2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave First Drive | Four Wheeler
Published 4/22/2020 on Four Wheeler Network by Sean Holman and Jason Gonderman
Going fast in a Jeep never felt so good. When Jeep launched the Gladiator for 2020, it hit the market with all standard Jeep offerings: Sport, Overland (analogous to Sahara on Wrangler), and the Rubicon. However, there was a hole in the lineup, and we knew it wouldn’t be long before Jeep jumped into the field of performance midsize pickup with a variant aimed to run tire to tire with the likes of the Chevy Colorado ZR2 and Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro.
Enter Mojave. A go-fast version of the Gladiator made for mobbing down desert washes and whooped-out two tracks common to the desert landscape. Although the Rubicon is geared more toward the crawling crowd, the Mojave enjoys a list of upgrades to make it withstand running high speeds in the harsh and abusive terrain of the desert. For example, the Mojave package adds reinforcements to the frame, huge 2.5-inch Fox internal bypass shocks, front Fox hydraulic jounce bumpers, and upgraded axles with cast iron knuckles (replacing the aluminum knuckles on the Wrangler and Gladiator Rubicons). The front suspension, like the rear, uses links and coils (progressive in the rear) and is lifted one inch to provide additional jounce travel. Front shock reservoirs are mounted remotely under the front bumper and are protected by an aluminum skid plate. A half-inch wider track, provided through wheel offset, works with the 33-inch Falken Wildpeak A/T tires to increase chassis stability. Falken Wildpeak M/Ts are an option for those looking for a more aggressive tread out of the box.
