Jeep Truck

flhrci

flhrci

Final Approach
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
5,932
Location
Groveport, OH
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Display name:
David
I saw a couple new ones sitting on a dealer lot as I drove past today. Looks like a 4-door jeep with a bed welded to the back. It looks weird to me. I am sure they are just trying to get a piece of the pickup truck market. Ugly.
 
It's a throwback to their Jeep Scrambler that they sold in the 80's. I never had a desire to own a truck, but that thing always fascinated me. Although I'm sticking with my Wrangler Unlimited, I love that they brought it back.
 
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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1. Ugly
2. Tiny bed(not that I'm bed shaming)
3. No diesel, but that goes for the Wrangler and it's perpetual diesel 'any day now'
 
Garbage. The CJ8 (Scrambler) is infinitely superior, and a comparison isn't even warranted. (I've had 4 Wranglers, YJ, TJ, 2x JK).
 
You can get a Chevy Colorado diesel ZR-2 for less, and it is a lot more truck.
 
Lowflynjack said:
Car and Driver agrees. The sad part for Jeep is even Honda has a better truck than they do!!

#1 Chevy Colorado
#2 Honda Ridgeline
#3 Jeep Gladiator
#4 Ford Ranger
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I'm happy with my Colorado (Z71 Diesel) so far, don't tow anything significant and my off-roading is limited to logging roads. Would like smart cruise control, but the 25-30 MPG doesn't hurt.
 
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. :)
 
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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They did an offroad test with the Colorado, Jeep, and Toyota Tacoma in another review. The Jeep was still second. Just having a Jeep badge doesn't make it an offroad beast!
 
Just another toy for Jeepers to drool over. I really don't get the point of a 4-door Wrangler with an even longer wheelbase. There are plenty of mid-size trucks I'd rather have than a $48K Gladiator. Tacoma TRD, Ranger FX4, ZX2 all do the same thing for less. I'm sure the aftermarket for Jeep add-ons will be robust for the Gladiator, but the drive-ability and refinement for non-off-roading would be better in just about every competitor. The only thing that the Gladiator does better than the 4-dr Wrangler is towing and hauling something like dirt/sand that you wouldn't necessarily want to put in a Wrangler.

If I were deciding on Wrangler or Gladiator, I'd go Wrangler and get a small trailer for when I need to haul the dirty stuff.
 
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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The wheelbase on a Gladiator, as well as departure angles, are terrible for rock crawling.
 
Its overpriced and impractical as both a weekend off-roader and a pickup. But it says Jeep on it so the fans will buy them up.
 
See I like the look of a Wrangler- looks like a neat cheap little vehicle to go running around with the top down in the summer or take out on trails/back 40 areas or wherever. Then I check out the price tag and it isn't priced like a cheap little vehicle at all. That's really my biggest issue with them- I think you're paying a lot for the name and image.
 
My ‘93 YJ and all YJs were considered “not a Jeep” because of the square headlights. Then the next and next generations came and went...
 
cowman said:
Then I check out the price tag and it isn't priced like a cheap little vehicle at all. That's really my biggest issue with them- I think you're paying a lot for the name and image.
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You've hit the nail squarely on the head. And now I'm sure I'll ruffle some feathers by saying it seems to me Corvette and Cadilac fit that description too. As do Jaguar and probably BMW. <Hmm let's see, who else haven't I alienated?> Oh and Harley Davison.
 
I agree. I saw a few in California and I’ve seen a couple around here. A poor excuse for a ‘pickup’, especially for the asking price - not too impressive.
 
cowman said:
See I like the look of a Wrangler- looks like a neat cheap little vehicle to go running around with the top down in the summer or take out on trails/back 40 areas or wherever. Then I check out the price tag and it isn't priced like a cheap little vehicle at all. That's really my biggest issue with them- I think you're paying a lot for the name and image.
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The Jeep Wrangler (in its various forms) are mostly unmatched in the market. I would say they are great at what they are built for. However they do charge a bit of a premium for that factory off-roading prowess, even if most of them end up as mall crawlers. As with most things in the automotive realm, you can build up an older model Wrangler to be just as competent as the current ones for little money. For me, if I wanted an off road truck/SUV, I’d have a hard time parting with the money they want for a new Jeep, especially if my intention is to take it out and scratch it all up in the woods.
 
