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

[whitenoise]

This may be a bit off-topic. Mahindra has been, and still is, making Gladiator-esque pickup trucks with a true 1 ton payload capacity for close to 20 years now. They are extremely popular in India as intra-city delivery vehicles due to their compact size, load capacity, reliability and cheap maintenance.

It would make for an awesome overland vehicle platform, but of course it isn't as modern as the Gladiator. Here is a comparison chart I put together to see how it compares against the gold standard LC70 and Defender, and the unreasonably well-regarded Tacoma. Spec-wise, the Mahindra is only inferior in terms of ground clearance and fuel tank capacity, both of which are easily fixable. The small diesel 4-cylinder is low on power but the range more than makes up for that.

 

[Clutch]

@plainjaneFJC

This is in the same area. Which I have been through...a dirt bike makes short work of it though.

At 15k mile per year the average guy is going to spend an extra 150 bucks a month between 24mpg and 12mpg. If you dont need the extra capability then yeah I can see not wanting to spend the 150 extra.

I am doing about 30K a year now. Long term diesel ownership makes me leery. The mpg numbers sure are tempting. New Ranger might be in the sweet spot.

 

[zimm]

I'm pretty sure you can get a Power Wagon (Tradesman with PW option) cheaper than a Rubicon Wrangler now so I agree the Scrambler is gonna prob cost even more.

I'm calling it a Scrambler since that is what it should have been called in the first place.

its not called a scrambler, because a scrambler was cool little standard cab with small bed for stuff. it maintained offroadability with a 103 inch wheelbase. a standard cab jeep with a small bed would be a scrambler. feel free to call it yo mama if you want, it still wont be yo mama.

this is called a gladiator because its a name that was in the jeep trademark bucket, and it too had a 120 inch wheelbase. great for a pickup bed, but less than ideal for offroading. too bad the new one doesnt have a pickup bed. you'd have to disassemble a push mower to get it to fit. it has the same payload as an SUV, but without fold down seats and roof.

It's for show.

now, someone in the aftermarket could make a standard cab out of it with door inserts, and an ursa minor style top, and the story would change....

 

[DaveInDenver]

Interesting chart Clutch. For a guy who thinks diesel is stupid you seem to refer back to it several times. ;-) Also think a few greens vs red are arbitrary. Wheel base is what it is. When you buy a long cab or double cab or longer box you have to know wheelbase will grow. Some people prefer a longer wheelbase for stability or to reduce rear overhang in those cases.

FWIW, Toyota sells a kit to retrofit manual hubs to 76/78/79 trucks (43530-69065). It's sort of like Super Duty hubs, you can select "lock" or "auto". They can also use regular Aisin hubs I believe, like has been used on solid axle Toyotas since forever.

 

[rkj__]

Couldn't live where you do @rkj__ ...I can be on dirt 10 minutes from both the house and work. Often times if I have long lunch break...I'll go do some "micro-overlanding".

It's not all bad, but I do end up driving the same highways headed north many times through the year, so I can get to nice places like this:

IMG_2068 by Ryan Jakob, on Flickr

 

[Clutch]

Interesting chart Clutch. For a guy who thinks diesel is stupid you seem to refer back to it several times. ;-) Also think a few greens vs red are arbitrary. Wheel base is what it is. When you buy a long cab or double cab you have to know wheelbase will grow. Some people prefer a longer wheelbase for stability.

FWIW, Toyota sells a kit to retrofit manual hubs to 76/78/79 trucks (43530-69065). It's sort of like Super Duty hubs, you can select "lock" or "auto". They can also use regular Aisin hubs I believe, like has been used on solid axle Toyotas since forever.

Thanks, but not my chart, @whitenoise posted it.

Diesel would suit my low and slow lugging it down the road driving style. Buuuuut....I don't want to pay for it.

 

[Clutch]

It's not all bad, but I do end up driving the same highways headed north many times through the year, so I can get to nice places like this:

IMG_2068 by Ryan Jakob, on Flickr

Some good stuff over your way. Guessing you live in a high population density area? Another reason we moved here...low population (for now) and a plethora of public lands. Quite literally right out the front door.

