I thought I needed another gray Grand Cherokee...

[tjZ06]

So I got this:



 It's a '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk w/ the Trailhawk Luxury Group (adaptive cruise, leather/suede interior, bi-xenon headlights, pano sunroof, etc.) and the 5.7L Hemi.  It actually looked like this when I picked it up, complete with roof-rails, old-man-side-steps, faded vinyl (that somebody has tried to polish ) etc:

View attachment 11139

I spent Sunday knocking the old-man off it and got the steps/rails/vinyl and most of the badges off (I debated on the badges, but our Trackhawk is de-badged and I like the clean look so I went for it).  Monday I got new tires put on (275/65-18 KO2s ~32.1") and brought the front up 1" in all modes via aftermarket rods for the height sensors on the air suspension.  

Before "leveling": 



After:



This will be my daily driver (selling my Civic since I'm not "commuting" via wheels anymore) and also tow my little Broverland trailer for weekend camping trips.  Still, I wanted to knwo what it could do, so yesterday I took it to Hollister Hills with some buddies and got a feel for it.  All-in-all for an independent front/rear suspension rig did pretty well. It carries tires on anything that would require articulation (sometimes WAY up there) but it gets the job done. The true low range, rear e-diff (which will lock up) and brake-based control of the front tires (to get power to the tire w/ traction) did an admirable job. I did struggle a bit with all the electronics making it harder to be smooth in technical sections, but I was starting to figure it out.  I'm an idiot and totally forgot to eve mess with the Selec-Terrain modes, so it was in Auto all day.  Using Rock Crawl might have helped, but I suspect even in Auto when it's in 4LO and detecting slip it's basically going to do all the same things.  But perhaps it'd be more aggressive to brake a spinning wheel sooner in Rock Crawl, I guess I have to go back to find out.

In the morning it was just me and an old buddy that has a SAS Suburban, so we did a mild run up to the top-top of Hollister Hills:











Later when the rest of the group showed up we tried more obstacles and whatnot: 

I have some 1" wheel spacers and rock sliders ordered, but that's probably about it for mods.  I'd like a louder exhaust, but then for the intended use-case (towing a little adventure trailer around in the woods) that probably doesn't make sense.  There are some companies that make additional hidden winch mounts, skid plates, bumper guards etc. but IDK if I'm going that far with it.

-TJ

 

[Chingon619]

Famous last words

That was fun to watch! Thanks for sharing! I don't need a Jeep, I don't need a Jeep

 

[Cookie]

That is exactly what I need

 

[CampfiresNbrews]

That’s was cool. Thanks for sharing. She’s a BEAST!!

 

[Jaybird95]

Sweeet!

 

[L.R.S.]

So the Civic is for sale... cause my 15 yr daughter needs a car...bro

 

[tjZ06]

Famous last words

That was fun to watch! Thanks for sharing! I don't need a Jeep, I don't need a Jeep

Haha, you're probably right, I'll be the first to solid axle swap one front and rear!

That is exactly what I need

It's a great rig, and buying it used with 26k miles the price was pretty darn good ($34k).  It's capable off road, nothing like my WJ, but I think I proved it's not just a Soccer Mom car. It's suuuuuuuuper comfortable and with cooled leather/suede seats and adaptive cruise control plus the air suspension it's made for long trips.  It's going to tow pretty well with the 5.7 Hemi and 8 speed (we actually had a '16 with the 5.7 previously, I towed ~5k with it plenty of times and it did great).  And I just dig WK2s (clearly, since this is our 3rd and we still have 2).  LMK if you have any questions about the different trims and option packages and all... 

That’s was cool. Thanks for sharing. She’s a BEAST!!

No prob... she does alright! 

Sweeet!

Thanks.

So the Civic is for sale... cause my 15 yr daughter needs a car...bro

Yup.  I'll text you.

-TJ
 

 

[Cookie]

@tjZ06 the only reason I currently have a truck is to tow my 24" enclosed from storage to my house, 5-10 miles each time.  Do you think this car could do that, then I could ditch the F150............The benefit to the Jeep is being able to flat tow behind Moho as well, I have zero interest of flat towing a F150.

 

[Crusty]

Cool vids, really gave me a feel for it all :lol:

 

[tjZ06]

@tjZ06 the only reason I currently have a truck is to tow my 24" enclosed from storage to my house, 5-10 miles each time.  Do you think this car could do that, then I could ditch the F150............The benefit to the Jeep is being able to flat tow behind Moho as well, I have zero interest of flat towing a F150.

