Wrangler vs Gladiator?

[old mike]

We have to be honest with ourselves.

Plenty of workmen, farmers, and ranchers don't have money to burn and buy used pickups to use them as they were allegedly actually designed to be used and they get many years of use out of them. But, the original/first owners of pickups often do have or at least had money to burn and really just buy their trucks for status, for looks, and as decorations.

So, before the current financial crunch, Gladiators were just great for many of those original owner types. Gladiators offered even more status, looks, and decorative value than Wranglers, more than many other pickups. The little bed was big enough to hold picnic supplies and stuff like that. They looked great parked at the mall. Money was plentiful and Jeep made a lot of profit off them.

But, now that money is a bit scarcer, the money that original owner types will pay for status, looks, and decorative value is getting scarce and, frankly, not that many workmen, farmers, and ranchers are going to pay the high price for a used Gladiator when they can get a bigger payload in a cheaper used pickup.

At the same time, for serious offroading, you'd need to put 46 inch tires on a Gladiator to compensate for the long wheelbase and give it the breakover angles of even a frigging 4dr JL. That would require at least a ten inch lift to clear the wheel wells and you'd still have that horrendous rear overhang. So, the core Jeep market isn't interested either, except of course for parking at the mall, the Gladiator is great for that.

So, the market for Gladiators is destined to be down until inflation has stabilized and been absorbed and easy money flows freely again. In the meantime, the "real" Jeep market will continue consuming JLs and JLUs almost as fast as they come available.

Sponsored

 

[aldo98229]

I wonder how popular it would be to have the option of a 2 door Gladiator with the same wheelbase as a JLU.... that way you would have a longer and more practical bed and the same off-roading capabilities as a JLU... when I go off-roading the groups always have Gladiators and they always struggle to clear obstacles..

Besides buying a Gladiator for looks I wonder what attracts people to the Gladiator model.. Overlanding?.. the bed?.. not sure about towing capacity as other options have better towing capacity (unless you want to look cool while towing LOL)

All of the above...?

 

[Bayrat]

#4 exactly! I love the JT and wanted to pick one up as my next vehicle but the 3.6 in the JT is an absolute DOG. It feels so underpowered compared to the same engine in the JL. I've heard rumblings that the 4Xe is coming to the JT in 2024. That has piqued my interest, I love the 4Xe platform on the JLU and am looking forward to its implementation on the JT.

I don't find the 3.6 in my JLUR to be anything but barely adequate. It reminds me of my old Trailduster with the 318 which was also a dog power wise.

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

I'm honestly not sure. I would think it would be for the 5-10% of the time people actually need a truck, yet as soon as people get a JT they throw a rack on the bed... defeating that purpose.

I don't think a 2 door JT would be popular. Donut did a video on the Wrangler and pointed out that when the JKU came out in 2008 something like 80% of sales were of the 4 door. IMO because households have kids.

The Wrangler went from a weekend, fun toy that if you HAD to take the kids in you could, to: "Oh shit. So I can have my big pickup(which we need), and my wife can have the Jeep and still do just about everything she could normally do in a sedan."

Yeah... a 2 door JT probably won't be popular enough to justify the costs of a new design but I would love to see a 2 door JT on a JLU wheelbase !!!

I wonder how many people who want an off-roader vehicle and trying to decide between a JLU or a JT go for the JLU because of the wheelbase... although I really like the Gladiator I chose a JLU for better off-roading capabilites (I guess you could always install 44 or 46 inch tires to make the Gladiator a more capably off-roader ) ... on a side note imagine the beauty of a 2 door Gladiator with 40 inch tires !!

 

[Zandcwhite]

The JT would only be an option if for some reason we couldn't own a truck AND a jeep. It's a hell of a compromise as an off roader and needs major mods to overcome the terrible breakover and departure angles. Those mods all make it even more compromised as a truck. 4+" of lift and 37's minimum sure make loading stuff in the bed a chore. You'll definitely need to regear if you're towing even moderately heavy, and the bed is tiny. If we couldn't have a real truck and a JLU , odds are I'd go JLU and a utility trailer as less of a compromise. Whenever you try to get a vehicle to be too many different things, it always seems to fall a little short in all categories. I'll stick with our his and hers set up that does all the things a gladiator does but better. Not to mention I love the 2.0t for Jeep stuff and the 5.7 hemi and full air suspension for truck stuff. Nice soft off road suspension on one and the ability to load an 8500lb trailer and still sit level on the other.

 

[Mocopo]

Same here, lots of JTs on the lot. But strangely enough, still no Rubicons. Rubi's, in either JL or JT, are impossible to find on lots right now here. Except for maybe 2 doors. And lots of JK and JKU Rubi's that have seen some hard miles.

My primary interest in a Gladiator would be overlanding. I have a Ram 1500 that is just too big for the trails I go on, and my 2 dr JK was just too small for the family. I sold the JK and will use the cash from that plus the truck as a trade-in on my new JLUR-XR when it arrives. In order for my family to go camping the way we like, we won't be able to fit all of it in a JLU, so the bed on a Gladiator would solve that. So why am I getting a JLU instead of a JT, especially if I'm getting rid of my truck??

I wonder that myself sometimes.... I'm betting once the JLU is paid off I go out and get a Gladiator as a 3rd vehicle lol. By then I can probably just get a nice used one, since I'll turn it into the hunting vehicle anyway. Higher miles would be less of an issue.