 

[whitenoise]

Interesting chart Clutch. For a guy who thinks diesel is stupid you seem to refer back to it several times. ;-) Also think a few greens vs red are arbitrary.

Green is Good, Red is Bad

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

Ha ha! Too late...last I heard we have a 1000 people moving here to the valley every month.

We moved to Central Idaho back when the state had less than 1 million. Idaho County is the size of Mass. and at that time had less than 12k people there. Those were the good old days (circa 1980).

 

[Clutch]

We moved to Central Idaho back when the state had less than 1 million. Idaho County is the size of Mass. and at that time had less than 12k people there. Those were the good old days (circa 1980).

I am originally from PA with a 20 year detour in AZ. It is growing here...but doesn't have the crowding like back East though. Rarely see a another soul when I am out there. Leave the Boise metro area and there is a whole lot of nuthin'. Which I like.

 

[Clutch]

its not called a scrambler, because a scrambler was cool little standard cab with small bed for stuff. it maintained offroadability with a 103 inch wheelbase. a standard cab jeep with a small bed would be a scrambler. feel free to call it yo mama if you want, it still wont be yo mama.

this is called a gladiator because its a name that was in the jeep trademark bucket, and it too had a 120 inch wheelbase. great for a pickup bed, but less than ideal for offroading. too bad the new one doesnt have a pickup bed. you'd have to disassemble a push mower to get it to fit. it has the same payload as an SUV, but without fold down seats and roof.

It's for show.

now, someone in the aftermarket could make a standard cab out of it with door inserts, and an ursa minor style top, and the story would change....

Disassemble a mower!? Heck, all the lawn service guys here use trailers....

Was kinda hoping for a regular cab or at the very least an extra cab.

That would be pretty hawt. Do think if they are going to call it a Gladiator...should at least came with a M715 inspired front clip.

Make mine in that Filson green I posted earlier.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Green is Good, Red is Bad

I figured that out successfully.

 

[rkj__]

Some good stuff over your way. Guessing you live in a high population density area?

Yeah, in the Niagara Region,
• Density 232.6 people /km2 (602/sq mi).

While not "big city", it's not "wide open space" either.

 

[Bobzdar]

Guys, you don't have to buy every single option, which is what it'll take to get it over 60k. They'll probably start at $35k or so. Yeah, if you outfit it with rubicon package, power top, heated leather seats and all the other fun stuff it'll probably touch, if not exceed, $60k but it's certainly not going to be a requirement to spend that much.

Fair disclosure - my Rubicon came in at just a hair under $50k, and msrp was well over that. It has almost everything you can get on it (minus power top), though. Rubicon starts at $41k (msrp, otd is less than that), so I'd expect the Rubicon truck to start around $45k and sell for low 40's, and that will be pretty well outfitted if it's like the JLU rubicon. Add heated leather, infotainment with Alpine stereo, power top, HD electric/tow package, body colored flares etc. and you'll be looking at $60k msrp, maybe upper 50's out the door. Do you need that? No, just like you don't need a $70k half ton pickup (or a $50k rubicon), but they'll make them and sell them.

Fwiw, those toyotas aren't that cheap, either. A TRD Pro starts out more ($42k) than a Rubicon and I specced one out with an msrp around $48k with options that are on my Rubicon. Maybe the Jeep similarly outfitted will be $7-10k more, but it also looks like it'll have higher towing and payload capacity, and will probably have the front locker and sway bar disconnect that the TRD Pro doesn't. Worth it? Up to you, but you certainly don't have to get it outfitted with all that stuff.

 

[tacollie]

My buddy has JK on 34.5" tires that gets 18mpg. I'm assuming the gas gladiator will be similar. It's funny people are comparing it to a power wagon and nobody mentioned a Colorado. I think I would take the Colorado or Ranger mostly because I want six foot bed.

I always wonder what the difference if cost of ownership between a power wagon and a mid size ends up being. 35s cost more than 33s.

Car companies need to stop doing throw back vehicles. It just disappointed enthusiast and taints the name.