To Mojave, or Not to Mojave...

[kickingaz]

I am tossing around a decision and thought I would get the opinions of some of the most knowledgable Gladiator people there are. I took delivery of my Gladiator Max Tow Sport S on February 1st of this year. My intention was to make it rock crawler capable like my last Rubicon JKU was. The next week when I was at the King of the Hammers, Jeep released the Mojave. Knowing that the Gladiator will not be able to do the extreme rack crawling that my JKU did, I immediately thought the Mojave was a great concept with a rear locker and the suspension. My Max Tow stickers for $45,175 and I paid $37,947 after a $2,000 rebate. Since them I put about $10K into mine making the following mods:

• Rubicon Springs and Rubicon Fox Shocks
• Rubicon LED Painted Fenders
• Dirty Life 17x9 Roadkill Beadlock Wheels(5)
• Patagonia 39x13.50R17 Tires (5)
• Warn VR EVO 12-S Winch (Synthetic Line)
• Crawler Conceptz Bumper, Fairlead and Skidplate
• Rubicon Express 2” Level Kit with Shock Extensions
• Rubicon Rock Rails and Bed Guards
• Jeep LED Foglamps
• Jeep LED Headlamps
• Katzkin Leather Interior
• Synergy Sector Shaft Brace
• Jeep Rubicon Hood
• Poison Spyder Functional Hood Louvers

I have an opportunity to trade my Gladiator for $41,000 for a 2020 Mojave with a $53,770 sticker and a $51,432 sales price. If you were in my shoes, would you finish the build on the Sport S I have (front and rear lockers, gears, Fox or King shocks) or buy the Mojave and add 35" tires? I wouldn't plan on listing the Mojave because that would ruin the desert runner ability of the vehicle. Below is a recent photo of the Sport S right now.

Thanks!

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[hjdca]

Many people believe it is best to start a big build with a Max Tow Gladiator -- because you get the good axle, extra cooling, and you will always have that huge tow rating on your door jam....

Personally, I would say keep going.... Max tows are cool... That's a great looking Truck you have !

 

[DeezJT]

keep the Max tow.

 

[Sportsbiz]

Keep the Max Tow.

 

[Willys2Gladiator]

Without question keep what you have!!!!!!!

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[PyrPatriot]

The only thing the Mojave offers is the reinforced frame. You can get iron steering knuckles and reservoir shocks

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[WhatExit?]

 

[Kent5]

So about +$10,000 for better shocks and a few frame reinforcements? Very questionable.
(and that is assuming you could transfer all your current mods to the new truck and not lose out on all that investment)

If you would include all those mods on your trade-in (and thus lose another $10,000), no way would it be worth it to go from your current upgraded truck to a stock Mojave for +$20,000, IMHO.

Your Max Tow looks great with all your mods, BTW.

 

[Carrydaily]

I would definitely keep yours and continue to upgrade. And thats coming from a guy that owns a mojave. I love my mojave and definitely picked it over all the other models for a reason. I wanted to buy the closest thing that fit my need in stock form (currently) and that for me is the mojave. The shocks do ride amazing on fire roads and crappy paved roads which is primarily the Use of the vehicle right now. With that being said. One day the stock suspension will more then likely be sold and mojave will become a “mojavecon” when a front locker gets added when i do a regear and 37s or 40s. At that point i will definitely be glad to have the frame reinforcements , beefy trans mount , beefy motor mounts , beefy shock mounts , cast steering knuckles , and some of the other reinforced parts It has that i cant remember lol. But obviously none of that is needed as their have been plenty of the sports and rubicons that wheel hard and Have not had any issues with those parts breaking. But it will be nice to have. And i can do all my local trails fairly easy without a Front locker. Which is why i took all of the other upgrades of the mojave over purchasing a rubicon. Also i did test drive mojave and other models back to back and man this sucker is smooth on rough roads compared to the others. But you can get that and way more for the 10k difference your going to end up paying if you trade in.

 

[kickingaz]

I would definitely keep yours and continue to upgrade. And thats coming from a guy that owns a mojave. I love my mojave and definitely picked it over all the other models for a reason. I wanted to buy the closest thing that fit my need in stock form (currently) and that for me is the mojave. The shocks do ride amazing on fire roads and crappy paved roads which is primarily the Use of the vehicle right now. With that being said. One day the stock suspension will more then likely be sold and mojave will become a “mojavecon” when a front locker gets added when i do a regear and 37s or 40s. At that point i will definitely be glad to have the frame reinforcements , beefy trans mount , beefy motor mounts , beefy shock mounts , cast steering knuckles , and some of the other reinforced parts It has that i cant remember lol. But obviously none of that is needed as their have been plenty of the sports and rubicons that wheel hard and Have not had any issues with those parts breaking. But it will be nice to have. And i can do all my local trails fairly easy without a Front locker. Which is why i took all of the other upgrades of the mojave over purchasing a rubicon. Also i did test drive mojave and other models back to back and man this sucker is smooth on rough roads compared to the others. But you can get that and way more for the 10k difference your going to end up paying if you trade in.

Funny, I have been talking about building a "Mojavicon" similar to your thought. I thought I would do it with the Max Tow Sport S but it is neither a Mojave or Rubicon. I don't think I would go any larger than 35s on the Mojave as it is built more to be a desert runner than a rock crawler. I appreciate the candid opinion from a Mojave owner.

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