 

[IdahoJOAT]

Yeah... a 2 door JT probably won't be popular enough to justify the costs of a new design but I would love to see a 2 door JT on a JLU wheelbase !!!

I wonder how many people who want an off-roader vehicle and trying to decide between a JLU or a JT go for the JLU because of the wheelbase... although I really like the Gladiator I chose a JLU for better off-roading capabilites (I guess you could always install 44 or 46 inch tires to make the Gladiator a more capably off-roader ) ... on a side note imagine the beauty of a 2 door Gladiator with 40 inch tires !!

Somewhere on our own forum...

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-ca...glimpse-of-the-two-door-jeep-wrangler-pickup/

 

[mferrara91]

I've got mixed feelings on the Gladiator. In stock form, the proportions are all off. But raise them up a few inches and put them on 37s or bigger with a little wider stance and they look great to me. I guess the same could be said for base-ish trim Wranglers to a degree but it's more pronounced on the JT. The diesel being the only motor above the 3.6L is my other deterrent. If it had a Hemi (5.7L or 6.4L) or the new Hurricane inline 6 I'd be all over one. My main reason for owning a Jeep is I like to get away and do dispersed camping whenever I can. The Gladiator is arguably a better platform for that and it can tow and haul in the handful of situations I need a truck to do truck things.

Totally agree...they need to be lifted with larger tires in order to look somewhat proportionate. The thing that bothers me the most is the space behind the rear doors. I get Jeep trying to save money by using the same size doors, but man it looks ridiculous. Every time I see a JT it's hard for me not to focus on that.

 

[John VonJeep]

A 2-door JT is the kind of rig that people slobber over on the internet; then nobody buys them when they actually come out. Ask Ford how many non-fleet regular cab F150s they sell. A few, sure. But not many.

 

[Namakan]

My local dealer currently has 31 Gladiators on the lot or in transit and 9 Wranglers (3-JL's, 1 JLU high-tide and 5 4xe's)

 

[IdahoJOAT]

A 2-door JT is the kind of rig that people slobber over on the internet; then nobody buys them when they actually come out. Ask Ford how many non-fleet regular cab F150s they sell. A few, sure. But not many.

Right?!

Or how much business Dodge lost out on, stubbornly, in the 90's by refusing to do a true crew cab truck. I've seen several here in Idaho, but they're custom rigs. It's asinine to me why they didn't do this. Piss poor business strategy to go, "Everyone loves our trucks! We're killing it on Ford and Chevy finally!"

"People want a crew cab, not just a quad-cab."

"The people don't know what they want. We know better."

"Yup, it's working for GM and the Aztec. Great idea sir."

Why Dodge, why?

 

[Steph1]

One thing the JT really has (had?) going for it is Gator. Man, what a cool color.

Absolutely, there's one identical to your pic in my neighbourhood with a lift and 37s and tought that was Gobi. So I understood the love for it but wondered why it looked so light beige and not so good on websites...... Now I know.... Gobi is my favorite Jeep color... absolutely has to come to the wrangler in the next remodel in what 5-6 years.

 

[Sazabi19]

So I have a JT and wanted a Wrangler for a long time. I listened to several people who said they are loud and uncomfortable so I got my Cadenza. Well after that I was specifically looking for a convertible since I liked the glass roof but it was missing something.

Then the Gladiator came out! It had a truck bed and since it's longer the handling/ride should be nicer. I took 1 for a test drive and loved it. It was a lot different than my Cadenza but the road manners were good and the noise wasn't anything like I was thinking, it seemed like a normal truck.

The fact that it was essentially a Wrangler with a bed was a huge plus for me. I wanted to go off roading (I'm not a huge speed freak so a sports convertible would've just been a convertible for me) and be able to take the doors off. I don't really use the bed but wanted one just in case. I love that I have that capability.

Overall my Gladiator was everything I hoped it would be. It's great for light truck duty the rare times I use it that way. It has been great as an extended Wrangler for me since I go w/o the roof and doors when I can. Lastly it has been fun off road, sure it's a bit longer but it's taken everything I've thrown at it with ease (nothing overly technical). Anything I've been uneasy about going over I've been able to back out of or go around. I think my JLR will be more fun for me because obvious reasons :D

Oh, I also really love my Gator color.

 

[pablo_max3045]

To each his own, but the gladiator is fugly to me.
If I was getting a pickup, it definitely would not be a Jeep. I'd either get a Ranger Raptor , Hilux or an imported 79 series. All significantly cheaper than a Gladiator and much better screwed together.

 

[Deleted member 59498]

Is it just around here or is this happening a lot? Around here dealers will have many Gladiator’s for every Wrangler on the lot (new). I’m not talking “close”, I’m seeing 6, 8, 10 Gladiators for every single JLU, (not to mention multiple JLU’s per JL?). What’s the deal I wonder. Are Glad’s selling that well (or are they NOT selling)? Back BC (before Covid) dealers stocked what they thought they could sell. Now, who knows? Maybe they’re stocking Glad’s ‘cause they can’t get the JL’s? Anybody know?

Over priced to me, the Mojave which is the best looking one in my opinion is always over 60k it seems and not worth it in my opinion. Rubicon with 3.0 is 60+ so even at MSRP that is 7 or 8k more dollars than my JLURD.

Sponsored