The Jeep Gladiator has already made massive inroads into the compact/mid-size pickup sphere. By adopting many bits of a Ram 1500’s rear end and mating all that with the unmistakable front end, big fenders and sticky-outy styling of a Jeep Wrangler, they’ve managed to create a hit that looks the part but is capable, too, scoring highly in all the departments – payload, towing – that pickups need to.
The thing about Jeep, though…actually, its two things: one, they never rest on their laurels and aren’t scared to push the limit with their models and two, the Wrangler with which the Gladiator shares so much of its DNA is such a modular design that there have been all sorts of variants through the years.
So what do you do, then, if you’re Jeep with this popular half-Ram, half-Wrangler (one, I’m told, that tends to sell well above retail) and want to capitalize on its popularity as much as possible? Well, you make an even more special one, of course!
The Gladiator already has a “hardcore” model with the Dana-axled, low-range ratioed Rubicon and that’s really how this Mojave (I guess they couldn’t get the rights to use the correct spelling of the Mohave Desert) starts life. Thing is, while the Gladiator Rubicon – like all Wranglers and Gladiators – is “Trail Rated”, the Mojave sees the first time we’ve seen a “Desert Rated” Jeep of any kind.
So what does that mean, to be “Desert Rated”? Well, for starters, it gets tested in some of the harshest desert climes Jeep could throw at it and has come out the other side with specially-tuned Fox 64 mm internal bypass shocks with external reservoirs, special front hydraulic jounce bumpers and reinforced frame. There is also added ride height but it’s not as much as you might think, totalling a mere 25 mm, and that’s only up front.
Sure, there are some fancy graphics and paint (I am a big fan of the Billet Silver Metallic shade on my tester, as well as the orange highlights around the hood lettering and various badges), stronger axles, special “performance” seats and off-road tires, but if you’re getting a Mojave because you want to get better at vehicular bouldering, well, you’ve come to the wrong party, I’m afraid.
The Mojave, you see, is more about rapid progress over sand dunes and loose gravel paths, as opposed to winch-recommended off-road trails. That’s why there isn’t all that much more lift, the 20.9-degree breakover angle is hardly different than that of a Rubicon and the same goes for the departure and approach angles. This, then, is the “sporty” version of the Gladiator. Which, as you’ll find out as soon as you set off, actually pays dividends on the polar opposite of the surfaces we’ve been talking about – smooth concrete.
You see, if you’re blasting through sand dunes, you’re not going to want the kind of heavy-axle, massive wheel articulation tendencies required for technical off-roading. Indeed, you want a chassis that works fast over smooth terrain and that actually translates, to my surprise, to the Mojave offering a better ride on the highway than does the Rubicon. That’s a pretty big deal, considering “ride quality” has never been one of the Wrangler’s or Gladiator’s strong suits. After all, that just wouldn’t be “it’s a Jeep thing” enough, now would it? As a result, the Mojave is much more Ford F-150 Raptor in terms of ride.
Which, for me, is a good thing because I would never consider myself a card-carrying member of the “cult of Jeep.” I know people like this – people that aren’t truly happy unless they emerge from any given drive half caked in mud and with their teeth still rattling – and if I were to try and hang with them, I’d be laughed off the trail faster than you can say Desert Rated.
It’s also worth noting, at this juncture, that the Mojave starts at the exact same MSRP — $52,383 – as does the Rubicon. So what we really have here, are two variations on a theme and that’s surprise number two – or something – for me when it comes to the Mojave. I thought for sure it would cost more and act as a halo model but that’s just not really true.
At any rate – because this was an off-road specific vehicle no matter how you slice it, I was sure to tackle a few logging and forestry roads in order to see what this beast was really about. While we’d lost our chance to actually run one of these through the desert due to travel restrictions, the roads I had in mind filled in nicely – a little wet, soggy and mountainous to be sure but they are gravelly and fast and so the Mojave could stretch its legs. Power, as it happens, comes courtesy of a Pentastar V6 and is exactly the same as every other non-diesel Gladiator: 285 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft.
And stretch it did, positively chewing up and spitting out everything I threw at it, from loose gravel, to puddles deep enough to send a tidal wave of muddy water careening over those big fenders and boxy hood. It was slippery, wet, and loose-surfaced but it didn’t matter; this was tiddlywinks for this truck and one whole heck of a lot of fun.
So much so, in fact, that the only way I could see myself having more fun in these conditions would be if I’d had a manual transmission, which is what you get as standard in the Mojave. You may think that a strange allowance, but if you go by what Toyota says about their Tacoma – and one of the Mojave’s biggest rivals, especially in TRD Pro form – people like manual small pickups. So that option is kept around.
Other than that, it’s all Gladiator – full-locking differential, ultra-vertical dash with window controls mounted thereon, removable doors, roof and even windshield (not sure how that would work for a day of steady dune bashing, though), Uconnect infotainment (with special off-road info) and even a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. The bed, meanwhile, is short at just five feet but can be extended, to a degree, by locking the tailgate in a half-open position. In the Mojave, though, I don’t imagine that really being a bother; as long as it can fit some extra rubber, you’re all good. Although they have stamped some “motorcycle treads” at the front of the bed, ostensibly because if you line your bike up juuust right, you can fit it in there.
In all seriousness, that could matter because this Mojave is actually a very good all-‘round truck. You get the better performance on the highway and in town, you get those cool looks (that, for some reason, have the Mojave looking slightly less awkward than other Gladiators, which appear overlong), all the fast off-road goodies and a bit of a pioneer in that it’s the first-ever “Desert Rated” Jeep.
Would a broader engine choice be nice? The option to choose the turbo 2.0-litre four the Wrangler gets? Perhaps. How about a shorter cab, and longer bed? Maybe, but that’s a bigger deal for other Gladiators, methinks.
Indeed, considering the price, the goodies and yes, the cachet, the Mojave is actually a really intriguing option. Much more so than I thought it would be, and the remarkable thing is that it’s attractive not because it’s the most hardcore of Gladiators, as I originally thought, but because it actually turned out to be the most well-rounded. It’s the one I’d have.
