What’s worn out faster than you expected?

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

What’s something on your Gladiator that wore out or took a beating quicker than you thought?

Could be:

Tires
Suspension
Interior
Windshield
Anything else

Always interesting to hear what people didn’t expect.

ChrisNLA · Apr 15, 2026

Stock drag link was junk and causing death wobble by 30K miles.

I'm on stock size 285 tires

SaiintNick · Apr 15, 2026

My Mojave Fox shocks were blown at 15K. Replaced under warranty at 19K.

outdoor.adventures · Apr 15, 2026

Windshield. Definitely the windshield. Honestly I think about my windshield every single day. I wake up in a cold sweat worrying about my windshield. My wife left me because I wouldn't stop talking about my windshield. If only there were some kind of product, perhaps a film of some sort, that could protect it. If anyone has any ideas please help. I'm desperate. My kids won't return my calls.

Edit: For anyone considering quote-responding to me with real advise, don't. My message is sarcastic due to the nature of the OP's account.

JonMN · Apr 15, 2026

Windshield too. I made it 50 years of driving without a broken windshield, and my JT made it about 8 months . . .

BourbonRunner · Apr 15, 2026

ChrisNLA said:
Stock drag link was junk and causing death wobble by 30K miles.

I'm on stock size 285 tires

This was an unexpected expense out of the gate on mine but what a difference it made....

Renegade · Apr 15, 2026

Cams/lifters

Wheelin98TJ · Apr 15, 2026

Transmission
Sun visor
Window switches
Heated steering wheel
Driver proximity door lock
Passenger interior door lock
Driver heated mirror
Door nets

(maybe more, getting hard to keep track of)

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

ChrisNLA said:
Stock drag link was junk and causing death wobble by 30K miles.

I'm on stock size 285 tires

That’s brutal. Death wobble is one of those things you don’t expect until it happens once…

You doing mostly highway driving or a mix?

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

JonMN said:
Windshield too. I made it 50 years of driving without a broken windshield, and my JT made it about 8 months . . .

That’s exactly what a lot of Gladiator owners seem to run into… the more upright windshield just takes a beating

What number replacement are you on?

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

SaiintNick said:
My Mojave Fox shocks were blown at 15K. Replaced under warranty at 19K.

That’s rough, especially that early. You’d expect the Mojave setup to hold up a bit better.

Were you running it pretty hard off-road or mostly daily driving?

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

outdoor.adventures said:
Windshield. Definitely the windshield. Honestly I think about my windshield every single day. I wake up in a cold sweat worrying about my windshield. My wife left me because I wouldn't stop talking about my windshield. If only there were some kind of product, perhaps a film of some sort, that could protect it. If anyone has any ideas please help. I'm desperate. My kids won't return my calls.

This might be the most honest Gladiator ownership review yet

But yeah… there actually are windshield protection films made for this exact problem. They act like a sacrificial layer so you’re not constantly stressing about chips/cracks.

It's important to do your research since some hold up a lot better than others depending on the material.

We make one ourselves (ExoShield), so feel free to ask if you have any questions.

ExoShield · Apr 15, 2026

Wheelin98TJ said:
Transmission
Sun visor
Window switches
Heated steering wheel
Driver proximity door lock
Passenger interior door lock
Driver heated mirror
Door nets

(maybe more, getting hard to keep track of)

That’s a tough list… sounds like a bunch of smaller things adding up more than one big failure.

How many miles are you at now?

JTGuy · Apr 15, 2026

A good wax job just doesn't last long .

ChrisNLA · Apr 15, 2026

BourbonRunner said:
This was an unexpected expense out of the gate on mine but what a difference it made....

Yea I wasn't thrilled with the short life span, but I replaced it with a Metalcoak unit so that shouldn't be a problem again for a while.

ExoShield said:
That’s brutal. Death wobble is one of those things you don’t expect until it happens once…

You doing mostly highway driving or a mix?

99.995% highway / on road. This truck is almost never offroad unless you count driving through my yard.

Louisiana roads though barely quality as 'on road' though, so there's that.

What’s worn out faster than you expected?

ExoShield

ChrisNLA

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SaiintNick

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outdoor.adventures

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JonMN

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BourbonRunner

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Renegade

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Wheelin98TJ

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ExoShield

ExoShield

ExoShield

ExoShield

ExoShield

JTGuy

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ChrisNLA

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