Grand Cherokees

[Shinchu]

yeah I've been reading up and the zj/wj with V8 comes with a D44A (Aluminum pumpkin) that apparently soften up and let go of the axle tubes. to remedy this, like bigski said, you can swap the TJ axles right in with little to no mods needed.
then there is the question of transfer cases, but that sort of comes down to preference.

as a daily, i think i am leaning more towards a ZJ. sure the XJ is "cheaper" and i could easily make an RC version to match, but the Z just seems the more reasonable choice for a practical daily with family.

[Neil2704]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

indeed this is funny... i cant decide between a ZJ or XJ... ZJ sure looks comfy, and available v8? hmmmm... but everyone swears the XJ 4.0 is a better engine than anything you can get in a ZJ.
and quadratrac axles you say? i wonder how hard it would be to fit those under an XJ? i know the steering components will fit.

either way its not going higher than 3" and 32's. a buddy at work is selling his 2000 XJ with 4.5" on 31's with bumpers and a roof rack. cant remember ODO (160k-ish?) but he only wants $5k. in cali that's a steal.

mind you i cant do anything until my lease is up on my current daily, 2016 scion FRS. its got exactly a year to go.

i have owned both, cherokees are cheaper to lift and most of them have u joints in the front axle instead of cv style in the grand cherokee axles, as well as the full time 4 wheel grand cherokees have a lot of vibration issues when they are lifted. the grand cherokee is a better daily, the cherokee is a better toy in my opinion. although if you get the 2wd capable grand cherokees most people can get away with 2 to 3 inches of lift before there is any vibration issues.

[Shinchu]

thanks Neil. great input there.
I'm used to lowering cars (including a few with solid axles) and how that effects geometry, so lifting should be the same for me, in reverse lol i should be able to handle it by not "going cheap" i never do that on suspension. its my favorite part ;)

i think the most i would lift either of them is 3 inches. would be a daily driver that can go places. not trying to do any serious rock work. i think the ZJ is a good fit. yes the V8 would gas guzzle and I'm not opposed to the 4.0 version. so many variations it makes my head spin.

[tuanies]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

thanks Neil. great input there.
I'm used to lowering cars (including a few with solid axles) and how that effects geometry, so lifting should be the same for me, in reverse lol i should be able to handle it by not "going cheap" i never do that on suspension. its my favorite part ;)

i think the most i would lift either of them is 3 inches. would be a daily driver that can go places. not trying to do any serious rock work. i think the ZJ is a good fit. yes the V8 would gas guzzle and I'm not opposed to the 4.0 version. so many variations it makes my head spin.

I'm quite happy with my ~4-inch lift total - 2-inch from suspension, 2-inch from the 30" tires. Running Old Man Emu springs with Bilsteins and Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S 30"s.

[Neil2704]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

thanks Neil. great input there.
I'm used to lowering cars (including a few with solid axles) and how that effects geometry, so lifting should be the same for me, in reverse lol i should be able to handle it by not "going cheap" i never do that on suspension. its my favorite part ;)

i think the most i would lift either of them is 3 inches. would be a daily driver that can go places. not trying to do any serious rock work. i think the ZJ is a good fit. yes the V8 would gas guzzle and I'm not opposed to the 4.0 version. so many variations it makes my head spin.

Here's my old jeep(now my brother in laws) and my best friends jeep. Both are rocking 3 inch lifts on 31s. The Cherokee is a budget lift(400 bucks) and the grand cherokee is a proper bds lift(900 bucks). The ride quality in the GC compared to the Cherokee is very noticeable. So yeah your right to not cheap out on suspension parts. But it gives you an idea of what they will look like.


Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

[kgb424]

I want to replace my fog lights with Led's and I have these 2 round 27 watt Led lights, I kinda like them but there too big and would be rock rash
But I did find these 6'' 36 watt led's that fit in the bumper cut out for the fog lights, I had to take the lights and the and front bumper off to get the brush guard
mounts off, slowly putting back together I went bought the replacement push pins to re-attach the bumper

[kgb424]

Next project I'm buying a 32'' curved Led light bar and mount it above the bumper and in front of the grill, I found a pic and like how it looks

[Shinchu]

found a WJ on autotrader for $7k. its a 2002 overland. LOADED. all its missing is nav, and that's fine with me as its a dated (crappy) system anyway.
this is the year that overlands came with the cute little 1 inch lift lol but hey its a start!
punched in some numbers on a loan calc (mission federal) and it says $200/mo with $1k down. (not even half my current FRS payment!)

mighty tempting... its a great looking jerp with under 80k miles on it.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ode1=JEEPGRAND

MIGHTY tempting...

[kgb424]

Nice Shinchu

You know if you wait long enough you will find a good deal, I wasn't looking for a Jeep, just a decent wheeler and found mine, it was parked up by the Home Depot, and I know I looked at it and really didn't pay attention too it, and remembered when

the seller told me where it was parked so I could go look at, so shit works in weird ways

I'm new to the ZJ's and have joined a couple Jeep ZJ's and Northern Nevada Off Road groups on Facebook and I'm learning as I go along and seeing other peoples Jeeps, I get ideas and can ask questions, it's small world cause some of the guys I go

wheeling with my neighbor are members of the groups I joined and already know people and there vehicles

I found a combo deal on a 420 watt 32'' curved light bar and a 700 watt 52'' curved light bar and with the 2 36 watt 6'' lights, I would have 1,2000 watts of light, I could be a UFO in the desert

Not sure I want to be seen from space cause they can track you, My Jeep is black and could easily disappear after the UFO sightings

Hey I think that Alien just gave me the finger !!

