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Gladiator

Funny, I was just texting a couple hours ago with someone who was guiding trails for two Rubicon JTs in Moab today :) I got a fun picture that I unfortunately can't share :banghead:

The word I got when I asked how they were doing was "much better than expected" which begged the question of what exactly was expected -- I was afraid I was getting a slippery answer, so I asked. The response was "All JL plus a bed" and I know that this person is very impressed with the JL, so that was saying a lot. They added, basically that we got the best of the JL with the best of the Ram and that the butt is well-armored and has much better clearance than the photos make it look.

This is a person MORE than qualified to weigh in on the off-road ability, someone who does more offroading than 99.9% of the population in multiple brands of vehicles and has a very long history with Jeep (no exaggeration, that's not just for effect.) They also have absolutely zero reason to talk it up (not with Jeep.) Actually exactly the opposite, they would not hesitate to absolutely crap all over something that wasn't up to snuff.

Knowing this person like I do, I am VERY, VERY excited to hear this after seeing the photos and video from the reveal.

This answers one of the two huge questions I had (off-road ability), the other is going to be the price point. The vehicle appears to be competing with the Colorado, Tacoma and coming Ranger, but I am very fearful that the price point will be in F150, Tundra, Silverado/Ram 1500 land or even more. I spec'ed out a well-optioned Tacoma TRD Pro on the 'yota website and it came out to less than $44k. While I know a Rubicon JT will outperform it, they simply can't come in $10k or more over that. If there's much any premium over a similar JLU (rumors are out there of $5k-$10k more), the Rubicon JT is going to start in the $50s easy (with the diesel over $60.) That is all that's left that has me seriously worried after tonight :shrug:
 
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I totally dig it and I’m thankful that it turned out resembling the AEV Brute more than a Honda Ridgeline.

FABDB9E9-5B4E-4012-BFD6-099BE87EDF16.jpegAA42EA20-296A-4E06-A85C-F524BC87273C.jpeg774498E1-9225-4715-81AF-A2362DE6F8BF.jpeg12DE985E-6FAF-48CA-9AD9-D93E36B5EF9D.jpeg

Such an awesome combo of off-road capability combined w/ the requirements of most daily driver duties.

Keep up the great work Jeep - we appreciate it and hopefully the sale numbers reflect it w/ the Gladiator!

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I like the new gladiator, but the potential price really scares me. I can't justify upwards of $50k for a truck with a 5.5ft bed. To me short beds are not very useful, it be better not to have one at all, but willing to overlook that because it a Jeep. Currently you can get a lot more truck for a lot less money with other manufacturers, but that's my opinion. Love the truck, just not the price.
 
I may be a minority on this topic but to me this is a truck, not an off road vehicle. Who cares how well it can wheel when the Gladiator was never built to be an off road vehicle back in the day. It was built to work and haul.
 
AJ2393 said:
Love the truck, just not the price.
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That price tag is way out of my range, too. Pay off my student loans, or buy a new JT?

Also agree with @Kane, wheeling it might not be my use case. Even in @SKT 's pictures you can see they aren't the best setup for wheeling. There's a fair amount of hype surrounding them, because "Jeep truck," but I expect they'll have about the same production run as the CJ8s - there are other competitor offerings that have been around a long time that will outsell the Gladiators on reliability and price alone, and in recent memory the Jeep brand has always had a hard time with trucks.

Two things, though - I'm thinking it'll revitalize interest in our Scramblers at least for a short while, and because I don't think the Gladiator will be produced for more than 5-6 years, they'll be just as rare and sought after in the future...so long as self-driving cars don't take over the world. The key will be trying to buy a used one when the market is getting tired of them, sometime in that 4-5yr post-reveal time frame.
 
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Kane said:
I may be a minority on this topic but to me this is a truck, not an off road vehicle. Who cares how well it can wheel when the Gladiator was never built to be an off road vehicle back in the day. It was built to work and haul.
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The fact that the Gladiator name was used doesn't have anything to do with what this vehicle is/isn't. Jeep's proven that multiple times. It could have just as easily been called a Scrambler, remember (thank God it wasn't)

Jeep people wanted a Jeep-based truck and got a truck-based Jeep. Truck people think it's not enough truck. :shrug:

That said, I actually agree, but that's not how most Jeep fans are looking at it. All I care about off-road is that it can hold its own and the aftermarket plays with it.

My personal feeling about Jeep-branded vehicles is that they don't all have to be Wranglers off-road and they don't have to be built primarily for off-road (with CAFE standards, the brand couldn't exist if they did that) but they need to out-perform all of the direct competition IN THEIR SEGMENT off-road. Jeep wasn't doing that for years and I finally feel like FCA has that figured out. You may hate the Renegade, for example, but until you actually drive one off-road, you have no idea what it can actually do and I'll guarantee you it's better than any of it's direct competition. Same with the Cherokee. I feel good that the Gladiator will deliver that in spades after the report I got yesterday.

One other thing to keep in mind, AEV was HAND BUILDING Jeep crew cabs that took forever to turn out, were about double the price of the Jeep on which they were based, and they sold every one that they ever made without trying. Yes, we're talking hundreds of them, but it pairs with the long-standing outcry for a Wrangler truck.

