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Things I don’t like about my new Gladiator

wayned

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Having the 8.4" screen provides USB ports in the back of the center console. Also, a cigarette plug with USB ports also helps.
I have the 8" radio. And yest I have the ports in the back seat. Problem is I dont drive from the back seat. and I hate wires everywhere.
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DBravo

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Im sure that I’m not the only person who dislikes a few things about my new Gladiator and heres my list so far. Overall I’m really liking it but there are things I wish were different about it, how about you?

#1. Its flighty at 55 mph and up. Much more so than my JKUR on 35’s. I dropped psi to 35 then 32 but its still the same, just drifts alot and requires constant focus to keep in the lane. New 35” Goodyear Duratracs on AEV wheels made no difference either.

#2. No tow mode or brake controller from the factory. Im sorry but both of these should be standard for a 60k truck that claims best in class towing. Tow mode really helps in my other vehicles when going downhill to keep from riding the brakes.

#3. Spongy ride. Overall it rides good, but its spongy in a way I cannot explain other than its what I would expect it to feel like if the frame were flexing although Im sure its not the case. I’m hoping an aftermarket 2.5” lift will help this but I also know it might just take some getting used to.

#4. No switch in the bed for the bed lights. Its annoying to have to go to the cab to turn them on when needed.

#5. Manual sliding back glass. This should be standard at this trim level, I could see it being manual in a sport but at 60k entry fee it sucks to have to lay the seat back to reach the back glass. And I’m 6’5”, you shorties will have to get out to open/close it.

#6. Side mirrors could stand to be a bit bigger, the visibility is not optimal but they are ok. Towing with them pretty much sucks.

#7. The 8.4 radio is glitchy. It has shut down and rebooted itself 3x in 500 miles. It will be going in for service next time it happens.

#8. I wish cooled seats were an option as I sit here in the carpool lane to pick up kids with the freedom panels and doors off. Leather feels like vinyl when you’re stuck to it. I absolutely love them in my F150 and prefer to use them with the windows down vs having the AC on.

Thats it, for now at least..
#1 was the first thing I noticed when i drove it home from the dealership. I've stayed with stock wheel/tire size for now and have gotten used to it. It's not dis-similar to "steering" a horse who doesn't want to stay on the trail sometimes😁 My adult kids comment on the wandering when they borrow the truck also.

#7 Agree on the radio - I have to pull fuse # F97 at least once a month to reboot the radio when the wifi goes out.
#8 I also have leather (overland trim) and bought a beaded seat cover - seems to allow for more air circulation.

Still a much more comfortable driving experience overall than my first Jeep - a 1996 wrangler 5 spd manual 2 door with no ac...
 

DBravo

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So far, my biggest complaints are the radio glitch you mentioned, seems to happen quite often. And that when I paid for the internet it was quite crappy even in my large city. However, that’s probably more of an AT&T problem and not Jeep, but I didn’t investigate it enough to really know where to place blame before cancelling it.
I've read many threads on the AT&T wifi dropping in vehicles. Most conclusions point to it being an issue with the radio and not AT&T. My phone's wifi hotspot works all the time, but the wifi hotspot in the radio dies every month or so and has to be rebooted.
The buggy 8.4 Uconnect head unit in my wife's '21 JL was replaced at 3k miles because it started wigging out. Loud static, no volume control, dropped wifi and locked screen. Dealer didn't even argue about immediately replacing it and acknowledged they have had to replace a number of Uconnect radios under warranty. I pull fuse F97 every so often to reboot the 8.4 UConnect in mine when the wifi drops.
 

OngsterA

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#1 for sure. Noticed right away driving home from the dealership, but I've adjusted by now, not noticing much. Heck even my 16 yr old Xterra drove w less corrections, rack n pinion was way nicer.

#2 also per @NORDNDED, should be included.

And mine:

#3 rear seatbacks don't recline, should at least include some angle adjustments

#4 I think vents could be bigger still, fan has to be way high to push air through

Oh #4 truck is way too loud with KM3s, but I suppose that's my fault:giggle:
 

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#5. Manual sliding back glass. This should be standard at this trim level, I could see it being manual in a sport but at 60k entry fee it sucks to have to lay the seat back to reach the back glass. And I’m 6’5”, you shorties will have to get out to open/close it.
At 6' 5", how"s the headroom with the hard top on?
 
