1/1/2024 0 Comments Jeep gladiator marp![]() The long wheelbase and the heavier-duty suspension smooth out just about everything without the bouncy feel that plagues the Ford Ranger FX4 or Chevrolet Colorado Z71. No Wrangler rides this smoothly, with this level of bump-absorbing skill. On-Road AdequacyĪll of this adds up to two notable sensations - first, this is the best-riding Wrangler-derived vehicle ever made. The rear brakes are 5 percent bigger than the Wrangler’s, it has Dana 44 heavy-duty axles front and rear like the Wrangler Rubicon (every other Wrangler trim has a Dana 30 front axle), and the wheels are chunkier to support the Gladiator’s higher weight rating. It has a different rear suspension entirely, a five-link coil-spring setup that borrows liberally from the Ram 1500 pickup. It’s heavier than the Wrangler, from 350 pounds on the base model to 590 pounds on the Rubicon, due to the extra structural reinforcement and beefier components required to boost the payload and tow ratings. It’s longer than the Wrangler JL, thanks to a slightly stretched wheelbase that allows it to keep the Wrangler cab while still adding a 5-foot cargo bed. Regardless of how it looks, the driving experience is at once familiar and a little bit surprising. It’s by no means a deal-killer - everybody thought that the first four-door Wrangler Unlimited looked bizarre, too, when the JK was introduced in 2006. But when you look at the Gladiator’s profile, it’s obvious that Jeep engineers and stylists had a challenge making the Wrangler work on a pickup frame. In fact, from the front, the Gladiator doesn’t look any different from the Wrangler, but it is the grille features larger slat openings for better cooling, necessitated by the Gladiator’s higher tow rating. From the front, back or even quarter view, this isn’t apparent. Theproportions are just not quite right, are they? Like the bed is a little too short, or the four-door cab is just a bit too long, or maybe the rear axle isn’t quite in the right place. ![]() Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat: Yes, it looks a little odd. Related: 2020 Pickup Truck of the Year Don’t Worry About How It Looks Given the truck’s increased capabilities over Jeep’s iconic four-wheel-drive SUV, it’s safe to say that the Gladiator is much more a pickup truck than simply a modified SUV. The new 2020 Jeep Gladiator, the Jeep brand’s return to the pickup truck market after an absence of 27 years, might look like a Wrangler with a pickup bed, but Jeep insists that it’s so much more than that: Less than half of the parts in the Gladiator (“JT” platform) are shared with the latest Wrangler (“JL”), and we can now state that it doesn’t really drive like a Wrangler either. Versus the competition: If you need a capable mid-size pickup that goes off-road or a four-season convertible with a utility bed, the Gladiator is hard to beat - but unless you want those things, other trucks are more comfortable on-road, handle better, are quieter and are far less expensive. Our decently equipped Gladiator Overland tester, for instance, was $53,045.The verdict: As a Jeep that’s also a pickup truck, the Gladiator works beautifully. Jeep will let you go nuts with options, so prices deep into the $50,000-range are easy to encounter. Sure, Ford will sell you a Ranger, but the blue oval reserves its top-tier tech and interior trimmings for its more lucrative, full-size F-150. It also benefits from being Jeep's only truck. ![]() And compared to older trucks like the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier, the Gladiator is practically a Bentley. Even without all of the options, the materials, quality and design of the Gladiator feel a step and a half ahead of Ford or Chevy. That's evident as soon as you sit in a Gladiator. Now, the Ranger and Colorado are back, but they're older designs than the all-new Gladiator. While full-size workhorse trucks like the Ford F-150 were too big to fail, sales of the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado crashed hard during the recession and never fully recovered before the models were canceled. Midsize trucks were one of the segments that suffered the most in the financial crisis. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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