Trail map to a worthy successor for my truck.

[Elanachan]

Hey there. I'm new to the forums after lurking for some time, particularly with interest in regards to camper shell designs for our new jeep pickup. Due to a building number of mechanical problems, I fear my current truck, a 2006 Nissan Nismo Crewcab might be getting close to the end of it's useful life, and the moment I discovered the Gladiator, I fell in love. My family has had a jeep in the past, my mom had an old 4-door XJ Cherokee Laredo, which stayed in the family until my brother managed to fry the engine due to an oil leak that went unattended to, and now I'm looking to get into the brand again as a successor to my current work/play vehicle. Probably 80-90% of my driving is on pavement, however I do take it offroading when I get the chance, and have found the rear locking diff a godsend on one of the trails I took it on in the La Sal mountains near Moab.

That being said, I am trying to get the most out of my money when trying to come up with something that would be the best bang for the buck given my needs, and I have a few questions I'm trying to get answered to figure out which direction (trim, and possible aftermarket alterations) to go with. As mentioned before, I'm experienced enough to be going on trails that require a diff locker, and going by the trail book they sell at the visitor's center in Moab, I would say I aim fairly comfortable on most intermediate trails.

Here are the questions I've been able to come up with:
1. Rated both by cost and performance, would aftermarket diff locks on the sport be just as good as the ones fitted stock to the rubicon for a lower price point?

2. If #1 is true, could a dealer be persuaded to add the bed rails to the sport model, or would I have to move to the Sport S trim?

3. If cost is a concern, would it be better to learn how to drive a stick (never had the chance to learn apart from motorcycles), or play it safe with the $2K extra for the automatic?

4. If I got the rubicon, how useful is that front camera for trail rides in practice?

5. For the Sport, Sport S and Rubicon, how well do the cloth seats do with spills and getting wet from say, rain or getting splashed from playing in puddles/streams? (ease of being cleaned and water resistance are my primary reasons to get the leather seats).

6: If I were to get the rubicon with the intention of eventually installing a winch, should I go with the premium stock bumper, or look into something aftermarket?

7: What is the Aux Switch group for, is this just for things like additional lights, or could it be used for other things? Truth be told, when I first saw it I wondered if it might be linked to an aux port for the radio, only to wonder why there would be a need for more than one of those.
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Tentative build with modifications based on feedback:

Trim level: Rubicon
Color (in order of choice preference): Blue, Orange, Red
Forward-facing Trailcam
Standard Wheels
Mud-Terrain Tires
Dual top group - Might changed based on feedback/research.
Tonneau cover - Only included if the dual top group is selected.
Spray-in bedliner
Standard Rubicon Cloth Seats
Uconnect® 4C NAV with 8.4-Inch Display - Included with Trailcam
Alpine Primium Audio - Included with 8.4-Inch Display
Soft-top window storage bag - To be omitted if going with hard top only.
All-weather slush floor mats
Hardtop Headliner - Might remove if the added (temperature and sound) insulation doesn't do much.
Trailer Tow Package - Towing isn't something being done on a regular basis, but this would end up being the only vehicle available for doing so, also, I have a hitch-mounted bike rack available for use.
Aux Switch Group - Even if I decide to go aftermarket for a winch attachment later in the vehicle's life, it will be good to have the buttons and wiring already in-place.
Cargo Management Group with Trail Rail system - the Jeep equivalent of what I've got in the back of my Frontier. I use the bed rails and the under seat storage frequently for household projects and runs to the hardware store, the extra 115-volt outlet is just icing on the cake for me.
Automatic transmission - All-around, the pros seem to outweigh the cons of going with the cheaper option of choosing the manual.

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[homerun]

Hey there. I'm new to the forums after lurking for some time, particularly with interest in regards to camper shell designs for our new jeep pickup. Due to a building number of mechanical problems, I fear my current truck, a 2006 Nissan Nismo Crewcab might be getting close to the end of it's useful life, and the moment I discovered the Gladiator, I fell in love. My family has had a jeep in the past, my mom had an old 4-door XJ Cherokee Laredo, which stayed in the family until my brother managed to fry the engine due to an oil leak that went unattended to, and now I'm looking to get into the brand again as a successor to my current work/play vehicle. Probably 80-90% of my driving is on pavement, however I do take it offroading when I get the chance, and have found the rear locking diff a godsend on one of the trails I took it on in the La Sal mountains near Moab.