I'm in the market for a new pickup to replace my 17-year-old Tundra, but nobody sells what I want in the US. I want a standard cab with a split bench seat, but in a higher trim with a decent off-road package. And I want it to fit in my short driveway. They all insist I buy a back seat that's not even comfortable for my grandkids, at the cost of longer wheelbase and resulting degraded breakover angles.

The new Ford Ranger is actually longer than the short-bed full-size F150 with standard cab.

The Gladiator has a wheelbase that looks like a stretch limo. It's not just an issue rock-crawling, it's also a turning radius issue on tight switchback mountain roads, which we have a lot of here in the west.
 
The Jeep J6 concept truck has the proportions I'd want for off-roading. If only they'd build this!

 
cowman said:
See I like the look of a Wrangler- looks like a neat cheap little vehicle to go running around with the top down in the summer or take out on trails/back 40 areas or wherever. Then I check out the price tag and it isn't priced like a cheap little vehicle at all. That's really my biggest issue with them- I think you're paying a lot for the name and image.
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Yup, the prices are nuts. My wife recently wanted a new car, and we looked at Wranglers. We wanted a basic 2-door soft top with stick shift. We have long hot summers, so the appeal was to drop the top, yank the doors, and ride round open air. Then we priced them, best deal we could find was $34k. Nope.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
Of course, Jeep used to make real trucks.

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My Dad had one of these. He wasn't much of a mechanic though and it always needed more TLC than he could give it. He eventually sold it. Sure wish I had it now.
 
SoonerAviator said:
The wheelbase on a Gladiator, as well as departure angles, are terrible for rock crawling.
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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?
 
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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Depends on your definition of rock crawling. There are lots of trails that a stock Wrangler of any type could traverse and still be called rock crawling. Then there are trails nothing short of a full on custom rig would traverse that is called rock crawling.
 
SoonerAviator said:
If I were deciding on Wrangler or Gladiator, I'd go Wrangler and get a small trailer for when I need to haul the dirty stuff.
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That's what we did.
The reason we went with a wrangler was their towing ability and their small around town drive ability.
This one is giving us 24 MPG
 

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Grum.Man said:
Depends on your definition of rock crawling. There are lots of trails that a stock Wrangler of any type could traverse and still be called rock crawling. Then there are trails nothing short of a full on custom rig would traverse that is called rock crawling.
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Yup. Kind of like going on a hike could mean a nice easy stroll on a manicured path, or climbing up some seriously sketchy terrain. Sometimes the rocks are the size of basketballs, and the stock Wrangler can handle that stuff. Some guys are climbing up/over boulders bigger than the vehicle itself (full-custom rigs become required at that point). It's all about how extreme you want to be. I'd guess that a lot of the guys running fully-customized purpose-built rock crawlers probably started out in a Jeep Wrangler/XJ or similar and worked their way up.
 
Tom-D said:
That's what we did.
The reason we went with a wrangler was their towing ability and their small around town drive ability.
This one is giving us 24 MPG
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24MPG is impressive for those tires. My Jeep didn't get anywhere near that.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yup. Kind of like going on a hike could mean a nice easy stroll on a manicured path, or climbing up some seriously sketchy terrain. Sometimes the rocks are the size of basketballs, and the stock Wrangler can handle that stuff.
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Ok but the comment was about poor departure angles. Departure angles wouldn't come into play with basketball size rocks and no one is using an unmodified vehicle for the bigger stuff. If you're modifying the vehicle anyway, a plasma cutter will get you whatever departure angle you want.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Ok but the comment was about poor departure angles. Departure angles wouldn't come into play with basketball size rocks and no one is using an unmodified vehicle for the bigger stuff. If you're modifying the vehicle anyway, a plasma cutter will get you whatever departure angle you want.
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Lol, well when most people "mod" a Jeep, it normally involves a body lift kit, not a plasma cutter. The departure angles are important because a trail may have ruts/features which allow a Wrangler (with its shorter wheelbase and better departure angle) to make it through, where the Gladiator will get hung up on the frame rails and/or rear bumper. It doesn't mean that things can't be modified, it just lessens the amount that you can do with a stock or lightly modified Jeep.

Fast-forward to 5-minutes in to see a perfect comparison:

 
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