat]

Both are very nice. I went with overland for the ride and drive. the Rubi Is awesome and looks great! made a couple changes and I think it looks as good. Most of my drive will be on the road.

 

[Pug]

When I purchased in February, the price difference for same features was $6000 due to factory incentives on the Overland. So I purchased the Overland and have zero regrets. If the price difference was only $3000, I would have bought the Rubicon. Rubicon looks better and I am guessing will hold value better. But Overland has exceeded my expectations and has been very capable off road.

 

[GRat]

Love the overland

 

[j.o.y.ride]

I will throw in my $0.02 from an Overland buyer. The incentives made the difference like $12k so it was easy.

For me, the Rubicon is for the person who doesn't want to ever tinker or touch the truck. I will never understand the Rubicon buyer who ends up ditching the Rubicon bits.

ARB air lockers have a technical benefit over the e-lockers of the Rubicon of instant engagement vs needing a 1/2 turn of engagement. Can mean the difference of rolling back off an obstacle vs staying on the obstacle and moving forward. Maybe a rare case but it can matter... and no error codes that necessitate a new axle.

If you wanna go to 37s or bigger you will benefit from bigger diff gears, so the 4.10 benefit is out the window because you will be doing 4.88 or more.

The electronic sway disconnect is a very expensive part. Super handy but from anecdotes I have seen, manual disconnects will articulate more. I have no verified info on that though.

If you wanna leave 4.10, if you are okay with e-lockers, if you want it all just prepared for you... or the price happens to be very close... then get the Rubicon. But if you are going to work on the truck I wouldn't personally bother.

 

[BAT]

I will throw in my $0.02 from an Overland buyer. The incentives made the difference like $12k so it was easy.

For me, the Rubicon is for the person who doesn't want to ever tinker or touch the truck. I will never understand the Rubicon buyer who ends up ditching the Rubicon bits.

ARB air lockers have a technical benefit over the e-lockers of the Rubicon of instant engagement vs needing a 1/2 turn of engagement. Can mean the difference of rolling back off an obstacle vs staying on the obstacle and moving forward. Maybe a rare case but it can matter... and no error codes that necessitate a new axle.

If you wanna go to 37s or bigger you will benefit from bigger diff gears, so the 4.10 benefit is out the window because you will be doing 4.88 or more.

The electronic sway disconnect is a very expensive part. Super handy but from anecdotes I have seen, manual disconnects will articulate more. I have no verified info on that though.

If you wanna leave 4.10, if you are okay with e-lockers, if you want it all just prepared for you... or the price happens to be very close... then get the Rubicon. But if you are going to work on the truck I wouldn't personally bother.

I might not understand folks getting rid of Rubicon parts but I surely thank them for doing so cause I have been able to add a bunch of Rubicon grade stuff to my JT for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Texops]

I still think Jeep needs to increase payload significantly, especially on the Overland model. If you're only getting groceries, why do you need a pickup anyway? To make this a truly useful truck trim level, it needs more payload.

It’s not a full-size truck WXman and it does just as good as all other mid size trucks. If you are towing all day every day go with a full sized 1/2 ton truck like most everybody else. It’s not as fun but does the job

 

[Slapping_Rabbits]

I will throw in my $0.02 from an Overland buyer. The incentives made the difference like $12k so it was easy.

For me, the Rubicon is for the person who doesn't want to ever tinker or touch the truck. I will never understand the Rubicon buyer who ends up ditching the Rubicon bits.

ARB air lockers have a technical benefit over the e-lockers of the Rubicon of instant engagement vs needing a 1/2 turn of engagement. Can mean the difference of rolling back off an obstacle vs staying on the obstacle and moving forward. Maybe a rare case but it can matter... and no error codes that necessitate a new axle.

If you wanna go to 37s or bigger you will benefit from bigger diff gears, so the 4.10 benefit is out the window because you will be doing 4.88 or more.

The electronic sway disconnect is a very expensive part. Super handy but from anecdotes I have seen, manual disconnects will articulate more. I have no verified info on that though.

If you wanna leave 4.10, if you are okay with e-lockers, if you want it all just prepared for you... or the price happens to be very close... then get the Rubicon. But if you are going to work on the truck I wouldn't personally bother.

Yep that's me. It's not that I don't want to tinker. I just don't have the time with both of us working and two kids. I put a rack and tonneau cover on and eventually I'll get a steel front bumper with a winch but that's probably it. Maybe 35s on the next set of tires. We'll see. Either way it's very off-road capable so I'm good without having to do much except learn how to use it as is.

 

[Jeepnoob34]

I still think Jeep needs to increase payload significantly, especially on the Overland model. If you're only getting groceries, why do you need a pickup anyway? To make this a truly useful truck trim level, it needs more payload.

While I won’t disagree that it would be nice to have a higher payload on the overland, I have to disagree on the useful part.
You can do soooo much with a truck bed that doesn’t require a large payload. I’ve used it for firewood, dirtbikes, tires, kids softball equipment, drive in theater , etc. I had a Ram 1500 with a v8 5.4l before this and I used it for the exact same things. If I had large items to tow or haul, there’s much better options than any model the gladiator has.

 

[Mac Attack]

Just curious as to what the hell you guys are towing that is over 6,000 lbs??

7000 lbs of BS

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