That being said, I am trying to get the most out of my money when trying to come up with something that would be the best bang for the buck given my needs, and I have a few questions I'm trying to get answered to figure out which direction (trim, and possible aftermarket alterations) to go with. As mentioned before, I'm experienced enough to be going on trails that require a diff locker, and going by the trail book they sell at the visitor's center in Moab, I would say I aim fairly comfortable on most intermediate trails.

Here are the questions I've been able to come up with:
1. Rated both by cost and performance, would aftermarket diff locks on the sport be just as good as the ones fitted stock to the rubicon for a lower price point?

2. If #1 is true, could a dealer be persuaded to add the bed rails to the sport model, or would I have to move to the Sport S trim?

3. If cost is a concern, would it be better to learn how to drive a stick (never had the chance to learn apart from motorcycles), or play it safe with the $2K extra for the automatic?

4. If I got the rubicon, how useful is that front camera for trail rides in practice?

5. For the Sport, Sport S and Rubicon, how well do the cloth seats do with spills and getting wet from say, rain or getting splashed from playing in puddles/streams? (ease of being cleaned and water resistance are my primary reasons to get the leather seats).

6: If I were to get the rubicon with the intention of eventually installing a winch, should I go with the premium stock bumper, or look into something aftermarket?

7: What is the Aux Switch group for, is this just for things like additional lights, or could it be used for other things? Truth be told, when I first saw it I wondered if it might be linked to an aux port for the radio, only to wonder why there would be a need for more than one of those.

Wow, big first post. I’ll share my 2 cents, not that my thoughts are the only answer to all of these questions.

1. pass, don’t know enough about aftermarket lockers, or even OEM lockers to answer

2. for the right money anything is possible, maybe not at a dealer but either the aftermarket or a fab shop could do it. Maybe a dealer with Mopar parts??

3. - learn to drive a m/t regardless of if you choose the manual option on the JT or not. Its a skill that you should know, but more importantly, IMHO, you are missing half the driving experience. That said if towing is a concern get the auto, but still learn the manual anyway.

btw - it only days about 2-4 days of driving and you will have it down.

4. - I think the camera will be helpful in offroad situations, also hoping it helps me with my garage, I will only have a. few inches to spare.

5. - I think I am in a minority here, however I feel very strongly that the cloth seats are the way to go. How long do you keep your vehicles? How many leather seats that are 5-6 years old have you seen that do not have cracks? Maybe its where I live or my experience but I really feel the cloth holds up. Dog hair does suck however.

6. - I like after market, lots of options to give your JT a unique look and function customized to your use. Also the OEM bumper is sort of thin and requires winch plates that are generally included/built in to aftermarket bumpers.

7. - whatever you want. Dash cams, radios (C.B., HAM, VHF, UHF), lights, overland gear (frig, whatever else overlanders use I drive my jeep as far as possible and then hike in to the camp site not the overland deal), all sorts of mods that jeepers are known for, ejection seats, banana peel / turtle shell launcher.

 

[Elanachan]

For the #2 answer, the question ends up being weather or not such an extra expense would be worth getting it done that way, or just go with the Sport S. I have the rails on the nissan and I'm pretty much using them every time I have something in the back, just to keep it from sliding around.

On a side note, do they make a bed extender that can interface with the bed rails yet? I have one in the Frontier that I often use as a divider for smaller loads, in addition to the ability of extending the usable bed length with the tailgate down.

#3, I have wanted to learn driving stick, my reservations end up being feeling nervous about potential gear grinding, especially if the first opportunity I would have to try it would be during a test drive. I do occasionally tow trailers, sometimes on unpaved driveways that require 4WL to negotiate without adding to the rutts in the road.

Another fun little tidbit, the first wrangler design I truly loved was the TJ models, particularly the green with tan top sahara trim from around 1997, and I almost got (to some regret) the TJ unlimited (two door) during the last year they offered it, opting for a Honda Element instead due to the additional cargo room. The honda in turn, due to bottoming out on that driveway I mentioned, got replaced by the Frontier I have now that's beginning to show it's age. So I feel like I might be coming full circle sense the JT feels like a spiritual successor to the pre-Mercedes wranglers

 

[Elanachan]

Oh, forgot to mention, in response to #5, I try to keep my vehicles as long as possible unless something major comes up due to performance or maintenance issues. Until I had to replace 2 of 4 catalytic converters in the frontier, and still need to replace the front engine mounts which are reportedly cracked, the intention was to run it until it had atleast 300,000 miles on it. I got it used at 80,000 miles, it's now at 130,000.

