2011 grand cherokee on hells revenge

[Toad]

We did Hell's Revenge this past sunday. We came across two brand new Grand Cherokee on the trail. First thought was who in there right mind would do this. Then we noticed the Michigan manufacturer plates on them. It was suprising what they were going up.

 

[Bear T]

Uhm, what, no spy pics?

 

[Spork]

Doesn't seem to flex very well...

http://jalopnik.com/5460910/2011-grand-cherokee-on-the-rubicon//gallery/1

 

[turbohaulic]

They're pretty nice vehicles but I'd never buy them for wheelin. IMO if you want to wheel a grand get the first years made.

 

[rholbrook]

VW had a thing 3 years ago where you could sign up with them and meet them in Moab for a day or two of beating the crap out of some new Toureges. We found them at lunch time playing at Hell's Gate. They went really well.

 

[N-Smooth]

oh man i need that job!

they flex great for being a "car"

there was a guy in a 05ish WK diesel(awesome) that looked to just have a small lift and maybe 33's doing HR during safari... i was stoked for the guy

 

[mbryson]

Is Hell's Revenge really a test for any vehicle with 4WD and low range? If you play in the tubs, do the Escalator and a few other optional obstacles, yes. Otherwise I'd take my Dodge out on it and not expect any damage. My point is that Hell's has a LOT of traction. ANY vehicle with low range and 4WD will do pretty well on it. There's not a lot of ledges or other things to navigate that would be "rough" on a vehicle.

I'm not sure what trail to recommend to Jeep to prove to me that their new IRS/IFS soccer-mobile is worthy of my $$,$$$.$$, but Hell's Revenge isn't it. IMHO, a stock IRS/IFS rig will have all kinds of issues with any serious trail use. A solid axle rig (with decent tube diameter/strength) will hold up to YEARS more trail use than a "normal" OEM IRS/IFS rig.

This "Jeep" is built for getting to the ski resorts or making mom feel secure while she drives the kids to school (which is most of the market, unfortunately).

 

[turbohaulic]

Is Hell's Revenge really a test for any vehicle with 4WD and low range? If you play in the tubs, do the Escalator and a few other optional obstacles, yes. Otherwise I'd take my Dodge out on it and not expect any damage. My point is that Hell's has a LOT of traction. ANY vehicle with low range and 4WD will do pretty well on it. There's not a lot of ledges or other things to navigate that would be "rough" on a vehicle.

I'm not sure what trail to recommend to Jeep to prove to me that their new IRS/IFS soccer-mobile is worthy of my $$,$$$.$$, but Hell's Revenge isn't it. IMHO, a stock IRS/IFS rig will have all kinds of issues with any serious trail use. A solid axle rig (with decent tube diameter/strength) will hold up to YEARS more trail use than a "normal" OEM IRS/IFS rig.

This "Jeep" is built for getting to the ski resorts or making mom feel secure while she drives the kids to school (which is most of the market, unfortunately).

Well said

 

[N-Smooth]

yeah, agreed. not much of a challenge for anything 4wd to go up giant sandpaper covered domes. the only part that challenges the more "stock" vehicles is the end IMO. i saw a couple people getting stuck at safari. i really liked the old end (the narrow section) before it was changed, way more fun IMO.

jeep obviously didn't design the new model with a hardcore-badass-rockcrawler in mind, i think they are just trying to show it can handle easy
but fun trails just in case there is one on the way to the kid's soccer practice

 

[Toad]

Didnt snap any pictures. Just didnt care enough. Ya there is great traction on the rocks. But with only 4 inches of ground clearance, plastic bumpers that scrap on everything, and tires that have less tread than the ones on my trailer it thought it was still suprising. When we passed them they were on the way back from the turn off to go towards hells gate. They were climbing up that steep hill right before you hook back up the rest of the trail.

 

[Houndoc]

I heard they will have an adjutable air suspension. "Off-road" mode supposedly gains about 2.5" in ground clearance.

More fun little do-dads to a high tech vehicle most will make fun of (just like the VW, H# etc when they all came out, even though they get positive comments when seen in action.)

 

[Unimog]

Same vehicle was on Hell's Revenge the weekend before last. He was showing off the adjustable suspension making it go up and down. Looked like it had the front air dam/bumper molding removed to keep it from getting scraped up. Looks like a nice car - not my style.

