Gladiator - Good/Bad?

[MOAK]

You are comparing a 1/4 ton chassis- the Jeep, to a vehicle that has 1/2 to 3/4 ton chassis equivalent parts under it. Every nut/bolt/bracket/axle/spindle/chassis cross section etc is a lot bigger heavier than what the jeep has. I’m not saying a jeep is bad- just responding to his “beefy” comment.

Me too. Jeeps aren’t bad, or worse vehicles than LCs, just different. We loved our 04 Rubicon. It took us a lot of places. I did everything possible to increase the GVWR and the comfort levels up to where we needed it for long distance on & off grid touring. I’m pretty sure that had the Gladiator been available back 10 - 15 years ago, we’d probably be in one. But that’s a parallel universe. So no telling .

 

[Ralph_Fonz]

80k+ Miles on 2020 Mojave=w/ RTT and alucab cab.
This is my favorite vehicle I've owned. 2 jeeps (tj & JK), 1x tacoma, 1500, honda, and a pontiac.

Major issues to fix:
1) Auto start/stop (not sure if it is still an issue w/ new models) > Just replace the battery w/ a bigger (i think H2), remove the small battery, and make a jumper for the first 2 points on the fuse panel. (I have to find the fourm post i make)
2) Steering... for the mojave it has a crappy wobbly steering box. Get the steer smarts brace.

These are very minor issues that most jeepole replace anyway. Its a solid vehicle. Just looks super strange stock.

 

[skrypj]

Any more comments on the EcoDiesel? I've been eyeing these lately because it seems like they are having trouble moving them and are offering some pretty steep discounts. I'm seeing nearly $14000-15000 off MSRP in some cases.

Specifically I want a truck that can tow well at high elevation which is where the EcoD comes in but can also offroad well. I have an F150 Ecoboost that tows well, but is just huge offroad, and I have a Lexus GX460 that offroads ok but doesnt tow so well(but can do it)

 

[PirateMcGee]

Any more comments on the EcoDiesel? I've been eyeing these lately because it seems like they are having trouble moving them and are offering some pretty steep discounts. I'm seeing nearly $14000-15000 off MSRP in some cases.

Specifically I want a truck that can tow well at high elevation which is where the EcoD comes in but can also offroad well. I have an F150 Ecoboost that tows well, but is just huge offroad, and I have a Lexus GX460 that offroads ok but doesnt tow so well(but can do it)

The eco diesel has some odd/borderline unsafe towing dynamics according to reviews. There's a reason they can't move the ecodiesel and personally I wouldn't buy one even though I really really wanted to get one. Until the V6 is replaced with something good I think the gladiator is a no go.

How much are you towing?

 

[Dan Grec]

Any more comments on the EcoDiesel? I've been eyeing these lately because it seems like they are having trouble moving them and are offering some pretty steep discounts. I'm seeing nearly $14000-15000 off MSRP in some cases.

Specifically I want a truck that can tow well at high elevation which is where the EcoD comes in but can also offroad well. I have an F150 Ecoboost that tows well, but is just huge offroad, and I have a Lexus GX460 that offroads ok but doesnt tow so well(but can do it)

I have the EcoDiesel in the Wrangler and it is by far - by FAR - the best engine Jeep have ever put in the Wrangler. My 3.6 Gladiator was always just lacking a little, it would hunt from 8th to 5th back slowly up to 8th just to maintain 60mph up an incline.
The Diesel just sits in 8th gear no matter what, all day long. Tons of push when you want to overtake.
It got 27mpg all day long bone stock.
The big gotcha is long term reliability, especially with all the emissions junk. Plenty of reports of DEF system failures, and who knows what the DPF and related emissions stuff will be like at 100k or 200k miles. Likely not good.
Also note the recall on the High Pressure Fuel Pump is now live and tons of people are getting it done, so hopefully that is behind us.

-Dan

 

[skrypj]

The eco diesel has some odd/borderline unsafe towing dynamics according to reviews. There's a reason they can't move the ecodiesel and personally I wouldn't buy one even though I really really wanted to get one. Until the V6 is replaced with something good I think the gladiator is a no go.

How much are you towing?

5500 lbs max. The GX460 handles the trailer suprisingly well, but it lacks in the power department due to my elevation of 6500'. The Ecoboost pulls like a locomotive but its just such a behemoth on the trail.

What does the EcoD do towing that is bad? I've talked to several Gladiator owners(not necessarily EcoD) that tow and said they do well.

 

[PirateMcGee]

5500 lbs max. The GX460 handles the trailer suprisingly well, but it lacks in the power department due to my elevation of 6500'. The Ecoboost pulls like a locomotive but its just such a behemoth on the trail.

