Jeep Gladiator Towing Capacity by Year, Engine and Trim

How much a Jeep Gladiator tows, year by year

These are the highest maximum trailer weights Jeep prints for each model year. Every one of them is the Sport with the eight-speed automatic, the 4.10 axle and the Max Trailer Tow Group, so a Gladiator without that package tows less.

Each year's figure comes from that year's own Jeep specification sheet, published by Stellantis Media: the 2020 sheet through the 2026 sheet, with one for every year between. The 2023 sheet is the year the number moved: its towing table says 7,700 lb while its engine section still prints the old 7,650 lb. The 3.0-liter diesel appears only in the 2021 to 2023 sheets and is rated lower, covered below.

Can a Gladiator pull a camper?

It can, if the camper's loaded weight fits the trailer rating and what is left of the truck's payload. The 2026 row that carries the 7,700 lb rating lists a payload of 1,720 lb; the other 2026 rows list 1,025 lb to 1,100 lb. Payload is everything the truck carries: driver, passengers, gear in the bed, and the trailer's tongue weight pressing down on the hitch.

Jeep prints a maximum trailer tongue weight for the Gladiator only in the 2020 owner's manual: 765 lb with the Max Tow setup, 400 lb without it. A tongue weight in that range takes a large share of even the best payload row, which is why a midsize truck usually runs out of payload before it runs out of towing rating. Add your people, your gear and the camper's measured tongue weight, then compare the total with the placard figure in your own door jamb.

Which 2026 Gladiator tows 7,700 lb

Only the Sport and Sport S can carry the Max Trailer Tow Group, and only that configuration reaches 7,700 lb.

Figures from Jeep's 2026 specification sheet, all with the 3.6-liter V-6 and the eight-speed automatic, which are the only engine and transmission listed for 2026. The sheet attaches a tow-package footnote to the 6,000 lb Sport row and does not say what that truck tows without the package. Jeep's own towing guide page carries the model-by-model summary and the current package lists.

Is the Rubicon rated lower?

Yes. The Rubicon is rated 7,000 lb with the automatic in every sheet from 2020 to 2026, and the Mojave 6,000 lb. Both have the 4.10 axle as standard, so the axle alone is not what earns the top rating.

What they cannot have is the package. The Max Trailer Tow Group, which adds a 240-amp alternator, a Class IV receiver, heavy-duty cooling and wide-track axles with the 4.10 ratio, is listed as optional on Sport and Sport S and not available on Willys, Mojave or Rubicon. Those three get the Trailer Tow and AUX Switch Group as standard instead, which brings the alternator, receiver and cooling but not the wide-track axles. Jeep's documents give no reason for the lower off-road ratings beyond the figures themselves.

The diesel years, 2021 to 2023

Jeep offered the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 with the eight-speed automatic in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Gladiator. It tows less than the gas V-6, not more.

In all three years the diesel is rated 6,500 lb on Sport, Sport S and Overland, and 6,000 lb on Rubicon, as the 2023 specification sheet prints them. There is no diesel Mojave row in any year, and the 2024, 2025 and 2026 sheets contain no diesel at all.

Hitch, trailer brakes and weight distribution

Jeep's thresholds for the Gladiator are low by trailer standards, and a camper clears them easily. The 2026 owner's manual states them plainly, and the 2020 manual gives the same brake thresholds.

• Trailer brakes are recommended above 1,000 lb and required above 2,000 lb.
• A weight-distributing hitch is recommended once gross trailer weight reaches 2,000 lb; the manual warns that a plain weight-carrying hitch at that weight can cost you control of the vehicle.
• Electric trailer brakes need an electronic brake controller; hydraulic surge brakes do not. The Gladiator has an aftermarket brake-controller connector under the dash, to the left of the brake pedal.
• With a ball mounted on the bumper rather than in the receiver, the trailer is limited to 3,500 lb, 20 square feet of frontal area and 350 lb of tongue weight.

Do not go by hitch class. Jeep's own documents print different maximums for the same class: the 2020 manual gives Class III as 5,000 lb, the 2026 manual as 6,000 lb, and jeep.com as 8,000 lb. The number that governs is the one on the label on your receiver, and the manual says never to exceed the tongue weight stamped on the hitch or bumper. Fitting a receiver or a bumper-mounted ball is structural work: Jeep says both should be professionally installed, and that is the right call.

Finding your own Gladiator's figure

The certification label on the driver's door or pillar carries your truck's GVWR, its front and rear axle ratings and the VIN, and the tire and loading placard carries the line that starts "the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed". The trailer rating itself is not on either label: match your model year, transmission, axle ratio and package to the row in that year's specification sheet above.

How it compares with other midsize trucks

Jeep calls the 7,700 lb figure unsurpassed for gas towing in the midsize pickup class, using JD Power segmentation to define the class. That claim rests on one configuration, so it is worth comparing like for like: the Sport with the Max Trailer Tow Group against a rival's own top-rated build, not against its base truck. Read the published ratings for the Nissan Frontier the same way.

Payload is where these trucks separate in practice, not trailer rating, and the same reading applies to the Toyota Tacoma and the rest of the segment. All comparisons here are based on the published manufacturer specifications.

Common questions