The 2025 Jeep Gladiator competes in a midsized truck segment that is very competitive and it is among the leaders in the key measurable metrics. While the numbers for every truck vary by trim level, the Gladiator is at the top of the list for payload capacity (1,725lbs – 1st) and towing capacity (7,700lbs – 1st), but more importantly to many people, the entire Gladiator lineup is more off-road-capable than the competitors. When reviewing a vehicle, I can tow and haul things around the farm to test those working metrics and I can drive off-road to verify the Trail Rated nature of the Jeep pickup, but those aspects are hard to convey to the average driver.
The average midsized truck driver isn’t towing and hauling every day and while they might go off-roading, the odds are very good that they spend more time driving on paved roads than in the mud. However, any average driver can remove the doors and roof of the Jeep Gladiator and have a driving experience that is unrivaled in the segment. All of the midsized American pickups will tow over 7,000 pounds and haul over 1,500 pounds, and they all offer similar passenger and cargo space, but only the Gladiator delivers a truly unique, open-air driving experience while also being able to do plenty of work.
The Most Unique Driving Experience
When I first took delivery of my 2025 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X, a friend of mine on Facebook suggested that I take off the doors and top to get the full Jeep life experience, and I am glad that I took his advice. Over the years, I have had many Wranglers and Gladiators for testing and when weather has permitted, I have removed at least the front roof panel of all of them. However, I have never removed the doors and prior to having this Jeep for testing, I had never driven a vehicle that did not have doors. Once I looked up a video from Mopar, which shows how easy it is to remove the doors of the Gladiator, I just needed a nice day. Unfortunately, it rained hard every day that I had this Jeep, but there was one day where it was clear enough through the middle of the day for me to remove the front roof panels and the front doors.
The doors are all very easy to remove. The two hinges are each held together by a nut that it easily removed with a tool set that comes with the Jeep Gladiator. Once those nuts are removed, you unbolt the door strut in the door frame and you disconnect the harness for the power locks and windows. Then you just lift the doors off…that is the whole process.
Removing the front roof panels is even easier, as each of those panels is held on by four latches in the cabin. You spin three and unbuckle one and each panel lifts up and away. The rear hatch removes as one big piece and removing that piece requires help or a lifting rig, neither of which I had, so I didn’t remove the rear top. I also didn’t remove the rear doors because I had pick up some items that I couldn’t strap down and didn’t want to blow away.
If you have never driven a vehicle with no doors, it is really an interesting experience. There is one downside, the doors contain the exterior mirrors and while Mopar sells mirrors that bolt into the hinges when the doors are off, if you just remove the doors and take off, you have to drive without side mirrors. I own a car that only has one exterior mirror, so I am used to not having one on the passenger side and while not having a driver’s side mirror is unusual, not having a door opens up a great deal of visibility.
That visibility and the open-air feel is really what drives home the advantages of the Jeep Gladiator in every trim level. There is no other vehicle, even convertible cars, that allow you to drive in with as much open air feel as what you get with the Gladiator. It is a level of freedom that is unavailable from any other model in the truck world and in other segments, only the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco offer that open air feel with doors that are made to be quickly removed.
While driving around town, I really enjoyed how much more of the world around me I could see without doors on the Gladiator Rubicon X. When making tight turns, you can look down and see exactly where the curb or any other obstacle is situated relative to the vehicle. Also, even on a hot, humid day, the amount of air flow with the front roof panels and doors removed did away with the need for air condition. In fact, when nightfall brought temperatures in the high 60s, it got a bit brisk at higher speeds for my front seat passengers. However, when it was sunny and 85 out, the air flow was wonderful.
The Alpine premium speaker system is situated such that when the doors and top are removed, the speakers are still in place, allowing me to enjoy the quality sound system. Even with the high flow of wind, the Alpine system is plenty loud for you to hear and enjoy your music, and the 12.3-inch UConnect 5 screen is easily visible in the bright sun.
