Jeep is addressing the single most common modification Gladiator owners make, and doing it from the factory. The 2027 Jeep Gladiator 35-Inch Tire Launch Edition, announced today in Windsor, Ontario, ships with factory-installed 35-inch all-terrain tires across three trim levels: Willys, Rubicon, and Rubicon X. It is a limited-production run, and orders are open now.
The appeal is straightforward. Aftermarket 35-inch tire conversions on the Gladiator typically require lift kits, wheel spacers, fender modifications, and recalibrated gearing. The Launch Edition bundles all of that into a factory package: a 2.5-centimetre (1-inch) suspension lift, a 4.56 final-drive ratio, heavy-duty Dana axles, highline fender flares and wheel-flare extensions, performance brakes, and 17-inch bronze-painted beadlock-capable wheels. Ground clearance rises to 32.7 centimetres (12.9 inches), with approach, breakover, and departure angles of 46.7, 23.3, and 26.7 degrees, respectively. For a buyer who was already planning to modify the truck, this removes the guesswork and keeps everything under the factory warranty.
Visually, the Launch Edition leans into its bronze-accent theme: bronze Jeep badging, bronze tow hooks, and exclusive hood, side, and tailgate graphics. Rubicon and Rubicon X models add hood and vent graphics specific to those trims, and the Rubicon X Package includes an exclusive side-door graphic and a Jeep performance hood with a unique hood decal.
Jeep has not announced Canadian pricing for the Launch Edition, only confirming it is available to order across the three trim levels.
The context for this announcement is not especially comfortable. Gladiator volume has fallen sharply since peaking at 89,712 units in 2021, sliding to 42,125 in 2024. The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 prices in roughly $10,000 below the equivalent Gladiator. Jeep’s answer, at least partly, is to give the truck something those rivals cannot offer: factory 35-inch tires with a full Trail Rated engineering package underneath. The Colorado ZR2 is a capable off-road truck with solid sales momentum, but it does not roll off the line on 35s with beadlock-capable wheels, Dana axles, and a matching gear ratio. On that narrow axis, the Launch Edition is a genuine differentiator.
The Gladiator also continues to hold an advantage in one structural area: it is the only open-air midsize pickup available in Canada, a distinction no competitor is currently positioned to challenge. Jeep leaned on that positioning again today, calling it North America’s only open-air pickup in the launch materials.
For Canadian buyers, the Launch Edition joins a Jeep lineup that has been expanding. The 2027 Jeep Grand Cherokee added three new trims for Canada in August, with pricing starting at $62,890. The Gladiator move follows that pattern: adding distinctive, capability-focused trim levels rather than discounting to chase volume.
Whether the 35-inch tire package finds enough buyers to reverse the Gladiator’s sales trajectory is a separate question. What it does is sharpen the truck’s identity at a moment when that identity needed reinforcing. If you were already pricing a Gladiator Rubicon and planning to spend money on tires, wheels, and a lift kit the moment it left the dealer lot, the factory just handed you a reason to skip that conversation entirely.
Source: Stellantis. Images courtesy of Stellantis.
