Think back to a time before econo-box Jeeps with fully independent suspension.
Editor Cappa's favorite pop song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town could be heard blasting from his Wilshire corner office. It was a time when Rubicon Wranglers were just a twinkle in the corner of some Jeep engineer's eye. And the top of the Jeep pig pile was held firmly by a V-8-powered, solid-axle sports car-esque Grand Cherokee with 235 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. If you were like we were, then you would agree that despite the $1.70-a-gallon gas prices of 2001, owning a 4.7L-powered Quadra-Trac II Grand seemed ideal. You could drive it to work, weekend-wheel it, tow your crawler with it, and smoke import tuners at stoplight drag races all day long. The only problem was that no one on the Jp staff could afford the $27,000 to $36,000 entry fee for a WJ in 2001. However, being associated with the magazine, we did occasionally get to drive them. Ten years later, these once-spendy luxo-utes are reaching reasonable used prices. In fact, you can pick up a '99-'04 V-8 4x4 Grand with relatively low mileage for under $8,000. Yay! While these Jeeps are quite capable off-road in stock trim, the off-road aftermarket has not ignored them and there are a few simple mods that you, the WJ owner, can make to tune up your 10-year-old flagship Jeep. Follow along as we mildly lift our own '01 WJ and then add a few simple aftermarket parts to increase the WJ's looks, off-road capabilities, and reliability.
For the hardcore mall crawler...
For the hardcore mall crawler a Grand Cherokee is a great choice, especially if you need to tow a boat, or if you need to look like you tow a boat. The Daystar budget boost is inexpensive and can be used with your stock WJ shocks. That is assuming your 6- to 11-year-old shocks are still in good shape. The idea of a budget boost is that it spaces your stock coil springs just enough to lift your Jeep about 2 inches at all four corners.
We installed the Daystar budget...
We installed the Daystar budget boost in an afternoon and ran it with the stock shocks for a few days both on- and off-road. We figured that the suspension would lack the downtravel that would be available with slightly longer shocks. We also thought off-road performance would suffer, but the Grand seemed even more capable off-road despite the stock-length OEM shocks, thanks to the extra ground clearance.
If your OEM shocks have seen...
If your OEM shocks have seen better days, Daystar offers its Scorpion Performance shocks. Here you can see the difference in length of the front shock. That couple of inches means more downtravel for your Jeep that will help keep the tires on the trail just that much longer. This can easily mean the difference between being stuck or heading back to camp through a very twisty section of trail.
We bolted on a pair of JKS...
We bolted on a pair of JKS Manufacturing bar pin eliminators to our Daystar Scorpion shocks. The bar pin eliminators replace weaker stamped steel bar pins. They are machined out of solid steel and help prevent premature bushing failure and noise.
The tie rod is in a vulnerable...
The tie rod is in a vulnerable position so we decided to upgrade. The JKS Manufacturing tie rod offers strength where you need it off-road. It's made of 11/4-inch x 0.375-wall DOM steel tubing. For comparison the stock WJ piece is made of wimpy 0.125-wall tubing.
Another component we used...
Another component we used is the JKS Manufacturing adjustable track bar. If you lift the front of a WJ or other coil-sprung, solid-axle Jeep, the axle will no longer be centered under the front of the Jeep. The JKS track bar replaces the stock cast part and allows the adjustment necessary to center the front axle under the Jeep after lifting it.
We also added JKS Manufacturing...
We also added JKS Manufacturing sway-bar disconnects. On-road the sway bar prevents body roll in the corners and keeps the car level during turns. Off-road the sway bar can limit flex and make your Jeep more likely to lift tires and lose traction. With the JKS disconnects you can decide if you need the sway bar or not for a given terrain.
We opted for a set of 245/75R16...
We opted for a set of 245/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires that we ordered from Discount Tire Direct. These tires are slightly larger than stock and provide better traction and tougher sidewalls than the mud and snow street tires that came off of our Grand Cherokee. The new tires fit on the factory aluminum Grand wheels. Larger aftermarket tires with more aggressive tread not only make a Jeep like ours look a lot better, they also greatly improve off-road performance and bring added peace of mind in harsh areas like the deserts of the Southwest.