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X Nuts and Bolts
The 2025 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is a more luxurious form of the Rubicon trim level, meaning that it comes with the most off-road-ready components. This includes 17-inch wheels wrapped in 33-inch all-terrain tires, heavy duty suspension components, disconnecting sway bars and other items that make it the most off-road capable truck in the mid-sized segment. The X package adds Nappa Leather, a premium sound system and more infotainment gadgetry, so it makes for a better daily driver. The standard Pentastar V6 provides 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque with help from an 8-speed transmission, an advanced full-time four-wheel-drive system and Dana 44 axles fitted with 4.10 gears.
As mentioned above, the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is the most off-road-capable truck in the segment and anyone buying the most off-road-capable truck should expect it to have a fairly stiff suspension setup. That lead-in should prepare you for the fact that the Gladiator Rubicon suspension is pretty stiff, and while the 33-inch off-road tires eat up many of the bumps in the road, this Jeep pickup absolutely does not provide the smooth, quiet ride that you might get from the soft-roading competitors. To be blunt, if you want a smooth ride, the Gladiator may not be for you, although the non-Rubicon models are a bit smoother than the truck shown here. For comparison, my 2025 Ram 1500 Big Horn rides like a luxury sedan compared to the Gladiator, but again, anyone who is considering a Rubicon level Jeep should expect a very firm ride.
Of course, the upside to the off-road-ready suspension of the 2025 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is that it is incredible on unpaved roads, and my road has a ton of unpaved roads. The municipality calls them “nature beauty roads” and at times, they are rough enough that I avoid them with my trucks. In most cases, the ruts and potholes in these dirt roads are substantial enough that my Hellcat Challenger might get hung up if I tried to drive down one of them and I would almost certainly lose my front splitter – even if I had the yellow guards. The bottom line is that these dirt roads are brutal and the Gladiator Rubicon X handles them as well as any truck I have tested, aside from maybe the Ram 1500 RHO that I had a few months back. The RHO is a class above most trucks, so it handles these rough roads as well as most vehicles handle paved roads, but the Gladiator Rubicon is so great on the dirt roads that I take them all of the time when I have one of these Jeeps. If you regularly drive on rough dirt roads, the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is the best vehicle in the segment when it comes to providing a comfortable ride on the roughest dirt roads in my area.
When driving on paved roads, it isnt like the ride of the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is unpleasant; it is just much stiffer than the average midsized truck. Many of the paved roads on my daily commute are very smooth and in that case, the stiff suspension really didn’t bother me. Due to the ride height, I found that I took sharper turns a bit slower than I do in trucks that aren’t engineered to be the best in the dirt, much like I did with the RHO. On the open road or in long, sweeping turns, the Gladiator handles fine, but this is not a truck that is going to win any autocross competitions. Tight turns are best made at low speed, regardless of the surface.
Finally, due to the added weight of the off-road-ready components, the big tires and the 4.10 gears, the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X does not get great fuel economy. I did almost entirely “city driving”, with no higher speed highway driving at all, and I averaged about 19 miles per gallon. I also drove with the doors and top off and while I don’t know how that impacts fuel economy, I imagine that having the body panels off increases drag and I know that increased drag leads to lower fuel economy. But again, the people buying this particular Jeep almost surely don’t care about fuel economy.
The bottom line here is that if the idea of the open-air feel from a truck appeals to you, the Jeep Gladiator is the only option for you. If you spend lots of time on unpaved roads (or offroading), then the Rubicon model is the best trim level and if you want things like premium sound and leather, add the X. If you spend all of your driving time on paved roads, one of the other trim levels that does not come with off-road-focused suspension bits will offer the same ability to remove body panels while offering a smoother ride and a lower price tag. If you want to kick ass on the trails with the doors and roof off of a midsized truck, with the comfort of Nappa Leather and a premium sound system – the 2025 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X might be your dream truck.
Patrick Rall is a professional writer and photographer with a passion for all things automotive. Having grown up in his father’s performance shop, he spent extensive time at the oval track and drag strip – both driving and wrenching on various types of vehicles. In addition to working as a writer, Patrick previously worked as an automotive technician before moving on to a business office position with a chain of dealerships, and this broad spectrum of experience in the industry allows him to offer a unique look on the automotive world. Follow Patrick on Twitter, Facebook and on Youtube.
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