 

[Bobzdar]

Hey there. I'm new to the forums after lurking for some time, particularly with interest in regards to camper shell designs for our new jeep pickup. Due to a building number of mechanical problems, I fear my current truck, a 2006 Nissan Nismo Crewcab might be getting close to the end of it's useful life, and the moment I discovered the Gladiator, I fell in love. My family has had a jeep in the past, my mom had an old 4-door XJ Cherokee Laredo, which stayed in the family until my brother managed to fry the engine due to an oil leak that went unattended to, and now I'm looking to get into the brand again as a successor to my current work/play vehicle. Probably 80-90% of my driving is on pavement, however I do take it offroading when I get the chance, and have found the rear locking diff a godsend on one of the trails I took it on in the La Sal mountains near Moab.

That being said, I am trying to get the most out of my money when trying to come up with something that would be the best bang for the buck given my needs, and I have a few questions I'm trying to get answered to figure out which direction (trim, and possible aftermarket alterations) to go with. As mentioned before, I'm experienced enough to be going on trails that require a diff locker, and going by the trail book they sell at the visitor's center in Moab, I would say I aim fairly comfortable on most intermediate trails.

Here are the questions I've been able to come up with:
1. Rated both by cost and performance, would aftermarket diff locks on the sport be just as good as the ones fitted stock to the rubicon for a lower price point?

2. If #1 is true, could a dealer be persuaded to add the bed rails to the sport model, or would I have to move to the Sport S trim?

3. If cost is a concern, would it be better to learn how to drive a stick (never had the chance to learn apart from motorcycles), or play it safe with the $2K extra for the automatic?

4. If I got the rubicon, how useful is that front camera for trail rides in practice?

5. For the Sport, Sport S and Rubicon, how well do the cloth seats do with spills and getting wet from say, rain or getting splashed from playing in puddles/streams? (ease of being cleaned and water resistance are my primary reasons to get the leather seats).

6: If I were to get the rubicon with the intention of eventually installing a winch, should I go with the premium stock bumper, or look into something aftermarket?

7: What is the Aux Switch group for, is this just for things like additional lights, or could it be used for other things? Truth be told, when I first saw it I wondered if it might be linked to an aux port for the radio, only to wonder why there would be a need for more than one of those.

1. There are aftermarket options that are just as good, but will not be covered by warranty unlike the Rubicon, and by the time you pay for installation you won't save all that much. At least not enough to void the warranty on the diffs and axles imo. If you want lockers, go Rubicon.

2. If you're talking about the trail rail system, as long as it's available from Mopar parts that shouldn't be an issue.

3. No, the auto is better in every way (coming from a guy that used to be a die hard manual trans guy). It's worth the $2k.

4. Don't know, but it may be one of those things you didn't know were really useful until you have it.

5. Unless Jeep has completely forgotten how to do cloth interiors on Wranglers, it's not a concern.

6. I did, but if you're trying to save money there are cheaper options available. I like the stock bumper because the winch is basically fully contained. I'm not a fan of a lot of aftermarket bumpers, especially the stubby ones, but that's personal preference.

7. It's for hooking accessories up. The switches can be changed between momentary (ie hold it down) to toggle (click once to turn on, click again to turn off) depending on the accessory. At some point I'm going to wire my winch up the aux buttons set to momentary so I can reel it in/out from there, but haven't gotten around to it. I may use a 3rd button to enable it as I wouldn't want somebody to accidentally hit the reel in our out, so you'd toggle one of the buttons to enable, then use the other two to reel in/out as momentary buttons.

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

A great dive into diffs and lockers.

I went rubicon on my JKUR for three reasons 1. it has everything you know you'll want to fo'realsies off roading right out of the box and with a warranty which covers most things other than abuse. 2 yes you can buy better bits for cheaper but the time spent putting it in is A. time not doing other things and B. unless you have a super chill boss, it must be completed by a time specific to verify complete and correct install and be cleaned up with enough time to sleep before work on monday so what's your time worth and 3. it's all sorted out from the factory, it all plays nice and won't require witchcraft and harbor some unknown doom.

