If Jeep were to make a truck that you could use as a good daily driver, yet still very capable on the trail, this is exactly what I want. I altered these pictures using existing Commander pictures I found online. Note that everything done in this picture was created entirely from the Commander pictures I have at my disposal; no other pieces were used from any other vehicle. Compare this to a regular Commander picture and let me know if you see the differences.Jeremy HaugeVia e-mail
"You and that rock on your finger are the only good-looking things on this stage!"
I was glad to see the note that the DaimlerChrysler employees chose the Patriot (I'm waiting to replace my '01 XJ Cherokee, which just turned over 150,000 miles). But a squib in one of your competitors' current issue describes the Patriot as being "a tad smaller than a Liberty."
Are DaimlerChrysler's designers out of their cotton-picking minds? What Jeep needs is a replacement (i.e. the same dimensions, carrying capacity, wheelbase, and cost) for the Cherokee. Not a WK Grand, which no one wants to use as a workhorse in the weeds and brush, at least for the first year or so. Liberty is already too small for workmen (great for high school kids but lousy cargo capacity for workmen). And who on earth was responsible for the new Grand's front steering arm which rules out larger off-road tires (never mind the IFS!)?
Jeep, which brags it "wrote the book," missed out on the 15 most profitable years in American automotive history by not producing a pickup when every person between the ages of 15 and 65 was lining up to buy them. No one ever lined up to buy a Comanche. Now, just as the mega-SUV era is collapsing, Jeep comes out with the Commander! What are these guys smoking? The Cherokee was one of the best-selling SUVs of all time and, while it may have been in production 18 years, it should have been (and should be) replaced by something comparable. Grand Cherokee, Commander, Liberty, Compass, Patriot, and Wrangler do not fill that niche. So after four new Cherokees, it looks like the suits are about to force me back to a Toyota 4-Runner (of which I had three great ones before switching to the Cherokee). No wonder Detroit is going down the tubes.David PassageWashington, D.C.
Thanks for the tip about using Grand Cherokee coils on Cherokees. After putting a winch on the front of my '92 Cherokee, which already had a 2-inch spacer lift, the front end sat low. I went to my local you-pull-it junkyard and for $10 I got a pair of '95 Grand Cherokee front coils. These lifted the front of my Jeep an additional 11 1/48 inch. It sits level now! Thanks.Todd MartzPeyton, Colorado
You're obviously not the right person to rant at over the poor quality of your sister publication, Four Wheeler, but since I didn't expect any satisfaction from them, and because you say you're desperate for mail, here goes. I bought the November '05 issue of Four Wheeler mainly because they said it had some kind of "History of the Jeep" poster in it. The whole thing (magazine and Jeep poster) was packaged in a sealed plastic bag, but through the plastic I could see "Do it Yourself! Quick & Easy Installs - Trail-Tough Winch, and so on." Sounds interesting until you pay your money, open the bag, and discover that (for example) the winch do-it-yourself article is actually one photo and a paragraph at the top of page 66. Yes, it's a DIY - the guys at some garage called Cerritos Hummer did it all by themselves. The other "installs" noted on the cover were likewise mostly drive it in, drop it off, and hand us your Visa card when you come to pick it up. I won't even start about the whole idea of doing anything to a Hummer, except to say that nobody I know owns one, and nobody I know could afford to own one, much less modify it. The Jeep poster was no hell, either.
Anyway, that's what I get for being sucked into buying something (besides milk) in a sealed plastic container. Jp, on the other hand, has no need to hide its lameness inside a sealed bag. It's common knowledge. Just kidding, your magazine is excellent! Every issue is a goldmine. I especially liked the June '05 issue. The tech article on traction-adding devices ("Traction-Adder Tidings") was first class, only partly because it confirmed my existing prejudice in favor of the Detroit True-Trac. I'm hoping to add one (or even two) of these to my just-bought '00 Cherokee (I've had a '91 XJ for the past eight years as well, with a spring lift and 31-inch tires, but it's headed for the wrecking yard, I'm afraid). We're lucky to have a magazine dedicated to Jeeps that is more than just a photo gallery. Keep up the great work! Oh, and congrats on making the Top Truck Challenge cut. I hope you stomped 'em!John ThompsonVia e-mail
Ummm, you aren't by chance the John Thompson that was the old Editor of Four Wheeler were ya?...Nah, he hated me and Jp Magazine.