Commander or H3 (different question)

[Delirious]

I'm considering purchasing either as my daily driver and light trail rig.

Unfortunately I have not been in or around either of them haha.

Simple question, which vehicle has the greatest distance between the top of the seat and the floor?

Im not a huge person only (6') but I prefer to sit more upright rather than spread out like in a small car. A back injury has made it quite uncomfortable for me to sit with my knees higher than my hips for very long.

My current vehicle is a 2003 dodge Dakota with corbeau seats and a custom bracket that puts them roughly 2" higher than stock seats, even that is uncomfortable...

Also, obviously why I came here... What vehicle would you say is a better platform to start an overland build with?

It will be slow but I plan (and am capable of) swapping in solid axles and other fabrication to make MY ideal vehicle.

Honestly I'm leaning towards the hummer due to the large wheel wells and ability to maintain a lower cog with larger tires. But the seat thing REALLY is an issue for me.

Thanks
Del

 

[bfdiesel]

Tape measure, and butt time at a couple dealerships will be your best bet, but I am leaning toward both being shorter than you want them to be.

 

[D45]

I owned a Jeep Commander for about two years and hated it.........would never suggestion buying one

 

[Eric S.]

I have an 06 Commander with the Hemi. Have owned it for a little over a year and really love it. I am also planning an SAS, hopefully in the next year I'll be swapping on an 241OR transfercase and D60 front and 14B rear. It looks like everything will fit but it will be a big job. In stick form there are just too many sensors and electronics for me, often there are problems with them but I always planned on gutting it anyway so it it just motivation In hindsight I think it would have been easier to start with w 2wd Hemi, then swap in a transfercase and SAS. less computers to sort our off the bat and your get a D44 rear.

"Simple question, which vehicle has the greatest distance between the top of the seat and the floor? "
The seat has a LOT of adjustment. I adjusted the seat as flat as it will go (very near horizontal) and adjusting so my feet could reach the pedals the seat to floor measurement was about 12". I am 5' 10" and it felt fine sitting there.

 

[getlost4x4]

i had a commander and built bumpers for them. i bought it with 20K miles on it and drove it until it had 90K miles. by the end the front end was trashed and had all kinds of noises coming from the front end, the transmission was dying, and the t-case was making weird noises anytime we shifted into low. they are really heavy vehicles.

They are comfortable and do pretty well off road until you get in snow or mud. make sure you have a winch on the front.

i went and test drove a 2010 the other day just for fun. and realized after owning a Range Rover for the last 3 years, the windows and visabilty suck ***. the interior plastic is ugly and the fake leather sucks. and they look a bit gay now with the noise in the down position.


I've also driven and ridden in hummers. H1, H2 and H3. I hate them. The H3 feels like a cheap piece of crap. the things do not wear well past 100K miles.

 

[Eaglefreek]

Don't hold back getlost, tell us what you really think. A good friend of mine has a Commander. He bought it brand new when he thought he was moving to Colorado, but wound up staying in south Florida. It's his wife's daily driver and he said it is probably the worst vehicle purchase he has ever made. They have had nothing but problems with it. Besides the horrible MPG, it has mostly been interior issues and a water leak into the interior that the dealer has never been able to fix.

 

[getlost4x4]

just being honest. i used mine a lot off road as a company test vehicle for new products.

my Range Rover is no gem, but it handles off-road situations much better. easier to lift, easier to work on. gas mileage still sucks. traction control is a million miles better even though it is 6 years older then my old commander.

 

[telemike]

I have an H3. I have the adventure package with rear locker, 4:1 transfer case, 33's and I5 engine. Comfortable on highways, doesn't like mountain switchbacks :-(. It has good ground clearance and approach/departure angles. I have done some rock crawling and it does good despite size. My wife loves it

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[bob91yj]

I worked at a Jeep/GMC dealership when the Commanders were new. Being a die hard Jeep guy I was really disappointed with the issues I saw on the Commander.

I've seen far less issues with any of the H3 variants than I did with the Commander.

 

[dddonkey]

I had a Commander and loved it. If you buy one make sure it had the QDII so you get the lockers, it will have the tag right below the shifter. I too have back problems and have had replacement disc surgery so I know how you feel. My was lifted 2" with goodyear duratracs and I had the rocky mountain edition. The only other mod was extra skid plates, and that thing went almost everywhere, but it only got 12-14mpg. The only reason the wife and I sold it was her commute changed from working at home to 40 miles one way. I still miss the commander and would not have any issues buying one again. Drive them both and see which one feels better to you.

 

[Bayou Boy]

If you get the H3, attempt to locate an Alpha edition. It has the 5.3 V8. I got 20mpg stock on the highway with a ton of power in an 03 ex cab Z71 so I bet it would rock in that smaller body.

Actually, I always thought that an H3T Alpha would be the perfect truck for most doing what we do here. Power, mid size, fits real size tires stock...

 

[telemike]

With an H3, you can fit 35's with just a crank of the bars

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