Jeep Cares (Jeep’s social outreach / customer service presence on our forums) chimed in yesterday with some confirmation on exactly how much weight the Gladiator tailgate can support in its middle-position. When set to its third “mid-position” (where the top of the tailgate lines up with the tops of the rear wheel housing), the tailgate can support up to 500 pounds payload, according to Jeep engineers (full details).
And as we reiterated yesterday, this tailgate position also enables the Gladiator to carry 20 sheets of 4×8 plywood or drywall flat. We haven’t seen this in real world action yet, but now that we have Gladiator owners, we’re hoping someone steps up to challenge soon!