Needless to say, the most interesting aspect of the Gladiator is the truck bed, and there’s a lot to see. All Gladiators will be crew cabs, that is to say four-door cabs with a truck bed. Both the bed and the main body are steel whereas the hood, fenders, doors, windshield frame, and tailgate are aluminum. Certain submodels have an external, 115-volt outlet in the bed, perfect for camping gear, power tools, air compressors, and whatever else you can think of. The outside rim of the bed features tie down rails. The tie down anchors themselves slide within the rails for versatility in securing your cargo. You may also notice the bed liner that’s against the cabin holds an easter egg. Albeit a five-bar rather than a seven-bar grille silhouette.
Underneath the back of the body are metal bars to protect the bumpers in the case of a steep departure of an obstacle. If you thought the Gladiator was simply the rugged hauling cousin of the Wrangler, think again. FCA integrated a number of features to make their best in class towing truck just as capable off-road. The Gladiator has one forward facing and one rear facing camera (mostly for the safety features such as emergency braking, and parking assist), and the Rubicon has a dedicated front facing trail camera, angled to view obstacles two feet or closer to your bumper.
We’ve mentioned the folding windshield, but the aluminum doors are also removable for an open-air feel. Hardtop Gladiators are 3-piece hardtops, appropriately named the Freedom top, and you can remove each panel as if you had stripped your Wrangler. On the back end, the third brake light is part of the tailgate handle for maximum visibility and the tailgate has a half-open position by tucking the cable under the designated hook.