[Shinchu]

yeah i cant get the jeep just yet anyway, need to wait until my lease is up on the scion. ~350 days to go!

and how do you know that was his finger? lmao

[kgb424]

Took awhile, but I did get my 36 watt 6'' Led's to replace my fog lights on ZJ

[kgb424]

I took me a minute to figure out too trim the inside of the bumper cover, it now fits over the lights mounted too the factory fog light mounts, I'm also using the factory the wiring for the fog lights

So I can turn them off and on with the low beams on and they automatically turn off when the high beams are clicked on, just like the factory fog lights

[hillbillyrc]

Originally Posted by Neil2704

i have owned both, cherokees are cheaper to lift and most of them have u joints in the front axle instead of cv style in the grand cherokee axles, as well as the full time 4 wheel grand cherokees have a lot of vibration issues when they are lifted. the grand cherokee is a better daily, the cherokee is a better toy in my opinion. although if you get the 2wd capable grand cherokees most people can get away with 2 to 3 inches of lift before there is any vibration issues.

I was reading through this and had to comment.

The nice thing about the zj and xj are the share or can swap some parts. The cv axles can be a downs to the grand but pretty easy to swap u-joint axles in and any abs xj or 97+ came with bigger u-joints.

Also not all zj grands came with the full time crap t-case.
Such as my girls 98 laredo came with a np242 the selectrac it had 2wd,4hi full time, 4hi part time and 4 low part time. And easier to swap to the np231 if you wanted to. But this t-case is only found behind the 4.0l.

[AnotherRedcatDude]

I know it's not quite a Grand Cherokee, and it's got IFS, but the Commander is just basically a different body style of the WK grand Cherokee (aka using same frame, engine, trans, suspension and axles) and it's a quite capable medium duty crawler! Plus she can tow 7k lbs without breaking a sweat lol. Here's my 2008 Jeep Commander Sport 4x4 4.7L, I have a rough country 2 inch lift for it that I'm getting ready to throw on, and I blacked grille and rims.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[kgb424]

Well Shinchu

The thrill is gone of owning a Jeep let alone a Grand Cherokee, after replacing the rear main seal, oil pump, oil pan gasket, oil sender, valve cover gaskets, I had to replace the 249 transfer case, cause the first rocky incline destroyed the front cv front drive shaft the 4wd was done is less 30 minutes, and it took me months to find a replacement 242 transfer case, cause if you buy a transfer case at a wrecking yard it voids the warranty if you split the cases to change input shafts, and after a couple months the wrecking yard came up with nothing, it then took another couple months on my own to find one that was a fresh rebuild and then a couple more weeks to finally get help to get the case in, then I had to buy a aftermarket adjustable transfer case linkage and the final piece was the front drive, it needed shortened 2'' so I drove to driveline shop in Spark NV, and the speed limit is 70 mph on 395 North but they push you 75 to 80 miles mph, I get the drive shaft shortened and drive home, the next morning I go to put the front driveshaft, there is big puddle of motor oil on the ground, I then look at the tranny and you can see 3 drips on the bottom of the flywheel housing and the tranny and crossmember and transfer case, has a thin coating of oil, so at high speed/high rpm it pisses oil and the throws it back on the drive train, but the kicker is I have drove the ZJ many times and have done 45 on the country roads and 65 on highway and no leaks, no oil slung on drivetrain, if it was the main seal it would leak all the time, its only leaks at high speed/high rpm, and have no idea where its leaking from and don't care, I'm done and over with the ZJ and want it gone, I'm selling it and moving on, I been looking at 91 Chevy K1500 short bed with a 350 TBI and could get it at a good price, the seller is in no hurry and will hold it for me, I should bought a truck in the first place and just walked away from the Jeep when there was no title, that's a separate nightmare I went thru to get the title, I won't miss the Jeep and tired of it mocking me and just burnt

[Shinchu]

yes, sometimes the jerp goes full derp.

sorry for your loss man. that chevy sounds cool though! TBI is funky but gets the job done. better than carbs and worrying about altitude changes dorking up your A/F ratios.

[kgb424]

2019 is starting out fantastic, today my ZJ sheared off 2 wheel studs and stripped the other 3 lugs and the drivers side front wheel went exit stage left and broke the light under the headlight and tweaked the headlight and now has 2 new puddles of whatever underneath it, and if the total stranger did stop and call his buddy down the street to bring his tractor/back hoe it would not be blocking my driveway, cause I would of had no way to get back to my house, I got lucky cause I took the back roads in stead of the highway at 65 to 70 miles an hour or out wheeling on a trail somewhere, now it can sit until hell freezes over, I will never own or buy another Jeep I'm done and so is the ZJ

[STANG KILLA SS]

im on #3 now
2000 v8 4.7L
2006 hemi 5.7L
2016 hemi 5.7L

use them for my DD and towing wakeboat and racecar