Thinking about - er bought - a Jeep Gladiator

[SoonerAviator]

Plenty of posers driving lifted diesel 4x4 F250's to accounting jobs, to be sure. But also plenty of farmers, ranchers, carpenters, HVAC, yard guys, commercial fishermen, etc using them mainly as a tool for work. Which demographic is the majority probably depends on where you live. The first market wouldn't exist without the second.

Ahem, it's a diesel 4x4 Excursion that I drive to my accounting job, thank you very much! And it did just fine in the 3-4" of snow and ice we just got, lol. 8Klbs curb weight has something to do with it.

 

[Zeldman]

Actually my '69 Fleetwood Series 75 with a 472 also did quite well in snow. Fairly skinny tires and a 6,000 lb car. It was hilarious to pack my whole hall in it and then do donuts in the parking lot.

 

[Zeldman]

The majority of pickups are bought by people who rarely if ever haul anything that wouldn't fit in the back of a SUV... and most Jeeps are purchased by people who never take them off the pavement.

So true.

 

[Dana]

The Gladiator market is probably just what you described. Hard core weekend warriors (hence the name) who sometimes do light work. Seems perfect for that.

Yup. Though there are a lot of posers, too. They get made fun of on the Jeep forums. But...

The first market wouldn't exist without the second.

 

[Ted]

Ahem, it's a diesel 4x4 Excursion that I drive to my accounting job, thank you very much! And it did just fine in the 3-4" of snow and ice we just got, lol. 8Klbs curb weight has something to do with it.

My Excursion was awesome in the PA snow. I loved that truck. Never should’ve sold it.

 

[PaulS]

I like the look of the Gladiator, but not enough horsepower. I have 15 hemi gc right now.

 

[Ted]

I like the look of the Gladiator, but not enough horsepower. I have 15 hemi gc right now.

It has enough horsepower - 285 is the rating - it’s just in the wrong RPM range. A 285 HP engine that makes it at 4500 instead of 6400 would be just fine.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

A truck is a hauling machine first, a passenger vehicle second.

This hasn't been true for 15+ years.

Some have been niche successes but none have lasted.

Except for ALL of the trucks on the market today...

 

[falconkidding]

Drove one and generally liked it. Bout put my foot through the floorboards with how light the clutch is idk if its different on new ones but the one i drove was probably about a quarter the pressure of my civic. To where when i had the clutch depressed I could just leave my foot resting and feel no pressure. Almost like trying to drive stickshift with miming the motions. Chugged it a few times and surged a few on my drive around the block.

 

[Craig]

Hope you have better luck with yours than a guy on my crew has had with his... 2022 model and it's been in the shop for over a year in total. Biggest thing was some electrical problems where they had to install a completely new wiring harness for the entire vehicle, not once, but twice. He's had other issues too, and every time it goes to the shop, it's 3-5 days after he drops it off before it comes back.

 

[Ted]

Drove one and generally liked it. Bout put my foot through the floorboards with how light the clutch is idk if its different on new ones but the one i drove was probably about a quarter the pressure of my civic. To where when i had the clutch depressed I could just leave my foot resting and feel no pressure. Almost like trying to drive stickshift with miming the motions. Chugged it a few times and surged a few on my drive around the block.

That clutch is the same in this one. Way too light for my taste, especially compared to the Ram and Cobra. And also way too sensitive. I’m getting used to it, but it’s still not my preference.

Hope you have better luck with yours than a guy on my crew has had with his... 2022 model and it's been in the shop for over a year in total. Biggest thing was some electrical problems where they had to install a completely new wiring harness for the entire vehicle, not once, but twice. He's had other issues too, and every time it goes to the shop, it's 3-5 days after he drops it off before it comes back.

We’ll see how it works out. I had a number of people tell me to avoid Jeeps because of quality issues, and they’ve earned that reputation. We also bought an Alfa Romeo when they had some abysmal quality rating (it’s been effectively trouble free) and my first car was a V12 Jaguar. So these things don’t really scare me, and if it’s bad enough to lemon law we’ll do so.