Winch bumpers are a personal taste thing, I like the look of the OEM, others like it a bit more spicy. You can always buy the mopar bumper and brackets/winch plate from a number of mopar discounters for less than the parts counter wants.

The aux buttons take the place of an S-pod or similar and allow you to control accessories, worth the money hands down becasue its all prewired, preterminated and landed in the dash. To run a winch the right way you'd need to occupy three buttons, 1 sticky (latched) button to arm/disarm and two clicky (momentary) buttons one for in and one for out. I suppose the 4th could be a winch light if you were planning to lay cable in the dark.

 

[12BNNT]

Hey there. I'm new to the forums after lurking for some time, particularly with interest in regards to camper shell designs for our new jeep pickup. Due to a building number of mechanical problems, I fear my current truck, a 2006 Nissan Nismo Crewcab might be getting close to the end of it's useful life, and the moment I discovered the Gladiator, I fell in love. My family has had a jeep in the past, my mom had an old 4-door XJ Cherokee Laredo, which stayed in the family until my brother managed to fry the engine due to an oil leak that went unattended to, and now I'm looking to get into the brand again as a successor to my current work/play vehicle. Probably 80-90% of my driving is on pavement, however I do take it offroading when I get the chance, and have found the rear locking diff a godsend on one of the trails I took it on in the La Sal mountains near Moab.

That being said, I am trying to get the most out of my money when trying to come up with something that would be the best bang for the buck given my needs, and I have a few questions I'm trying to get answered to figure out which direction (trim, and possible aftermarket alterations) to go with. As mentioned before, I'm experienced enough to be going on trails that require a diff locker, and going by the trail book they sell at the visitor's center in Moab, I would say I aim fairly comfortable on most intermediate trails.

Here are the questions I've been able to come up with:
1. Rated both by cost and performance, would aftermarket diff locks on the sport be just as good as the ones fitted stock to the rubicon for a lower price point?

2. If #1 is true, could a dealer be persuaded to add the bed rails to the sport model, or would I have to move to the Sport S trim?

3. If cost is a concern, would it be better to learn how to drive a stick (never had the chance to learn apart from motorcycles), or play it safe with the $2K extra for the automatic?

4. If I got the rubicon, how useful is that front camera for trail rides in practice?

5. For the Sport, Sport S and Rubicon, how well do the cloth seats do with spills and getting wet from say, rain or getting splashed from playing in puddles/streams? (ease of being cleaned and water resistance are my primary reasons to get the leather seats).

6: If I were to get the rubicon with the intention of eventually installing a winch, should I go with the premium stock bumper, or look into something aftermarket?

7: What is the Aux Switch group for, is this just for things like additional lights, or could it be used for other things? Truth be told, when I first saw it I wondered if it might be linked to an aux port for the radio, only to wonder why there would be a need for more than one of those.

I try to be pretty frugal with my money as well. Spend an extra $20 on something worth $40 more. Or look for something $20 cheaper that’s just as good. (If that makes sense) a lot of your questions are things I’ve considered. Or done myself.
My 2¢ worth;

1- some companies claim their aftermarket lockers are stronger and better. Personally as someone else pointed out, by the time you pay for parts and installation on that and just a couple of the other things included in the rubicon trim and your ahead of the upcharge for the rubicon trim. Plus it’s under dealer warranty. If you can afford the higher initial cost, go rubicon. Also some options are not available on the sport (leather, trail cam, proximity keyless entry)

2- bed rails are nice but for the package price, if all you want is the rails, aftermarket will be cheaper. Rails are just bolt on c-channels.

3- I’m considering M/T as well for price but will probably get auto. Auto tows more, easier to deal with as daily driver in traffic and town and on the trails, you can put in manual mode if you want to control rpm’s for fun or towing or wheeling.

4- other threads about the front camera on here make good points. This truck in longer than your frontier. So not only helpful off-road watching obstacles that are below your overhood siteline but also could be helpful in parking. Being able to really see how close you are to the car in front of you in a parking lot so your tail ain’t sticking out where a texter isn’t as likely to take it off would be nice. Again, if you can afford the upgrade price, it might be worth it and more useful than you think.

5- I’ve thought about the leather package as well. Pkg gives you fold down armrest in back cloth does not. However the cloth seats aren’t nearly as hot after sitting in the sun or as cold when you first get in during winter. Leaning towards skipping the leather pkg and picking up a NICE set of covers after. Neoprene ones are one option, temperature neutrality like cloth but more water repellent and can be had in colors to match the paint sort of.

