Gladiator - Good/Bad?

[billiebob]

There is another choice, the J8 built for the military in Egypt... 5 cylinder diesel, 5 speed automatic, D60 rear end, 2000# plus payload, 16K# plus towing ability.... They also make an armoured ballistic 4 door. 10 years ago there was a video of how well armoured it was..... it was incredible how invincible it was. Plus it'll run thru a desert sandstorm... without a snorkel.

This will outperform ANY retail truck sold to us in North America.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I was with you until the carb comment. Trading one problem for another 😂
Especially for me, where it was 1 deg this morning. Messing with the choke every morning, crap mileage, no power. I could probably handle it on a trail-only rig but not for a daily.
But 100% agreed on the over abundance of electronics in today’s vehicles.

Nah, my carbed truck does fine by me.

I have mulled a TBI conversion for hillclimbs/off camber and elevation changes. I haven't had an issue yet but I know there are situations where I will.

Cold, dd duty, power, mpg... no complaints.

 

[billiebob]

I was with you until the carb comment. Trading one problem for another 😂
Especially for me, where it was 1 deg this morning. Messing with the choke every morning, crap mileage, no power. I could probably handle it on a trail-only rig but not for a daily.
But 100% agreed on the over abundance of electronics in today’s vehicles.

I bought an '87 Wrangler specifically to get a carb for winter. Living in Yellowknife where 40 below zero is the norm no EFI understands that cold. All EFIs will flood unless the bloick heater is working and when you flood an EFI with fuel pressure at 80psi or higher it flows so much fuel you will need an oil change. No fun in a driveway at 40 below....

So I bought an engine with a carb and a fuel pump that delivers about 7psi. Even if it floods you just wait 10 minutes. My start routine every morning, lift the air cleaner, dump some raw gas from a pickle jar I kept behind the brake booster into the carb, pump the gas pedal like a madman and turn the key.... every time it fires up. clamp down the air cleaner listening to the lifters clatter waiting for oil.... and idle away on square tires. I did that for 8 years... all winter.

Back then a few guys bought the new EFI 4 Stroke sleds and after a night at the cabin, next morning they were pulling out a genset to plug in the block heaters, everyone with a 2 stroke and a carb was home before they got started.

No power ?? wrong, I now drive a Rubicon and I miss the torque of that 1987 258 inch YJ engine with a carb on the trail.... PS that YJ with the dreaded 3.07 ratios on 33s got better gas mileage than any of my TJs... And on forestry roads in 4LO it would do 60mph.... it ran like a Mustang on steroids. I've had 3 EFI Wranglers, an LJ and 2 TJRs.... I really miss the YJ with a carb.

It also had the dreaded Peugeot 5 speed.... which had 300K miles on it when I sold it... We follow and worship the internet trolls way too much. An idiot can break anything.

 

[Dan Grec]

There is another choice, the J8 built for the military in Egypt... 5 cylinder diesel, 5 speed automatic, D60 rear end, 2000# plus payload, 16K# plus towing ability.... They also make an armoured ballistic 4 door. 10 years ago there was a video of how well armoured it was..... it was incredible how invincible it was. Plus it'll run thru a desert sandstorm... without a snorkel.

This will outperform ANY retail truck sold to us in North America.

View attachment 763992

I saw a few of these in Africa, plus the one AEV Dave has, plus the one the Quadratec guys had a Moab one year.
Rumour has it there are a few getting around Calgary too.

It just has the 2.8 CRD 4-cyl diesel from VM that was in the export JK in basically every country outside North America.
Fun fact, that same engine has been for sale lately in a few US pickup trucks, they just re-branded it

-Dan

 

[billiebob]

there are a few getting around Calgary too

my dream if one comes up for sale....

And quite right Dan, likely a 4 cylinder. It was 10 years ago or more since the internet link disappeared.... The link for the armoured ballistic version was incredible. 1" glass seems to stop anything and the doors opened after the IED blast. I think it weighed over 7000#... 0-60 in a minute.

 

[Jay61]

I've been following all the Jeep forums for a couple years now...I have a 2006 Rubicon and want to get something newer. Not going to happen...there are so many posts of people with brand spanking new Wranglers with major problems that it scares me. Brand new Jeeps with terrible death wobble, but the main problem is electrical gremlins. Jeeps just plain shutting down while driving. All the new Jeeps have the auto start-stop feature which includes two batteries. One of the batteries is hidden and difficult to get to - yet it goes bad early, and when it does, the Jeep becomes undriveable.

