Live Thread: 2024 Jeep Gladiator Mojave review

The one time I had one as a rental, It was perfect conditions for it, January snow in Minnesota. It was great for that purpose.

If I was back in colorado, it makes some sense but as a mall cruiser in the middle of the midwest, less so. To be fair, I wasn't a huge fan of the Xterra outside of the mountains either. But I never got into the jeep thing outside the classic full size jeeps. I loved the wagoneers. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I took care of the gutless motor, lol.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Glad it wasn’t just me. 

My brother-in-law had a Gladiator as a rental on a work trip and he had similar things to say about it. I was surprised by his review because he daily drives a TJ Wrangler. 

Tom Suddard said:

I just grabbed the Jeep from David and drove it home.

Initial impressions: Oh my god. People buy these?! And they spend $66,000 in the process?!

Steering is atrocious, even by Jeep standards. Gutless, screaming V6. Seemingly less interior space than a Civic.

I'll drive it more tonight, but so far this feels like a street car that's been immensely compromised by its off-road capabilities--just like an Elise or a McLaren, but aimed at the other end of the spectrum. Is the compromise worth it? Apparently, given how many of them I see driving around town.

Back in '21 we were looking for a new DD for my wife that also needed to check the boxes for being flat towable behind an RV, and backcountry capable.  We drove Wrangler, Gladiator, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.  We ended up with a Grand Cherokee (WK2) Trailhawk... 90% of Wrangler/Gladiator offroad capability and far better on-road manners and comfort.  We didn't feel we needed that last 10% for our use case.  It was also $20k cheaper than similarly equipped Wrangler/Gladiator at the time.  Four years and almost 50k miles later, we don't have any regrets over our choice.  

I'm glad the Gladiator exists, but it was too compromised on the road for us.

Rodan said:

We didn't feel we needed that last 10% for our use case. 

I feel like many people who end up in a Wrangler or a Gladiator don't need that last 10%. But it's all about the image, and I totally get that.

I just feel like too many people suffer daily driving an off-road vehicle when they don't need to–most modern, all-wheel-drive SUVs are capable enough for most people's soft-roading needs.

I put about 40 miles on the Jeep last night, and yeah, I just don't get it. If I'm buying a truck to beat up on the rocks, I'm buying one for far less than $66,000. And if I'm driving on the street, I'd like less than the literal two inches of steering play I eyeballed while driving around. Seriously--this steers like my worn out 1929 Ford Model A.

Or, here's another way to think about this truck. For the same money, you can literally buy a brand new Ford Ranger AND a brand new Wrangler, with thousands leftover to buy wheels, tires, a lift and locker for the Jeep.

Or, for an 18% higher MSRP, you can buy an F-150 Raptor which is not just a legitimately great street car, but a fantastic off-roader too. I know this Gladiator has fancy shocks, but I gave it the 'ol speedbump test at about 20 mph and my head nearly hit the roof. The same test in a Raptor doesn't even register.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Isn't the Raptor more trophy truck to the Gladiator's rock crawler? IFS vs solid front says a lot.

That's definitely how it drives, but Jeep markets the Rubicon as the rock crawler, and this Mojave as the desert runner, hence the big remote-reservoir shocks, hydraulic bumpstops and the lack of a front locker. It's the "First-Ever and Only Desert Rate Jeep Brand Vehicle." 

They're both mall crawlers for 99.8% of owners sooooo don't matter. 

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

True, but Tom mentioned the off-road prowess of the Raptor so we're talking about off-road capability. It's like talking about lap times for Corvettes.

Big shocks and hydraulic bumps means it's made for high speed hits, so try that speedbump again at about 60 :) I've taken one in the rally Miata at 80. I can say that my Fox-equipped XJ really comes into its own when you start hoofing it instead of just bouncing around slowly. I've passed a lot of side-by-sides on the trails.

It's funny, there's no actual information on the Jeep site about what the Mojave is meant to be. I guess it's a desert name, so it's a desert truck? In that case, does the High Tide float? ;)

Looks like the Mojave has a donut mode. C'mon GRM, take it to the sand.

Motor Trend says:

One press of the Off-Road+ button on the center stack quickens throttle response, adjusts the transmission’s shift points, and all but completely disables traction and stability control to allow for the most wheelspin. You can also engage the rear locking differential in this mode. 

