Jeep Truck

ElPaso Pilot said:
Of course, Jeep used to make real trucks.

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A friend had one similar to this, just not the same tires or ride height. It had a 360 CID in it and the crankshaft broke. We ended up fitting a Ford 390 CID in it. A lot of fun to drive.

And the A/C worked great.!!
 
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SoonerAviator said:
Fast-forward to 5-minutes in to see a perfect comparison:

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In my relatively limited experience with off-roading, that simulated situation is a bit unusual, though of course still possible. In normal trail driving, the rocks are typically uneven side-to-side on the trail, and there are a lot of angles you can take to high-side the vehicle to keep the needed clearance. Longer wheel bases are of course a compromise for off-roading vs. better road handling and better stability when towing. Also, if you properly skid plate the vehicle, a bottom scrape on the frame or skid plate now and then isn't going to kill it (just be sure to paint over what you scraped off).
 
Jeff Oslick said:
In my relatively limited experience with off-roading, that simulated situation is a bit unusual, though of course still possible. In normal trail driving, the rocks are typically uneven side-to-side on the trail, and there are a lot of angles you can take to high-side the vehicle to keep the needed clearance. Longer wheel bases are of course a compromise for off-roading vs. better road handling and better stability when towing. Also, if you properly skid plate the vehicle, a bottom scrape on the frame or skid plate now and then isn't going to kill it (just be sure to paint over what you scraped off).
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I wasn't implying there was necessarily any damage to be done by bottoming-out on the frame rails (as long as you don't snag something important). I was just using the video to highlight that the shallower departure angle and longer wheelbase of the Gladiator are sacrifices to off-roading prowess in most cases. The bulk of people driving Gladiators and Wranglers won't ever see anything more than parking in the grass at a high school football game, much less testing the limits of their 4WD system. But if it's me buying, the Gladiator doesn't make much sense to me, especially when the towing aspect of it is probably a bit overzealous. I wouldn't want to tow 7,500lbs with a Gladiator, whether it's rated for it or not.
 
SoonerAviator said:
especially when the towing aspect of it is probably a bit overzealous. I wouldn't want to tow 7,500lbs with a Gladiator, whether it's rated for it or not.
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Yeah, when I saw the tow rating for the Gladiator, I thought "sure, do that a few times at max rating and see how long before problems come up". My Colorado diesel is rated for 7,600 lbs towing, and I think it makes a great easy-towing platform for an ~5,000 lb trailer. Some engineer at Jeep was told figure out the balance between likely warranty claims and upping the tow rating, and rolled the dice. Way too many folks towing don't realize the difference between what you "can" do and what you "should" do.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
Yeah, when I saw the tow rating for the Gladiator, I thought "sure, do that a few times at max rating and see how long before problems come up". My Colorado diesel is rated for 7,600 lbs towing, and I think it makes a great easy-towing platform for an ~5,000 lb trailer. Some engineer at Jeep was told figure out the balance between likely warranty claims and upping the tow rating, and rolled the dice. Way too many folks towing don't realize the difference between what you "can" do and what you "should" do.
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As with most tow ratings . . . getting it moving isn't usually the problem, it's what happens when that 7K pound tail starts wagging the dog, and how to get it stopped when everyone slams on their brakes while running 65mph, lol.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
Way too many folks towing don't realize the difference between what you "can" do and what you "should" do.
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I see it everyday on the interstate here. Small 1/2 ton trucks pulling Rv trailers and the rear bumper of the truck is almost dragging the ground. Just because the commercial on Tv shows it doesn't mean it will tow it. Or stop it.
 
Pilots... so opinionated and somehow uninformed. There are different airplanes for different missions. Could it also hold true for Jeeps? (Oh, the horror of opening one’s mind!)

Some guy is gonna try to tow to much with a Gladiator. Some other guy is gonna try to stuff too much into his (insert favorite airframe here) on a high DA day at a short field. Neither one is the chosen vehicle’s fault for being asked to do more than which it is capable. ;)

At least the Gladiator is built on a real truck frame, unlike some of the other “trucks” mentioned in this thread.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
I've never understood the appeal of rock crawling. That being said, I thought it required a highly modified and customized vehicle. Are people buying factory new 2020 vehicles and modifying them for rock crawling these days?
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Yep. Modded JK’s and JL’s are beasts off-road. There isn’t a more capable platform
 
Lachlan said:
Let’s see a Honda Ridgeline on 40” tires. ;)
Same for Chevy Colorado. No one builds them into off-road beasts, rockcrawling monsters, or anything other than grocery-getters and mall queens. Jeeps are for the hard core, so I wouldn’t expect most people to comprehend. :)
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Gonna guess (just based on my neighborhood) that, oh, 90% of Jeep owners aren't off-roaders, other than around the back yard to dump bags of mulch.
 
Most of them around here have wheels so big they would be instantly destroyed on a rock. That and they lift them with huge tires with stock gears and no lockers.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Gonna guess (just based on my neighborhood) that, oh, 90% of Jeep owners aren't off-roaders, other than around the back yard to dump bags of mulch.
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And what percentage of pilots are non-owners? You can hate Jeeps all you want while you drive around in your foreign branded copy of American ingenuity. That’s your freedom, brought to you courtesy of, uh, JEEP! Since 1941, son. ;)
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
These guys are excited about it.

https://jalopnik.com/the-2020-jeep-gladiator-is-even-better-than-the-wrangle-1833628712

Anticipation for the 2020 Jeep Gladiator has reached a fever pitch, as Jeep fans yearn to jump into the truck world, and truck fans hunger for the taste of that sweet Jeep nectar. Now that the first Jeep pickup in 28 years is here, many wonder: Can it possibly live up to the hype?

I just experienced the Gladiator on and off-road, and can say that, based on my short drive, the answer is yes. The Gladiator is everything you hoped for and more.
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No.... That wheelbase is WAYYYY too long to be even relatively feasible offroading.... its a piece of garbage with a junk engine.
 
QUOTE="SoonerAviator, post: 2778023, member: 20765"]I really don't get the point of a 4-door Wrangler with an even longer wheelbase. [/QUOTE]

chartbundle said:
I'm firmly of the opinion that a Jeep with 4 doors can't be a Wrangler. Not sure what it is, but it's not a Wrangler.
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I've got a 1999 TJ and I totally agree. I've never understood the need for a 4 door Wrangler. Even mine has too long a wheel base for some obstacles, but a 4 door would be even worse.
 
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