What’s different about Jeep Gladiator?
It might look like a Wrangler with a box added, but there’s much more to it than that
It would be easy to characterize the 2020 Jeep Gladiator as simply a stretched Jeep Wrangler with a pickup box. That is certainly how Gladiator’s competitors might like us to see the first mid-size truck from Jeep in more than two decades. The new vehicle poses a considerable threat to the competition’s sales and market share, given the enormous capability of the Gladiator, not to mention its life-loving personality with removable doors, convertible roof and flip-forward windshield.
“We know it looks like a
Wrangler with a box on the back, but the perception is 100 per cent false,” says Mike Szymkiewicz, senior manager in product strategy and volume planning for Fiat Chrysler Canada, who points out the mid-size pickup segment is “red hot right now.”
The same comment was echoed by Szymkiewicz’s U.S. counterparts, who vigorously deny the stretched-Wrangler comparison as “not true.”
So let’s put some Gladiator parts on the table and take a closer look at its trucky bits to see how it differs from the Wrangler.
THE FRAME
The Gladiator’s highstrength steel frame is unique to the vehicle, engineered specifically to support the truck’s long 3,487-mm wheelbase, 5,539 mm overall length and 2,120–2,290 kilogram (4,673-5,050-pound) curb weights, depending on trim. That’s an extra 787 mm of overall length and 493 mm longer wheelbase over the Wrangler.
The frame has been “optimized,” says FCA, to be lightweight, yet gets increased welds in critical areas. The centre of the bed aligns with the back of the rear wheels to put more weight in the rear, which FCA says makes for a more comfortable and composed ride.
The bed is all steel, with four steel cross members underneath.
THE BED
The bed comes in only a five-foot length, but it can be optioned with a factory spray-in liner and soft cover. Two LED cargo lights are standard but there is no switch for the lights in the bed itself. Motorcycle-tire imprints are stamped in the bed’s steel headboard to help position bikes in the back — gimmicky yes, but unique.
Four bed-anchored tiedowns are standard, but a cargo-management option adds three box rails and four more anchor pods, plus a 115-volt outlet, along with lockable storage bin under the rear seats.
Total box volume is not huge, at 1,000 L (35.5 cubic feet), but the height from the ground to the tailgate is an agreeable 885 mm (34.8 inches) so lifting and loading should be pretty easy.
On the Gladiator Rubicon, a unique set of metal rock rails behind the rear tires protect the box during obstacle departure and can help the Gladiator slide off rocks a little easier.
SUSPENSION
Jeep has deployed third-generation, heavy duty Dana 44 axles on the front and rear of all Gladiators, whereas the Wrangler only gets Dana axles on the Rubicon. Rear suspension differs too: the Gladiator gets a solid axle, upper and lower forged control arms, track bar, coil springs and stabilizer bar. The springs are variable compression to handle heavy loads as well as return a decent ride when empty. Sport S and Overland models get monotube shocks with multi-tuned valve (MTV) technology while Rubicon Gladiators get high-pressure Fox aluminum shocks. Gladiator’s brakes are also bigger than the Wrangler’s.
FINAL TOUCHES
All Gladiators are four-door crew cabs, with seating for five. Front and rear legroom is the same for both vehicles, although there is a small, lockable storage area behind the rear seats of the Gladiator and standard cubbies under the seat bases.
The 60/40 seatbacks fold flat and the rear window can be optioned with a manual-sliding window. A rearview camera with grid lines is standard.
Finally, the Rubicon Gladiator gets a front-facing camera that includes a washer nozzle, sitting inside the familiar seven-slot grille, which has wider slats and an angled top for better cooling and air flow. That will be essential when the Gladiator is working near its maximum towing capability of 3,470 kg or 7,650 lbs., (3,175 kg/7,000 lbs. on Rubicon) or carrying a payload of 725 kg (1,600 lbs.) — something no Wrangler can do.