Full Size Jeep Network

Yeah, I'm up doodoo creek now. Wife was telling me that her friend was texting her live updates as the Gladiator was being revealed (even her lady friends are Jeep peeps). I "off-handedly" said to my wife that I'd trade all my J-trucks for a new 2-door, she said "well let's hope!".

Now I'm hoping they don't make a 2-door, haha!

REDONE wrote:Yeah, I'm up doodoo creek now. Wife was telling me that her friend was texting her live updates as the Gladiator was being revealed (even her lady friends are Jeep peeps). I "off-handedly" said to my wife that I'd trade all my J-trucks for a new 2-door, she said "well let's hope!".

Now I'm hoping they don't make a 2-door, haha!

Lmao. Oops. Maybe there is a temporary insanity clause in there?

Stuka wrote: The bed is designed so that you can carry plywood. The tailgate can lock in a hallway position. The plywood then rests on the wheel wells and tail gate. About 1.5 will stick out past the end of the tail gate. But to me, this would be fine. It’s very rare the avg person carries a full 8ft sheet. I have done it in my J10 twice in the 15 years I have had it.

Not even 4' between the wheel wells?

I laugh at guys who sneer at my short bed Cummins because it isn't a "real" truck but even I would question a truck that won't take a sheet of drywall on the floor.

Only maybe not. A Toeyota won't either, right?

I guess it's a mini-truck.

SJTD wrote:

Stuka wrote: The bed is designed so that you can carry plywood. The tailgate can lock in a hallway position. The plywood then rests on the wheel wells and tail gate. About 1.5 will stick out past the end of the tail gate. But to me, this would be fine. It’s very rare the avg person carries a full 8ft sheet. I have done it in my J10 twice in the 15 years I have had it.

Not even 4' between the wheel wells?

I laugh at guys who sneer at my short bed Cummins because it isn't a "real" truck but even I would question a truck that won't take a sheet of drywall on the floor.

Only maybe not. A Toeyota won't either, right?

I guess it's a mini-truck.

No current mid-size truck has 4ft between the wheel wells. All the fullsize trucks do though.

I just don't see the bed as very useful for much other than small stuff. I haul 4x8 sheets and 8'planks and steel stock pretty often. Guess I could buy one eventually and just use my J-truck or Comanche for bigger stuff. Would still be nice to see it in 2 door with a 7' box though.

My DD is a Chevy Colorado, crew cab, short bed. I like having the 4 doors and the pickup bed too. I have no need for construction equipment, wood, drywall in the back. But it's nice carrying my stinky work out clothes back there. Also no worries in a roll over with my stuff safely in the back. When my wife and I take a road trip there is plenty of room to carry all of our stuff and the accessories for the dogs too. And it fits in my garage. So for me the crew cab/short bed is a great platform.

I first saw this platform in the early 90's in Asia and thought to myself, wow a truck like that would really sell well in America.

Regarding the Gladiator. From what I can tell it is just a bit longer than my Colorado. Gladiator is 212 and the Colorado is 210.5. That means it would just fit in the garage, but it would be a tight fit.

I was thinking about getting a Colorado ZR2. I think my wife would join me more on my wheeling trips if there were more creature comforts. They start at $41K and would be fine for the lighter trails. That's a lot of money for a mini truck. I expect the prices will drop when the Rangers start showing up (you can pre order one now) and now with this Jeep Gladiator there is even more competition. The Jeep will probably hold its value more.

If I could really tow my cherokee to ECFSJ invasion every year and a hybrid camper it would fit my needs perfectly. I may buy one.

Any info on the diesel motor? Is it the same one used in the 1/2 ton ram?

tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:Any info on the diesel motor? Is it the same one used in the 1/2 ton ram?

Kind of. The current (2019) Ram isn't available with the 3.0L. It will be offered with the same revised version that will be in the Gladiator. The revised version has some improvements over the previous version, and will make 260hp, and 442lb ft of torque.

Stuka wrote:

tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:Any info on the diesel motor? Is it the same one used in the 1/2 ton ram?

Kind of. The current (2019) Ram isn't available with the 3.0L. It will be offered with the same revised version that will be in the Gladiator. The revised version has some improvements over the previous version, and will make 260hp, and 442lb ft of torque.

Thanks. I’ve heard varying opinions on the last VM made 3.0 and am hopeful this one is a better animal.

I am in the "meh" category with this. I am not a JK fan, so this looks to me like someone took a JK and welded a 4 ft bed onto it and said "Hey, it's really cool! You should buy this." Yeah, I know I will take flak for this, but it just doesn't make me want one. Yes, the diesel will be awesome in it, I am sure and yes, it's cool that they finally offered a diesel option. Locking diffs and all the other cool stuff is, well, cool. But I am still "Meh" about it.

Diesel with an auto. Bleh.

Despite the negativity and indifference, I still like it. I get it with the bed size, it's been my chief complaint about "trucks" for nearly a decade! Even so, if a freekin' POWER WAGON can't haul a sheet of plywood with the tailgate closed, I give the Jeep engineers major props for addressing that single complaint by designing a solution within their constraints. I didn't know about that, so thanks again to Stuka for shining the light.

As much as I'd want a single-cab+long bed to "replace" my J-trucks, I can still see myself test driving one in the current configuration as a primary vehicle. I can't say "daily driver" since I don't drive daily anymore. I commute by foot and rail as much as possible these days. As much for the environment as it is that I just hate traffic and other drivers.

Then again, when I do have to drive, I doubt parking a new Gladiator is anywhere near as easy as parking my little lunchbox Jeep.

SJTD wrote:Diesel with an auto. Bleh.

I love manuals, but a diesel with a bunch of boost is better with an auto as it won’t fall out of boost. And the ZF 8sp is a great trans that keeps it in its power range.

FWIW, I wwas reading about pricing and there's a few points to consider:

A base model Tacoma and Colorado is a 2wd truck. The Jeeps are all 4wd. So the bottom price for the Jeep will be several thousand higher.

Jeep has said there will be a price premium over the competition so expect higher prices. But the market will only support so much price premium so it probably wont be stupid high price (by comparison).

I priced a top level TRD Pro and ZR2 on their respective websites with every option. Both topped $53K.

I expect the base price for the sport to be into the 30s by a good margin. I expect the top level Rubicon with every option to top 55k or 56k.

I wonder if there'll be a "Sahara" trim level, with color matching cladding and leather seats. Heated leather seats are my kryptonite!

REDONE wrote:I wonder if there'll be a "Sahara" trim level, with color matching cladding and leather seats. Heated leather seats are my kryptonite!

You can get body color top and fenders on Sahara or Rubicon for the regular JL. For the Gladiator, there is Overland in place of Sahara. Then the same Sport, Sport S, and Rubicon.

I LOVE the heated seats in my JK. We’re very handy today in the freezing temp and snow.

REDONE wrote:I wonder if there'll be a "Sahara" trim level, with color matching cladding and leather seats. Heated leather seats are my kryptonite!

They said the Overland trim will be the "Sahara" of the JT.

So you get Sport, Sport S, Overland, and Rubicon.

Overland it is then, haha! Oh, wait. I can't afford any of them.

REDONE wrote:Overland it is then, haha! Oh, wait. I can't afford any of them.

I wonder what the difference (besides the obvious rubicon mechanical parts) is between the rubi vs overland.