UTAH (and Surrounding Areas) BS Thread

For real, especially with the size I need a 285 r16, prices have gone up a lot!

 

:'(
I'm just runnign stocks on mine too!

 

I tried it when it first came out. It also solved the problem of being able to communicate at all with a buyer or seller... I went back to dealing with the occasional spam call / text in favor of actually seeing when a new message comes in.

 

If you’re unloading the Taco, what are you replacing it with?

 

Probably gunna get flamed for this, but a 2023 Gladiator Rubicon. Just placed an order this week. I will really miss my tacoma, especially with all the travel I have with it. I have been the sole owner of it and built it from the ground up back in 2010. I have been on many adventures with it and it has never let me down.

A couple reasons for switching.
- My wife isn't comfortable with the Manual Transmission. So whenever I go offshore for work, my truck just sits and my wife can't enjoy the RTT, or capability of the truck. Also, if we go adventuring in the truck, I do all the driving. It would be nice to switch out on those trips.
- I mainly do more slow wheeling these days, so I am not really using the truck to the full potential that I once did. If I still lived in SoCal, I would be keeping the truck.
- We are probably gunna move to WA in a couple years. My truck is a little wide for some of the wooded trails in that state and BC.
- The jeep should be easier to wheel as it is easier to look out the window and it is overall a narrower body.

The goal for the Jeep would be to keep it as close to stock as possible before doing any mods. I plan to order an Artec full belly skid and a goose gear back seat delete before it arrives. Ill throw on some 35's after I wear out the 33's. I think the jeeps with 37's and 40's are a bit crazy. This build will be more of an overlanding setup.

We also like the GFC camper shells. So we will probably order that sooner than later. Other than those mods, we will just wheel/ adventure it and see how capable a 'stock rubicon' is.

Who knows if the gladiator will be the right decision. Since I am getting the rubicon trim, I don't think I will be loosing much money down the road if I decide I want a tacoma again.

 

Interesting. I’ve been seriously pondering a gladiator because I like to do harderish wheeling and and having it dual locked from the factory and being able slap on a lift and 38s is damn appealing. My Tacoma is built for low end hard crawling trails and camping RTT, decked drawers. I had to put a lot of effort and money into this stupid truck for 33s and moderate suspension travel gains. And at 180k miles (1500+ miles of dirt this year alone) everything is having to be replaced again on this truck and I’ve got more rattles, squeaks, vibrations, and sheet metal cracks than I can shake a stick at. So being able to wheel even harder and have an overlanding rig in one is very appealing.

 

Maybe you guys should start a Jeep Gladiator thread...

 

Yea. That is what has drawn me to it as well. I have heard good things about the pentastar engine as long as you don't supercharge it. Also, people rave about the 8-spd auto. When I test drove one, I was able to use ' sport mode' and lock in at least up to 6th gear. I have had issue with toyotas sport mode. It is almost like they are missing that one gear (last 4-runner we had).

In all honesty, the reliability of any modern vehicle is pretty much the same. Most people don't keep vehicles past 3 years, let alone 100K miles. I have kept my tacoma for 10+ with some issues, but nothing keeping me from driving it. Who knows if the jeep will last 10 years, but I might as well give it a try.

This comment will probably be controversial:
Yea, if you are looking for a vehicle that has serious offroad capabilites from the factory, you can't beat a Jeep. You automatically get more articulation from the linked suspension geometry. Departure angles and ground clearance are much better than tacomas/ 4 runners and you can fit 33's or 35's without a cab mount chop or lift. I know my tacoma will ride better at speed just due to the nature of the IFS. You can't have both, so just pick the one that is more suited to your intended use.

It comes down to the end user. If you only do simple fire roads, tacomas/ 4runners fit the bill 100%. You get decent ride quality on and off road. I put over 12K in long travel suspension in my tacoma. I probably have a little more articulation than a stock jeep, but my front end is 7" wider over stock and that sacrifices trail maneuverability. If you however, want to venture down the harder trails without modification, the Jeep will come out ahead everytime. I want something that I don't have to significantly modify in order to go where I want.

 

Meanwhile. Me with 6+ years on my truck and 130k on it. Lolol

 

Big suspension upgrade today, got some OME BP-51 from Cruiser Outfitters.

 

Dayum!!!! Big upgrade!

