Pentastar or 3.0l?

[Mac]

Love all the posts about the 3.6 being underpowered, what were you guys driving 25-40 years ago? My ‘83 CJ-7 had 100hp, my ‘85 Toyota pickup had around 120hp, my ‘97 GMC with 5.7 had 255hp. I have had plenty of fast cars too but for what it is the JT with the 3.6 is not underpowered.

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[Wolf Island Diver]

Love all the posts about the 3.6 being underpowered, what were you guys driving 25-40 years ago? My ‘83 CJ-7 had 100hp, my ‘85 Toyota pickup had around 120hp, my ‘97 GMC with 5.7 had 255hp. I have had plenty of fast cars too but for what it is the JT with the 3.6 is not underpowered.

The 83’ CJ-7 weighed 2700lbs which is a little more than todays Miata. It’s less than a GT86 Toyobaru.

The Gladiator weighs between 4600lbs and over 5000 stock.

You’re dragging at least another ton around and you’re powering ACs and there’s more parasitic loss with all of the heavier components used in modern vehicles. There’s no comparison between a CJ and the JL and Ram platforms. Having owned a TJ as well, they have little in common with these new trucks either. The D44 in my 04 TJ was a twig compared to the one in my JT.

 

[Mac]

The 83’ CJ-7 weighed 2700lbs which is a little more than todays Miata. It’s less than a GT86 Toyobaru.

The Gladiator weighs between 4600lbs and over 5000 stock.

You’re dragging at least another ton around and you’re powering ACs and there’s more parasitic loss with all of the heavier components used in modern vehicles. There’s no comparison between a CJ and the JL and Ram platforms. Having owned a TJ as well, they have little in common with these new trucks either. The D44 in my 04 TJ was a twig compared to the one in my JT.

My ‘97 GMC was a loaded 4x4 extended cab, with less hp than the JT with a little more torque, didn’t tow as well as the JT either.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Love all the posts about the 3.6 being underpowered, what were you guys driving 25-40 years ago? My ‘83 CJ-7 had 100hp, my ‘85 Toyota pickup had around 120hp, my ‘97 GMC with 5.7 had 255hp. I have had plenty of fast cars too but for what it is the JT with the 3.6 is not underpowered.

I agree….The 3.6L is not underpowered. Not a hoot to drive either…just enough for a truck. It does just fine around town and did awesome in the Appalachian mountains for me at 80+ mph fine.

I think we just have a lot of speed demons on the forum lol.

 

[u-joint]

The 3.6L is the way to go IMHO. Better towing capacity, better cooling, better support from dealer and third party repair centers… oh, and cheaper too.

Other than the cool factor, I’m not certain what would persuade me to want the diesel.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

I agree….The 3.6L is not underpowered. Not a hoot to drive either…just enough for a truck. It does just fine around town and did awesome in the Appalachian mountains for me at 80+ mph fine.

I think we just have a lot of speed demons on the forum lol.

I hope no one is considering the diesel from a speed demon perspective. It’s not fast. In fact it’s a little laggy without tuning. My impression on drivability having owned a TJ, JK and now a JTRD is that it’s simply better at holding its speed and gear regardless of circumstances. It’s not as spry as my little 43’ Willys MB was but, hey.

Loaded down with gear, going up a mountain, towing, nothing seems to affect it. Loaded down with gear and running 37s on beadlocks I don’t want for power or pickup or gears and at 70MPH on the highway I’m getting 25-27 MPG and 400 miles of range. It doesn’t need to be regeared. I’ve also made it chirp tires a few times from a stop with these tires. I hear that with a pedal commander it almost too much.