Definitely going to be interesting to watch what happens here.
 
walkerhoundvm said:
Even in @SKT 's pictures you can see they aren't the best setup for wheeling.
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"Aren't the best setup" compared to what other pickup truck? Making that statement by comparing it to a Wrangler or CJ is like comparing them to a motorcycle.

Not trying to pick on you, your comment just perfectly illustrates my point about how it's only useful making any comments/comparisons like that to its direct competition.

Also, note that the one big knock I see over and over on these is the departure angle when the numbers (I really need to memorize the two angles) show that the Gladiator is really, really close to the stock LJ. People weren't complaining about the LJ overhang and they're still one of the most sought-after Jeeps to build to wheel.

I'm just playing the other side here, not trying to pick a fight. I see both side of the comments for/against this thing. I just can't wait to get behind the wheel at EJS.
 
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All of the people complaining about one thing or the other about the Gladiator should start being thankful for what we got here when they see the new abomination from Chevy :huh: :eek: :crazy: :rotfl:

I thought this was someone's photochop joke...

Having to put your name that big on the front of a vehicle is basically admitting that you completely #&$*%@ up as a designer.

47577025_10156660853610575_6504210696815771648_n.jpg
 
bigwalton said:
Not trying to pick on you, your comment just perfectly illustrates my point about how it's only useful making any comments/comparisons like that to its direct competition.
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I get that, but I think that's where Jeep always gets it wrong. Maybe not wrong, just perhaps a short-term appeasement of the public. I guarantee it'll perform better than the competition at off-roading, just like you say. But that won't keep the JT around for very long. People want trucks, like a Tacoma, for light truck duty. People want jeeps for the ruggedness and some for off-roading...most for kid-haulers that just look like they could survive the apocalypse. The market for Jeep trucks is going to be pretty limited, it almost always has been. They'll satisfy a demand pretty early on and soon realize there's not a substantial market to stay viable.

I think we're just saying two non-exclusive things. The Gladiator will beat out the competition in the off-roading category, and that the Gladiator won't be around for very long because it's filling such a niche market - a consumer who want's a light truck that's also very capable off-road.

Jeep Scrambler: 1981-1986; just under 28K produced
Jeep Comanche: 1986-1992; just under 45K produced
Jeep JT Gladiator: 2019-2025. 60-65K produced

Bookmarked for future reference ;)
 
walkerhoundvm said:
People want trucks, like a Tacoma, for light truck duty.
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But there's a very, very simple reason they can't do exactly what you're asking under the Jeep brand: leeching RAM sales. FCA wants those people to keep buying RAM, simple as that. That's why the Gladiator couldn't be the old Gladiator, that'd be a RAM 1500.

So, given that very real business constraint, any Jeep truck has to be something different. I'm of the opinion that they did that pretty well. The issue is if the price of the Gladiator comes in too high, which is a serious concern. Then your comments about not being around long come into play.
 
bigwalton said:
All of the people complaining about one thing or the other about the Gladiator should start being thankful for what we got here when they see the new abomination from Chevy :huh: :eek: :crazy: :rotfl:

I thought this was someone's photochop joke...

Having to put your name that big on the front of a vehicle is basically admitting that you completely #&$*%@ up as a designer.

View attachment 68130
Click to expand...

Some of the photoshops are pretty good...

https://jalopnik.com/emergency-photoshoppers-are-rushing-in-to-fix-the-chevy-1830914287
 
bigwalton said:
All of the people complaining about one thing or the other about the Gladiator should start being thankful for what we got here when they see the new abomination from Chevy :huh::eek::crazy::rotfl:

I thought this was someone's photochop joke...

Having to put your name that big on the front of a vehicle is basically admitting that you completely #&$*%@ up as a designer.

View attachment 68130
Click to expand...

I lol'd a lot at the new HD too. However, the High Country trim kiiiiiiind of saves it though:

2020-Chevrolet-Silverado-2500HD-HighCountry-011.jpg
 
walkerhoundvm said:
I think we're just saying two non-exclusive things. The Gladiator will beat out the competition in the off-roading category, and that the Gladiator won't be around for very long because it's filling such a niche market - a consumer who want's a light truck that's also very capable off-road.

Jeep Scrambler: 1981-1986; just under 28K produced
Jeep Comanche: 1986-1992; just under 45K produced
Jeep JT Gladiator: 2019-2025. 60-65K produced

Bookmarked for future reference ;)
Click to expand...

I thought it would be niche too, but I'm having second thoughts. A vehicle that fits all the Jeep JK/JL bolt-on mall-crawling stereotypes while offering extra umph for pulling the boat or camper around, and having a diesel option.... It may be a far better seller than any of us imagine.
 
The new Gladiator has basically the same hauling and payload capacity as my 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 with a 5.3 L. It has a Dana 44 rear axle which used to be what half ton trucks would have in the rear and a Dana 44 front which in the 80s quite a few 3/4 tons had in them, and this new generation one is probably stronger.
I think it would have looked better with the rear door more squared off at the bottom(when the doors are off anyway). I think they're going to sell because it's a truck that has a removable top and doors. The price probably will keep some people away, but look at the price JL's were and how much crazy money people dumped into them in bolt-on parts.
 
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