I Rented a Gladiator...My thoughts vs Bronco

[Roll Tide!]

My wife had sex with my neighbor and I’m Gladiator.

That’s sick

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[Figmo]

Sold my Gladiator to buy the Bronco. Agree with you on highway handling.

Would like to add that offroad - the Gladiator handled the rough terrain at high speeds better than either my Wrangler or the wife’s Cherokee. At the time I thought it was the bomb…..UNTIL I got my Bronco. Puts the Gladiator to shame as far removing a lot more of the “bounce bounce“ and “slam slam slam” from a rough road.

However, the Gladiator HANDLED better at high speeds over rough terrain than my Bronco. Due to the short wheel base of my 2 door and the IFS front paired with a solid axle rear. The Gladiator was able to track true over rough terrain where the Bronco has (what I’m calling) “The Bronco Twist”

And, of course, the Gladiator was better over “rock crawling” type terrain (solid axle front wins here)

So I will give the Gladiator credit where credit is due. But overall - much happier with the Bronco.

 

[TKE_273]

This was really not a fair comparison. Tires are everything. Are you comparing mud tires on a gladiator doing 75 to all terrain tires on a Bronco? If you swapped tires on both those rigs your assessment would have been the opposite of what you wrote.
My JLU with duratracs feels like a Cadillac vs mud terrains on my JL which feels more like a dump truck. It is night and day difference even on the same rig.

My Bronco is a Sasquatch, so I feel like the tire comparison is close enough. But, you're not wrong in that the tires on the Willy's Gladiator are absolute trash. Not to say that the Goodyears on a Sasquatch are much better, LoL.

 

[JHawk]

Cause some of us just have to take the top and doors off. It's sort of why I bought an otherwise impractical vehicle. I don't think the updates Ranger includes these features and we soft top folks have a massive practically permanent bar preventing us from actually fitting any substantial items in the back.

What roll bar protection is that?

 

[Jr87mustang]

Neither of those!

THIS... (courtesy of @skiptheroad )

Great looking render, but Ford would sell 11 of these

Your exactly right, but the short bus brigade doesn't understand it. If people thought the two door Broncos were better looking or more useful it would show in the take rate. Last I looked we weren't even at 25% take rate on an enthusiast forum, real world is even worse. Does the two door Bronco truck pencil drawing look cool, sure.....but nobody wants it. Numbers don't lie. The 4 door just does everything better and that would go for the truck too.

 

[kodiakisland]

Your exactly right, but the short bus brigade doesn't understand it. If people thought the two door Broncos were better looking or more useful it would show in the take rate. Last I looked we weren't even at 25% take rate on an enthusiast forum, real world is even worse. Does the two door Bronco truck pencil drawing look cool, sure.....but nobody wants it. Numbers don't lie. The 4 door just does everything better and that would go for the truck too.

The 4 door does not do everything better, it just correlates to the majorities intended use. I'm not hauling kids or commuting to work in mine. If I were to get a Bronco truck, it would not be a 4 door with a baby bed. It would be a 2 door, maybe extended cab with a bigger bed.
Same thing with the Tacoma and the 4 door verse the access cab. The access cab is ideal for me as I need bed space, not seat space, although most use it as a commuter and don't really care about bed space. So, the 4 door appeals to the majority, but it does not mean it does everything better.

 

[Tex]

Your exactly right, but the short bus brigade doesn't understand it. If people thought the two door Broncos were better looking or more useful it would show in the take rate. Last I looked we weren't even at 25% take rate on an enthusiast forum, real world is even worse. Does the two door Bronco truck pencil drawing look cool, sure.....but nobody wants it. Numbers don't lie. The 4 door just does everything better and that would go for the truck too.

Guess I missed all the 4dr Broncos and Raptors out there winning KOH
There's at least 4x as many available to use or more, by your estimate.
The simple fact is that everyone wants the 2dr, but everyone settles for the 4dr.

