I Rented a Gladiator...My thoughts vs Bronco

[NatureMan]

Futon = crappy bed and crappy couch.

Gladiator = crappy Jeep and crappy truck.

But you can have sex on both of them.

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[jehines3]

no not that! this

I’d trade the Bronco for that.

Ford, if you are taking notes. Don’t do what Jeep did and develop another door for the rear. Use the front doors for front and rear when you develop the chassis. No idea why Jeep did that huge cut out on the door to then fill it in with chassis sheet metal (besides, it looks stupid too)

the ultimate modularity would be to have a factory top that does the bed through the whole cab. Just sayin

 

[Lcubed]

I’d trade the Bronco for that.

Ford, if you are taking notes. Don’t do what Jeep did and develop another door for the rear. Use the front doors for front and rear when you develop the chassis. No idea why Jeep did that huge cut out on the door to then fill it in with chassis sheet metal (besides, it looks stupid too)

are you suggesting using suicide doors?

two front doors hinged on the front end
and
two 'front' doors pointing aft hinged on the aft end?

that's the only way i can imagine using four 'front' doors

 

[Moto26]

Who invited Ford Explorer (and Tacoma?) design language to the Bronco party?

This is the Bronco Sport-Trac crossover event nobody wanted.

Blech.

Not to mention, some Hyundai Santa Cruz, and GMC fender flares…

 

[Bronccraig]

I rented a Gladiator this week for work. Figured it would be fun to drive and an opportunity to compare it to my Bronco after 3 months of ownership and 4,500 miles.

This isn't meant to trigger the Jeep folks, because the Jeep brand deserves a ton of credit for continuously offering the Wrangler and its variants as an interesting alternative to boring vehicles for decades.

With that said, I'm not joking when I say I would have returned this thing and grabbed a different vehicle if I had the time. The driving characteristics of a Gladiator vs. a Bronco are literally night and day, and being in the Gladiator gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the Bronco's road manners.

Gladiator steering at 75MPH is like giving vague suggestions as to what direction the truck should go. As a driver who represents the majority of buyers (someone who uses the vehicle as a daily driver and goes off road occasionally), I can confidently say I would have sold a Gladiator almost immediately. I'm glad they exist and think they look great, just surprised at the wildly unrefined on-road characteristics!

I rented a Gladiator this week for work. Figured it would be fun to drive and an opportunity to compare it to my Bronco after 3 months of ownership and 4,500 miles.

This isn't meant to trigger the Jeep folks, because the Jeep brand deserves a ton of credit for continuously offering the Wrangler and its variants as an interesting alternative to boring vehicles for decades.

With that said, I'm not joking when I say I would have returned this thing and grabbed a different vehicle if I had the time. The driving characteristics of a Gladiator vs. a Bronco are literally night and day, and being in the Gladiator gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the Bronco's road manners.

Gladiator steering at 75MPH is like giving vague suggestions as to what direction the truck should go. As a driver who represents the majority of buyers (someone who uses the vehicle as a daily driver and goes off road occasionally), I can confidently say I would have sold a Gladiator almost immediately. I'm glad they exist and think they look great, just surprised at the wildly unrefined on-road characteristics!

I have both now, thought about selling the Gladdy but I have fallen in love with it over past year, very different from my 2 DR bronco but for me anyway thats a good thing..

 

[mcinfantry]

I know I am not the only one(even if its a small group) that would love to see a bronco with a bed seeing how many gladiators I see out. I am still hoping for bronco with a bed one day

I see a lot of people de badge and mansquatchraptor
Couldn’t you just put a bronco grille on a ranger? You would a ford truck!

 

[SuperDave150]

I rented a Gladiator this week for work. Figured it would be fun to drive and an opportunity to compare it to my Bronco after 3 months of ownership and 4,500 miles.

This isn't meant to trigger the Jeep folks, because the Jeep brand deserves a ton of credit for continuously offering the Wrangler and its variants as an interesting alternative to boring vehicles for decades.

With that said, I'm not joking when I say I would have returned this thing and grabbed a different vehicle if I had the time. The driving characteristics of a Gladiator vs. a Bronco are literally night and day, and being in the Gladiator gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the Bronco's road manners.

Gladiator steering at 75MPH is like giving vague suggestions as to what direction the truck should go. As a driver who represents the majority of buyers (someone who uses the vehicle as a daily driver and goes off road occasionally), I can confidently say I would have sold a Gladiator almost immediately. I'm glad they exist and think they look great, just surprised at the wildly unrefined on-road characteristics!

Tommy with TFLOffroad calls the steering “Guess & check” when manuvering corners.

 

[jehines3]

are you suggesting using suicide doors?

two front doors hinged on the front end
and
two 'front' doors pointing aft hinged on the aft end?

that's the only way i can imagine using four 'front' doors

no, like the Ford, Chevy, or dodge look using a square rear door without A phantom wheel arch there there is not wheel arch.

 

[M Redwood]

love my gladiator especially with doors roof off like the bronco. how's the f150 or silverado with doors and roof off? ohh ya ..no can do !! and i can tow my 7k boat with it to boot...but ya broncy is smooth

 

[Lèòn]

love my gladiator especially with doors roof off like the bronco. how's the f150 or silverado with doors and roof off? ohh ya ..no can do !! and i can tow my 7k boat with it to boot...but ya broncy is smooth

and thats the thing that draws me to it, summertime my doors are in the garage and side windows are together somewhere safe

sure, ya shouldnt cruise at mexican highway speeds topless, but I cant help it, its fun! Gladiator would be the same, but 4drs for more whores

 

[IROCnRoll]

My mom has a Gladiator with the upgraded Fox suspension and 37” tires.

I agree fully with your post.

Your mom is cool! My mom drives a CRV.

 

[Tex]

Why is the only decent truck option in this thread drawn with a pencil on a piece of paper
Somebody give that man some shiny new computer pixels to use

The Gladiator died in 1987 and Jeep resurrected its corpse by sacrificing kittens to cthulu
Cthulu is also known by his more obscure title, the god of scraping bumpers and turtle balancing
Unbeknownst to Jeep, some of his powers were bestowed to the Gladiator's corpse in the process
It was unfortunate but unavoidable

A 4dr Bronco is basically a limo already, why do you want to make it even longer
What is wrong with humanity
Think of the kittens

 

[CT203]

If you think the Gladiator/JL platform sucks on the highway, you've probably never driven a JK. The JL (and Gladiator variant) are MUCH improved over the previous generation Wrangler for road manners. But yeah, the Bronco is heads and shoulders better on-road.

I've driven ICON's JL and our Gladiator (on 40's) a few times and they're a bit of a chore on the highway (although much improved over the JK). But damn they do well in the rocks! I applaud Jeep for sticking to their guns with the solid front axle, despite the compromise in handling on the road and in all but the most technical terrain.

I’m in the minority with my JK experience. It was fine on the highway. It didn’t wander. I correct my Badlands much more than the JK. The seats were far from as comfortable as the Bronco but they were more than adequate. I never even had a cracked windshield in over 140k miles. I like the Bronco better overall but my jeep was good to me.

 

[CT203]

The Ranger also doesn't have removable roof/doors.

Doesn’t have easily removable doors anyway.

 

[Bdisco]

Before my Bronco I test drove a JK Rubicon HardRock edition it was nice but didn’t handle like my STi. (the sales guy may have pooed a little as I carried a bit of excess speed on the curve when we exited the highway.) Good brakes!
Couple years later I test drove a Sting Grey Moab JL and while the ride was an improvement over the JK it does not compete with the Bronco.

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