Jeep Autopsy: Gladiator And JT

A '69 Gladiator Camper Truck. It featured the 230hp 350 V-8 with a pulley and belt specifically for the heavy-duty cooling package, a four-speed manual (TH400 was optional), beefy shocks and suspension, and an auxiliary fuel tank worth 15 extra gallons. The truck had been designed for all box- or cabover campers up to 2,500 pounds.

The Transmission

The standard was a BorgWarner T-90 three-speed manual for the six-cylinder until 1965 when the T-14 arrived, while a B-W T-85 was used for the V-8 until the T-15A in 1968. You could opt for a four-speed manual as well, the B-W T-98, which in 1971 became the B-W T-18 and lasted until the bitter end. The Tremec T-176 four-speed became the standard in 1980. An optional automatic B-W AS-8W lasted until 1965, when the GM Turbo Hydra-Matic TH400 was the option for the V-8 and remained until 1980 when it became the 727 Torqueflite.

The Transfer Case

The two-speed Dana 20 with 2.03 low range was the standard, save for a couple of years of the single-speed Dana 21 that came with the automatic transmission. A T-case upgrade happened in 1980-an NP208 Command-Trac with 2.61 low range. Three years later came a set of other part-time options: the NP229 Select-Trac (2.61), followed by the NP228 Quadra-Trac in 1985. The full-time B-W 1339 Quadra-Trac (2.03) in 1971 was mated to the automatic transmission, until the optional NP219 Quadra-Trac (2.62) in 1980.

The Suspension/Axles

The trucks always enjoyed slightly wider axles than their Wagoneer counterparts. A full-floating Dana 44 was the pickup's front axle; the rear was also a 44, but it was a semifloater. The 44 began as a weaker closed-knuckle unit, but by 1974, it was a preferred open-knuckle axle similar to what was found on other 4x4 trucks of the era. A semifloating Dana 53 could be found on the heavy-duty 1/2-tons. The Powr-Lok was optional (the Trac-Lok went into use in the first part of the '70s). A 4,000-5,000-pound GVWR equaled 4.09 gearing, while 6,600 pounds was 4.27, and 7,600 was 4.88. In 1976, the rear became an AMC 20 for the 1/2-tons; a 3.54 gear ratio was standard and 4.09 was optional on the J-10s, while the J-20s were 3.73 and 4.09, respectively. J-10s had semifloating rear axles, while J-20s were full-float. The 3/4- and 1-ton trucks had a semifloating Dana 60 rear starting in 1969, and then it went full-floater in 1974 (4.09, optional 5.38). The dualie got a Dana 70 at the rear (5.38). All pickups had a leaf-spring suspension, except for the IFS model that lasted until 1965.