DBOR's custom 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon review

From extreme enduro trailbike riders to Olympic level downhill skiers, those two black diamonds at the start of the trail indicate this track ain’t like the others. It’ll push them to their limits. Beyond what most would consider achievable.

And offer ultimate bragging rights to all who conquer it.

What you’re looking at is one of the biggest and baddest Jeeps in the country. A ’21-plated Gladiator Rubicon with some insane modifications in places you’d never expect, and factory gear in places that’ll surprise you.

The perfect platform to show off not only how capable the Gladiator is from the factory, but how Double Black Off Road can bolt together an even better version.

To everyone else, following that Rugged Ridge AmFib Snorkel down through the guards leads to the same 209kW 3.6L V6 and eight-speed auto combo found in all current Aussie-market Jeeps. From here, the Rubicon badge kicks things down a gear.

The ‘Rock-Trac’ 4x4 systems sports an epic 77.2:1 crawl ratio thanks to lower 4:1 gears in the transfer case; the base model Jeeps make do with a paltry 2.72:1.

In true Rubicon fashion, both front and rear diffs have 4.1:1 diff centres wrapped around factory lockers, providing serious crawl control compared to the 3.45:1 and open diff combo in the lower tiers. But that’s about where stock ends…

Where you’d normally find coil springs front and rear, DBOR has fitted up a full AccuAir air-ride system with an air bellow on each corner.

Height sensors on each corner link up with a full on-board air system allowing the Jeep to be dumped into the weeds for easy loading, jacked up five inches above stock to clear obstacles on the trail, self-levelled for uneven campsites, and lifted up to four inches when hitting the blacktop at the end of the trails.

Paired up with a suite of JRi shocks, the infinitely variable spring rate air springs means the ride is always smooth as butter. An 18L air tank and Viair 485C compressor combination serve double duties for feeding the air suspension as well as for tyre inflation and air tools on the trail.

They’re held firmly in place by one of the most unique wheel designs we’ve seen in years; dubbed ‘InnerLock’, the Icon Rebound Pros fitted to the Jeep have a trick feature where 16 o-ring sealed bolts run in through the outer face of the rim, pinning the tyre’s bead to the rim without the clunky and questionably legal design of a traditional beadlock wheel.

To keep the chunkier wheel and tyre combo in the shade, DBOR has swapped out the factory wheel arch flares on all four corners for MP Concepts High Clearance Fender Flares.

DBOR two-inch Fender Extensions help cover the increase in track width, and MP Concepts sequential turn signals give the Gladiator a sleek look.

Ironman 4x4’s Aussie designed and engineered sleek, low-profile Raid bar takes pride of place, housing a Smittybilt 10k winch that comes to the rescue when the DBOR team finds 79s on tracks they don’t belong on.

The front-end is where we’d normally talk about driving lights too, but the Gladiator’s forward vision comes from inside the cab. Yep, hiding in behind the windshield is a monster 50-inch LED light bar from Quadratec, with a solid seal against the windscreen, the full 10,200 Lumens firing forward with a variety of beam patterns and colours all without the annoying whistle of an externally mounted light bar.

Replacing the bulky fibreglass Freedom panels above the driver and passenger, the Sunrider lets the crew quickly and easily open up the top for summer wheeling without needing to stow half a roof on the back seat.

Opening that big Jeep tailgate reveals one of the most unique storage systems on the market today (seeing a theme here?).

Pieced together by US-based Decked, the HDPE setup is rated to a full 900kg payload on the platform thanks to a galvanized steel subframe, while the twin full length drawers themselves boast full weatherproofing, making them the perfect place to stash recovery kit and any miscellaneous camp goodies.

The rack also plays host to a set of Maxtrax, and an additional 15-litres of fuel storage in an oh-so-hot-right-now Rotopax storage solution.

Sure, there are the usual suspects like an XRS UHF from GME (sheesh that’s a lot of acronyms!) and LED camp lighting from Rugged Ridge and Oracle Lighting pointing in every direction, but a trick bit of kit known as a Tazer JL Mini from Z Automotive takes things up a notch; it allows calibration for different tyre sizes, gear ratios, lighting patterns, winch modes for higher RPMs, line locks, and even custom pin codes for a sneaky immobiliser.

We’ll be honest, it’s almost getting exhausting rattling off all the weird and wonderful modifications Double Black Off Road has managed to make to this Gladiator without actually changing any major components.

It’s a testament to not only the Jeep platform right out of the box, but the ingenuity of the aftermarket companies to really deliver what four-wheel drivers need out on the trail. Now if only we can work out how to get the boss to sign off on a line locker in the 4X4 Australia fleet.

The off-road ability of a solid axle coil-sprung Jeep mixed with the versatility of an Aussie-style dual-cab ute. On paper, it’s almost the perfect combination. But it wasn’t Jeep’s first foray into the ute market, far from it in fact.

Way back in the 1940s when civilian Jeeps first became widely available, the then manufacturer Willys-Overland brought to market a bulkier single cab ute version known as the Jeep Truck. The Jeep Truck offered serious off-road ability and practicality for a good 20 years before being superseded by none other than the Jeep Gladiator in 1963.

Based on the full-size Jeep Wagoneer platform, the Gladiator was available in a host of different configurations including long-wheelbase camper setups and even dual-rear-wheel versions with big 401ci V8s under the bonnet.

Throughout this period Jeep experimented with many short-lived ute models, from the kooky forward-control FC models to the stylish Jeepster Commando line-up and many other obscure options in between, before finally finding reasonable success with the XJ Cherokee-based Comanche.

Jeep unveiled a JK-styled ute concept back in 2005 and teased the market for another 15 years with various concepts and factory-backed ute conversion kits before reviving the Gladiator name again nearly 50 years after it was retired, although this time sporting four doors, a lesson Jeep learned with the uber-popular JK Unlimited Wrangler.

Custom 4x4

Can the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon stand up to tough Aussie off-road conditions? This one has been put to the test over 12 months and 60,000km on some of Australia’s remotest bush tracks