DFD

D Griff wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:46 am

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:41 am Tesla's can't be sold in MI, so they're really few and far between here. People have to buy them 3 hours away in Cleveland and drive them to near empty on the way home. There's a number of people in my hood that are 100% Tesla (Model S, 3, X in the same garage), but I'm in a liberal leaning area.

I see FAR more things from Wranglers to Gladiators. They're everywhere here, but that's likely in large part due to HQ being here.

We have a couple of Tesla stores here in Charlotte, but I still see about 20 JL per one Tesla

Teslas are about as common as C5s here.

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:48 am

D Griff wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:46 am

We have a couple of Tesla stores here in Charlotte, but I still see about 20 JL per one Tesla

Teslas are about as common as C5s here.

I'd rather have a JL than a Tesla too.



My dad's taking delivery of his 2-door today. to see it.

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:24 am

Straight from the old man...just picked it up.

It'll look a lot better with painted fenders. He already bought them to take to the body shop to have painted. Building a 2-door Sahara.

CorvetteWaxer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:47 am

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:24 am

Straight from the old man...just picked it up.

It'll look a lot better with painted fenders. He already bought them to take to the body shop to have painted. Building a 2-door Sahara.

In this case I fully endorse the painted fenders. This one NEEDS them.

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:24 am

Straight from the old man...just picked it up.

It'll look a lot better with painted fenders. He already bought them to take to the body shop to have painted. Building a 2-door Sahara.

CaleDeRoo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:37 pm Same thing right?

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:24 am

Straight from the old man...just picked it up.

It'll look a lot better with painted fenders. He already bought them to take to the body shop to have painted. Building a 2-door Sahara.

Detroit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:52 pm Saw it in person, looks way better than photos. Legit 5/7.

Detroit wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 9:37 am Towed the glamper last night for the first time with the Gladiator. Just towed it from my house to my dad's so we can go camping this weekend...concrete stuff going on at home today and tomorrow would block the camper in.

Even just for a mile, there was quite a difference from the ZR2...and I think it's all wheelbase related. You could REALLY feel the tongue weight in the ZR2...every bump the camper would "tug" down on the truck and you could feel that. The Gladiator barely does that...I didn't even notice the camper back there.

Backing into my dad's driveway was another surprise. With the ZR2, every tiny steering input resulted in massive movement of the trailer. The Gladiator is the opposite. It takes a lot more steering wheel movement to adjust the direction of the trailer, which IMO makes it both easier and harder. Once you're on the right path, it's effortless. If you're on the wrong path, it's a pain. The ZR2 backing up was really tough even on the right path, it would dart from side to side with the tiniest steering wheel input. I think once I'm used to it, backing up with the Gladiator will be easier.

I think the longer wheelbase is at play here, and I honestly really like it. We'll see how it does this weekend...we're going 2 hours away so I'll be able to assess the trans (which I hated in the ZR2 for towing), and brakes. I'm raw dogging it without trailer brakes for this weekend (haven't had time to install the autowbrake on the trailer yet), so will be a very interesting towing test.

Apex wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 9:39 am Wheelbase on the tow rig makes a massive difference in towing comfort.

In4JTtowreview

max225 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:56 am

Detroit wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 9:37 am Towed the glamper last night for the first time with the Gladiator. Just towed it from my house to my dad's so we can go camping this weekend...concrete stuff going on at home today and tomorrow would block the camper in.

Even just for a mile, there was quite a difference from the ZR2...and I think it's all wheelbase related. You could REALLY feel the tongue weight in the ZR2...every bump the camper would "tug" down on the truck and you could feel that. The Gladiator barely does that...I didn't even notice the camper back there.

Backing into my dad's driveway was another surprise. With the ZR2, every tiny steering input resulted in massive movement of the trailer. The Gladiator is the opposite. It takes a lot more steering wheel movement to adjust the direction of the trailer, which IMO makes it both easier and harder. Once you're on the right path, it's effortless. If you're on the wrong path, it's a pain. The ZR2 backing up was really tough even on the right path, it would dart from side to side with the tiniest steering wheel input. I think once I'm used to it, backing up with the Gladiator will be easier.

I think the longer wheelbase is at play here, and I honestly really like it. We'll see how it does this weekend...we're going 2 hours away so I'll be able to assess the trans (which I hated in the ZR2 for towing), and brakes. I'm raw dogging it without trailer brakes for this weekend (haven't had time to install the autowbrake on the trailer yet), so will be a very interesting towing test.

How heavy is the glamper. ?

Detroit wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 12:14 pm

max225 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:56 am
How heavy is the glamper. ?

2.5k lbs loaded up for a trip (gear, full fresh water tank, full propane tanks, etc)

My truck is capable of 7k lbs (I got the trailer package)...so I doubt I'll notice it back there much. ZR2 was rated at 5k lbs by comparison.

max225 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 12:29 pm

Detroit wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 12:14 pm
2.5k lbs loaded up for a trip (gear, full fresh water tank, full propane tanks, etc)

My truck is capable of 7k lbs (I got the trailer package)...so I doubt I'll notice it back there much. ZR2 was rated at 5k lbs by comparison.

That’s about 1/2 of what I expected, should be pretty easy!

Post up em pee gee a too

[user not found] wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:16 am The half-gate position is brilliant.

I forget who showed me that in person, and I was

Apex wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:19 am Wait, all tailgates don’t do that?
I just assumed they did since my ‘99 F150 did it.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:25 am

Apex wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:19 am Wait, all tailgates don’t do that?
I just assumed they did since my ‘99 F150 did it.

My Colorado didn't. Neither did my Silverados.

Detroit wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:54 am 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.