How'd you like to be out in the middle of nowhere, and have this message come up in your dash?
View attachment 752022

There are a number fixes for this. I put the Genesis Dual Battery system in mine and did away with the battery issue. You can bypass the auto stop/start also.

 

[Jay61]

What’s funny is he is right. History has shown all things equal a Chrysler is a turd compared to a Toyota when it comes to quality. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy a gladiator though.

The history I have seen is that if you never leave the pavement Toyotas are more reliable, but once you start putting them offroad they have more that breaks simply due to the fact they are not as beefy as Jeeps. I have seen more Toyotas on the side of trails with issues than Jeeps, even in areas where you have 5 to 10 Jeeps per Toyota. IFS just cannot take the abuse that the solid axles can. That is not mentioning the "belly up" Toyotas you might encounter on the more technical trails we sometimes like to travel. I would also point out that YouTube has been flooded with Jeep vs Toyota videos posted by Toyota guys complaining just about this issue.

 

[Jay61]

Not on the gladiator, only on the wrangler

FYI, I have about 50k on a 2020 gladiator rubicon 6spd with 35s. A regear would be great so would a new clutch. Those two aren’t necessary for what I do, but just items that I would think would push it over the ledge from good to great.

I’m currently in Germany, and when I first got here I had planned on selling the gladiator to buy a gwagen or defender. Looking at what you get for the price point I couldn’t justify them Over the gladiator. Don’t get me wrong a 460 gwagen is great but… I own the Jeep and parts are way easier to find no matter where you are.

Yeah, the Centerforce Clutch upgrade is great for a standard transmission Jeep of any model. Regearing is also what you want to do, especially as heavy as we load our vehicles.

 

[Jay61]

No rational individual or study will find the jeep more reliable than a Toyota. I like Jeeps, have owned one and probably will own another some day- but it’s not a Toyota.

Next
On pavement, yeah it is more reliable, lots of time off pavement, that is a horse of a different color. Give me a Jeep for offroad reliability over a Toyota every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They are just not anywhere as "beefy" as a Jeep leading to a higher rate of offroad failures. The older Toyotas from the early 80s or before, well they holdup offroad better, but then again, they had no IFS. What it all boils down to, I would rather have a major failure on the highway than 40 miles from the nearest pavement where I could purchase a new vehicle for what recovery would cost.

 

[PCO6]

I dropped by the dealership a few years ago thinking I might want to trade in my Comanche. It didn't happen and I'm still living in the past.

 

[Jc1986.carter]

I dropped by the dealership a few years ago thinking I might want to trade in my Comanche. It didn't happen and I'm still living in the past.

View attachment 766725

The size difference is insane.

 

[Jc1986.carter]

Yeah, the Centerforce Clutch upgrade is great for a standard transmission Jeep of any model. Regearing is also what you want to do, especially as heavy as we load our vehicles.

I have centerforce waiting to be installed, I’m looking forward to seeing the difference. My beater vw golf idles and crawls up inclines better than my Jeep…

 

[PCO6]

The size difference is insane.

You’re right. The MJ is much bigger. Well, the bed is anyway. Mine is a short bed model Eliminator with a 6’ long bed. The long bed models are 7’. JTs have a 5’ bed. A second set of seats will do that to you.

The other dimensions are similar. Both have a interior width of 55” and a wheel well to well width of 44”. I believe the JTs have about a quarter to a half inch advantage in both cases. MJs have a bed depth of 16.25” and I believe the JTs are 17.5”.

JTs have some nice features that probably weren’t even thought of when MJs came out in 1986. They have an AC power socket and I believe a 12V power port. They also have an LED courtesy light. These are things that could be added to an MJ of course. Another nice thing is that JTs have a section stamped into their beds to the rear of the wheel wells. That allows a 2”x6” piece of lumber to be inserted vertically into the bed. The top of the wood insert would be at the same as the height of the wheel well which allows you to lay down a sheet of plywood (or?) more easily. They also have a 3 position tailgate. They can be opened and set at about half height.

One thing the JT doesn’t have is a “sport bar” (legal name for a roll bar). These are very rare even though I think they only cost about $150 when MJs were new. I bought a parts MJ to get mine. I took the parts I wanted, replaced them with lesser but usable (seats for example) parts and sold it for a little more than I paid for it. It also came with an even rarer soft tonneau that had never been installed.

I really like the Gladiators … but my 35 year old Comanche isn’t going any where!