 

[Jr87mustang]

The 4 door does not do everything better, it just correlates to the majorities intended use. I'm not hauling kids or commuting to work in mine. If I were to get a Bronco truck, it would not be a 4 door with a baby bed. It would be a 2 door, maybe extended cab with a bigger bed.
Same thing with the Tacoma and the 4 door verse the access cab. The access cab is ideal for me as I need bed space, not seat space, although most use it as a commuter and don't really care about bed space. So, the 4 door appeals to the majority, but it does not mean it does everything better.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the 2 door and plan on grabbing a used one someday. The two and 4 door are equally cool to me. Aside from ones personal taste in looks I can't think of anything important that the two door masters. The four door has a longer towing wheelbase, holds more fuel, carries more gear, has more room for passengers, you can sleep two people in it, and is typically more stable off road. With the trail turn assist, even what would be a tighter turning radius for the two door is negated.

 

[kodiakisland]

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the 2 door and plan on grabbing a used one someday. The two and 4 door are equally cool to me. Aside from ones personal taste in looks I can't think of anything important that the two door masters. The four door has a longer towing wheelbase, holds more fuel, carries more gear, has more room for passengers, you can sleep two people in it, and is typically more stable off road. With the trail turn assist, even what would be a tighter turning radius for the two door is negated.

Well, we were discussing a Bronco truck, which would most likely have the same wheel base whether it had 2 or 4 doors. Somewhat moot as it will never be built.
As far as trail turn assist equaling shorter wheelbase, maybe most of the time, but I've got a trail or two here that the two door barely fits that I wouldn't ask a 4 door to try.

I don't care 2 or 4 door either way. It's whatever fits your need. When it comes to my short wheel base, I use every single inch of it, as my bumpers and fenders can attest. I wish the factory rear bumper had removable ends like the front bumper to give me even tighter turns. As it is I rub far too often.

All four corners are like this to an extent.

 

[Jr87mustang]

Guess I missed all the 4dr Broncos and Raptors out there winning KOH
There's at least 4x as many available to use or more, by your estimate.
The simple fact is that everyone wants the 2dr, but everyone settles for the 4dr.

Not really sure what to do with this or what your point is? I am assuming you think the Broncos that are racing in KOH are somehow equated to a production 2 door Bronco?

"The simple fact is that everyone wants the 2dr, but everyone settles for the 4dr."
This is the exact opposite of fact. You could even take a look at Jeeps two door take rate which is (last time I saw a figure on the JL forum) around 19%. Jeep dealers, where I live, don't even stock 2 door jeeps....they have to be a customer ordered. There is no demand for them. There is not Raptor 2 door, and there is no Jeep 392 two door for a reason. Take a look on youtube, about the same percentage of people on there wheel 4 doors, you can hardly find one that features a 2 door. Yes they are there but very few (and they are usually being let down a steep slope by a four door for fear of going end over end). It is what it is.

 

[Lilj4425]

A Jeep thread that turned into a 2 door vs 4 door Bronco debate. I am shocked I tell you. Shocked.

 

[jehines3]

What roll bar protection is that?

I got them from IAG

 

[BigBendBW]

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!

When I was so aggravated with my build being shoved into ice mountain and not knowing how long it would be to get it, I went and drove a Gladiator thinking I might jump ship and go that direction. Once I drive it, no chance, I was waiting for my Bronco.

 

[NVCowboy]

One word - seats. I’m sure there’s more words, but after sitting, just sitting, in a friend’s Jeep I was convinced my Bronco is the best choice for me. Okay, fine. The Jeep dash sucked, too.

 

[Rick Astley]

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

Many people forget just how horrifically the Galadiator sold pre-covid, and that it's history is only colorful in its failures. After it's initial launch year (and dealer mark-ups) sales dropped off a cliff and by late 2019 there was $5,000+ on the hoods just to try and move the lot zombies.

Gladiator might sell now because other vehicles are harder to get and because "existing = sales" for the past few years but the market today is not a normal market.

If Ford slow plays this and decides against bringing a truck version out it will do them well.

In reported Q2 2019, only 7,252 gladiators had sold. That is attorcious! Dead vehicle walking territory considering FCA recognized some % of those sales were canabalized from Wrangler.

The CJ trucklet died an inglorious death in 1987 due to lack of sales, Gladiator will suffer the same fate.

Great article on Gladiator before its launch and single-year-metoric-sales-before-the-obvious-crash: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/08/no-fixed-abode-dont-want-jeep-pickup-pansy/


(data source for Q3 2019 sales figures) https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/09/jeep-gladiator-sales-on-hold-pending-driveshaft-fix/

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