Jeep Gladiators Selling Poorly - Now with Big Dealer Incentives

[RevolverRob]

Fords with the 6.0 diesel (yeah, but they can be fixed) came with a 6MT including a crawler low. Some had manual transfer cases and hubs, too. A non-rusty one will bring some bucks, but might be worth it. I keep jonesing for one with standard cab, long bed as a personal vehicle. Like in the old days, before pickups became station wagons without weather protection for the luggage.

ETA: The 6MT apparently survived the generation changeover in 2008 and the advent of the 6.4L. I should look into how long it remained available. I bet one of those would cost less than the $40k not-Rubicon Gladiator I posted about earlier. (Although I read for about two minutes, and it's conceivable the 6.4L's problems are essentially unfixable, and therefore worse than the 6.0L's problems.)

This is almost certainly a FoMoCo photo. Using for discussion and to show how awesome it is.

Attachment 48826

My dad had a 6.4 F250.

Avoid those pieces of shit like you would a two dollar hooker originating from the Ebola and AIDs ridden region of Wuhan Province.

There is a reason that today 7.3 trucks are highly sought after. Because it’s the last diesel Ford built that didn’t suck.

ETA: In fact, I’d rather take my chances with the hooker than the truck.

I’d rather have explosive diarrhea on a date with twin super models than own a 6.4 diesel Ford.

I’d walk across broken glass, barefoot, to drive a Peugeot, before I owned a 6.4 Ford.

I’d rather fly in a helicopter in bad weather with Kobe Bryant, than own a 6.4 Ford...

[OlongJohnson]

A guy I work with had a 6.0L that he'd done all the reliability mods to. It was solid. His wife just got ready for something newer after a decade or so.

Another guy I work with still rocks the 7.3, but it always smells like diesel downwind of it. He might just be lazy about replacing some seals or something.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I had a work truck with the 7.3 diesel and it was unkillable. But it stank and a friend of mine who did truck repair for the city and worked on them often said it was a very tough motor, but nasty, leaky and filthy whenever one came in.

Sure had some jam, though, despite not being very stressed.

[Bigghoss]

Aren't the Tacoma's available in 4x4 with manual transfer case?

I don't know. The last Chevy in our fleet at work has a manual transfer case, I think it's a 2016, maybe older. The damn traction control on that thing tried to get me stuck once but I would still consider getting one.

[Joe in PNG]

In PNG, I've seen some interesting things regarding bad roads, offroading, and sundry.
Heck, our main highways alone would have the average American 4wd owner whimpering (the pavement just makes the impacts from hitting the big enough to swim in potholes more damaging).

But, some general observations:

-One of the surprisingly best off road vehicles is the 2wd Toyota Hiace van. I don't know how they do it, but you seen them in places you'd never expect. Ever. Filled up with double the number of approved passengers, their cargo, and a half ton of betel nuts.

-The reputation of the old 2.4l diesel Hilux is not an exaggeration

-Series 70 Landcruisers.. they look so cool, but are so uncomfortable. No armrest, a seriously undersized AC unit, pretty much no turning radius, ox cart suspension, and that rear compartment pretty much guarantees carsickness on long trips.

-The old 40 Series, on the other hand... those things are awesome. Especially where the road is more of a suggestion.

I'll be honest- I've become a big fan of smooth paved roads, automatic transmissions, and all the amenities & comforts available in my motor transport these many years.

[Farswot]

Can't grok the real Dodge.

Short. Stout. Simple.

The kids dig it, and know how to drive it.

Farswot

[JRB]

Our final and most faithful race car tow rig was a bulletproofed 6.0L Ford Powerstroke dually 2wd with the 6MT. The bulletproofing with the surprisingly expensive ARP headstud kit and all the associated parts is a cab-off proposition, but once done correctly it's a damn solid option.

It replaced the 'Goldilocks' 5.9L Cummins 2wd dually mega cab we had, which rode like a HMMWV and couldn't quit shitting CD48RE auto transmissions no matter how we built it, cooled it, or babied it for trans temps.

Can't grok the real Dodge.

Short. Stout. Simple.

The kids dig it, and know how to drive it.

Farswot

Nice M37!

Back at the shop, one of our owners was into military vehicles so he had a few M37's. He ended up selling one to a customer and we stuffed an LS3 and 4L80 into it. The offset powertrain mounting and divorced transfer case in those things made that swap a real pain in the ass. It was kind of cool when it was done, but the lack of steering feel and zero return-to-center along with the factory drum brakes made it terrifying to drive and largely useless for anything but cool kid points at car shows.

On the original-spec ones, it was a never ending clusterfuck keeping them running. Parts for those carbs was a pain, keeping them from leaking was a pain, pretty much everything about that truck was 3x harder than it needed to be and the results were underwhelming at best.
But it would run poorly and leaking as long as it had fuel in the tank and oil in the engine, and with that super granny low gear it'd climb like a billy goat especially for it's size. I couldn't help but grudgingly respect their abilities, as much as I hated keeping them running.
But their penchant for leaking everything everywhere made a lot of our current military PMCS procedures seem a lot more sensible.

M880's and CUCV's though, he had a few of those too and while they got absolutely abysmal mileage you couldn't kill them, they were much easier to drive in traffic, and parts were much easier to source. Only real trouble with them was installing power steering in the M880's.

An M1009 CUCV Blazer with A/C, a bona fide overdrive trans, and a Banks turbo setup on that 6.2L is something I could definitely see myself driving.

[HeavyDuty]

Can't grok the real Dodge.

Short. Stout. Simple.

The kids dig it, and know how to drive it.

Farswot

Damn - I’ve always wanted a M-37 for a project vehicle. But, like JRB says they have a rep for being totally uncivilized.

[Farswot]

That is the attraction. I put 250K on that truck over 30 years.

That and a 3-53N Detroit, 5-sp OD, and 11:00-18's.

Newer sealing items done properly made leaks a no biggie.

Farswot

[RevolverRob]

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a company in Arizona that specializes in barn-find-esque Power Wagons. I spent at least two hours carefully combing through their online inventory. I would own an original Power Wagon - and I would drive that uncivilized bitch everywhere I could. Sprung like a buckboard wagon, but capable of driving virtually anywhere there are roads and most places where there aren't.

Like a dumbass, I forgot to bookmark the company and can't seem to find it now.

That said, I'm on the look out for a rust-free Series Land Rover. One of those with the 2.4 Hilux Diesel that @Joe in PNG mentioned would be the heat. I could use it to tow the Sunbeam anywhere. Hmm...support truck for the Sunbeam at Rally Newfoundland anyone?

Who wants to co-drive and who wants to drive the support truck?