Sadly, the Mojave is already gone--the mothership picked it back up this morning after I spent a few hours with it. In its place, they dropped... some sort of 4x4 Ford Ranger. Seriously. I'll start a thread on that one soon.

And I did try to engage the rear locker in 2wd to have some fun, and was told by a message on the dash that the truck had to be in 4x4 low to engage the locker. So much for a desert runner. 

Tom Suddard said:

And I did try to engage the rear locker in 2wd to have some fun, and was told by a message on the dash that the truck had to be in 4x4 low to engage the locker. So much for a desert runner. 

That was the first thing I fixed about mine. Locked up in 2hi with traction and ABS killed makes for a fun snowy parking lot car.

Y'all keep commenting about steering play. Makes me wonder if something's wrong with your loaner. It's no Miata but the EPS box in mine is not sloppy at 30k.

buzzboy said:

Tom Suddard said:

And I did try to engage the rear locker in 2wd to have some fun, and was told by a message on the dash that the truck had to be in 4x4 low to engage the locker. So much for a desert runner. 

That was the first thing I fixed about mine. Locked up in 2hi with traction and ABS killed makes for a fun snowy parking lot car.

 

Y'all keep commenting about steering play. Makes me wonder if something's wrong with your loaner. It's no Miata but the EPS box in mine is not sloppy at 30k.

Yeah, the steering in mine is still world's better than what I have in my TJ Wrangler at 26k.  It has never even entered my mind until this thread.  

Puddy46 said:

buzzboy said:

Tom Suddard said:

And I did try to engage the rear locker in 2wd to have some fun, and was told by a message on the dash that the truck had to be in 4x4 low to engage the locker. So much for a desert runner. 

That was the first thing I fixed about mine. Locked up in 2hi with traction and ABS killed makes for a fun snowy parking lot car.

 

Y'all keep commenting about steering play. Makes me wonder if something's wrong with your loaner. It's no Miata but the EPS box in mine is not sloppy at 30k.

Yeah, the steering in mine is still world's better than what I have in my TJ Wrangler at 26k.  It has never even entered my mind until this thread.  

It's a press vehicle. Every driver has probably hit speed bumps and curbs at 20+ and the alignment is probably borked. 

My XJ at 270k was a 2 finger driver with virtually zero wander. 

The Gladiator is one of those vehicles where I like the IDEA of them and not the execution. The Pentastar is not the best power plant for something like this, and although there are other drivetrains available, I'm not sure any of those are the answer, either, save for the 392. Maybe the next gen (IF there is a next-gen) would be better off with the new I6. I hope they keep making it and refining it. 

I get 9/10's of Gladiator ownership out of my 1979 Power Wagon. I look at it as a big, capable Jeep, and every time I find myself pining for a Wrangler, I remind myself that it's pretty much the same thing. It's a big, wandering rig with windows that roll down and slide open for that open air feeling. It has stick axles front and rear, clunks its way down the road, and screams on the highway. But, as a truck, it has nearly twice the bed storage and cost me a fraction of what a Gladiator would cost. It can only seat 3 people though, but that's OK. The Gladiator does have me beat on MPGs, as I average between 10-12 out of the Magnum 5.9. But I think I'd rather have the Power Wagon to be honest.

Tony Sestito said:

The Pentastar is not the best power plant for something like this, and although there are other drivetrains available, I'm not sure any of those are the answer, either, save for the 392.

I've heard that the EcoDiesel is a much better truck to drive. Only issue is that that engine is a dumpster fire and you're limited to the auto.

How is the Gladiator almost the same size as my suburban? The Jeep is 6 inches narrower, otherwise dimensions are almost identical. Jeep wheelbase is 5 inches longer. for some reason I always thought of jeeps being smaller vehicles, but I guess that's no longer the case. 

gearheadE30 said:

How is the Gladiator almost the same size as my suburban? The Jeep is 6 inches narrower, otherwise dimensions are almost identical. Jeep wheelbase is 5 inches longer. for some reason I always thought of jeeps being smaller vehicles, but I guess that's no longer the case. 

The Gladiator is built on a modified Ram 1500 frame, rather than a Wrangler frame.

Also, Jeep has learned that people buy the bigger ones. Ever looked at how big a four door Wrangler is these days?