2021 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel Towing Review: Enclosed Trailer Possible or Too Much?

[@johnkraft5640]

The limiting factor the diesel is the cooling. Change to an after market grill and operating temperature drops 20 degrees from stock. I have the Rubicon gladiator diesel and it tows my trailer my 25 ft. toy hauler loaded up with Snow Mobiles, and or Atvs, or Side By side with no issue. 7,000 lb trailer. Trailer brake controller from MOPAR is something you can order from the Dealer or you can install your yourself. If your vehicle has the tow package, the wiring is already run for you and the wiring harness (Plug for the brake controller) is under the dash right above the brake pedal. Just dangling there ready to be part of the truck. Almost a plug and play. Just have to move the 12 volt outlet or cigarette lighter on the dash. I have put a 3 1/2 inch Clayton lift kit, with tereflex shocks and and added Air bags. tows better than my 3/4 ton ford Diesel except for the mirrors. The mirrors need to be larger and fold in with a switch. Replacing them may be difficult with all the electronics that flow to this mirror. There are programmers out there already pushing the engine to 350 HP and 510 ft. lb. of torque.

[@OutMotorsports]

Awesome to hear a real-world review and a 25' toy-hauler is a big trailer for that truck! Glad it works for you, especially lifted. And good to hear you can get the brake controller now, it was surprising that ours didn't have it. Interesting point on the aftermarket grills but makes sense... shame to lose the iconic "seven slot" look but if it's a functional improvement then it can be worth doing.

[@smarterthanyou2674]

There are also mirror adapters from Rampage that give you wider mirrors. My diesel pulls 6500lbs without effort but I did swap in rubicon axles I found cheap and on 40s it’s no problemo

[@OutMotorsports]

@@smarterthanyou2674 We figured there would be aftermarket mirrors! Good to know, thank you for confirming.

[@notserp78]

Makes me feel better about selling my 7.3 power stroke to hunt a gladiator.

[@rickm2511]

Good insight, thanks. What kind of aftermarket grill did you end up with? And how do you tell the operating temp of the engine? Thanks in advance.

[@alexanderdeburdegala4609]

Nice to hear it can do this. Fun fact the reason tow ratings are higher in Europe is their max towing speed limit is 55. Which honestly it good to stick to, trailer behave so much better at that speed

[@OutMotorsports]

Yep - Europe has specific speed limits if you are towing! And they don't allow as much tongue weight, for better or worse. It can be tough to tow with some Euro SUVs because they are rated for a lot of weight, but only 6% or so of that on the tongue.

[@northernbushcraft1081]

I got one of these with the deasil and I tow more than the max tow gas version no problem

[@tims1415]

You are spot on when you said the weight distribution was off on the camper for the Motor Trend article. Take a look at where the axles o that camper are. There is not enough weight on the hitch for the load.

[@smarterthanyou2674]

The only gladiator that only tows 4000 is the manual. My diesel is rated for 6500 and it does it easily. On 40s

[@tree356]

May I ask what kind of fuel mileage you get with 40’s? Thanks for your time.✌🏼

[@smarterthanyou2674]

@@tree356 on the freeway 22 combined about 19.5

[@DeathGEAR00103]

Why didn't jeep do a top mount intercooler with hood scoop? That way they could have got away with the heat problem. Maybe use the Mojave style hood, but with a real hood scoop. Look Subaru did it with the STI, so why not on a truck Jeep. This way you can keep your seven slot grill and have max towing with the Ecodiesel.

[@greggb681]

Dude, I've watched a few of your videos and have to say your reviews are really good! Can't wait to see this channel grow!

[@OutMotorsports]

Thanks! Tell your friends ;-)

[@craigdwyer399]

I tow my 16' enclosed trailer regularly with my 21 Gladiator with the gas engine. I bought mine 2 weeks before they announced the eco diesel. I wish I would have waited but the 3.6 does fine. No it's not a full size truck but for what it is I am happy. I will see how it tows my 22' Formula boat soon.

[@ryansessions6278]

you're absolutely wrong on the $4,000 price difference for the eco-diesel....it IS actually $6,000 because it doesn't just require the "automatic transmission" it requires a specific automatic transmission that's different than the stock automatic transmission that comes on the 3.6L Gas engine......so, it's $4,000 for Diesel Engine and $2,000 for Diesel-Specific Auto Transmission

[@Chris_L034]

i couldnt even think of pulling that trailer with anything less than a 3/4 ton.

[@OutMotorsports]

With a proper setup it's safe to pull with smaller trucks. My personal tow vehicle for this trailer is a 2013 Cayenne Diesel. Does great and is plenty stable even passing semi-trucks.