Bit over 1,000 miles so far, no issues. Not that that’s any significant amount.

 

[Ted]

Today I installed the new front bumper on the Gladiator:



I needed to do something in order to flat tow the Jeep behind the bus, and that was either add dedicated brackets or change to a different bumper. The bumper change made more sense as it wasn't all that much more than the tow bar brackets, looked better (my opinion) and didn't hurt approach angle for off roading. Granted departure angle is by far the bigger concern on a Gladiator (especially with the under-bed spare tire and trailer hitch) but this made more sense. Plus it provides a winch mount.

Overall, happy with it. I've got a couple orange towing D-rings showing up (to match/compliment the orange in the Mojave trim) but I'm otherwise calling the Jeep "done" for now. We've got close to 2k miles on it and it's doing exactly what it's supposed to. I've now gotten more used to the clutch and it doesn't bother me as much as it did when I first picked it up, although it's still not to my taste. Similarly I wish the engine had some more guts at low RPM. But, for what it is and what it cost, it's just fine.

 

[charheep]

Those are some nice tires. Really helps the look of the car.

 

[BMan]

Nice on the Gladiator. We've had six Jeeps (Wranglers and Grand Cherokees) over the past 14yrs and no problems with any of them with a mix of 5.7 Hemi, 3.6 Pentastar, 2.0T and 2.0T 4xe. For decent all season tires that are VERY GOOD in winter I recommend the Goodyear Duratracs; the only weakness is tread noise at ~20,000 miles and weaker sidewalls when off road. Let us know how your tires work out.

 

[Ted]

Those are some nice tires. Really helps the look of the car.

I like them too, although credit goes to the factory here - they’re the OEM Falkens. No complaints on them thus far.

 

[CJones]

I like them too, although credit goes to the factory here - they’re the OEM Falkens. No complaints on them thus far.

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Falkens lately. My dad put them on his truck a few years ago before we drove it to MT and back and they did well in that situation and in the snow in the mountains. One of the overlanding families that we follow on YT has switched from BFGs and GYs to the Falkens and have been raving about them (and no, they are not sponsored).

 

[Ed Haywood]

Did a bunch of research for my recent move to Colorado mountains. Recommend looking into All Weather instead of All Season tires if you will deal with serious snow. All Weather tires will have the 3 peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) logo on the sidewall. That's not just marketing; those qualify as winter tires in areas that have traction laws.

 

[Ted]

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Falkens lately. My dad put them on his truck a few years ago before we drove it to MT and back and they did well in that situation and in the snow in the mountains. One of the overlanding families that we follow on YT has switched from BFGs and GYs to the Falkens and have been raving about them (and no, they are not sponsored).

I ended up with 35" Falkens on the Ram as well this time due to issues with what they had in stock vs. what their website said (and was discounted appropriately). So far, I'm happy with them as well. They did really well in the snow we had a bit ago.

I'd not previously owned Falkens but it does seem like they're beocming increasingly popular over some of the more common legacy brands.

Did a bunch of research for my recent move to Colorado mountains. Recommend looking into All Weather instead of All Season tires if you will deal with serious snow. All Weather tires will have the 3 peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) logo on the sidewall. That's not just marketing; those qualify as winter tires in areas that have traction laws.

Kansas doesn't have serious snow, and if the snow is serious, the bus probably shouldn't be on the road - especially with the drag slicks they call tires that are on it right now.

I'm not one to change tires just for the fun of it, so we'll see what we think of these and then maybe go for something different when they wear out. I'd like to put on 35s or 37s for a bit more lift and ground clearance I think, but we'll decide later.

 

[Ted]

So far so good on the Jeep. But I did publish my video on installing an aftermarket front bumper so I can flat tow it behind the bus:

 

[Dana]

I need to get bigger/better tires than the stock 245/75 Bridgestone tires on steel wheels that came on my Gladiator. I don't need to go real big, don't want to lose performance, don't want to regear, besides big tires get pricey. Tempted by a set of like new Mojave takeoffs (285/70 Falken MT) on factory alloy wheels for a great price an hour and a half from our cabin but ATs would be better on the road and the next few weekends are pretty full to find time for a 3 hour round trip... hmmm...

