Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire off road capability of grand cherokee

The GC's went to IFS in '05. The 04's are supposed to have the best auto tranny jeep put in them too. We've got a 00 and it's got the typical death wobble in the front end (lots of speculation, from warped rotors to worn front end parts, but no one's come up w/ a good answer) and the heater/AC blend door problem.
I'll be looking for a 04 soon.

But I've taken mine on the difficult rated trails here in CO and it does pretty well. I've got the lever for true 4wd lo.

My cherokee had the Death Wobble. Or maybe it was more of a Death Bounce. So bad you counldnt steer, and bassically had to slow down to a near stop to get it under control.

Took it to a shop and after checking it out the mechanic made an off the wall suggestion to replace the steering dampner. HOLY SCHIT he was right. Drove fairly decent after that.

My first car was a 1974 Scout that would do that, crappy suspension. Amazing we never rolled it.

The Scouts are known for getting metal fatigue where the steering box mounts to the frame. The frame basically "flexes" where the box is mounted. They make a support that connects the driver's side frame rail to the passenger side frame rail to stiffen things up. It actually works. The first time I ever got my '76 Scout up over 60 (before buying the support), I thought I was going to die!!!

That's probably what it was fburgtx.

I hear you bud, they can get pretty [bleep] squirrelly!

Mine was a 1998 Wrangler, 3.07 stock but I changed it to 3.73 and put 31" tires and True Tracs front and rear. I went to 33x10.5 BFG Mud Terrains and it went a lot of places I shouldn't have been able to go.

Hey, I resemble that remark

You should try driving in a Oregon snowstorm with all the California transplant's, thank god for sidewalks and bike lanes

Back on topic - The new Grand Cherokee has a Quadra-Drive II�
"
Quadra-Drive II's active full-time 4WD system is the ultimate for virtually any driving situation. This system uses the Quadra-Trac II� transfer case and Electronic Limited Slip Differentials in both axles, offering excellent tractive performance. Quadra-Drive II also features a 2.72 LOW-RANGE and NEUTRAL."


coupled with a lifetime drivetrain warranty and I wouldn't be afraid to buy one.

Just a guess but, I bet you put a cheap lift on your jeep that didn't have adjustable control arms. As you go up with bigger tires you need to decrease the caster.

If I remember stock they call for something like 7 or 8 degrees or it's 6 or 7 anyways with 35" tires on my wrangler I'm running 4 degrees with no problem at all. If you set up your front end correctly you shouldn't even need a steering dampener.

It's amazing how many people don't get this, including the shops.

I have a 2005 Limited with the 5.7 Hemi. It's the best rig I've ever had. Not one problem in 45K miles, knock on wood. It's great off road and has a terrific 4wd system, the Quadra Drive. The mileage sucks and it's been hit hard by resale value, but I don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon, so that doesn't matter much.

I haven't driven a newer one, but back in the late 70's they were well built. I had 2, a 77 and a 78. Both had a couple design flaws (vapor locking & gas tank problems) but they could get in and out of some hellacious places. They looked like they sat low, but all the stuff underneath was tucked up inside the frame where it was protected. They were higher than they appeared. Then they had a very short turning radius so they were very agile. Both of mine had the full time 4x4 with a locker in the glove box for a full lock. The idiot who put the switch in the glove box should have been whipped with a tow chain. That idea was STUPID.