Working trucks

[ACAD_Cowboy]

So I'm interested to know who around here plans on making their Gladiator work to earn it's keep. I'm not talking about dropping a pallet or two of brick in the bed or pulling a 5th wheel full of cattle but more as a light utility vehicle. I have a JKUR that has lived a great life as my "quarter ton crew cab" and has proven itself to be super handy from hauling slash from taking down trees, trailer loads of mulch and plowing. Yes that's right I took a 6 month old JKUR and threw the biggest Western plow I could on it and you know what? After 3 seasons I have no regrets.

So is anyone else planning to use their truck to do truck stuff? I'm thinking a nice contractor cap with full length ladder rack could also double as a decent overland rack with the right integration (see previous defender 130-esque renders). A Max Tow sport could make an excellent truck for a residential lawn crew as well and has the capacity to handle a powerwash trailer with ease.

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[Krash1642]

I’m a PE teacher and coach CrossFit as well and run a CrossFit Club at my school so I often need to haul tractor tires, plyo boxes, weights from home to school and back. I also cut grass in the summer and do random jobs including mulching, hauling away trash, trim trees and haul the wood away, get wood for my home as a Well as family for wood stoves and or fire pits, and too many trips to Lowe’s/Home Depot for projects in our home.... And love the outdoors, mountain bike, paddle board, surf, camp, snowboard, drive on at the beach etc... so yea, I’m planning to use it for truck things, life things and just fun things!!

 

[TennesseePA]

I got my Gladiator to serve as a toy and to crawl to beach. I used to have an F150 that was as nice as my Gladiator is going to be and I just couldn't bring myself to climb in an out of it while I was soaked in sweat and covered in whatever I had been doing that day. I realize that a man could get some Weathertech Floor Liners and neoprene seat covers to protect from the stench and filth but, unless you only install the seat covers to work, you do not have the benefit of the upgraded interior. I keep an old 1993 ZJ in good shape that I use for stuff like you described. No worries on it getting messed up because the day I brought it home my son told me it smelled like I had a dead body in it. During hunting season I am OK to climb in and out without even taking my waders off so my seat stays wet half the season. So the short answer is my Gladiator is too nice to work out of but your situation is different and, since you are buying it with your own money, whatever you're comfortable using your Gladiator for is the right answer in the end.

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

I ask because where I am you can see a lot of let’s just call it unrealized potential; diesel dualies that never see a day of working, towing or hauling, jeeps that look like they could go anywhere but are suspiciously never ever dirty or scratched etc.

I fully expect to see gladiators built for the mall crawl scene and honestly I’m okay with that, I like to remind people that’s it’s not my circus; not my monkeys.

I caught a lot of flak from the very same people who said I needed to jack up my JK and put huge tires on it when I put the plow on, how I was gonna destroy... DESTROY it. I guess these same people will start saying a gladiator is too long to wheel, gonna NEED to jack it up and put huge tires on it.

 

[hoch]

I will be using mine for play and work (just like my current truck). Hauling camping gear, bicycles, motorcycles, fishing stuff, etc. with the family. Then lumber, mulch, fertilizer, etc. for house work. For me, the Gladiator strikes almost a perfect balance between a work and lifestyle truck. Good size cabin, great payload for a midsize, truck bed, and drop top.

 

[Ian cj10]

im an earthmover everything i have has to earn its keep if you look at my avatar thats 2200kg on the back of thats poor old cj10 so im sure my jt will cop some abuse to

 

[jalbrecht55]

Last year I drug the utility trailer out to get a load of gravel in my LJ with the sun rider open and the half doors on. When he started dumping the gravel in I realized I made a tactical error... the dust cloud filled the Jeep and me and my buddy, we were half laughing, half coughing ourselves hoarse and the guy running the bucket almost fell out of his cab he was laughing so hard.

Makes me think of people going to get gravel, mulch, bark, dump runs, stinky mushroom mulch, drive off top down and have that junk just fill the cab and sticking to the inside of the windshield. Hah hah. Probably a reason you don’t see many convertible pickups... but I still want one.

 

[steffen707]

haul tractor tires, plyo boxes

PLYWOOD BOXES? dang, you make it too easy.

 

[steffen707]

Last year I drug the utility trailer out to get a load of gravel in my LJ with the sun rider open and the half doors on. When he started dumping the gravel in I realized I made a tactical error... the dust cloud filled the Jeep and me and my buddy, we were half laughing, half coughing ourselves hoarse and the guy running the bucket almost fell out of his cab he was laughing so hard.

Makes me think of people going to get gravel, mulch, bark, dump runs, stinky mushroom mulch, drive off top down and have that junk just fill the cab and sticking to the inside of the windshield. Hah hah. Probably a reason you don’t see many convertible pickups... but I still want one.

That's darn funny. Live and learn i guess.

 

[Krash1642]

PLYWOOD BOXES? dang, you make it too easy.

Lol, and the. Trip I went to Lowe’s to get the plywood to make the boxes

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

CJ10 are some unique trucks, FSJ chassis with CJ cab.

As for me I want to be able to do the attached but better.

 

[Krash1642]

PLYWOOD BOXES? dang, you make it too easy.

And.... now we need to decide on a sport s, sport s with max tow package or overland.... most of our off-roading is on Delaware beaches or back home in VA on a farm in the blue ridge mountains, and camping. And then the stuff I already mentioned... trying to decide if we need the max tow payload, wife needs leather seats (so mopar leather upgrade on the sport s either way configured). And we both prefer body colored top... but I could always get the top painted later?? I like both black and body colored fender flares for the JT... so if we wanted white I could just pick up someone’s white take offs at some point.... Decisions, decisions.... anyone chime in with your thought....

 

[steffen707]

And.... now we need to decide on a sport s, sport s with max tow package or overland.... most of our off-roading is on Delaware beaches or back home in VA on a farm in the blue ridge mountains, and camping. And then the stuff I already mentioned... trying to decide if we need the max tow payload, wife needs leather seats (so mopar leather upgrade on the sport s either way configured). And we both prefer body colored top... but I could always get the top painted later?? I like both black and body colored fender flares for the JT... so if we wanted white I could just pick up someone’s white take offs at some point.... Decisions, decisions.... anyone chime in with your thought....

I would not have the top painted later, it'll match from the factory and they'll do a better job I'm guessing.
I prefer black fenders with colored top personally. In my opinion I think the max tow package is a value. Also increases target audience if you ever plan to sell it. Even if you don't need 7,000 lbs towing, it's beefed up and will more easily handle a 4,000 lb load. My two cents.

 

[Krash1642]

I would not have the top painted later, it'll match from the factory and they'll do a better job I'm guessing.
I prefer black fenders with colored top personally. In my opinion I think the max tow package is a value. Also increases target audience if you ever plan to sell it. Even if you don't need 7,000 lbs towing, it's beefed up and will more easily handle a 4,000 lb load. My two cents.

My favorite combo would be colored top and black fenders as well but you cant get a white top on a sport s and can’t get black fenders on an overland. I vary rarely tow anything so for me it’s more about the payload of what I’m doing or hauling. I do think the sport s is the best deal, in my opinion.

 

[WXman]

I work my JL pretty hard. Had the cargo area full of tube sand earlier this week. Also pull a 6.5' x 12' utility trailer with various loads on it. When I go back to a pickup truck next year, whether it be Gladiator or Ram, it will get worked hard.

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