Questions regarding the Gladiator

[DBravo]

2020 JT Overland Punk'n Orange Metallic Clearcoat, 8-speed automatic, Body Color Freedom HardTop, Mopar Tri-fold hard tonneau cover, Stock suspension, 18" Granite Crystal Wheels, 255/70R18 Goodyear Wrangler ATA tires. Purchased new, 36k miles currently.
Added Bestop Sunrider last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Use HardTop in winter


1. What do you guys do when you have to pick up people from the airport and have luggage?
Or when there is inclement weather and you have to transport luggage? I have never driven
a pickup before but love the looks of the Gladiator (it also helps that its one of my favorite movies).

Answer: Just returned from a 650 miles trip with 5ea full-size hard-side samsonite suitcases lying flat in the bed under my Mopar Tri-Fold hard tonneau cover. There was room on top for boots, pillows and some other low profile items (3.5"-4" of space).
I have a drop-in bed liner installed by Yankee customs (Massachusetts). The installer added heavy duty foam seal all the way around three top edges of the mounting rails that contacts the mopar rubber seal on the edge of the tonneau cover. The edge that contacts the tailgate has a triple ribbed rubber seal that closes tight. If any water gets in the bed, it's from around the tailgate and that is mitigated with a trimmed down piece of pool noodle pushed iinto the gap witht he tailgate closed.

2. Is the Gladiator a good daily driver? Namely the Mojave trim?

Answer: Can't speak to the Mojave. I drive about 80 miles per day on highway and major secondary roads. Very comfortable and average 21mpg. Have taken 4 very comfortable trips over 600 miles/10 hours. My wife comments that the Gladiator rides and drives more smoothly than her '21 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. I agree, the Gladiator has a longer wheelbase and is a little heavier:
Gladiator 188" long vs Wrangler 218"
Gladiator 4,720 lbs vs Wrangler 4,263

3. Is the Mojave good in snow?
Answer: Can't speak to the Mojave. I added 2 ea 60lb tubes of tube sand in the bed last winter and had zero issues.

Overall, no regrets at all and still enjoying it. Good luck!

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[DBravo]

I have two that are 6'3" and 6'4" and they sit in the back no problem. If i'm in the Gladiator, I'm drivin!

 

[DBravo]

Yes, exactly the same as a Wrangler in the back. Not huge. But not bad at all. It even holds a car seat pretty well.

I find the Gladiator back seat more comfortable than my wife's '21 Wrangler Sahara. The Sahara seats slide forward when you flip them down, so the backs are more upright to enable the slide/pivot. You can actually purchase aftermarket brackets to add about 1/2" to the front of the seat bottoms to add angle. The Gladiator seats flip up for storage, so there's no movement when you flip the backs down. The end result seems to be a more comfortable seat back angle - not that I sit in the back too often in MY Gladiator...

 

[Trickster]

Dear Forum,

I am in the market for a new JT. Just had a couple of quick questions to ask:

1. What do you guys do when you have to pick up people from the airport and have luggage?
Or when there is inclement weather and you have to transport luggage? I have never driven
a pickup before but love the looks of the Gladiator (it also helps that its one of my favorite movies).

2. Is the Gladiator a good daily driver? Namely the Mojave trim?

3. Is the Mojave good in snow?

Guess I am some sort of a skeptical/conspiracy type of person, but question 1 and 3 appear to be odd.
Unless the OP just landed in the USA and has absolutely no idea about vehicles, then I suppose they are valid. I guess what is so obvious to many is not for some?
1. Where do you put luggage in a truck?
3. Is an off-road 4x4 good in the snow?
Clients?

Feels like a Bronco troller……..

 

[NC_Overland]

Guess I am some sort of a skeptical/conspiracy type of person, but question 1 and 3 appear to be odd.
Unless the OP just landed in the USA and has absolutely no idea about vehicles, then I suppose they are valid. I guess what is so obvious to many is not for some?
1. Where do you put luggage in a truck?
3. Is an off-road 4x4 good in the snow?
Clients?

Feels like a Bronco troller……..

Not really. If it was a troller, there would be slight digs in there and I haven’t seen any.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Guess I am some sort of a skeptical/conspiracy type of person, but question 1 and 3 appear to be odd.
Unless the OP just landed in the USA and has absolutely no idea about vehicles, then I suppose they are valid. I guess what is so obvious to many is not for some?
1. Where do you put luggage in a truck?
3. Is an off-road 4x4 good in the snow?
Clients?