 

[Ted]

Mojave/Rubicon take-offs would be good. I think those size tires "look" right, and shouldn't be enough bigger to significantly impact the gearing.

I've been thinking that 35s would be a nice improvement and will supposedly fit without rubbing. The Jeep did come with a lifetime powertrain warranty and I probably should check the fine print to see if they can void it for different sized tires. Not that that would necessarily stop me, but it's something to consider.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

The Jeep did come with a lifetime powertrain warranty and I probably should check the fine print to see if they can void it for different sized tires.

They can try, but there are strict laws around protecting your warranty, even with aftermarket parts.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act creates a barrier to such practices, ensuring that warranties cannot be voided unless the manufacturer can substantiate that the aftermarket part or service was the cause of the defect.

Which on a jeep would be hard to do with something as minor as a tire size change.

 

[Ted]

They can try, but there are strict laws around protecting your warranty, even with aftermarket parts.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act creates a barrier to such practices, ensuring that warranties cannot be voided unless the manufacturer can substantiate that the aftermarket part or service was the cause of the defect.

Which on a jeep would be hard to do with something as minor as a tire size change.

True. But as an engineer (and someone who's watched every episode of Dirt Every Day - RIP), I do know that bigger tires are going to add stress to every component upstream, axles primarily but it will still make things harder on the transmission and the clutch (1st gear isn't too tall, but it sure isn't a granny gear in this thing). The engine is the one part where I wouldn't say it's making things any harder on it. Plus, there's what the law says and then what the companies try to get away with, and how much I want to push.

Incidentally, this is why I mostly hate warranties outside of the factory one (and even then, I'd take a "Warranty Delete" option and get cash back if I could) and never buy the extended warranty on anything. I figure the money I've saved over the years has more than been a win for me.

But, these tires only have around 8-9k miles on them (3k on the Jeep, and then the remaining being flat towed behind the bus) so I've got some time to consider it. The more pressing thing to try to get first is some steps to make it easier for the rest of the family to get in the thing. The kids already complain about it being too high to get in and tires wouldn't help that situation.

35x12.50-17s would be a really common tire size. When I put those on my Ram it was actually cheaper than the factory tire size because it's such a common size. Would get another inch of ride height out, doesn't require any lift since the Mojave has a factory lift vs. the rest of the lineup (I want to say 1", I forget) and then the fewer revs/mile would probably be a good thing for longevity while being flat towed. That's what I'm thinking I might go with next time around, I'll just take a look at what's available when the time comes and decide.

 

[Rockymountain]

My new Gladiator hasn't seen enough snow yet for me to have an opinion.

Going to be highly dependent on the tires. The best out there for all purpose, road, heavy off road and snow and ice are the Goodyear Duratracks. Good year hit a home run with this one. They wear out after 25-30,000 miles, but that is because of the soft rubber that makes them great off road as well as on snow and ice. Pretty good are the Falken Wild Peaks. That is what I run on our Gladiator. Daughter drives it, so pretty good, but cheaper to replace with a hot-dog teenager.

 

[iamtheari]

So far so good on the Jeep. But I did publish my video on installing an aftermarket front bumper so I can flat tow it behind the bus:

How can you tell that this is a Ted project and not an Ari project? Because, at 8:50 when the front bumper comes off the Jeep, the Ari version would have shown 500 lbs of gravel draining out of the bumper, which would also be dangling from a bundle of very short, 28-gauge, specialty gold alloy wires on a very complicated connector that requires simultaneous use of a T-23 Torx driver and a metric crescent wrench to remove (both of which I would have, but they would be in a toolbox that I can just barely reach with my left foot if I can get my shoe untied without dropping the bumper).

I drive by our local new-car dealership daily, since it's next to the post office and across the street from the airport. It's a Chrysler-line dealership so they mostly have Ram trucks and assorted Jeeps on the lot. This thread comes to mind each time I see a Gladiator and wonder how well one would handle my mission, which is to have at least some garage space to walk between vehicles by maximizing the functional range of my daily driver.