Off road, it settles down in a crawl at idle a lot like the TJ or an in-line 4 but with way more torque. The JK with the pentastar was constantly making the obnoxious roaring fan noise and I constantly had to rev it up to get into the torque curve. If you like the TJs performance off road then the diesel is for you. It’s not about speed, it’s about the smoothness and low rpm tractor-like pull. My only complaint off road is that it lacks the engine breaking of the 4.0 and it likes to fill the DPF when idling up trails.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

I hope no one is considering the diesel from a speed demon perspective. It’s not fast. In fact it’s a little laggy without tuning. My impression on drivability having owned a TJ, JK and now a JTRD is that it’s simply better at holding its speed and gear regardless of circumstances. It’s not as spry as my little 43’ Willys MB was but, hey.

Loaded down with gear, going up a mountain, towing, nothing seems to affect it. Loaded down with gear and running 37s on beadlocks I don’t want for power or pickup or gears and at 70MPH on the highway I’m getting 25-27 MPG and 400 miles of range. It doesn’t need to be regeared. I’ve also made it chirp tires a few times from a stop with these tires. I hear that with a pedal commander it almost too much.

Off road, it settles down in a crawl at idle a lot like the TJ or an in-line 4 but with way more torque. The JK with the pentastar was constantly making the obnoxious roaring fan noise and I constantly had to rev it up to get into the torque curve. If you like the TJs performance off road then the diesel is for you. It’s not about speed, it’s about the smoothness and low rpm tractor-like pull. My only complaint off road is that it lacks the engine breaking of the 4.0 and it likes to fill the DPF when idling up trails.

I’m not knocking anyone wanting 442 lbft of torque, that’s for sure lol. It does that much better than the 3.6L.

I just feel like the 3.6 gets a lot of undeserved hate. Then again, I haven’t driven the 3.6 with 3.73 gears so maybe I just don’t know how bad it can be…I just know I have no issues with the 3.6L 18k miles later which includes stop and go traffic, city cruising, back road cruising, 10 hour drives loaded up 600-700 pounds of payload, etc.

At the end of the day, people debating the two engines just gotta drive both and figure out if the difference is worth the price. Can’t go wrong either way…each engine’s pros and cons equal out in my opinion.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

And what if you don't have a different truck.
Can the Diesel, even though it is rated for 6000lbs max,
pull a 7000lbs load?

My question is this - if you have a truck with a max tow rating of 6,000 pounds why in the heck would you own or buy anything that heavy and then buy the light-duty truck?
When I ended up dealing on my Overland with 6,000 pound tow limit I told me wife - uh, that's pushing it, my trailer with car will be 5700 pounds or so.......... my wife had a brilliant response:
"so go buy a lighter trailer". And I did. And I am very glad that JT forced me into a lighter better trailer.
This trailer is 600-700 pounds lighter. I matched things to my truck since I could - otherwise I'd have had to match the truck to my load.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Then again, I haven’t driven the 3.6 with 3.73 gears so maybe I just don’t know how bad it can be…

What do you mean how bad it can be? Mine tows fine. Just don't expect 20 mpg and staying in 8th gear. I used to think I "needed" 4.10 gears - not so much these days.

 

[Elff]

My question is this - if you have a truck with a max tow rating of 6,000 pounds why in the heck would you own or buy anything that heavy and then buy the light-duty truck

I agree, and that's why I got the gasser. I knew ahead of time, how much I would be towing and my max tow rating gives me plenty of spare room. ~1450lbs

My question, that you quoted, was directed at the Diesel people saying it tows better, yet it is rated 1000-1500lbs less than the gas engine. I believe this has been answered and for my needs, I got the correct engine.

FYI, that is one cool car you have on the trailer. I bet most people don't even know what that is.

 

[Bananaman]

Love all the posts about the 3.6 being underpowered, what were you guys driving 25-40 years ago? My ‘83 CJ-7 had 100hp, my ‘85 Toyota pickup had around 120hp, my ‘97 GMC with 5.7 had 255hp. I have had plenty of fast cars too but for what it is the JT with the 3.6 is not underpowered.

When I first test drove a Gladiator with the gas engine, I thought it had plenty of power. I was surprised in fact. I needed one to tow with though, so I got the diesel. If I were using it for just "truck" stuff the gas engine would be fine.

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