Gladiators, Ready

Details Drop On Jeep's Wranglerbased Pick-up, But Whether It Comes Here Remains To Be Seen.

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ONLY days after the crew at the www.jeepgladiatorforum.com leaked information that Jeep’s new Wrangler-based pick-up would be called Gladiator, official images and details on the truck, which will be designated JT, surfaced.

The images distinctly show the long wheelbase, full-size bed, four-door truck, which falls into the mid-size category alongside one-tonne utes such as Ranger and Colorado. What those popular utes don’t have, though, is the Jeep’s peerless off-road ability afforded by live axles front and rear with locking differentials, available on the Rubicon models. Add in the host of other off-road tricks that are available on the Wrangler and the JT should be the best ute in its class when you get off the pavement. Water fording depth is quoted as 760mm.

The documents also claim ‘classleading’ payload and towing capacities which, at 725.7kg and 3469kg respectively, are down on payload, but up there with the popular one tonne 4x4 offerings here in Australia.

You can’t help but compare the styling of the JT Gladiator to that of the AEV Brute which was built on the JK Wrangler platform for more than a decade by American Expedition Vehicles, and those close to the project have said that it is almost the same in dimension to the millimetre. The now discontinued US$100,000 Brute was a touch less than 5.5 metres in length riding on a 3530mm wheelbase. Also of note is that the JT still has the removable roof panels of the JL, which are just one of the multiple soft- and hard-top options available on the Wrangler. No other ute offers this open-air motoring, which would be great when off-road.