 

[mbryson]

I heard they will have an adjutable air suspension. "Off-road" mode supposedly gains about 2.5" in ground clearance.

More fun little do-dads to a high tech vehicle most will make fun of (just like the VW, H# etc when they all came out, even though they get positive comments when seen in action.)

Most of that stuff I wonder about the long term reliability of. Not really making fun of anything, just wondering about long term. I keep my vehicles quite a while, and don't like a lot of the complexity in some of the new systems. K.I.S.S. seems UBER-lost on OEMs the past 10 years or so?

 

[N-Smooth]

leaf springs for life, right? that stuff is neat but thinking about owning it/working on it freaks me out

navigators have air bags like that too, when you turn it off it drops a little to make it easier to get out (and in the next time) and when you put it in 4LO it lifts up a couple inches too. my father-in-law's navi had some problems with the compressor and the air bags losing pressure... which in turn made it into a suprise low rider

Most of that stuff I wonder about the long term reliability of. Not really making fun of anything, just wondering about long term. I keep my vehicles quite a while, and don't like a lot of the complexity in some of the new systems. K.I.S.S. seems UBER-lost on OEMs the past 10 years or so?

 

[mbryson]

leaf springs for life, right? that stuff is neat but thinking about owning it/working on it freaks me out

navigators have air bags like that too, when you turn it off it drops a little to make it easier to get out (and in the next time) and when you put it in 4LO it lifts up a couple inches too. my father-in-law's navi had some problems with the compressor and the air bags losing pressure... which in turn made it into a suprise low rider

I'm not quite sure I'd go to the "leaf springs for life", but if they work for you, why ditch them? I do like link suspensions as there are a LOT of advantages when they are setup correctly. There's a bit of a cost hit, though.

 

[Cody]

Considering Jeep is obviously looking to capture the offroad market with the JK's, I think it's cool that the new grands can at least do SOMETHING offroad. They are a little cushy these days but at least they aren't completely useless on a dirt road like a range rover, X5, any of the euro SUV's, etc etc.

There are a few WK's our there with lifts and what not. They have their problems but the traction control system on them is pretty wicked and with a 3.5" lift and some 33's they make for a pretty comfy expedition type rig.

 

[N-Smooth]

another good point. i have always liked grand's, i am just too comfortable with xj's to not have one... sad but true

i think wk's are nice but the back seat seems to be smaller than that of a zj or wj (iirc) which is weird. i was suprised when i got into the back of one and thought "wow this is like an xj" aka miserable. granted i am not a very good fit for most back seats, being 6'6" and 250 lbs but i was still shocked. i also thought the added angle to the windshield to make it an aerodynamic brick made it seem really small in comparison to that of an xj/zj/wj.

just think, they are just two axle swaps away from being awesome as ****!!!

has anyone swapped a solid front into a WK to your knowledge MR. PRESIDENT?

 

[Greg]

There is a similar report of a couple 2011 Grands that were spotted on the Rubicon Trail with Manuf. plates, I think Off-Road magazine had a small blurb about them. The new Grands were beat to hell, but made it thru apparently.

From what I understand, it's fairly common practice for the Manufacturers, especially Jeep, to bring their new models to Moab for some trail time.

This was from a trip in 2005-

While we were on Hells Revenge, we came across a group being lead by Dan Mick. There were 2 brand new Dodge Dakotas & 2 Jeep Commanders... all with manufacturers plates from Michigan!! I talked to one set of guys & asked them if they were out product testing. Sure enough, they were! They had 2 computers hooked up to the vehicles, watching how they handled the 'extreme' use. Dan claimed the Commanders had front & rear lockers... don't quote me on that though.

 

[Cody]

has anyone swapped a solid front into a WK to your knowledge MR. PRESIDENT?

No, not yet to my knowledge. It sure would be wicked. A diesel WK, SAS with 35's. Count me in.

 

[spencurai]

We caught a film crew on HR with a new Taco doing a commercial, I think this was 4 or 5 years ago. It was hard for us to keep out of their shots which pissed them off a little methinks...oh well, its a public place so screw em. We gave em hell for not doing some more interesting obstacles on the way out.