Jeep Gladiator: Hit or Hype?

Seeing this rear wall of the cab makes me wonder what kind of fabrication we will see in a few years when the JT and JL become cheap enough to cut up and piece back together. It's only a matter of time before people will make a 2 door JT. Or imagine a short JLU without the rear cargo area.
 
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I think they will sell like mad here in the south East. This will be a fairly easy sell to a wife that it can be fun and practical. The long overhang will probably not matter much as most will never go off road it will just be for posing and picking up mulch at the Home Depot. It’s kinda like the Raptor in some ways , you can’t cross the street around here without getting run over by one and none go off road .
That being said my wife likes it and the diesel will pull my trailers . My Tundra is getting older and the new one is just too damn big to do a lot of the city stuff I do . I will have to wait and see prices but I may be in . It would also be nice to take camping with the bed . I can bring the dirt bikes! The TJ will still be in the garage as we just won’t see anymore short wheelbase 4x4s again . My wife said we gotta keep it that it is just more fun , I agree.
 
Ranger_b0b said:
THIS is what they should have built...Still my favorite Jeep truck...
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Unfortunately, a two door Jeep truck wouldn't sell the same way just about nobody was or is buying two door JKs or JLs. Four doors own the car, truck and Jeep market.
 
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A new Jeep truck with the name Gladiator should have looked like this...

jeep-concept-j12.jpg
 
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I'm in the "I would buy the Tacoma if I wanted a truck" camp. (Or a ZR2, or better yet, the zr2 Bison), before I bought a jeep truck. When I was jeep shopping, I wanted a jeep. Two doors, removable top. I didn't buy it for hauling stuff, I didn't buy it for its practicality. I bought a jeep.
 
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psrivats said:
And it will be a total flop in today's market.
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That's the shame in all of it isn't it? If you want something really cool and special, you have to build it yourself these days...
 
psrivats said:
The old CJ8s are a really good size imo, but it's just not possible to expect anyone to make a truck that size today. I wish they would, but we'll never see it since most of the truck buyers want a big badass truck.
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Interesting comparison of the CJ6, CJ8 (Scrambler), and TJ Unlimited.

CJ6
Wheelbase - 101"
Length - 155.5"
Width - 72"

CJ8
Wheelbase - 103.5"
Length - 177.2"
Width - 68.5"

TJU
Wheelbase - 103.4"
Length - 167"
Width - 66.7"

So, if you really like the size of the old CJ8, just buy a TJU and extend the rear wall of the tub 10". Buy an aftermarket short cab hardtop, LineX the rear and Presto! you have a TJ Scrambler!

Personally, I prefer the looks of the CJ6 and TJU - I never liked the looks of the long overhang on the Scrambler.

(I think the difference in wheelbase between the CJ6 and CJ8 is due to AMC lengthening the CJ series to fit their inline 6. The CJ6 is before and the CJ8 is after. I'm also suspicious of the width measurements - I don't think the TJ was 2" ~ 4" narrower than the CJ series.)
 
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I like it, and think it will sell. My TJ is my 3rd jeep I had a CJ-7, and a YJ. I sold both the CJ, YJ due to needing a truck to haul stuff. I still wanted a jeep, but needed a truck, so I've had a truck for the last 20 years. Now I've got a truck and a TJ. I told the wife when I watched the videos of it that if I didn't have the TJ, I'd be looking at the Gladiator
 
AndyG said:
I don’t think it will be a huge success.

Why?

They never are. People don’t want a Jeep that looks like a truck or a truck that looks like a Jeep.

They ‘ll sell some , but it won’t touch the Jk/jl success.

Convertible trucks are generally an oddity.
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What numbers are you thinking they will move monthly?
 
MutantNinjaTJ said:
I don't care for it, but was curious as to the cost? They are predicting 60K if it were released today and possibly 70K by 2020. I'll be OK without one.
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If it’s 70k they will sell a few and the party will be over , That’s Raptor money. If it is a 5k ish premium over a standard Wrangler I will buy one as I am due for a new truck . My accountant tells me I will need more deductions next year for my business. If it’s 70k I will just buy a new Tundra TRD Pro and deal with it being bigger that I want . That will save me 20k plus .
 
It'll sell like hot cakes.

Huge hit.

Number 1 seller in North America is the Quad Cab pickup.

The JKU? Who ever wanted a 4 door Wrangler.... yet it out sells every previous Wrangler 10 to 1.

For all the reasons we hate it, the soccer Moms and gym club Dads will be all over it. It's not gonna be another Aztec or Edsel failure. It'll sell like hot cakes.


No one buying it will even consider leaving the paved parking lot.
 
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Fouledplugs said:
What numbers are you thinking they will move monthly?
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I'm not qualified to even guess, but off hand it won't hit 10 percent of 4 door gross annual unit sales in my estimation . The first few months the sales may be a little stronger , but beyond that I anticipate they 'll just kind of be a novelty . If they increased the engine size and options , they would likely appeal to the small to mid sized truck crowd more.

I probably had a similar thought in 2007 when I saw the 4 doors too. Didn't like them until I saw them lifted .

The articles sound like it's the Jeep everyone is dying for . There really isn't a need for a payload capacity in one , and no other utility vehicle with a bed ( Subaru brat , etc) has ever sold in large numbers to my memory .

It's basically a mini humvee concept , and that has worn off a long time ago.

A Jeep is more of a get away vehicle, not a “I wanna haul it with me” deal.
 
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I have a '16 Tacoma and an '01 TJ, so I'll stand pat for awhile. But now I wonder what the Taco and the TJ have been doing at night..................... love child?
 
Wait until the aftermarket catches up. It'll look great once they slap on a lift and big as tires... the angry birds will be all over it for sure.
 
I like it and it will do very well I think. I can't justify a small/midsize truck because I need something that will tow more but the JT would be the only one I would consider in that class. I bet it gets built and hammered on off-road by lots of people too.
 
Not a fan of it myself, but I expect this thing to sell really well. People have clearly been wanting bigger and bigger Jeeps, judging by how much the 4 doors seem to outsell the 2 doors and this is just the next step up to cater to the pickup crowd.

I also imagine the angry grill business will be booming.
 
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