2024 Jeep Gladiator spy photos show Wrangler-esque refresh

It looks like the 2024 Jeep Gladiator is going to bow out with a similar set of upgrades seen on the ’24 Wrangler. Amazingly, our spy shooter captured this Gladiator pickup truck in a Kroger parking lot with barely a piece of clothing in sight. The interior is more prudish, covering itself in black vinyl cloth, but that’s pretty much all the evidence we need to confirm a Wrangler-esque upgrade on the inside, too.

Starting at the front, Jeep’s iconic seven-louvre grille gets an update to give the Gladiator a modern look. It is very similar, if not identical, to the grille on the redesigned Wrangler. Unfortunately, we can’t see what’s behind that grille. It doesn’t look like this non-camouflage Gladiator has a 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain, so we wonder if that will ever appear. Same story for the 392 V8 engine. And for the Wrangler’s optional 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. We’d expect Jeep to continue offering its proven 3.6-liter V6 engine, but we’d like to see the Wrangler’s other powertrain options make their way onto the truck. And we don’t expect the EcoDiesel to return before 2024, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation.

We also wonder if any versions of the refreshed Gladiator – the truck spied here appears to be a high-spec High Altitude model – will use the full-floating rear axle that some 2024 Wranglers will get. Such a design would make sense for the pickup truck, as it is a more durable unit that offers many benefits, including potentially higher towing capacity, more wheel and tire options, and more flexibility for trackside repairs.

Indoors, as we said before, camouflage basically covers everything. We see an automatic transmission (which leads us to hope the Gladiator follows the Wrangler and keeps the manual option) and the expected transfer case lever with four high and four low gears. The Wrangler got a new dash design with a 12.3-inch widescreen infotainment system featuring the latest version of Jeep’s Uconnect 5 with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard, and we expect that to come to the Gladiator.

All in all, this looks like a nice refresh of a popular midsize pickup – the only one to offer a Wrangler-esque wind-in-the-hair experience. Given how close this prototype appears to be to production, we don’t expect to have to wait much longer for the official unveiling. I hope there are more surprises (mostly underhood) to look forward to.

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