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NORDNDED

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At 6' 5", how"s the headroom with the hard top on?
Its not terrible but the hardtop is not the issue. The overhead soundbar on the other hand has put a knot or two on the top of my head when going faster than I should be off in the sand. Theres a company that makes seat drop kits that lower the rear of the seat and lift the front slightly that seems to make a big difference in clearance and comfort. Its on my short list of things to do
 

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xm should be for a year and not 6 months. never was able to get my wifi hot spot to work. this on the rubicon eco
 

DPG4EVR

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I like shutting the engine off and rolling to a stop, but can’t do that with the push button on this vehicle. A couple of times, it was still running after I thought I had shut down.
Idle RPM is too low. I stall a lot. Guess it’s that way to save gas but quite annoying.
But all in all very happy with it. Always look back when walking away after I park it.
 

Slojo

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I don't want to sound like I'm defending jeeps pricing too much, but I do wonder how much more it costs them to make a vehicle like this over other similarly sized trucks. It can't be cheap to include solid front axles, beefy suspension components, removable top/roll cage, etc. I think it's hard to compare this truck to a Tacoma and say, they're similar in price, my jeep should have these things standard like that truck. I get that it's priced premium, but gotta pay for the features this truck has that no others do.
Jeep JL/JTs have to be the easiest vehicle to design and manufacture on the road today. Stamped sheet metal, solid axles, off the shelf shared components, 20-year-old engines, etc... they make a killing off these.
 

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Slojo

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Ok dumb guy asking dumb question. Does the 8.4 only have a "Favorites" option in Sirius/XM mode?
 

UrbanRogue

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Only Had my Gladiator a week now. coming from 2 previus JKU and a JLUR I can say the only thing that has bothered me so far with the Gladiator is the Radio glare I see through rear view mirror at night. Since the back glass is close enuf It is just Bam right there. where as in the JLUR etc I never saw it cause the seats and the window was much farther away.

I find myself speeding up at night cause I think an 8.4 Unconnect is chasing me. And no one wants to lose a race to a Radio. :)
 

Barnaby’sdad

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Jeep JL/JTs have to be the easiest vehicle to design and manufacture on the road today. Stamped sheet metal, solid axles, off the shelf shared components, 20-year-old engines, etc... they make a killing off these.
I’ve gotten a kick out of Jeep vehicles since I got interested back in the TJ days. For what they are though, it really is laughable what they go for.

I would buy my JTR again if I had it to do over again (sitting in the waiting room getting my Alu-Cab installed🥳 ), but yeah…any uninformed person is not going to look at that and be like “yeah…that’s a ~$50K vehicle.”

Then again…you got them damn hyper inflations at the moment…so a Prius will be $50K before long.🤡
 

NachoRuby

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I like shutting the engine off and rolling to a stop, but can’t do that with the push button on this vehicle. A
While I don't know why you'd really want to do this on a regular basis, it does let you shut it off with the push button while it's rolling.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Jeep JL/JTs have to be the easiest vehicle to design and manufacture on the road today. Stamped sheet metal, solid axles, off the shelf shared components, 20-year-old engines, etc... they make a killing off these.
20 year old engines? LOL. Try 7
The 3.6 is far from an old design. I've got pages of design changes that went into it in the 2016 model year Grand Cherokee. The engineers had to do some head scratching to meet the boss' demands.
Many areas are almost "from scratch" and some are based on Italian designs.

Very different follower and lash adjuster design for intake, totally different intake cams, torque-operated phasers instead of oil operated for 2016+, redesigned crankshaft and bearings, totally redesigned timing chains, different oil pump...... the list goes on.
The block was changed to handle all of the other changes, including changes to cooling passages in the heads. So the castings are quite a bit different. Pistons are different.......... pans are different.
It's aluminum and has a displacement of about 3600cc, that's about all that's the same as the 2011 version. They look very much alike on the outside, but it was very changed in 2015 for the 16 model year
It's like saying the LS is a 30 year old engine.

Other vehicles - stamped sheet metal, molded plastic panels glued to the structure. I'd say some of the others are actually easier.
It's harder to make a classic design meet safety regs, CAFE regs, than to start over and design all of that into it. It takes more work

IFS is actually easier to design around............ if I was told to design a truck and keep it simple, I'd go IFS. You can cover a lot of less than ideal design flaws with IFS - you can adjust your way out of things. (unless like Ford, they were looking for maximum vertical travel with the Bronco - that wasn't simple - they had to play with some placements and angles)
Jeep had to meet customer demands and meet EPA/CAFE regs, too, not to mention keep the NHTSA off their butts.

Which is cheaper and easier - gutting and totally renovating an old house, bringing it up to code, or bulldozing and starting over? (easier to answer that 5 years ago before the cost of plywood almost tripled)
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