[@VeryImportantGeeks]

This is the dream.

[@TaylorGoesFast]

Filming those rollers was a lot of fun!

[@tylerholt602]

I really wish we had a chase-car-in-car camera.

[@ALMX5DP]

Great review! Glad to see another that seems to contrast the MT article. It’s not a full-size by any means but still looks like it can handle a decent trailer as long as it’s set up right.

[@everetthuxley8605]

a trick: you can watch movies on Kaldrostream. Been using them for watching a lot of movies these days.

[@raphaeledison9236]

@Everett Huxley definitely, been using KaldroStream for since december myself :)

[@brycecampbell4845]

I love the idea of the diesel in the Gladiator. They ALMOST hit a Homerun. ALMOST. Big problem though. It can't tow enough, because it overheats. Get it fixed Dodge!

[@jhcrowleyii]

Great video, very informative. I have a few questions. How much does the trailer weigh, how much weight does the car add? I have an 06 Ram Quad Cab 4x4 with the 4.7l. I want an EcoDiesel Gladiator so badly I can taste it, but I'm not certain how it would do towing my bass boat (2100 lbs) here in South Carolina. I was looking the EcoDiesel Ram, but my heart wants a Gladiator if it will handle the job.

[@OutMotorsports]

The car and trailer combined are around 6,800 pounds. Empty trailer is quoted by the manufacturer at 2,560 but I have spare parts and tools and things in there too. This test was done with the BMW inside. Gladiator would easily tow 2,100 pounds of boat plus trailer weight.

[@jeremyspecce]

You will do much better with a boat like that than an enclosed trailer or camper. Even if your trailer is 2000 pounds (which i'm guessing it's really more like 1,000) you're only at 4000 pounds, and you don't have the wind resistance of a big box, so you will do very well with that kind of setup.

[@rambokd]

Too bad they didn’t just add the mirror flip option like on the ram 2500. Barely any larger just taller until swung down then wider…it would totally solve the mirror issue. You have a few options missing on that but maybe aux switches and trail came aren’t available on the OL?

[@leonelceballos3709]

My JL rubicon eco diesel gets pretty hot going up hill on temperatures around 113 degrees, this is running 37” tires with 3.73 gears

[@calsportsclub]

gearing issue dude - no shit

[@rickharrell4123]

What was the mpg towing?

[@brycecampbell4845]

If they could set it up to accept better air intake, chip it, and exaust, AND METHANOL INJECTION THAT WOULD HELP KEEP ENGINE COOL AND GIVE A LOT MORE POWER. But someone told me you can't inject methanol into this engine not sure if true or not

[@kevinmorgenstern8015]

Great video, thank you!

[@orrinbelcher6593]

Very nice video fun and informative

[@UltimatePowa]

You have to do modifications to the springs and gear ratio (4.10-4.88) to get the most of your Gladiator's towing ability. Also wider tires will help. Make sure to read the manual too, as you're supposed to shift from automatic to manual and shift down when going up hills. When towing above half of the tow capacity you also shouldnt go above semi truck speed limits. The regular tow package also gives you cooling and the alternator, it just doesnt give you the wider axles which is what really helps. You'll probably be able to get the diesel up to a 1200-1500 payload capacity if modified correctly.

[@brycecampbell4845]

It is $6,000 upgrade. The only way you would assume it's only $4k is if you were buying towing was primary option. But if that was the case you would buy the gasoline one because it tows 7,650 lbs vs. the diesel downgrade to Only 6,000 lbs which is an outrage and travesty because the primary reason someone buys a diesel MOST of the times in a truck is for better towing. From what I understand, the Diesel can't tow more not because it cannot handle it. It can handle much more. But Jeep (Dodge) can't keep it cooled down. They better work on that problem and get it fixed before I buy one. Ridiculous to buy a diesel that can't pull. The reason it overheats is because it's in a much smaller compartment in the gladiator than a full size truck. But don't tell me Jeep can't fix this. Come on engineers figure it out

[@jeremyspecce]

This was a similar issue when they came out with the diesel F-150, they gave you this torquey motor but then you could ONLY get it with a lariat or platinum, and therefor it had a very low payload, so you'd be over your payload limit far before you ran out of power. That being said, the 3.5 ecoboost with the 10 speed is a superb towing engine and tranny combo. It handles the weight of our travel trailer WAY better the 6.0 V8 in my Silverado 2500 with 6 speed did, that thing was always screaming up hills, while the ecoboost is very calm and collected.

