Bottom Line Up Front to a wordy first post - Does anybody have extended experience using a Gladiator Mojave as the basis of their build for overland-flavored US stateside travel?
I know "Rubicon versus Mojave" is a pretty beat up topic out on the web but usually it seems to devolve into people talking about liking red vs. orange towhooks or opinions on the hood scoop. (As a ginger from the orange-themed state school, I do dig the orange, admittedly, but I think a non-functional intake is stupid, so now you know where I stand on both).
Searching here there seems to have been a lot of excitement about them early on as a good base for overland and of course a couple nice articles, some mention by Scott and Matt in the podcast, and people in the pic thread saying they're excited to have one on order or something. But very little follow up past that. Anybody lived with one for a couple years now?
I'm seriously considering that one might be a good fit for my use case (my wife and I road tripping and doing some backcountry exploring and trails at the destinations.) Stock at first, deliberate modifications later, perhaps, but not to the extreme. Hopefully the bug continues to grow and it's something we grown into as well. I've thought a lot about the tradeoffs as it comes from the factory but wonder if there are some long term consequences to those trade-offs that only time would reveal. I've got feelers out trying to find either Rubi' or 'Jave that is configured like I'd like it, and I don't think either would be a wrong answer out of the gate, but it seems there are less long-term data points with the Mojave.
Did you run into issues getting the suspension set up for your loadout, once you added a shell or rack or tiny house on the back?
Has the suspension held up well? Did you run into high costs or increased maintenance issues with the special shocks?
Have any weird fitment limitations for aftermarket parts caused by minor differences in the platform?
Did it turn out that the fat steering wheel gave you carpal tunnel?
All in all - any (Mojave-specific) regrets?
It's possible there are some positive feedback as well - "I broke 6 aluminum Rubicon knuckles before finally buying a Mojave!" etc..
Interested to hear folk's thoughts and experiences here. Thanks!
I know "Rubicon versus Mojave" is a pretty beat up topic out on the web but usually it seems to devolve into people talking about liking red vs. orange towhooks or opinions on the hood scoop. (As a ginger from the orange-themed state school, I do dig the orange, admittedly, but I think a non-functional intake is stupid, so now you know where I stand on both).
Searching here there seems to have been a lot of excitement about them early on as a good base for overland and of course a couple nice articles, some mention by Scott and Matt in the podcast, and people in the pic thread saying they're excited to have one on order or something. But very little follow up past that. Anybody lived with one for a couple years now?
I'm seriously considering that one might be a good fit for my use case (my wife and I road tripping and doing some backcountry exploring and trails at the destinations.) Stock at first, deliberate modifications later, perhaps, but not to the extreme. Hopefully the bug continues to grow and it's something we grown into as well. I've thought a lot about the tradeoffs as it comes from the factory but wonder if there are some long term consequences to those trade-offs that only time would reveal. I've got feelers out trying to find either Rubi' or 'Jave that is configured like I'd like it, and I don't think either would be a wrong answer out of the gate, but it seems there are less long-term data points with the Mojave.
Did you run into issues getting the suspension set up for your loadout, once you added a shell or rack or tiny house on the back?
Has the suspension held up well? Did you run into high costs or increased maintenance issues with the special shocks?
Have any weird fitment limitations for aftermarket parts caused by minor differences in the platform?
Did it turn out that the fat steering wheel gave you carpal tunnel?
All in all - any (Mojave-specific) regrets?
It's possible there are some positive feedback as well - "I broke 6 aluminum Rubicon knuckles before finally buying a Mojave!"
etc..Interested to hear folk's thoughts and experiences here. Thanks!
