New Jeep Pick Up to be unveiled...The Gladiator

[Grump E-Vet]

Yeppers, you got it. Why is AEV allowed to get away with V8 Hemi swaps in a brand new vehicle sold at the dealer. And FCA isn't, makes little sense. Of course what is demanded by the government rarely does.

My dad is a recently retired FCA engineer who they now contract several times a year to come essentially do his old job at plants during changeovers including the recent ones for the Toledo North and South plants. He said that Jeep engineering department did the work and were all for offering a V8 option on the JL and JT including workable plans on how to do it. Unfortunately the bean counters killed it on both it has less to do about worries about the ability to pass crash tests or emissions standards and far more about sales projections vs amortization of the costs involved with those processes.

The bigger worry for Jeep & Ram owners is that Bob Lee who has been running powetrains for FCA for 15+ years is retiring in April. He championed a lot of homegrown projects like the modern versions of the Hemi, Pentastar V6 and Ecodiesels for 1500, Grand Cherokee, JT and JL. The worry is that with him gone FCA will want to “globalize” more of it’s PT platforms which will mean elimination of some of all of those 3.

 

[Dalko43]

The bigger worry for Jeep & Ram owners is that Bob Lee who has been running powetrains for FCA for 15+ years is retiring in April. He championed a lot of homegrown projects like the modern versions of the Hemi, Pentastar V6 and Ecodiesels for 1500, Grand Cherokee, JT and JL. The worry is that with him gone FCA will want to “globalize” more of it’s PT platforms which will mean elimination of some of all of those 3.

The Hemi v8's, Pentastar v6's and ecodiesels won't be missed.

The ecodiesel is basically a rebaged VM Motori which has had problems from day one in the US market.
The Hemi's are dinosaurs of engines; it's funny how people rib Toyota for using the same gasoline engines for multiple vehicle generations, but then don't seem to care when FCA or GM basically do the exact same thing.
The Pentastar's are relatively new designs but rather uninspiring in terms of torque delivery or mpg's.

Honestly, with all the quality problems FCA is dealing with nowadays, it would be nice to see them redevelop their lackluster engine portfolio. I'm not saying FCA's Italian side has all the answers to that set of problems, but putting the same mediocre v6 into its Jeeps and relying on rather unrefined pushrod v8's for its trucks just smacks of value engineering IMHO.

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

The thing that holds be back on the Gladiator is the lack of a V-8. I’m sure for most folks the Pentastar will do the job, and the EcoDiesel will tempt others. I just think the power from the 6.4L Hemi would be an amazing combo with the Jeep Truck. I’d be good with the 5.7L Hemi (I have one in my 2012 Power Wagon) but I’ve seen rumors of the 5.7L going away.

 

[bdog1]

“Pentastar's are relatively new designs but rather uninspiring in terms of torque delivery or mpg's.”

The pentastar engine ...from the 1980’s Mercedes design, are new?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[justbecause]

The thing that holds be back on the Gladiator is the lack of a V-8. I’m sure for most folks the Pentastar will do the job, and the EcoDiesel will tempt others. I just think the power from the 6.4L Hemi would be an amazing combo with the Jeep Truck. I’d be good with the 5.7L Hemi (I have one in my 2012 Power Wagon) but I’ve seen rumors of the 5.7L going away.

My next truck is likely a 2500 with 6.4

Idk why you skimp the 6 or 7 hundred dollars for a smaller motor that by all accounts I've been able to find significantly under performs, even in mpg.

 

[chet6.7]

I wonder if it is a marketing scheme,bringing out the V8 in the second or third year of production.

 

[pittsburgh]

Price is better than I expected. Just wonder if you’d be better off with a sport, doing an aftermarket selectable rear locker, rock rails, winch and bumper and rear swing out there carrier and calling it a day.

 

[yoggie]

Price is better than I expected. Just wonder if you’d be better off with a sport, doing an aftermarket selectable rear locker, rock rails, winch and bumper and rear swing out there carrier and calling it a day.

There are a few other items like higher fenders, larger stock tires, electronic sway bar disconnect, and a few other items come included with the Rubicon that are options on the S; but far and away the most expensive/hardest to change item is the 4:1 low range transfer case. The price difference between the Sport S and Rubicon is about $5k. You should be able to do everything after market but the transfer case and come a grand or two ahead; so you have to decide if the transfer case (and a few other items) is worth it.

 

[yoggie]

I wonder if it is a marketing scheme,bringing out the V8 in the second or third year of production.

As a long time Jeep guy, I would love it, but I highly doubt it. The engineers have been saying since the early days of the JK that they could easily put a V8 in the Wrangler if corporate would let them, and a dozen years later, the answer is still no. As discussed earlier in the thread, I have no doubt the aftermarket shops will make a killing doing V8 swaps though.

 

[pittsburgh]

There are a few other items like higher fenders, larger stock tires, electronic sway bar disconnect, and a few other items come included with the Rubicon that are options on the S; but far and away the most expensive/hardest to change item is the 4:1 low range transfer case. The price difference between the Sport S and Rubicon is about $5k. You should be able to do everything after market but the transfer case and come a grand or two ahead; so you have to decide if the transfer case (and a few other items) is worth it.

Stop making sense @yoggie !!! Now you got the Rubicon on my mind lol. I ll just have to drive one when they start showing up. This could be the solution to my Tacoma vs. my TJ Unlimited dilemma.

 

[toddz69]

Curious why they didn't go with BFGs on the Gladiator Rubicon like they use on the JL Rubicon. If it was a load rating issue, they could've gone to the E-rated versions of the K02s.

Todd Z.

 

[pittsburgh]

Curious why they didn't go with BFGs on the Gladiator Rubicon like they use on the JL Rubicon. If it was a load rating issue, they could've gone to the E-rated versions of the K02s.

Todd Z.

I was surprised too. But, I try to avoid E rated when I can. Mostly because of the ride.

 

[toylandcruiser]

Didn’t Ford just come out with another unrefined pushrod engine...? How many Toyotas were there on Omaha Beach again? Seems like the Jeeps and Power Wagons the back to back World War champs were driving around being the OG Overlanders worked out pretty well... Now jump forward 75 years and what is ISIS rolling around in? Seems like Toyota is the official vehicle of jihaidists the world over!

Apparently “refined” powertrains are for people that want the terrorists to win... So you and Terry Taliban have fun in your little Fear-runners, I will mash down that pedal to hear my Hemi growl with the roar of freedom.

Wow I didn’t realize jeeps were used in wwi. That’s good to know. And FYI, keep didn’t win the war. Soldiers won the war.
Terrorists use Toyota’s because they don’t want to break down.

 

[Grump E-Vet]

I wonder if it is a marketing scheme,bringing out the V8 in the second or third year of production.

I thought the same thing until I see an article like this discussing all the effort to make the cooling work to get the tow ratings they did with the V6. Seems like if they were just going to throw a Hemi in it eventually they could have saved on the engineering costs of making the Pentastar work.

The Engineering Behind the Jeep Gladiator's Tow Rating, and Why the Diesel Will Tow Less

There’s a great story to be told about how Jeep engineers managed to get the truck to tow a best-in-class (for a gas vehicle) 7,650 pounds.

jalopnik.com

 

[billiebob]

So Cool...

Jeep Announces Plans For Two Door Gladiator Truck

Automaker reverses stance and says it now plans to bring smaller truck to market.

www.quadratec.com