When the bed space of your JT just isn’t enough, the addition of a good Jeep Gladiator bed extender may be just what you need. Our team of editors hand picked some of the best truck bed extenders on the market to give you that extra space you desire.
With the introduction of the Gladiator, Jeep has made what many consider the ultimate lifestyle vehicle. It’s every bit as rugged as its SUV counterpart, the iconic Jeep Wrangler, but with an open cargo bed to haul all manner of things to and from the campsite – or the hardware store. But as every truck owner knows, sometimes you need a bit more length than the bed was designed to give you – like when you’re lugging around 2x4s for your latest pet construction project, or hauling kayaks with you on a weekend getaway. That’s when a bed extender comes in handy.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of the best Jeep Gladiator bed extender options on the market today, with two very different styles represented. First is a style that mounts to the bedsides and creates an additional fenced-in area when the tailgate is flipped down, and second are the hitch-mount styles that simply provide additional load support than the tailgate can provide in the down position. Which is right for you comes down to what cargo you have to accommodate, and whether you trust your ratchet straps enough secure your load by themselves.
Here are our top Jeep Gladiator bed extender picks:
Table of contents
1. Editor's Choice: ADI Off Road Truck Bed Extender
Designed specifically for compatibility with the Jeep Gladiator, this ADI Off Road Jeep Gladiator bed extender is one of the quickest, easiest ways to claim some extra bed space. It’s formed from 6063 aluminum tubing with a durable black powder coating, and strong nylon uprights, all of which make for a truck bed extender that’s more than capable of holding a load, come rain, sleet, snow, or shine. Better still, it’s compatible with most hard bed covers, and it can be flipped into the bed when not needed, providing a handy cargo separator to keep things where you left them. Add to that an attractive price tag and a one-year warranty and you have a Jeep Gladiator bed extender that checks all the right boxes. It is for all of the above reasons that our staff chose this as the best truck bed extender.
2. Runner Up: Lund-In-Motion Universal Truck Bed Xtender by AMP Research
If you take comfort in knowing that all your truck upgrades are from well-known, reputable brands, this might be the Jeep Gladiator bed extender for you. The Bed Xtender is a lightweight powder-coated aluminum alloy design that adds up to 2 feet of storage space to your Gladiator, with a flip-in/flip-out design that allows it to function as a cargo separator when you don’t need the extra capacity. It’s universal, so prepping and installing this truck bed extender on the Jeep Gladiator might take some doing, but once it’s sorted, it might just become your new best friend.
3. Best Hitch Mounted Extender: WEIZE Hitch-Mounted Bed Extender
If you’re looking for a quick and simple way to extend the bed of your Jeep Gladiator for things like lumber or kayaks, the WEIZE Truck Bed Extender is the convenient and affordable solution you’re looking for. This bed extender for the Jeep Gladiator slides into your 2” hitch receiver and provides an additional 4’ of length to your truck bed for those long loads. The WEIZE bed extender is adjustable for both width (29.4” to 49”) and height (12” to 19”), with a load capacity of 750 lbs. It’s easy to assemble and dissemble for convenient storage and is one of our favorite extenders on this list.
4. ECOTRIC Pickup Truck Bed Hitch Extension Rack
If you like a good deal, this hitch-mounted Jeep Gladiator bed extender offers many of the same great features as the one from WEIZE, but at less than half the price. You’d be foregoing WEIZE’s customer support and excellent reputation for delivering high-quality products, but with a price tag this low, it’s hard to find fault. It’s similarly height-, length-, and width-adjustable, and manufactured from steel square tubing with a durable black coating to lock out the elements, and it comes with a 750-pound max. distributed load rating. Sure, ECOTRIC is no Lund, but the scores of positive reviews suggest that this truck bed extender is a home run all the same.
5. Bully Nylon Tailgate Net
It’s not quite a gladiator bed extender per se, but this Bully nylon net has landed on our list because it can perform essentially the same function, for significantly less. This strong, simple nylon net has hooks to attach to either side of the bed opening, and adjustable straps that let you extend it just as far as you need to securely hold loads like kayaks, dirt bikes, lumber, drywall – you name it. Naturally, it’s not going to be as strong as a steel or aluminum Jeep Gladiator bed extender, but the hooks are rated to withstand up to a ton of force. Plus, what it misses in strength, it gains back in convenience, installing and removing in seconds, and folding and stowing with ease.
6. u-Box Jeep Gladiator Bed Rack
When you want a way to secure your cargo without sacrificing space for your must have trail accessories, the u-Box Jeep Gladiator Bed Rack delivers. This steel bed rack system mounts on models both with and without the factory trail rail system an provides 13″ of clearance from the bed rail to the top of the rack. you can still easily stack plenty of cargo under the rack system and with the use of other mounting systems like quick-fist or roto-pax, you can still have easy access to your favorite off-road accessories.
Is having a bed extender a requirement if I have loads longer than the bed of my Jeep Gladiator?
Not necessarily, but depending on what you’re hauling, it minimizes the possibility of the cargo in your bed flying out and causing a catastrophe with the vehicles behind you.
Is there any problem if I leave my truck bed extender in the bed of my Jeep Gladiator when I don’t need it?
If you don’t have any kind of a hard cover, there is always a possibility of theft. As easy as most aftermarket truck bed extenders are to remove, there’s no reason to leave it in and take the risk of it being stolen.
Additional Resources
- Best Jeep Gladiator Tonneau Cover Options
- Best Jeep Gladiator Accessories
- Best Jeep Gladiator Side Steps
Recent Updates
11/1/2021: Ranked products, updated product descriptions, replaced OOS product with in stock (lund hitch mount extender to WEIZE hitch mount extender), added u-Box bed rack system, added additional resources, updated product links.
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