What does the EcoD do towing that is bad? I've talked to several Gladiator owners(not necessarily EcoD) that tow and said they do well.

Ya I had a 460. I didn't really enjoy even towing a teardrop with it. The 470 towed better.

5500lbs is still a good amount of weight at elevation. What kind of frontal area?

I would hold out for the 2.7L Ford Ranger.nthat should check your boxes.

 

[Todd780]

5500 lbs max. The GX460 handles the trailer suprisingly well, but it lacks in the power department due to my elevation of 6500'. The Ecoboost pulls like a locomotive but its just such a behemoth on the trail.

What does the EcoD do towing that is bad? I've talked to several Gladiator owners(not necessarily EcoD) that tow and said they do well.

I really really really wanted a Gladiator when they came out. And I really really really tried to justify it and make it work. Our trailer at the time was 23' from hitch to bumper and weighed 5,000 - 5,500 lbs packed and loaded to camp. Well within trailer tow spec. (I was looking at a Sport S with Max Tow to boot).

I really really really tried to find reviews / YouTube videos to justify the purchase but I found more bad than good when it came to towing this much weight. The other downfall was payload. WDH + Hitch weight with 4 people in the cab would've strained the truck. The EcoD has even less payload than the Max Tow Sport S. So as much as I really really really wanted one, I just couldn't make it work for our use case. Ended up with another fullsize half ton. Glad I did cause we ended up getting a bigger trailer.

 

[2025 deleted member]

I have the EcoDiesel in the Wrangler and it is by far - by FAR - the best engine Jeep have ever put in the Wrangler. My 3.6 Gladiator was always just lacking a little, it would hunt from 8th to 5th back slowly up to 8th just to maintain 60mph up an incline.
The Diesel just sits in 8th gear no matter what, all day long. Tons of push when you want to overtake.
It got 27mpg all day long bone stock.
The big gotcha is long term reliability, especially with all the emissions junk. Plenty of reports of DEF system failures, and who knows what the DPF and related emissions stuff will be like at 100k or 200k miles. Likely not good.
Also note the recall on the High Pressure Fuel Pump is now live and tons of people are getting it done, so hopefully that is behind us.

-Dan

That’s a huge gotcha Dan. I hope yours last forever but unfortunately that have a poor track record.

 

[Dan Grec]

That’s a huge gotcha Dan. I hope yours last forever but unfortunately that have a poor track record.

The failure rate is less than 2%.
As usual it's just the minority making a lot of noise.

-Dan

 

[GetOutThere]

The failure rate is less than 2%.
As usual it's just the minority making a lot of noise.

-Dan

A failure rate of 1 in 50 seems incredibly high to me.

 

[SSF556]

A failure rate of 1 in 50 seems incredibly high to me.

where is that data coming from....and what is failing?

 

[2025 deleted member]

where is that data coming from....and what is failing?

Oh man a quick google search brings up quite a bit of stuff. The big deal was the cams turning on the timing gears which would be catastrophic when that occurs. It does seems the new ones are a little better sorted- but they are new so time will tell. You won’t see an ecodiesel on the road in 20 years but you see those gas v6’s around. TrailRecon sold his due to overheating and went back to a gas motor on his latest build.

 

[Dan Grec]

where is that data coming from....and what is failing?

Stellantis released the numbers as part of the recall on the High Pressure Fuel Pump on the EcoDiesel.

-Dan

 

[smbisig]

Oh man a quick google search brings up quite a bit of stuff. The big deal was the cams turning on the timing gears which would be catastrophic when that occurs. It does seems the new ones are a little better sorted- but they are new so time will tell. You won’t see an ecodiesel on the road in 20 years but you see those gas v6’s around. TrailRecon sold his due to overheating and went back to a gas motor on his latest build.

Which generation of Eco are you Googling? The Gladiator is using the 3rd gen Eco. Currently, the only "issues" that I am aware of related to the engine is the fuel pump, which is more due to the crappy diesel we have in North America (I have been running additives since about 500 miles). This fuel pump issue is affecting other makes and models of diesel, not just the Eco diesel.

The other issue is the derating of power when the engine gets to hot which is one of the reasons the tow capacity is lower than a Ram with the same engine. Most think the heating issue is due to airflow, the Jeep grill is a lot smaller than a Ram 1500 grill. I have tried to get my Gladiator to derate while climbing out of Death Valley in 115+ degree weather and was unsuccessful, so maybe driving style has something to do with it?

My diesel Gladiator has about 46k miles (bought new) and I am still in love with it.