Should I go Rubicon or Mojave?

[Gvsukids]

If I was looking to buy, which I am not, It would be the Mojave. Tuned Suspension for high speed Desert, plus rear locker capability in 4H, what a great set up. My Friend, who is a retired Chrysler Sales Excecutive has one, and he says that it is awesome...........

Mojave has the fastest 4Lo. The Tazer allows lockers to be engaged at any speed.

I'm not sure what the draw of the Mojava is unless you want to prerunner it in the deseret. Its does have a reenforced frame and steel knuckles but its heavier, slower, has less tow rating, and cost more. I wheel out west in the mountians so the Rubican with high crawl ratio, front sway bar disconnect and lockers makes sense to me. I guess it depends what kind of off-roading you are going to do. If you want it just as a truck and just a little off-roading on light trails and dirt road camping I would go with a Sport with big tow and use the money you saved for mods
.

Mojava = 5175lbs/ 0-60 8.5sec/1/4 16.5/tow 6000lbs
Rubicon = 4812lbs/0-60 7.3sec/1/4 15.6/tow 7000lbs

Rubicon has lower crawl ratio, which is better for rocks.

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[SonoranMojave]

I test drove both the Rubicon and Mojave when I purchased. The lot had several Rubicons but only one Mojave so I probably am not being honest if I said the relative rarity of the Mojave didn't appeal to me on some level. That being said, I can't see myself taking a Gladiator through the kind of terrain that would necessitate a front locker and swaybar disconnect so that made the choice for a Mojave pretty easy. I've never had any kind of locker on my 4x4s, so the rear locker on the Mojave already felt like a huge luxury from what I am used to. You can't go wrong with either, but the Mojave seemed like the better performance trim for the kinds of things I want to do with a jeep pickup.

It could certainly change (and probably will) down the road, but I think there is a reason why the Mojave trim only exists on the JT.

 

[Papa Jawa]

Howdy Truckers,

First off, I want to say thank you to all of you that post on this site; I’ve been lurking for a few weeks now, and the amount of useful information on this forum is astonishing!

I’ve seen a couple of other threads about Mojave vs Rubicon, but I wanted to get a fresh perspective from some of y’all, particularly when addressing my trucking needs.

I’m coming from a 2020 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X with the “updated” power train (3.8l V6, 9sp auto), which I use as my daily driver, primarily; however, it is also our adventuring vehicle to do off and on grid camping with our teardrop trailer, which weighs approx 3,000lbs fully loaded. We head out about once a month, and now that our son is a little bit older, we want to do more off the beaten path camping/overlanding in and out of state.

The Nissan has worked great for towing, daily driving, and light off-roading. With that said, the aftermarket for this truck is absolutely non-existent, and upgrading the suspension, wheels, tires, bumpers, lighting to where I want the truck to be with the available options to me is just not worth the time and money, IMO.

Seeing as I can get all of my money back and then some on the trade, I started researching Gladiators, specifically Ribicons and Mojaves. I’m pretty well versed as to what the differences are, yet I’m still unsure as to which truck is better for the needs I listed above. I think both trucks will provide more capability out of the box than the Frontier, and because of the awesome aftermarket support, I know I will be able to update the truck far into the future if need be. I test drove the Rubicon yesterday, and I was pretty impressed with the whole package. I don’t necessarily think I will need a front locker, but I do need a back locker, as I’ve had to use the one on my Frontier quite a bit. Unfortunately, there are no Mojave’s in my area at the moment, so the test drive will have to wait, but in y’alls opinion, which truck would you go with and why?

I know this is probably a redundant thread, but thank you in advance for kindly providing your input!

Mojave.

If you want to rock crawl then a Wrangler Rubicon. If you want to go fast and have fun in a truck that is a kick in the ass to drive on and off road... Mojave.

Mojave.

 

[Rahkmalla]

Depending on what your budget is, the mojave is typically more expensive than a comparable rubicon

How did this thread go on for this long and no one called out this "fact"

Mojave and rubicons are the exact same price. Same base price, all the options cost the same, and neither one has a "popular equipment package" that saves any money like the overland.

If you build each the same, they cost the exact same amout to the penny

 

[shrinkhead]

pick whoever hood you like better

 

[JTmaybeTX]

I test drove both the Rubicon and Mojave when I purchased. The lot had several Rubicons but only one Mojave so I probably am not being honest if I said the relative rarity of the Mojave didn't appeal to me on some level. That being said, I can't see myself taking a Gladiator through the kind of terrain that would necessitate a front locker and swaybar disconnect so that made the choice for a Mojave pretty easy. I've never had any kind of locker on my 4x4s, so the rear locker on the Mojave already felt like a huge luxury from what I am used to. You can't go wrong with either, but the Mojave seemed like the better performance trim for the kinds of things I want to do with a jeep pickup.

It could certainly change (and probably will) down the road, but I think there is a reason why the Mojave trim only exists on the JT.

Speaking of performance trim, do you know if the cast iron knuckles on the Mojave lend the Mojave to be less prone to the “death wobble?”

 

[Choatecav]

Mojave...............
But, for clarity, I don't do rock-crawling.

 

[JTmaybeTX]

pick whoever hood you like better

Lol, does the Rubicon gets extra ponies for the double fake scoop?

 

[NachoRuby]

Lol, does the Rubicon gets extra ponies for the double fake scoop?

No, but neither does the Mojave. They're both fake. I love the look on both though! Interestingly, on my wife's 2016 Wrangler, they're actually somewhat functional.

 

[JTmaybeTX]

No, but neither does the Mojave. They're both fake. Interestingly, on my wife's 2016 Wrangler they're actually somewhat functional.

That’s pretty interesting. I had a Tacoma TRD Sport for a hot second, and I hated every minute of that hood.

 

[FREEZE451]

You can check out my thread but I just traded my 40,000 mile Rubicon for a Mojave.

I really wanted a Rubicon to have one, and now having a Mojave it rides much smoother. The seats and steering wheel were also a bonus.

I never used the lockers and swaybar disconnect twice.

To each there own, maybe my 3rd will be electric one if they make it. Who knows.

You won't be disappointed with either really, but man the Mojave rides nice.

 

[Phishs]

Rubi obvi

 

[Gvsukids]

Speaking of performance trim, do you know if the cast iron knuckles on the Mojave lend the Mojave to be less prone to the “death wobble?”

No death wobble on any trim of the Gladiator.

 

[Alans17]

Oddly enough, I’m seeing the opposite with the market in my area at the moment. Mojave’s are hard to come by and less frequently discounted than the Rubicon. Kind of makes sense though being in South Texas.

The only hills in south TX are the overpasses and the only rocks are caliche roads. ?

 

[JTmaybeTX]

You can check out my thread but I just traded my 40,000 mile Rubicon for a Mojave.

I really wanted a Rubicon to have one, and now having a Mojave it rides much smoother. The seats and steering wheel were also a bonus.

I never used the lockers and swaybar disconnect twice.

To each there own, maybe my 3rd will be electric one if they make it. Who knows.

You won't be disappointed with either really, but man the Mojave rides nice.

Awesome, thanks for providing the link. Having owned both, did you notice any noticeable difference in fuel economy running stock?

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