Gladiator Mojave vs. Rubicon: Which One Is the Master Off-roader?
Both trims of the Jeep Gladiator are different machines cut from the same cloth, but only one takes the gold for pummeling dirt.
With its fancy off-road settings, features, and expectations, we all knew that the Gladiator was going to be a truck that lead by example. After all, it’s a truck that came before the off-road ready truck segment exploded for the American market. Back in the 80’s we had the great fortune of meeting the CJ-8 Scrambler, though it wasn’t very well received. However, FCA brought back the Wrangler-based truck at the perfect time. It wouldn’t win Best Truck of 2020 if it was sub par. Keeping true to Jeep tradition, though, there are about one hundred different trim levels of the Gladiator, all designed for different off-road scenarios.
For The Fast Lane Truck, Roman Mica, his son Tommy, and Andre Smirnov thought it best to test one of Jeep’s most revered trim level, the Rubicon, against their newest concept: the Mojave edition. While they’re both Jeep Gladiators, they’re two very different machines cut from the same cloth. For instance, the Rubicon was designed with rock crawling in mind. From the factory the Rubicon comes with solid axles in the front and rear, and both lock electronically. Additionally, if the driver wishes, they can quickly disconnect the sway bars to better increase the truck’s articulation.
One of these Gladiators isn’t like the other
Interestingly, this is where the Mojave differs the most. While it too has a solid axle in the front and rear, only the rear can lock. The Mojave also lacks the ability to quickly disconnect the sway bars. Andre was quick to point out that the gear ratios in the axles and the transmission were the same, it was the low range gear ratios that were different. The Rubicon’s ratio is a crawler-friendly 4:1, while the Mojave’s ratio of 2.7:1 suggests it was meant for, well, “running” deserts at higher speeds.
The differences don’t end there, though. The Rubicon, careful to uphold its beefy reputation, also comes with skid plates all around. Its bright orange cousin lacks that very important aspect as an off-roader. While it’s still very possible (and encouraged) to add skid plates to the list of aftermarket modifications, it’s something Mica and Smirnov both thought was an interesting choice for FCA. Maybe because it was meant for the desert and not rock crawling, FCA figured sand wouldn’t do much damage to the undercarriage.
Furthermore, the Mojave comes with an industry first FOX front hydraulic jounce bumper. On the Mojave’s home page, FCA claims the bumper is designed to act as a secondary pair of shock absorbers to provide additional damping force as the Gladiator’s suspension reaches peak compression. With this new design, the bumper is supposed to further prevent bottoming out while desert running at higher speeds. To boot, the Mojave comes straight from the factory an inch taller than the baseline Gladiator, making it better suited for life on the dunes.
Test 1: Rock Crawling
Since Colorado doesn’t have a desert to test the Mojave’s specialization, Smirnov and Mica decided instead to take the two Gladiators into the Rockies to pit them against one another. Mica, driving the Rubicon, drove up to the first of their three tests: crawling over the infamous oil pan eating razor rocks to test the Gladiators’ approach angle, break over angle, and articulation.
“Because I’ve got skid plates all around that the Mojave just doesn’t have, I feel confident taking the most difficult line over these rocks,” chimes Mica. “Which is just up and over. And if I scrape, it’s no biggie, because I’ve got all kinds of under body protection.”
The under body protection ended up coming in handy, as shortly after Mica began to climb over the rocks, the Rubicon got caught up on one of the several skid plates. As Tommy and Smirnov cringed at the sound of metal on rock, they instructed him to back up a smidge and take the line once more.
“The breakover angle is a small issue.” Says Andre, in reference to the truck’s incredibly long wheel base. Despite this, the ability to lock both differentials made the difference for Mica, as he eventually made it over the razor rocks. Thanks to his skid plates, the Rubicon remained unharmed.
After Mica’s successful run, it was Smirnov’s turn in the Mojave.
“This isn’t the Mojave, these are the Colorado Rockies,” says Smirnov. “Nonetheless, I’m ready to tackle the first test: rock crawling. Which, sadly, is not the strong suit of this truck.”
To reiterate, the Mojave lacks the ability to lock both differentials, and the sway bars cannot be disconnected. To make matters more intimidating, his truck was also missing the skid plates that saved the underbelly of Mica’s Rubicon. Leaving that behind him, Smirnov took Mica’s line and hoped for the best.
Like Mica, there was a lot of rock on metal conflict. What made Smirnov’s predicament scarier was the fact that instead of the skid plate taking the damage, it was the rear differential that was scraping. After taking the advice of the Mica’s, Sminov made it over the rocks. Only after dealing with wheel spin in the front.
Test 2: Mountain Running
Acknowledging the fact that the Mojave was out of its element doing the rock crawl test, Mica and Smirnov decided to test the Mojave’s ability to off-road at higher speeds. Something the Rubicon isn’t designed to do. The test involved both trucks taking turns traversing along a quarter mile long section of trail that had tight turns, dips, and water crossings. Mica’s Rubicon went first.
With a run of 18 seconds long, it wasn’t at all bad, considering this Gladiator edition wasn’t made for such a scenario. Though, once Smirnov’s Mojave lined up and ran the section, it finished a whole four seconds faster. The two weren’t surprised at all by this, but Smirnov was smitten with how comfortable he was going as quickly as he did. Apparently the jounce bumper did its job perfectly.
Though, Mica made an important point about the Mojave being a desert runner. Since the Mojave was built to take on the mighty Ford F-150 Raptor, the Gladiator was missing a crucial element: a more powerful engine. Instead of using one of several powerful engines FCA could have put in the Mojave, it had the same engine the Rubicon did: the 3.6 liter Pentastar V6. Which is a great all-around engine for mileage and off-road performance, but not quite for desert running. As Mica pointed out, it isn’t really a runner without the extra power.
Test 3: The Tortoise and the Hare – Gladiator style
Keeping to TFL tradition, of the most telling tests of an off-roader is a crawling test. This is achieved by all trucks being put into low range, and literally crawling to the finish line. The last one to the finish line wins. This may seem odd, but the slower an off-roader is as it crawls, the more effective it is.
So, with the Mojave and the Rubicon both in low range and first gear, they began the race. Smirnov, nervous about the Mojave’s difference in low range gearing, felt confident that he was not set up to win the race. And he was right – Mica was behind the Mojave by well over a truck length.
That aside, Smirnov still would rather have the Mojave. He loved the truck’s ability to handle the rough terrain at higher speeds, and felt like the truck had a lot more in it than these tests could prove. Mica on the other hand, still prefers the Rubicon. Though, he did say that if FCA ever decided to put a more powerful engine under the hood, he would absolutely reconsider. Both Smirnov and Mica said that regardless of the trim package, the Gladiator is good at what it was designed to do: put a smile on your face.
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