The main shortcomings I think about are towing and highway driving. But my Jeep experience has been a 1948 Willys, a 2003 2-door 4-cylinder Wrangler, and a 2006 Liberty CRD. I haven't tried the Willys on the road for obvious reasons. And the only Jeep I tried to pull the boat with was the Liberty. It went fine on the road, but backing into the boat ramp I was sliding uncomfortably even in 4WD, so I swapped the trailer to another vehicle when we finished on the water.

I'm sure the Gladiator is a great highway improvement over the 2003 Wrangler (if for no other reason than wheelbase) and I would hope it behaves better on the boat ramp than the Liberty. Your thread keeps inspiring me to want to give one a try. They should have given you more than 15% off MSRP for that.

 

[Ted]

The main shortcomings I think about are towing and highway driving. But my Jeep experience has been a 1948 Willys, a 2003 2-door 4-cylinder Wrangler, and a 2006 Liberty CRD. I haven't tried the Willys on the road for obvious reasons. And the only Jeep I tried to pull the boat with was the Liberty. It went fine on the road, but backing into the boat ramp I was sliding uncomfortably even in 4WD, so I swapped the trailer to another vehicle when we finished on the water.

I'm sure the Gladiator is a great highway improvement over the 2003 Wrangler (if for no other reason than wheelbase) and I would hope it behaves better on the boat ramp than the Liberty. Your thread keeps inspiring me to want to give one a try. They should have given you more than 15% off MSRP for that.

I'm not sure what you're driving now, and I haven't driven a Liberty. But I have driven previous generation Jeeps from Cherokees to Wrangler Unlimiteds, and some others in there. No doubt, the current generation (both my Gladiator and also Wrangler Unlimiteds I've driven) are much, much better highway vehicles than the older ones.

The "comfortable" highway speed (above which it starts buffeting around more) I find to be in the 70-75 range. I generally don't drive it above 70. It can go faster, and some of it depends on how much tolerance you have for that. So if you drive long highway stints at 85 today comfortably like you can do with most modern pickups, this might not be the best choice.

Towing, I have no idea as I haven't towed with it. I'm not sure whether your preference is the manual or automatic, or how big your boat is. Our boat that we used to have was a 23' cuddy cabin boat which @jesse now owns. I would definitely not want to tow that with the Gladiator. I hated towing it with the Avalanche, which was a bigger/heavier vehicle.

(ref: "Thinking About a Boat", the first "Thinking About..." thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/thinking-about-a-boat.73964/)

If your boat is smaller, then I don't see an issue with that.

I did recently pull some bushes out of the ground using the Jeep. The Mojave doesn't have the 4:1 low range of the Rubicon, it's got something like a 2.72:1. Even with it in low range and whatever reverse gear is, it was hard on the clutch. The lack of a proper granny gear in 1st and fairly tall ratios isn't ideal, but I think the 8-speed auto handles that better.

 

[BMan]

I tow a 5x10 covered single-axle v-nose trailer with my 4xe Rubicon. When it's 2500-3000lbs loaded I don't even feel it back there except, of course, a noticeable reduction in acceleration compared to sans trailer. With or without a trailer the 4xe Rubicon is a great ride on the interstate unless I get 45-90 degree high crosswinds then it's more lane-correction input. The Gladiator is an even better tow vehicle, better on the interstate with that long wheelbase, and rated for even higher trailer weights.

 

[Ted]

I tow a 5x10 covered single-axle v-nose trailer with my 4xe Rubicon. When it's 2500-3000lbs loaded I don't even feel it back there except, of course, a noticeable reduction in acceleration compared to sans trailer. With or without a trailer the 4xe Rubicon is a great ride on the interstate unless I get 45-90 degree high crosswinds then it's more lane-correction input. The Gladiator is an even better tow vehicle, better on the interstate with that long wheelbase, and rated for even higher trailer weights.

I would expect a trailer like yours to do just fine behind the Gladiator, along with a <20 ft boat, especially if it was a fishing boat or something smaller/lighter etc.

Our 23' cuddy cabin boat definitely wouldn't have been a great pairing, though.