Americans love trucks, and driving a Jeep Wrangler with the top and doors off is a thrilling, liberating, and rewarding experience. Put them together, and the 2024 Jeep Gladiator is the automotive equivalent of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, marrying the utility of a midsize crew-cab pickup with the immersive open-air adventure of a Wrangler to create a one-of-a-kind vehicle.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
This year, the 2024 Gladiator gets a comprehensive refresh. Here are the highlights:
The core 2024 Jeep Gladiator lineup includes Sport, Sport S, Willys, Mojave, Rubicon, Mojave X, and Rubicon X trim levels. Jeep also offers a Texas Trail edition in Texas and has announced Beach and Mopar ’24 versions of the truck. A Black Nighthawk Package is also new for 2024 and is an exceptional value at $44,985. Prices range from $39,790 for the Sport to $72,190 for the Mopar ’24 special edition. All prices include the $1,895 destination charge.
JD Power previously published reviews of the 2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave and 2021 Jeep Gladiator Overland. This review focuses on the Gladiator’s updates for 2024 and how they potentially impact its overall consumer appeal.
For this 2024 Gladiator review, Jeep provided a test vehicle equipped with Mojave X trim and the following options:
The test vehicle’s price was $70,750, including the destination charge to ship the truck from the Toledo, Ohio, assembly plant to your local dealership.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
You must examine the Gladiator closely to spot the exterior styling changes. The grille and wheels are the tell-tales, but even people familiar with this truck might have trouble telling the difference. That is unless the Gladiator is wearing its new Tuscadero Pink paint color. That’s hard to miss.
The updates are more apparent inside, where dashboard revisions were necessary to accommodate the new 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system that is standard in all Gladiator models. The new Mojave X and Rubicon X feature 12-way power-adjustable front seats wrapped in premium Nappa leather, adding a hint of luxury to the otherwise utilitarian pickup truck.
Built in limited quantities, the Jeep Gladiator Black Nighthawk special edition is a real deal. Jeep bases it on the Sport trim and adds a custom look with 20-inch black wheels wrapped in all-terrain tires, a body-color hardtop, body-color fender flares, rock rails, black bumper trim, and dark tinted cab glass.
In addition, the Black Nighthawk has upgraded front and rear axles, an anti-spin rear differential, an automatic transmission, and a handful of convenience upgrades. It’s too bad that Jeep is only building 2,000 examples for the U.S. and Canadian markets. This version of the Gladiator should replace the Sport S trim.
Jeep is also offering three upfit packages for the 2024 Gladiator. Supplied and installed by American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), dealer-ordered upgrades include exclusive wheels, 35-inch or 37-inch all-terrain tires, a suspension lift, added off-roading equipment, and improved capability including up to three feet of water fording ability.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Located in the middle of the truck’s revised dashboard, a new 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system debuts in the 2024 Gladiator. It runs the latest Uconnect 5 software, and Jeep promises its full-array local dimming backlighting preserves screen visibility when driving with the top and doors off. That might be true, but unfortunately, the thin, delicate fonts can be hard to read at a glance, especially on the light gray topographical map background.
Bluetooth connectivity for two devices, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, USB-C charging ports, and Jeep Connect connected services are standard. The Gladiator also includes an Alexa Built-in digital voice assistant, which requires an active Wi-Fi hotspot subscription to work. Owners can customize the screen’s panels to personal preferences, including data related to the truck’s pitch, roll, and other off-road information.
My test truck had an upgraded version of Uconnect 5 with a navigation system and embedded Jeep Adventure Guides from Trails Offroad. You can navigate the 62 Jeep Badge of Honor trails around the country using the guides. Pay for a premium subscription, and more than 3,000 trails are available from the Uconnect 5 display. You’ll get an expert trail difficulty rating, a route description, and details regarding obstacles, waypoints, and points of interest.
The native voice recognition system responded quickly enough, but accuracy was hit-and-miss, and it still isn’t conversational. I much preferred to run Apple CarPlay and rely on Siri. The test truck’s Alpine sound system produced good sound.