[@antoniowhite3444]

So i have the 8 Speed Automatic 2021 Texas Trail Gladiator and from what I gather I can Tow up to 4,500 lbs. We are planing a road trip hauling a small camper that weights up to 4,200-4,400 lbs. Do you see any issues with this and would I need to get different tires then the stock 33's. Thanks

[@OutMotorsports]

Should be okay with what you want to do - be sure your hitch is set right and you have the appropriate amount of tongue weight on the hitch. Campers are tricky as tongue weight can change dramatically based on where the water tanks are located and how full they are. Tire wise, make sure everything is inflated to recommended specs.

[@Retadin]

The fact that Motor Trend didn't use a weight distribution hitch, is just sad. I expected more from them.

[@jeremyspecce]

Absolutely insane that they would do that.

[@DefinitelyNotYouThankGod]

MO-HA-VEE!!!! We don’t live in Mexico, dude.. it’s named after the Mojave desert MO-HA-VEE

[@Garagegraderacecar]

what rating were the tires on it? i doubt it was E rated.

[@OutMotorsports]

They were Bridgestone Dueler H/T, a pretty typical highway tire and definitely not E-rated.

[@Bypassingnormal]

I didn’t even know this was a gay car review KZbin channel until the very end. I enjoy the way you do it very tasteful and appreciated, stay you my friend 🤙🏾

[@OutMotorsports]

Thanks, Henry! We're here for everyone, but also dedicated to providing a space for and representation of LGBTQ car enthusiasts at the same time. Glad you enjoyed!

[@brycecampbell4845]

They say the "v-nose" on the trailer does Not help with aerodynamics like you would think...

[@OutMotorsports]

Yeah - it's hard to get a consistent answer on how much help it provides (if any).

[@jeremyspecce]

that's very surprising, if it's true. Very counterintuitive.

[@fiftyshadesofurban]

15:01 The thing with Motortrend was that the Mojave is a gas Jeep.. There is no diesel Mojave.. and you're driving a Diesel....

[@OutMotorsports]

Engine choice aside, the Gladiator can be equipped so wildly differently based on trim level that it will ride and handle differently and handle a trailer differently. Choosing the right options goes a long way and we'd feel comfortable pulling this same trailer with a Pentastar V6 - if the truck was a more street-oriented trim like this one was.

[@Hatleyrocket]

Bro, get rid of that cheap Curt WD hitch and get yourself an Equalizer. They are no BS. They are the real deal you will never look back.

[@OutMotorsports]

Oh it's been gone for a while now. Currently using a BlueOx Track Pro that works *very* well for both WD and sway control.

[@stacysid2]

are we supposed to guess how much that trailer/car combo weigh's?, do you even know? I just purchased a 21 JTRD this review is useless to me!

[@OutMotorsports]

Thought we mentioned it but apologies if not! The trailer is about 3k and the car inside (a 1983 BMW 320i) is roughly 2,505 lbs. So, 5,505 lbs-ish. Biggest concern here with the enclosed was how the Gladiator would handle the aerodynamics of it. Pulling an open trailer is far less stressful on a tow vehicle. Hope this helps and thanks for watching - enjoy your new truck!

[@stacysid2]

@@OutMotorsports thank you for the reply and sorry about my overreaction

[@ati573]

I love mine.

[@OutMotorsports]

They are charming AF!

[@jloren314]

I tried to tow a popup camper with a JL wrangler and it was terrifying. Do not recommend

[@OutMotorsports]

Yes, the Wranglers have a much shorter wheelbase and completely different rear suspension design vs the Gladiator, and a lower towing limit as a result. Gladiator's rear suspension is pulled from the Ram 1500 (basically) and towing this trailer was pretty solid. But correct - towing with a Wrangler is not going to be the most fun of times.

[@calsportsclub]

LGBTQE community site. I'm confused. I thought it was a motorsport review site

[@OutMotorsports]

We connect LGBT automotive enthusiasts and motorsports competitors, encourage everyone to show up at events as their authentic selves, and review new cars as well.

[@brearlymason4903]

Holy cow this guy never shuts up never.

[@OutMotorsports]

What would you prefer we do during a review other than discuss the vehicle we’re driving?

[@brearlymason4903]

@@OutMotorsports breathe

[@OutMotorsports]

The Gladiator was just so dang exciting

[@vincent08vac]

Had to dislike, discrimination is wrong

[@OutMotorsports]

Hi, what examples of discrimination are you seeing in this video or from this channel?

[@jeremyspecce]

sounds like you had to discriminate.