Any idea what it weighs loaded?  5-10 miles I wouldn't worry about much, depending on those 5-10 miles.  Power, stopping, stability etc. I'd all be 110% confident in for that drive.  Honestly my biggest worry would be tongue weight and the factory hitch.  It's a Class IV and as-configured mine is rated for 7,200lbs towing.  Still, it's a unibody vehicle so if you're looking at 2k+ tongue weight I'd be a bit cautious with a drive that has huge dips and gnarly bumps that are going to try to rip the hitch off it.  

This was our '16 High Altitude (also 5.7 Hemi, also air suspension) with about 5k lbs:



It did great, and I wouldn't hesitate to do that again.  My wife towed that setup into River Rest Resort in The Little Town of Washington, CA.  It's super windy drop down into Washington.  Air suspension auto-leveling is awesome.  Plenty of power/brakes/cooling. 

Here's a good article to check out to (credit to @Rockwood for the find): https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1710-second-report-long-term-2017-jeep-grand-cherokee-trailhawk/

Cool vids, really gave me a feel for it all :lol:

You're welcome.  It's def an odd feeling when it teeter-totters... 

-TJ

 

[Cookie]

24' Universal with Gen 4 Funco, water and fuel and tools and such, probably close to 7500k.  I would worry about tongue weight for sure.  Thanks for the info, much appreciative.

 

[tjZ06]

24' Universal with Gen 4 Funco, water and fuel and tools and such, probably close to 7500k.  I would worry about tongue weight for sure.  Thanks for the info, much appreciative.

I'd be surprised if that's only 7500 lbs.  I have a 20' Universal, G52, water/fuel/tools etc. and that thing is a HEAVY beast.  It sags my 2500 way more than my 24' aluminum enclosed with 2 SxSs, tools etc. (but no water/fuel).  

I'd get a tongue weight scale and see where it's at, then make a call.  is your 5-10 miles from storage pretty smooth?  I'd offer to just hitch up my Universal behind the WK2 and let you know how it does, but that is in Vegas at the new place and the Trailhawk will be my car out here in CA.  

-TJ
 

 

[Cookie]

I'd be surprised if that's only 7500 lbs.  I have a 20' Universal, G52, water/fuel/tools etc. and that thing is a HEAVY beast.  It sags my 2500 way more than my 24' aluminum enclosed with 2 SxSs, tools etc. (but no water/fuel).  

I'd get a tongue weight scale and see where it's at, then make a call.  is your 5-10 miles from storage pretty smooth?  I'd offer to just hitch up my Universal behind the WK2 and let you know how it does, but that is in Vegas at the new place and the Trailhawk will be my car out here in CA.  

-TJ
 

You are probably right on the weight, it is heavy behind my F150 and sags it good.  5-10 miles are flat.  

 

[tjZ06]

You are probably right on the weight, it is heavy behind my F150 and sags it good.  5-10 miles are flat.  

But are they smooth?  It's big jolting pot holes, and freeway dips (like on 86 heading to G) that I think would really stress the hitch and unibody. 

-TJ
 

 

[Kraut_n_Rice]

 

[tjZ06]

Not that anybody cares, this is what the interior is like on this thing:





-TJ

 

[Chingon619]

Not that anybody cares, this is what the interior is like on this thing:

View attachment 11375

View attachment 11376

-TJ

It's definitely sweet. So what's something like this set TJ back? I'd guess 25k in this market but my car valuation skills have diminished some. 

 

[South Bay]

Not that anybody cares, this is what the interior is like on this thing:

-TJ

I'd care to say that looks like a pretty good place to spend my time as a daily driver . . .

 

[tjZ06]

It's definitely sweet. So what's something like this set TJ back? I'd guess 25k in this market but my car valuation skills have diminished some. 

I posted above, but I paid $34k (plus TTL).  New it was a bit over $52k, in fact I was able to get the original window sticker: 



Pre-COVID-pricing I would guess a little closer to $30k.  That said, others I found with similar mileage (this one had just over 26k miles when I picked it up) were $40k+.  I would think you could get a higher-mileage, V6 unit for about what you guessed though.  It'd be just as good offroad, have all the nice interior stuff (as long as it has the Trailhawk Luxury Group) and be generally just as nice as a DD... but I had to have a Hemi.  This is our 3rd WK2 and all have been Hemis (as mentioned before, we had a '16 High Altitude 5.7, and we still own a '18 Trackhawk w/ the Supercharged 6.2).  

I'd care to say that looks like a pretty good place to spend my time as a daily driver . . .

Indeed, indeed. 

I re-watched the "stair" vid earlier, and I def have some learning to do with wheeling this thing.  I think if I would have just rolled about 10% faster, it would have walked the sections where it struggled a bit.  I wasn't sure how the front and rear bumper clearance would be, so I was taking it too easy I think. 

-TJ