Towed the glamper with the Gladiator ~200 miles round trip this weekend. Towed fantastic. My biggest complaint with the ZR2 was the transmission...100% better in the Gladiator. So eager to downshift, makes towing way easier. My earlier observation of less feeling of tongue weight was really apparent. Over bumps and whatnot, could barely feel the trailer back there. Wheelbase is so nice for towing. 5/7
Power was lacking, but no worse than the ZR2. With the transmission so good, it never really felt all too labored.
Brakes are strong AF...I couldn't believe how well it stopped without trailer brakes. So much so, that I'm returning the trailer brake controller I bought. No need for it on my trailer.
This was also our first camping trip with the Gladiator...what works great for camping:
The USB ports in the rear of the console are powered 100% of the time. Makes charging phones, BT speakers, headlamps, etc so much easier. In my Colorado, those ports were only on when the key was on, which always made me nervous that I'd drain the battery.
The tonneau cover opening without opening the tailgate is awesome. We picked up a load of firewood on the way, loaded it right against the tailgate. Then got a bag of ice for the drink cooler. I opened the tonneau and filled the cooler with ice without dropping the tailgate. Why is this awesome? Because if I had to open the tailgate, a number of pieced of wood would have fallen out. Been there done that with the Colorado.
The rear bed light that comes on with the interior lights is 5/7 for grabbing things in the bed in the dark. The bed lights in my Colorado had to be turned on with a button in the cab, so I pretty much never used them
Other observations:
People are still
by the truck, especially in the middle of nowhere...
We were hanging out yesterday morning making breakfast and a ranger drove by. SLAMMED on the brakes after driving by our site. Dude walks over and says "doing random checks for state park stickers". OK, bro...I told him to check the windshield, I've got my sticker current. He glances at the windshield then goes 100% into "I've never seen one of these IRL". He's asking about the tires, suspension, the bed, the top, etc...he was there for an easy 10 minutes as I explained the truck to him. He loved it, even when I told him the price he said
to which I asked him if the state park service is hiring rangers.
The area we were in is a really popular "color drive" (aka drive twisty roads and look at dying leaves) destination. Hell, MI (yes, actually exists) is a popular place to stop. It's super kitchy with a few bars to check out, so we went there to grab supplies and happened upon some Subaru vape bros having a "meet" in a park. I couldn't find a parking spot outside of their meet, so I just parked with them ZFG. Came back to 5 dudes standing around the truck...again asking about the shocks "those Fox shocks can't be stock" to "what part of the top comes off?" Showed them and they were pretty
It's incredible how many people love that truck.
things from Wranglers to Gladiators. They're everywhere here, but that's likely in large part due to HQ being here.
to see it.
I dig this color combo, sort of retro 80s. Which I think is going in hot right now.
with panted fenders and Sahara wheels.
