By Ross Ballot
It wasn’t long ago that if you wanted a factory-built Jeep and a pickup truck, you had to buy both; and, it wasn’t long ago that if you wanted a desert-running factory-built pickup, it meant buying a Ford Raptor. Jeep finally alleviated buyers of this dilemma for the 2020 model year with the Gladiator, and tackled the latter with the “Desert-Rated” Mojave trim. Does it still have the charm three years later, after it received the 2024 MY updates, and what about on-road where most buyers will use it exclusively?
The Gladiator is familiar territory by now: Take a Wrangler Unlimited, stretch it a bit, throw a bed on the back, and voila; Jeep Gladiator. Obviously it’s a bit more complex than that, but on the surface things aren’t as clear. Dig deeper and you’ll find that the Gladiator’s Mojave trim represents the biggest derivative from the SUV on which it’s based, eschewing the rock-crawler purposefulness of the “Trail-Rated” Rubicon for some pseudo-Raptor suspension and changes that make for Jeep’s first “Desert-Rated” model, and a trim not available on the Wrangler.
Getting there involves Fox shocks with hydraulic bumpstops, a front skid plate, a thicker front axle tube, cast iron knuckles, strengthened upper control arms, and other reinforcements like in the case of the engine, transmission, track bar, and shock tower mounts. The Mojave loses the Rubi’s ultra-low range transfer case, front locking differential, and electronically disconnectable sway bars, but it gets the Max Tow package’s larger fan to keep engine temps reasonable when blasting through the desert. Orange tow hooks, a model-specific hood with the trim name emblazoned across the sides, wider offset wheels, and rock sliders help differentiate it visually from other Gladiators.
Relatively big changes were implemented on the Gladiator for 2024, the headliners of which are a new infotainment screen and the addition of side curtain airbags. Power still comes from the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and power is sent through the ZF 8-speed gearbox, with the latter being a $2,500 option over the standard six-speed manual transmission.
At its core, the Gladiator is a Wrangler with some significant bodily revisions, and that’s exactly how it drives. On the street, the Mojave’s suspension changes combined with the extra wheelbase provided by the Gladiator over the Wrangler makes for the most comfortable and predictable drive of any of these vehicles yet, save for maybe the gloriously overbuilt Wrangler 392. No, it’s not as easy to pilot as a Colorado ZR2, Ranger Raptor, or Tacoma TRD Pro, but the Gladiator isn’t meant to be. Instead, its mission is to provide the Wrangler’s irreplaceable experience with flexibility of a truck bed, and that just about sums up the Gladiator from a technical standpoint.
What specs can’t convey is the charm of the Gladiator. It’s a fantastic looking truck, oozing with character. It brings about a childish lust to drive that can only be described as wanting to do so for the fun of it, for the want of it, not for the need. The Gladiator makes you want to go to the desert, beach, or mountains; it makes you want to rip off the doors and roof and go on adventures, juvenile bliss taking command over responsibility. You get this sensation anytime you’re looking at it and most of the time you’re behind the wheel, save for when the Pentastar’s roar overcomes wind noise and dampens the joy, which thankfully is usually only momentary.
In the presence of the Gladiator Mojave, you simply can’t escape its personality. Practicality isn’t the name of the game here; puppy-dog energy excitement is what the Gladiator is all about. You don’t care about sensibility when driving or looking at it, you just want to have a good time, driving dynamics be damned. Just be wary of driving at highway speed with only the front Freedom Panels removed, as the amount of wind that enters the cabin can be borderline violent. It’s an easily forgivable sin, as there’s no other reasonable pickup that you can take the roof off of (Yes, we know the GMC Hummer exists, but it effectively costs and weighs twice as much, and has an astronomical price tag).
Spending $65,865 on a Gladiator Mojave seems crazy on the onset, but then again you can’t get this experience anywhere else, and buying both a Wrangler and a pickup would cost even more. Stick closer to the $51,395 base price and things make more sense, though we can’t fault anyone for optioning up the Mojave, as some of the added features of our test truck (like the $595 Anvil paint, $2,500 automatic transmission, $1,595 hard top, $1,095 Convenience Group, which adds things like heated front seats and remote start, and $2,295 Technology Group, which adds Alpine stereo, front-facing TrailCam, the larger touchscreen, and so on) all make for a surprisingly luxurious and high quality experience that mere years ago would have been unheard of in anything based on a Wrangler.
The Gladiator and Gladiator Mojave have only been around for a few years and while it feels like it’s been a lot longer than that, the charm is still there. This isn’t the best truck in its class in any capacity, save for at-the-limit off-roading, and that effectively doesn’t matter. The 2024 Jeep Gladiator Mojave isn’t the truck the adult version of you needs, it’s the truck your inner child wants, and isn’t that part of the reason people buy these things in the first place?
Yay
- Legendary Jeep charisma
- Off-road chops with limits beyond what most will ever explore
- Roof and doors still come off
- Tight turning radius
- Infotainment is a big improvement over outgoing version
Nay
- Inescapable solid front axle driving characteristics
- Excessive wind noise in some roof-less configurations
- As or more expensive than much better rounded pickups
- Pentastar V6 is overdue for an overhaul/replacement
- Not a lot of utility (4,500 pounds towing and 1,158 pounds payload) given the size of the vehicle
The Takeaway
There’s simply nothing like the Jeep Gladiator Mojave out there, and with the fresh technology and safety equipment it’s more attractive than ever; just don’t expect “modern” levels of refinement.
Jeff Glucker