6- Stock bumper is nice but by the time you add it’s cost plus the cost of the adapter plates to mount a winch it gets pretty expensive. There’s a lot of aftermarket options available at far cheaper prices and tons of different looks to find what suits you.

7- auxiliary switches are for lights or whatever requires a switch or whatever you may want to put on a switch. Cool thing is they can be programmed in multiple ways. Hold for on, release for off (winch control) - click style on/off (each push turns on or off) with power to remain on with ignition off or turned on and off with ignition. I have an aftermarket switch panel in my JK and will probably pay the little bit extra for the switch package and sell the one I have now.

 

[Elanachan]

From the sounds of things I will probably go with the cloth seats+cover as 12BNNT suggested. On reflection, despite the fact I have the center armrest in the back of my current truck, noone ever uses it.

Also, thanks for making me aware of the fact the Gladiator is about a foot longer. This might mean it ends up getting parked outside due to limitations inside my garage, as the Frontier barely fits.

I will be updating the opening post to include the tentative build I'm coming up with, taking into account some of the feedback I've gotten.

 

[Elanachan]

Curious what people think of the tentative build. I am also still flop/flopping on the idea of weather or not to go with the manual. Cost reduction aside, part of me really likes the idea of becoming proficient with a stickshift. My main concern with this is offroad handling, especially on hills.

 

[DanOnTheCob]

Curious what people think of the tentative build. I am also still flop/flopping on the idea of weather or not to go with the manual. Cost reduction aside, part of me really likes the idea of becoming proficient with a stickshift. My main concern with this is offroad handling, especially on hills.

If that's your main concern, you will be well off. The Manual does better in offroad handling than the automatic stats wise (higher crawl ratio). It has hill start assist also meaning it wont roll back if your slow with the clutch. I believe that is a standard option on the manual.

 

[eternus]

If that's your main concern, you will be well off. The Manual does better in offroad handling than the automatic stats wise (higher crawl ratio). It has hill start assist also meaning it wont roll back if your slow with the clutch. I believe that is a standard option on the manual.

Interesting, I drive an automatic JK and heard from just about anyone they'd rather be wheeling in an automatic, riding the clutch sucks when rock crawling.

In the case of the OP, I agree you should learn, driving a stick is fun... but the automatic is a stronger transmission in this case. Has more pickup, handles the range of driving styles (offroad, city, highway) better than a stick. If I had my druthers, I'd want a sports car with a stick.

Regarding lockers... you might not even need them. Don't presume that because the Rubicon has them that they're essential for off-roading. The lockers are really only a necessity if you're doing rock crawling where one or more wheels come off the ground. The Sport will go almost as many places as a Rubicon, and if that fails, its why you're adding the winch.

 

[Elanachan]

@eternus You miss-understand. I'm not seeking out the lockers because the rubicon has them, I'm seeking out the rubicon because it has the lockers for a better cost than getting a sport and adding them aftermarket. I am currently the owner of a Nissan Frontier Nismo, it has a locker in the rear diff, which was nessisary to get un-stuck on one of the moab trail rides I did in 2015 or 2016. After that experience, I don't want to be put into a similar situation again without atleast one locker.

Also, by my observation there isn't much in the way of trees or solid boulders in that area to grab onto with the winch.

 

[eternus]

Cool beans then. Definitely check out the videos. I think the argument tends to be in the camp of air lockers vs e-lockers. I fall in the e camp. Eaton makes the best aftermarket (imho anyway) so look into what's out there for those. You can ALWAYS build a "better" rubicon by shopping aftermarket... but as mentioned, you risk voiding a warranty.

 

[Elanachan]

From what I know, both the stock lockers on the rubicon and the nismo are electronic. I'm not sure I was even aware of there being air powered ones. Also, as mentioned in the opening post, I'm looking for what is most cost effective without sacrificing the performance minimum I'm aiming for. And for me that ment, Sport/Sport S plus aftermarket lockers, or just get the rubicon.

 

[Elanachan]

I just looked at the video that @ACAD_Cowboy posted again, and I think the only reason I would have to go with a locker that's more heavy duty than the electronic type is if I were to make the truck capable of accepting a snowplow and get some extra paid work done with it that way in the winter.

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