Spieg's 2004 Grand Cherokee Overland

[spieg]

Here it was stock, the day I bought it with 43,xxx miles:
http://unruliness.com/spieg/jeep/jeep.jpg

And here is how it sits today, just shy of 120,000 miles, 3" IRO lift with bilsteins, tenneco steering stabilizer, addco rear sway bar, 245/75-16 goodyear duratracs, and some other crap:
http://www.unruliness.com/spieg/jeep/lift/DSC06161%20copy.jpg

[NytroMike]

Hey there. Great looking jeep! I actually just bought the exact same jeep down to the color and year. I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on lift and wheels. And maybe tell me a little about your offroading experiance with it. I replaced an old 84 cherokee that i wheeled the hell out of and cant wait to do the same with this one. Let me know...... -mike

[spieg]

Thanks! As far as a lift goes, I couldnt be happier with the IRO 3". I daily drive mine about 80 miles a day. Im glad I didnt go any taller for that reason alone, its a little sloppier on the highway in wind than it was before the lift. If I wasnt daily driving it, I wouldve gone with their front long arms and jumped to 4" and maybe even 6". Im running 31" Duractracs and I dont think theres a better all around tire made right now. They are wearing even and still running very quiet given how aggressive they are. Every bit as quiet as an AT. And they have twice as much traction offroad. My wheels are just stock silverblades that I had powdercoated. As far as offroad goes, the skinny pedal is your friend. Quadra drive transfers power based on wheel spin. As wheels spin, it moves power to wheels that arent spinning. So when you start to get stuck, stomp the gas. That applies to about 90% of all situations. Low range is pretty much useless to me. It locks the front and rear diffs in a 50/50 split which generally doesnt help in slippery situations at all. Its also low enough that its too low for mud, sand, or anything else weve got around here for the most part. I guess its good for pulling trees out of the ground, and getting F-250 duallies unstuck, but those are the only legitimate uses ive found for mine. I dont exactly baby mine, and so far its treating me pretty good. No major problems other than a rear main thats recently started leaking.

[spieg]

Oh, one addition, the skid plates are adequate for most stuff, but the tow hook brackets suck. The tow hooks themselves are pretty strong, but the brackets are very weak and bend EVERY time I actually need to use them for recovery. Although, in their defense, when I get stuck, I dont mess around and usually bury the frame.

[NytroMike]

Great! THanks for all the info. I cant wait to get this thing out and see what it can do. Any experiance with climbing? Any rock crawling or off camber trail rides? And you said the wheels are factory silverblades. they are the wheels that come on the overland? Mine look like the ones in your before picture. are they 17's? You got any close up pics of them? Also any rubbing at all? Thanks again man.

[spieg]

Its got enough power to climb just about anywhere as long as there is traction. In slippery stuff, keep it in high and go heavy on the gas. In high traction areas, low range can help for climbing if we are talking ridiculously steep stuff. Otherwise just keep it in high and let it rip. Itll get you there. Ive done so little rock crawling im not even going to consider it rock crawling. But it should do fine. Keep the diffs serviced well, use the factory friction modifier and fluid, and you should be ok in most scenarios. Off camber itll go further than you feel comfortable. I havent rolled yet. Mine will walk test hill at silverlake sideways without rolling over, but it doesnt feel right to me. Disconnect the swaybars and all bets are off, though. I sold my overland wheels (rogue chrome clad) and picked up some silverblades. Then I had them powdercoated. I liked the look of black wheels but didnt want the added weight of steel wheels. They are 16" wheels which allows for a little more rubber around them. When I aired down my 17"s I could never get them to buldge, there just wasnt enough sidewall. The 31"s on 16 inch rims buldge nice. There is no rubbing anywhere, ever. Ive never disconnected the swaybar up front, and if i did the front might rub the fender liner a bit at full flex, but with everything connected ive never rubbed even with some moderate wheeling.

Heres a close up of the wheel/tire combo:
http://www.unruliness.com/spieg/jeep/mounted.jpg

[bayouguy]

Oh, one addition, the skid plates are adequate for most stuff, but the tow hook brackets suck. The tow hooks themselves are pretty strong, but the brackets are very weak and bend EVERY time I actually need to use them for recovery. Although, in their defense, when I get stuck, I dont mess around and usually bury the frame.

I have seen him wheel / bury this in person--he ain't kiddin'. I don't have much room to talk if we all remember the water hole @ Kids in the Mud.
Seriously though--I have and 04 Laredo with 2" BB and 31s--I rarely rub. Those tow hook mounts are weak--one of mine is bent too.
Does the overland come with T-case skid? If it doesn't they don't cost that much and are piece of mind.

[spieg]

Those tow hook mounts are weak--one of mine is bent too.
Does the overland come with T-case skid? If it doesn't they don't cost that much and are piece of mind.
The best way ive found to straighten them is to remove the tow hook, get the biggest wrench that you can fit inside of the bolts, install the tow hook over the top of the wrench, and then use it for leverage to straighten them out. Push it with as much force as it takes to break a wrench minus 2 or 3 foot pounds. It might take breaking a wrench or two to get it just right. These days I just leave mine all googly eyed. I got sick of trying to straighten them and sick of breaking wrenches. T-case skid plate does come standard on the overland. And its definitely worth the money for those that dont have it. It gets more use than any of the other skid plates on my jeep.

