Gladiator or Tacoma, Help Me Decide!

i actually rented a gladiator the ride quality was horrendous and i could hear the air seeping through the roof, I returned it the next day and got a bmw 7series

 

Was that a Jeep Jeep, an AMC Jeep, a Chrysler Jeep, a Daimler Jeep, a Fiat Jeep or a Stellantis Jeep?




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i dunno isnt the gladiator specifically made in the united states are overpriced?
bro I just rented it for a couple days and i returned it the next day for a bmw 7 series , they both cost the same lol

 

Trails and tight areas would I prefer the Taco, that Gladiator is a big truck. Plus break over I'm sure the Toyota is better. But in proper trim, an off the showroom Gladiator is more capable.
You're going to spend a lot of money either way .... Spend it on the one you can't wait to drive away in.

 

Thanks for the insight so far guys. And I did plan to regear it not just to restore the "performance", but to help restore the gas mileage a little bit.

And I have had a JK before as well as a Tacoma 3RD gen (company truck). I drove the Tacoma for 100k miles with no issue before my company switched to Chevy, and even at 6'3" it wasn't uncomfortable for me. My JK I had for less than 10k miles, and it was lifted and offroaded amazingly, but I had multiple issues with the lockers and other weird electrical gremlins.

Another one of the reasons I was leaning towards Gladiator initially as well, is because they can be custom ordered, while it's harder to get a Tacoma just how you want. But I know someone who is a sales manager at a Toyota dealership where I used to live and they have a TRD Off-Road Tacoma coming in with exactly the color and features I wanted (+ a few unnecessarily ones).

 

I would rent one and find out yourself, who knows you might love or hate it. Also i heard theres a diesel option , but dont quote me on that

 

There is a diesel option for the Gladiator, but it seems to be littered with issues. Plus lifts and other mods are even more pricey for it than the 3.6

 

V8 gladiator is the only gladiator I would consider. There's a guy on YouTube trail recon I think. He has a v8 gladiator, he's had a v6 and a diesel gladiator as well

 

I heard correctly then, the diesel would be my only selling point. It was a rubicon black jeep the one i rented if i remember correctly and it was super rattly and I could hear the air going in the thru the plastic roof

 

Hard pass on a diesel these days, they're all riddled with issues.

 

Not one person commenting in here has done anything as remotely hard as the trails you’re mentioning fyi. Including me. Because I’ve already spent $10-15k on mods (suspension, RTT, etc) and would have to drop another many thousands to make it even close to capable enough to do holy cross etc. Take all the advice in here with a grain of salt. 99% of the taco fanboys in TW do nothing more than a mild forest road twice a year. You want to go hard you need to consider what the taco needs to do that ($20k is not enough, long travel, axel upgrades, lockers, lift, etc). Or the Jeep, stock, is not capable of the trails you mentioned. I would argue that unless you personally are a bad ass fabricator neither option at that price point works for what you hope.

 

You are gonna break either one unless you plan on a lot of mods. The mods you make will make it less of a daily driver. Best bet is buy something to daily, build something to crawl. Cheaper that way.

 

I love my Tacoma and wheel the heck out of it but there is a few things to know before jumping into it when it comes to wheeling.

All this is in reference to hard wheeling.

Alignment Tabs are weak and need upgrading with 35” tires.

The bed section flexes a lot because it’s C channel and GFC has been known to come into contact with the back window when flexed out.

Leaf hangers have been known to bend.

Front diff mount needs re-enforcement.

exhaust reroute is a good idea. So you can run a flat skid over the T case.

IFS needs beefing up. Gusset spindles, tundra or a like steer rack, warfab tie rod sleeves. An understanding of droop and how it can effect your CV (long travel stuff).

35” tires issues. cab mount chop or relocation. Finder liner removal (c4 is coming out with a replacement). Hammer pinch flats in the wheel well.

63 leaf setups are common for more flex.

shock tower relocation for longer shocks

You wheel long and hard enough the front shock towers need strengthening.


All these “issues” have fixes. It’s just the reality of hard wheeling with a 3rd Gen Tacoma.

 

yep mine is a mall crawler bone stock,

 

Tundra

 

The GMC is a compromise ofwhat the Gladiator and Tacoma offer. The unproven reliability is a bonus, and it has a winch and a light bar.

 

Read consumer reports on gladiator

 

Great....another help me decide thread. Im thinking tat if you can decide what beer to drink, you can certainly do this also.

 

The gladiator will be better off-road until it breaks down. Add in the cost of an off-road recovery and flat deck fees into your decision making process.

I used to think Toyota people were just Jeep haters, but I keep coming across brand new, broken down Jeeps in the bush. I don’t know if that’s because Jeep people drive ‘em harder, or they are just junk.

 

Daily a used Camry then get a used truck (whatever you want) and have it as a fun rig. It’s the smartest way ,financially and functionally. You don’t need to be Instagram famous