So I drove a Gladiator

So i drove a Gladiator Rubicon. It was a really laid back salesman, so I got to really feel it. Perhaps this will help someone who is considering.

Why? Because I had an hour to kill and I was curious, if only 5% serious and it was the first no-frills manual rubicon ive seen in our area. It had a hard top and that was basically it.

Lets get the obvious out of the way, its got a front locker. A solid front axle. It drives and rides like the trucks I grew up on and I enjoy that. Its typical jeep loud. The skid plates were better than i expected.

the drivetrain was surprisingly nice. The shifter was superb. Better than my core shifter.

Power was blah. It was better down low than the factory taco 6mt, but ovtune is better overall - with the jeep slightly better down low still due to better ratios. The jeep had zero pizzaz above 3k rpm despite better spaced gearing. For reference, i have st maxx 255/85. The jeep had falken wildpeak at. In a race, my tacoma would need to stall off the line to lose. the driving experience was pleasant enough. You can feel the weight of the vehicle, lending a solid feeling. It felt smoother on the fox suspension than my 6112/5100 and st maxx.

The rear seat, the big draw for me...advertised with almost 5” more leg room! but when i sat in the jeep with the driver seat in my driver position i measured a scant 1/2” difference due to the seat design. the rear seat is in your face upright, i would not like it. The jeep felt more crammed in every way except the driver kick panel under the steering wheel, my leg hairs dont touch on the jeep. I am 6’2” with a 33” inseam, 180lb and moderately thin/athletic build. my left foot likes to glide the plastic to the left of the jeep’s clutch pedal, in boots i would wonder if I could drive it well. ergonomics were awkward, in my opinion. Shifter was all it had going for it. The seat would be more comfortable if i didnt have seat jackers, to be fair.

Quality. I will be honest, the jeep welds, trim fitment and overall feel are far below the tacoma. I noticed several items that made me question how well built they were.

Side by side, i found my tacoma to be more attractive. Despite bothing having 33’s the Jeep needs 35’s to fill out.

brass tacks. They looked at my tacoma and without getting within ten feet of it said theyd do 35k trade in, for a 42k gladiator rubicon. By the time destination charges, tax, dealer fees and what not came around the difference was 12k. No way.

Based off my quality aspect, i checked the forums. They seem...plagued with issues already.

 

From what I've seen from friends who own or owned Jeeps, build quality and durability are iffy. They either seemed to have rock solid or POSs.

My wife saw one for the first time the other day and thought it looked... odd.

 

When I had my Jeep some twenty-odd years ago, it was just fun as fuck. Take the top off, take the top down, take the doors off, take the sway bar ends off (not fun on the freeway if you forget). I have fond memories of browsing the Quadratec catalog and seeing just how much you could customize these vehicles off the shelf.

In the end, when it came down to picking between the Taco and the Gladiator I couldn't get past the quality issues they have been plagued with seemingly since they switched off the TJ. I knew I was buying a truck for the next twenty years, and had my doubts it would last that long.

Now that's not going to prevent me from looking for a TJ to have as a toy down the road.

 

They look like the land cruiser truck and I'd take the truck in the pics over a jeep any day, except perhaps hardcore crawling because of the long bed.

 

Latest version from Oz



vs

 

Those are sweet

 

OK - I am one of the uninformed - what is this? Prototype of something to come - like a Landcruiser pickup?

 

Spent some time down under and could not stop lusting after these things. 4.5L Diesel and a MT. 151KW (202HP @3400rpm) and 430Nm (317 ft lbs @ 1200rpm) all for around $50k USD. Looked into importing one...too expensive and time consuming. Easier to move to there.

 

Toyota hilux, land cruiser, not sure the exact model name, the old toyota gurus on here will. They've been around quite a long time, basically in every other country besides the US.

 

Thanks!

 

Landcruiser model 70. Sadly, available in many places that are not the USA.

Edit: heres a link https://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-70

 

Thanks!!!!!!!

 

That’s is a beauty... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-toyota-bandeirante/ - used to drive one ... MB engine. That thing could take me anywhere..

 

I followed a new gladiator into town on a combination of windy, hilly and flat secondary highway roads this week. I wasn't very impressed with its power output on a fairly steep hill, nearly eating the rear of the gladiator as it slowed to 45 mph.

 

There are a lot of Toyota trucks that don't seem to be available in the US or Canada. Maybe it's emissions, fuel mileage, or safety related.

There is a show on Amazon Prime called "Ambulance Australia." They follow EMS in New South Wales around to various calls and there are shots of various support vehicles as well. One of the technical rescue crews had a Land Cruiser "Troop Carrier" for a vehicle.

Some of those foreign made vehicles would be big hits here if they could be US certified.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Land_Cruiser_(J70)

 

The gladiator looks pretty sharp in my opinion. I just wouldn’t want as Jeep as a daily. But having one of these as a weekend toy? Maybe.....

 

Prior to my current Tacoma I had a Ram Ecodiesel that I owned for 4 years. Prior to that I was a long time Tacoma owner. While there were multiple thing I loved about the Ram, I had a number of issues with it. Without going through the gory details, the truck was in the shop last year for 28 days. It was under recall for nearly 5 months. When the part finally became available the Mopar computer showed mine had been repaired but it hadn’t! After a few weeks of fighting with FCA (Ram and Jeep’s parent company) I just gave up and traded for my new taco.

While I was interested in the Gladiator, I didn’t trust the company to make it right if something went wrong. So I came back to Toyota.

Just my .02

 

In my late teens when we'd go wheelin and shooting everyday, I had a 80's Toyota P/U, then a CJ7 (V8 4spd). Both were old vehicles even at that time. My Toy went places I never thought it would go, and brought me home every time. My Jeep was great for the young adventurer image, but also needed a lot of repairs. Got to the point where I wasnt sure it would make it back from short trips to get gas or to the store.

My take away. Jeep = great for the image conscious. Toy = practicality.