The 2024 Gladiator also provides more standard safety features than before. All trim levels include new side-impact airbags that deploy from the interior’s roll bars. The truck adds standard forward-collision warning and adaptive cruise control, starting with Sport S trim. The Mojave X and Rubicon X get standard rear parking sensors, blind-spot warning, and rear cross-traffic warning.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
My test truck had the new Mojave X trim level, making it one of the most expensive Gladiators money can buy. Jeep bases the Mojave X on the Mojave, which you can quickly tell apart from other versions of the truck by its high-clearance front fender flares, performance hood with a scoop, and MOJAVE decal on the hood.
Engineered to tackle desert roads and trails at high speed, the Gladiator Mojave boasts numerous modifications, including:
To this, the Mojave X adds:
Jeep also offers the upscale X treatment on the Rubicon, adding similar features to that version of the Gladiator. The upgrades civilize the truck but aren’t cheap, pushing the sticker price into the mid-$60,000s before adding any options.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
I’ve driven several Gladiators in various environments, from traversing muddy and rock-strewn trails in the Sierra Nevada foothills to cruising the Pacific coast in open-air fashion. But I hadn’t taken one to the desert until I reviewed this Gladiator Mojave X.
People glorify and romanticize high-speed desert driving, but doing so is ill-advised unless you’re on a closed course that’s been pre-run in search of obstacles, washouts, discarded furniture and trash, and other trouble spots. So you’ll excuse me when I tell you that I only briefly saw 50 mph in the Mojave X, and only on a stretch where visibility was clear for at least half a mile.
Jeep’s Selec-Trac full-time four-wheel drive system is standard on the Mojave X. It is a two-speed transfer case with two-wheel drive, automatic 4-Hi, 4-Hi, Neutral, and 4-Lo settings, and in the desert, I ran the Gladiator in Auto 4-Hi. That enabled me to traverse some of the gnarlier washouts without shifting while automatically adding traction in the sandier sections.
As expected, the Gladiator Mojave excelled in the desert northwest of Los Angeles. I kept the truck buttoned up with the dual-zone climate system set to a comfortable temperature, limiting the amount of dust collecting in the cab. Had I removed the roof panels, opened the rear slider glass, and lowered the door windows, the test truck’s interior would have been quite a mess, as I had to stop fast in several areas where winter rain runoff had damaged the trail, the dust plume enveloping the Gladiator each time.
In my opinion, the benefit of the Mojave’s unique suspension tuning comes into play during everyday driving. It better absorbs the bumps and holes common to poorly-maintained pavement, smoothing the ride and settling the truck. In addition, the front suspension lift and 33-inch tires mean you never worry about curbing a wheel, crunching an air dam into a parking block, or hearing a scraping sound on drainage dips and driveway aprons.
My trip to the desert included plenty of highway driving. The Gladiator remains loud inside, especially on a windy day. The on-center steering feel is sketchy at best, which is really fun with stiff crosswinds. Also, the nearly vertical windshield collects a ton of bugs. However, you’re unlikely to get a speeding ticket in a Gladiator. It usually feels like you’re traveling faster than you are.
The new 12-way power-adjustable front seats improve long-distance comfort, and the leather is a nice addition to the top-trim trucks. Jeep has upgraded some of the interior materials too. However, it still has the drain plugs on the floor, so you can still hose it out when it gets messy. With Mojave X or Rubicon X, the Gladiator is more civilized but remains uncivilized.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
If it sounds like I dislike the Gladiator, that’s not true. I love this truck. However, I recognize it’s not the right midsize pickup for everyone. It is raw and unrefined, a lifestyle vehicle instead of a workhorse. Yes, in specific configurations, it can tow up to 7,700 pounds and haul up to 1,725 pounds of payload, so it can work when necessary. But mostly, the 2024 Jeep Gladiator is about having fun.
Jeep isn’t the only game in town though. Other truckmakers are fielding extreme off-roaders and desert-runners, so you might want to consider the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, Ford Ranger Raptor, GMC Canyon AT4X, and Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and Tacoma Trailhunter. However, those rivals cannot provide the open-air sense of freedom and oneness with nature that the Gladiator can.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with 30 years of experience in the field and has held automotive editorial leadership positions at Edmunds, JD Power, and The New York Daily News. Today, Chris owns a content agency called Speedy Daddy Media, and in addition to JDPower.com, his work appears on Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, and Edmunds.
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