BorellaFamilyAdventures
Member
Hello Adventurers!
Some of you may have seen the previous build we did with our Nissan Pathfinder over the past 4ish years. It was fun and capable but we wanted something nicer to drive with better fuel consumption and a bit more towing.
Vehicle Description: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Ecodiesel
Build Objective: Self Sustained Overland/Adventure Rig with 500 miles of range on the factory tank!
Challenge: the Jeep has a 24.8 US Gallon fuel tank. The aftermarket tanks are not compatible because of the DEF tank that hangs under the spare tire. This means I need to create a rig that is capable of 20.16MPG US. The factory rating is 21 City and 28 Highway.
Protection: The previous rig was equipped with the ARB Bullbar and I LOVED it but it was heavy and I never ended up hitting any animals or protestors as expected. I did see several uses for the higher clearance and the upgraded protection from below. I opted for the Chief Products Off Road Winch Bumper. I currently have no winch installed and not really sure if I will ever install a winch but it's in the cards. The bumper has an upgraded bash plate that was then matched with an upgraded bash plate for the transmission and transfer case. The bumper and skid plates have had minimal effects on MPG's. Rock rails are not a necessary purchase at this time because they came on mine from the factory. I know there is no "Kick out" but that hasn't been to much of an issue so far. With the more aggressive tire that are necessary to conquer the trails, I knew debris hitting the paint would be an issue. The factory mud glass were way to small and didn't offer enough protection when throwing items when the wheels were turned. RokBlokz standard offered about 1-2"more coverage side to side and were fairly easy to install.
View attachment IMG_0677.jpeg
Cargo Management: The WK2 platform has limited options for roof carrying abilities so the choices are simple. I knew I was going to use the roof top tent that I had previously installed on my Pathfinder, so I needed a full-length roof rack. The Offroad Animal rack seemed to check all of the boxes. It offer the most amount of length/width without drilling new holes in the roof. The WK2 is known for weak attachment points to the roof so they designed the base mounts to carry most of the weight in the drip recess. Buyer beware! This is not a quiet rack. Several people reported that it was but later realized that they used tape and other extras to cover excessive holes and openings. This took a massive 3-4 MPGs from the total. There is a strong chance that this rack will be swapped for something different.
Lighting: No changes or add on lights just yet...
Tires: This has been the biggest pain point of the vehicle. The tire makes or breaks your experience with any vehicle because you use it every mile you drive it. I tried the Falken WildPeak AT4w. Noisey. I then went to the BFG TA KO2 and it was slightly better but just barely. I drove these tires for about 26k miles before my ears couldn't take any more. I brought the rig to Jeep and had them check the alignment from the 3rd party that had done it twice prior. They stated it was quite a bit out and they could see what they did. Turns out, that the shop didn't know to engage the "Alignment Mode" for the air suspension and when they attempted to lift the front or rear the suspension would adjust as it should. I ATE the BFGs up to the point of no return. The national dealer I purchased them and all my tires from since the age of 16, gave me a credit for the trade in and suggested I go with the Nitto Terra Grappler G3's in an XL Load. The rating would be a more compliant ride, and the noise would be mostly muted. Well, let me be the first to say the tire renewed my love for this Jeep. Its extremely quite and even with the 265/65R18 (+1) I can still get my MPG's into the mid 20's fully loaded. We are still on target.
More Details to follow in subsequent posts.
Some of you may have seen the previous build we did with our Nissan Pathfinder over the past 4ish years. It was fun and capable but we wanted something nicer to drive with better fuel consumption and a bit more towing.
Vehicle Description: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Ecodiesel
Build Objective: Self Sustained Overland/Adventure Rig with 500 miles of range on the factory tank!
Challenge: the Jeep has a 24.8 US Gallon fuel tank. The aftermarket tanks are not compatible because of the DEF tank that hangs under the spare tire. This means I need to create a rig that is capable of 20.16MPG US. The factory rating is 21 City and 28 Highway.
Exterior Build:
Protection: The previous rig was equipped with the ARB Bullbar and I LOVED it but it was heavy and I never ended up hitting any animals or protestors as expected. I did see several uses for the higher clearance and the upgraded protection from below. I opted for the Chief Products Off Road Winch Bumper. I currently have no winch installed and not really sure if I will ever install a winch but it's in the cards. The bumper has an upgraded bash plate that was then matched with an upgraded bash plate for the transmission and transfer case. The bumper and skid plates have had minimal effects on MPG's. Rock rails are not a necessary purchase at this time because they came on mine from the factory. I know there is no "Kick out" but that hasn't been to much of an issue so far. With the more aggressive tire that are necessary to conquer the trails, I knew debris hitting the paint would be an issue. The factory mud glass were way to small and didn't offer enough protection when throwing items when the wheels were turned. RokBlokz standard offered about 1-2"more coverage side to side and were fairly easy to install.
View attachment IMG_0677.jpeg
Cargo Management: The WK2 platform has limited options for roof carrying abilities so the choices are simple. I knew I was going to use the roof top tent that I had previously installed on my Pathfinder, so I needed a full-length roof rack. The Offroad Animal rack seemed to check all of the boxes. It offer the most amount of length/width without drilling new holes in the roof. The WK2 is known for weak attachment points to the roof so they designed the base mounts to carry most of the weight in the drip recess. Buyer beware! This is not a quiet rack. Several people reported that it was but later realized that they used tape and other extras to cover excessive holes and openings. This took a massive 3-4 MPGs from the total. There is a strong chance that this rack will be swapped for something different.
Lighting: No changes or add on lights just yet...
Tires: This has been the biggest pain point of the vehicle. The tire makes or breaks your experience with any vehicle because you use it every mile you drive it. I tried the Falken WildPeak AT4w. Noisey. I then went to the BFG TA KO2 and it was slightly better but just barely. I drove these tires for about 26k miles before my ears couldn't take any more. I brought the rig to Jeep and had them check the alignment from the 3rd party that had done it twice prior. They stated it was quite a bit out and they could see what they did. Turns out, that the shop didn't know to engage the "Alignment Mode" for the air suspension and when they attempted to lift the front or rear the suspension would adjust as it should. I ATE the BFGs up to the point of no return. The national dealer I purchased them and all my tires from since the age of 16, gave me a credit for the trade in and suggested I go with the Nitto Terra Grappler G3's in an XL Load. The rating would be a more compliant ride, and the noise would be mostly muted. Well, let me be the first to say the tire renewed my love for this Jeep. Its extremely quite and even with the 265/65R18 (+1) I can still get my MPG's into the mid 20's fully loaded. We are still on target.
More Details to follow in subsequent posts.