Feels like a Bronco troller……..

If you've never had a pickup before - you'd not know. There's a lot of people who ask me how do I keep things dry....... and I have had trucks AND covers that did not keep things dry back there. The JT does, the biggest issues IMO is the tail gate doesn't keep snow and crap out. A seal can fix that.

As far as snow - they see a pickup - not all are worth a crap in snow. With the right tires, and driving right, these are good. I saw the Gladiator as a small truck made by Jeep.

 

[Fpinto]

Dear Forum,

I am in the market for a new JT. Just had a couple of quick questions to ask:

1. What do you guys do when you have to pick up people from the airport and have luggage?
Or when there is inclement weather and you have to transport luggage? I have never driven
a pickup before but love the looks of the Gladiator (it also helps that its one of my favorite movies).

2. Is the Gladiator a good daily driver? Namely the Mojave trim?

3. Is the Mojave good in snow?

I suggest get a Base model (Sports S) with Max Tow package with Heated steering and Seats. People normally buy Rubicon or higher models and rip it apart and build their own. it's a waste of money.
Buy base and add whatever you want later

 

[WILDHOBO]

I suggest get a Base model (Sports S) with Max Tow package with Heated steering and Seats. People normally buy Rubicon or higher models and rip it apart and build their own. it's a waste of money.
Buy base and add whatever you want later

Please ignore this if what I’m about to mention includes features you don’t plan on using ever. Max tow or rubicon are quite important for the extra engine and transmission cooling you get with the towing package, and larger alternator, items difficult to add later. Rubicon also has heavier duty, wider axles, as does the sport s max tow, but also has front and rear lockers and front sway bar automatic disconnect motor. In my opinion, adding lockers is very expensive after the fact. If you think you’ll use them, they’re cheaper from the factory, and are warrantied. I’m unaware of a way to add a sway bar disconnect motor to a non rubicon. Adding lockers will likely void your axle warranty and is expensive. I’ve seen costs of upgrading sport and sport s to get to what a rubicon is stock, and it seems the money is similar, if not higher to retrofit. If one is just planning on shocks and springs, sport s might be a fine platform. If someone wants lockers, off road plus, and sway bar disconnect, I think you’ll spend less getting them from the factory. It is true we have a rubicon that is getting a lift and tires, but it’s extremely capable stock already.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Please ignore this if what I’m about to mention includes features you don’t plan on using ever. Max tow or rubicon are quite important for the extra engine and transmission cooling you get with the towing package, and larger alternator, items difficult to add later.

You get the cooling and 240 amp alternator on Overland with tow package, too. Went over all that with the sales guy (who had been to school on Gladiator). My truck has the exact same fan and alternator and transmission cooling as Rubicon or max tow. My build sheet even specifies the 240 amp alternator, etc.

 

[Fortus]

I am also thinking about going manual. Do you guys have manuals? How is it?

I test drove the manual and the automatic back-to-back and went with the automatic. IMO, too heavy a vehicle for a manual. Plus you get an extra 2 gears with the auto.

 

[WILDHOBO]

You get the cooling and 240 amp alternator on Overland with tow package, too. Went over all that with the sales guy (who had been to school on Gladiator). My truck has the exact same fan and alternator and transmission cooling as Rubicon or max tow. My build sheet even specifies the 240 amp alternator, etc.

True. Factory tow gets you cooling and larger alternator. The other items I mentions I thought were at lesser worth knowing. We purchased ours for the towing capacity. At the time, we didn’t know the max tow sport s existed, but might have purchased that if we did. Now after the fact, I would have had buyers remorse if I found out about the axle strength, lockers, and sway bar disconnect that we didn’t get. This is especially true because we use all of those features, a lot, and often.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

True. Factory tow gets you cooling and larger alternator. The other items I mentions I thought were at lesser worth knowing. We purchased ours for the towing capacity. At the time, we didn’t know the max tow sport s existed, but might have purchased that if we did. Now after the fact, I would have had buyers remorse if I found out about the axle strength, lockers, and sway bar disconnect that we didn’t get. This is especially true because we use all of those features, a lot, and often.