[NytroMike]

Ya that tire/wheel combo looks really nice. but i do plan on doing alot more climbing and crawling than mudding so i think im gonna try and find me some steel wheels just for the extra strength. Im so stoked about taking this thing out and seeing what it can do, it will be soon to lol. thanks for all the info guys.

[spieg]

Just keep in mind, steel wheels bend easy. Alloy wheels dont bend, they break. Its a lot easier to bend a steel wheel bad enough to blow a bead than it is to break an alloy wheel. Dont let me talk you out of it, im just saying...

[NytroMike]

that does make a lot of sense. well i went out and got me some wheels and tires today. cannot mount them all yet until i get my lift :( but 31 mt's on a 15" wheel. they stick out about 3 inches past the fender's . here is a pic. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad286/Brewman454/Mobile%20Uploads/0_1.jpg

[NytroMike]

if the picture doesn't work its cause i did it from my phone. ill fix it when i get back home

[spieg]

Nice, just dont turn very sharp! I wonder why mine didnt have the "trail rated" badges. Weird.

[chadsmeltzer]

if the picture doesn't work its cause i did it from my phone. ill fix it when i get back home

I fixed it.

Looks good, I love the looks of WJ's with big tires.

[NytroMike]

thanks! yea now its back on the factory's for now till i get the lift on it. i couldn't even turn the wheel cause it was tryin to pull off the bumper lol. but im thinkin about the 4" rough country lift off there website. good or bad ?

[NytroMike]

Nice, just dont turn very sharp! I wonder why mine didnt have the "trail rated" badges. Weird. not sure why it didn't mine is only on the drivers side.

[chadsmeltzer]

Nice, just dont turn very sharp! I wonder why mine didnt have the "trail rated" badges. Weird.

I think they only did them in 04, yours might be an early 04 and didn't get a badge.

[spieg]

thanks! yea now its back on the factory's for now till i get the lift on it. i couldn't even turn the wheel cause it was tryin to pull off the bumper lol. but im thinkin about the 4" rough country lift off there website. good or bad ?
Id take my IRO 3" over the RC 4" but thats just me. Lots of guys out there are running the RC 4" and happy with it. Look up ezflip on here, im pretty sure thats the kit he is running.

[skoalman269]

i got the same set of wheels on mine

[ezflip]

thanks! yea now its back on the factory's for now till i get the lift on it. i couldn't even turn the wheel cause it was tryin to pull off the bumper lol. but im thinkin about the 4" rough country lift off there website. good or bad ?

I have the 4" Rough Country x-series kit. I love it! Do not get their base 4" kit as it comes with fixed control arms and a weak track bar bracket instead of all adjustable parts. For the price, it is the most complete 4" short arm lift out there. And for the price, its not that much more, if at all, than the 3" from IRO. By the time you add everything to the IRO kit that comes with the RC-X kit (ie. adjustable front lower control arms, adjustable track bar, quick discos, and a decent set of shocks) the IRO kit actually comes out to more than what the RC-X kit costs.

If you have an account on jeepforum.com, you can shoot a pm to casanova4x4. He is an RC vendor and hooked me up with an awesome deal on my kit. The kit runs $750 on RC's website + shipping. Casanova4x4 got me the kit and a steering stabilizer shipped to my door for $680.

The ride with this kit is awesome. Its just a bit stiffer than stock, but then again, its not a Cadillac. Its not supposed float. :bud: Also, since the control arms and track bar are adjustable, thats less you have to upgrade if you ever decide to go higher. The only thing I would suggest adding to the kit, if you have the money, would be front upper adjustable control arms. Otherwise, if you want it to ride like a Cadillac, you can always upgrade to long arms. But then you are talking about another $600 or so.

[NytroMike]

well it took long enough but i got the lift and tires on. went with the 4" RC x-series kit. loving it so far. taking it out labor day weekend for the first time. http://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/15/57/32/96/jeep511.jpg

[ezflip]

Nice! Make your own build thread so we arent hijacking Speigs.

BTW, is your rear sway bar connected in that pic? It is clear the front isnt, But Im pretty sure I dont get that much flex out of the rear with it connected. Then again, I am running an addco, so its not gonna flex as much as the stock one. Im planning on discoing the rear as well as the front when I hit up the bad lands next weekend.

[chadsmeltzer]

I don't know about WJ's, but with TJ's it is strongly recommended to keep the rear swaybar connected on AND offroad.

[chadsmeltzer]

So Spieg, still love your tires? How many miles do you have on them and how are they wearing?
I will most likely need new tires when I finish the D44 and while I don't love the look of these tires, when they are 12.5" wide they look pretty aggressive. I have heard nothing but good things about them on road/snow/ice/rain and have seem some impressive mud pictures. I'm really curious about how they do in rocks though.

Only downside is for 315/75/16, they are load range E. They are about $50 cheaper then my MTR/K though, per tire.