 

It’s such a nice ride on pavement, can’t wait to take it off road!

 

You may want to check out @crashnburn80's experience with his before committing to one first.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crashnburn80s-supercharged-gladiator-mojave-build.700918/

 

I lost over $30k on my Gladiator in about 18 months. Worst vehicle I have ever owned, worst financial decision I have ever made. Resale was also crap compared to Toyota. Jeep’s warranty coverage is also not at all like Toyota, it is a slimy brand that will try and get out of everything putting it on you to prove otherwise vs doing the right thing like Toyota. If you haven’t owned a Stellantis product, you don’t realize how good you have it in the Toyota family. There is a reason Toyota/Lexus is ranked #1 in vehicle quality, and Stellantis brands like Jeep near the very bottom. In the Jeep Gladiator community engine failure was not unheard of, I wasn’t the only one. Never again will I give a dime to that POS brand, they don’t hold a candle to Toyota.

 

I saw his thread months ago..I don't know. He supercharged it. That engine is known for having issues if you charge it. Even with a Ripp charger. The YouTuber story till now screwed up his Jt after he installed the Ripp charger. It's hard to justify that a brand is crap if you modify past the original design spec. Toyotas are overbuilt so you can get away with supercharging the 3.4 or 4.0 without issue.

It's hard to compare brands.

 

That is for me to find out. My tacoma is not free from issues. I have the dreaded throw out bearing chirp with my 6spd. That is a documented design flaw. I also have a small oil leak behind the power steering pump. This is also a Toyota TSB. It's too expensive to fix correctly. It doesn't loose that much oil..

You added a supercharger to your gladiator. Many engine failures are documented online when users have added third party chargers to the pentastar. It's hard to say that Stellantis is responsible when you modified the engine outside it's original design spec. There are also a ton of users with 150k+ miles on the pentastar without issue.

It might be a mistake if I get a gladiator. Someone will get my badass truck in the meantime..

 

Wasn’t a Ripp charger, it was Magnuson, same supercharger brand as OEM TRD. But yes, it was not stock. The updated 3.6 engine in the JL/JT was light weighted, including reducing oil capacity for weight savings. The updated design is not as reliable as the previous one.

 

Alright. Who was it?

 

Funny thing is it’s always one person saying oh my vehicle was crap. Don’t do it. What about the tens of thousands of gladiators that didn’t go to crap?

And to be honest, sure Tacomas last forever. On road. But the minute you actually take them off them road…? Then shit starts falling apart. So my engine will last forever. But the rest of the truck is rattling itself to death. I have probably 15 sheet metal cracks fore and aft. I have gone through steering racks, tie rods, cvs, ball joints like they are nothing. Just to camp 20 times a year and hit 10 “hard” trails and 1500 miles of dirt a year.

And the amount of work it takes to make these trucks able to actually wheel is absurd. Truly ridiculous. I want to wheel hard. And I fucking can’t without thousands and thousands of dollars and being a fabricator. Then maybe maybe I can fit 35s. Whoopty fuckin do. It’s stupid. Thousands of dollars spent to not even come close to what comes off the lot with a Jeep. So do I want a truck that will last forever on the street? No I don’t give a shit about that. I want to wheel hard. I want articulation. I want the ability to have bigger tires.

And no I won’t super charge a jeep. Why the fuck would you? Wow my vehicle goes slightly faster. Amazing. Supercharging either weak engine is silly anyways. If you want a sports car. Buy a sports car. Super charging a Tacoma or gladiator… umm…

And maybe, just maybe the rando Jeep I get is a lemon. But maybe it’s one of the 100s of thousands that isn’t and I can spend less effort that I did on this truck and actually wheel harder.


But that’s just me. Fuck most of the people in this forum, like 99%, go out twice a year at best on mild forest roads. Hell I went to two meet ups this weekend and heard several times, oh I didn’t buy this for off roading…. Duh why would you off road in a Tacoma.

So sure then most people in here want a nice long lasting boring garage queen. But I’m bored with mine. And I’m sick of fixing shit on it. Just to wheel the easiest of “hard” rated trails.

End rant.

 

Based on what little I know of you, I don’t think you will have any issues you couldn’t handle.

You just have to know it’s a Chrysler. Once you accept that fact, then no worries.

The downside to all the new computer controlled stuff is if it has an issue the vehicle is useless.