I have found out from dealer who pointed me to a couple of articles, all JTs get the 10mm thick axle tubes walls vs. the earlier 7mm thick axle tube walls. The problem is some are going by old blogs and magazine articles that confused things by saying "10mm thicker than Wrangler" and "because of the requirements of Rubicon and towing..........." and assumed that meant one thing - and it really meant they did it on all Gladiators. I tracked this down and found a ton of bad info out there that has been read - and repeated without checking at the source - engineers.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I have found out from dealer who pointed me to a couple of articles, all JTs get the 10mm thick axle tubes walls vs. the earlier 7mm thick axle tube walls. The problem is some are going by old blogs and magazine articles that confused things by saying "10mm thicker than Wrangler" and "because of the requirements of Rubicon and towing..........." and assumed that meant one thing - and it really meant they did it on all Gladiators. I tracked this down and found a ton of bad info out there that has been read - and repeated without checking at the source - engineers.

This has been shown many times. Do you have access to a window sticker for a non max tow sport? My rubicon window sticker specifically lists heavy duty wide Dana 44’s. I’d love to see a non max tow sport, overland, or high altitude sticker to compare. But my point regarding lockers and sway bar disconnect are still valid to anyone who might want those in their build. Much more complicated, and costly to do that aftermarket. Complicated due to loss of warranty as soon as you add lockers. Axle warranty only of course.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This has been shown many times. Do you have access to a window sticker for a non max tow sport? My rubicon window sticker specifically lists heavy duty wide Dana 44’s. I’d love to see a non max tow sport, overland, or high altitude sticker to compare. But my point regarding lockers and sway bar disconnect are still valid to anyone who might want those in their build. Much more complicated, and costly to do that aftermarket. Complicated due to loss of warranty as soon as you add lockers. Axle warranty only of course.

I'd agree on the lockers....... but then those have been argued both ways as far as being needed or not needed. Even some of the "hard core" folks say "naw".
Sway bar disconnects - do you want to do it from the comfort of the cab by pushing a button, or add quick disconnects for a few bucks and skip the electronics? Again, there's a choice. Simple and cheap or push a button from the cab and hope that disconnect holds up LOL
So even there one must weigh how really important it is to have the electric disconnect vs. a couple minutes manually, and if they feel lockers are necessary for their needs. People need to go in with eyes open and what their plans for that truck really are. Too few buy for the moment.

Here ya go - the one and only difference is the word "wide". Window sticker, build sheet, whatever - they are all heavy-duty. The difference is wide. I have other snippets in the house I can't access from my shop here......

And a Sport not max tow not wide axles with 3.73 ratio (so pretty obviously not a max tow) showing heavy duty -

 

[WILDHOBO]

I'd agree on the lockers....... but then those have been argued both ways as far as being needed or not needed. Even some of the "hard core" folks say "naw".
Sway bar disconnects - do you want to do it from the comfort of the cab by pushing a button, or add quick disconnects for a few bucks and skip the electronics? Again, there's a choice. Simple and cheap or push a button from the cab and hope that disconnect holds up LOL
So even there one must weigh how really important it is to have the electric disconnect vs. a couple minutes manually, and if they feel lockers are necessary for their needs. People need to go in with eyes open and what their plans for that truck really are. Too few buy for the moment.

Here ya go - the one and only difference is the word "wide". Window sticker, build sheet, whatever - they are all heavy-duty. The difference is wide. I have other snippets in the house I can't access from my shop here......

And a Sport not max tow not wide axles with 3.73 ratio (so pretty obviously not a max tow) showing heavy duty -

Perfect. Thanks. I, as promised in other threads with you, will try to get a good look later this month when my axles are torn apart for a regear and axle shaft upgrades in the front. And my price for a rubicon with leather, adaptive cruise, blind spot, 4.10:1 axles, lockers, and sway bar disconnect was obviously higher at 52k, a 16k difference. My point is only that If you want 4.10 or better, bigger tires, lockers, sway bar disconnect, and at least rubicon equivalent suspension, I believe that’s going to cost more than 16k aftermarket. And several of those things will also then maybe void portions or all of the drivetrain warranty.

In summary, I’m only discouraging base or sport purchases, if the intent is to build it to rubicon specs or better. I think one will spend more, and end up with less warranty coverage. If sport or overland is the end of one’s goals, by all means go that route. I’m just contesting the idea of starting a big build with a sport or overland.

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