Little Red- 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD- Texas Expo Rig

[dmolson92]

Howdy Everyone!
Longtime lurker here. Finally decided to document the buildup of my WK! My wife, our dog, and I love to explore! We live and work out at Camp Eagle, which is a non profit Christian Outdoor Adventure Youth Camp. We are out west of Kerrville on the Nueces River! It's an awesome job! I've been bit by the expo bug for awhile and my wife finally caught it!

When we first got married I had a 2012 JKUR with the manual. I LOVED IT! My wife never got the hang of the manual, so we traded it for a Ford Excursion. Turns out buying a 6.0 means 6.0 problems. After leaving us stranded half a dozen times, I was done with that 6.0 and posted it for sale on Craigslist. Within a week, it was sold! I then started looking for a Grand Cherokee and lucked upon a DIESEL one in San Antonio! Great shape and totally stock!
Here she is in November 2015:

Well, I HATED how it road stock. The diesel motor had worn the front suspension out, so I purchased OME HD kit with Bilstein Shocks. Rusty's rear track bar and 2 inch rear coil spacers were added as well! Modified OME.
Here she is with some old Nitto's I had from some project:



The Nitto's road like crap, so I began searching for some JK Rubi wheels and purchased some Toyo AT/II's in the 285/75r17 flavor. I also purchased some 1.25" wheel spacers. Got all that installed!




We also got a Rola roof rack for Christmas!




This is pretty much how she sat since January! Work got crazy busy with a new position for me and lots of construction going on! Recently, a friend here got a YJ and he has the expo bug too and we are planning some fall trips! So I went on a buying binge this week and purchased some much needed items!

On Order:
JBA UCA's
Steel Armadillo Front Skid Plate
Steel Armadillo Front Shackle Mounts
Steel Armadillo Switch Plate
LED Pods for surround and backup lighting
LED Lights for rock lights
OME MD Front and Rear Springs. (HD TOO STIFF)
Kamp-Rite Kwik Set Table, Silver
Camco 57293 Deluxe Grilling Table
Coleman Camp Propane Grill/Stove

To be ordered:
Volcano 3 Grill
Recovery Gear
Awning

Still Deciding:
Roof Top Tent
GDE Hot Tune w/ delete
Rest of my kitchen gear

This is a Daily Driver and needs to be able to make Houston and Little Rock runs every so often (family). I am also seeking to be able to quickly load up and head to Big Bend, New Mexico, or even SW Colorado! I will take any and all suggestions! I also appreciate any comments! I love this forum and have learned so much from y'all!

 

[jpat30]

Howdy and welcome to the portal. My family loves Camp Eagle; my son did the discipleship program after his Sophomore and Junior years and will be off to Glorieta for walkabout this fall. I thought some of the background in those pics looked familiar. Welcome once again and good looking jeep by the way.

 

[Comanche Scott]

That is one awesome WK! :victory:

One of my favorite design features of the WK is how short the overhang is, front and rear. So nice when going up / down over ledges or rocks.
Since it is a daily driver, it might be more advantageous to skip the GDE, and keep it running stock. Just my thought, based on if it has to go to the dealer for repairs.
Maybe take that money, and use it to figure out a good way to store all the gear.
Something else to consider is an electric fridge/freezer. Oh man is that ever a luxury to have!

I bought a utensil kit from Amazon that has been working out great. I'm no chef, by any means, but this seems pretty complete, very durable, easy to clean and takes up little space.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BRC71XY/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I added these tongs, which fit into the utensil kit bag as well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LF6SRY/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looking forward to following along with your build and adventures! :beer:

 

[dmolson92]

Howdy and welcome to the portal. My family loves Camp Eagle; my son did the discipleship program after his Sophomore and Junior years and will be off to Glorieta for walkabout this fall. I thought some of the background in those pics looked familiar. Welcome once again and good looking jeep by the way.

Man that's so awesome! It's so beautiful out here and so many roads to explore and see where they end! I am excited for him to do the Walkabout program. He will love it! You ever want to come spend some time out here, lemme know!

 

[dmolson92]

That is one awesome WK! :victory:

One of my favorite design features of the WK is how short the overhang is, front and rear. So nice when going up / down over ledges or rocks.
Since it is a daily driver, it might be more advantageous to skip the GDE, and keep it running stock. Just my thought, based on if it has to go to the dealer for repairs.
Maybe take that money, and use it to figure out a good way to store all the gear.
Something else to consider is an electric fridge/freezer. Oh man is that ever a luxury to have!

I bought a utensil kit from Amazon that has been working out great. I'm no chef, by any means, but this seems pretty complete, very durable, easy to clean and takes up little space.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BRC71XY/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I added these tongs, which fit into the utensil kit bag as well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LF6SRY/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looking forward to following along with your build and adventures! :beer:

Thanks for this. I will prolly leave it stock at least until the dpf takes a dump on me or my swirl motor goes to heck.

I would Love a fridge/freezer, but that will be a tax return purchase prolly! =D For now, I have a knockoff yeti (Igloo brand) that I just pre ice and use some dry ice.

THat GSI kit looks pretty great! Guess it needs to be in my Amazon cart then!

 

[jpat30]

Man that's so awesome! It's so beautiful out here and so many roads to explore and see where they end! I am excited for him to do the Walkabout program. He will love it! You ever want to come spend some time out here, lemme know!

Will definitely be taking you up on that offer...

 

[SSF556]

Go GDE Eco Tune...it will change your world...it is a great way to make up for bigger tires and just a heavier vehicle...fully loaded you will be over 6200 pounds....the tune in my minded is needed. Just go ahead and eliminate the swirl motor now....

Nice build and always nice to see another CRD on the forum.

 

[dmolson92]

Go GDE Eco Tune...it will change your world...it is a great way to make up for bigger tires and just a heavier vehicle...fully loaded you will be over 6200 pounds....the tune in my minded is needed. Just go ahead and eliminate the swirl motor now....

Nice build and always nice to see another CRD on the forum.

Did you delete your dpf? I am really wanting to do the tune, just don't have time to run down to my family's shop and make a new exhaust setup.

Thanks man, I'm working on making it nice!

 

[dmolson92]

Guess what came in today!

First Bach of Steel Armadillo goodies! Shackle mounts and switch plate mount.

And the shop manager, O'Reilly, stopped by to inspect!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lecoq]

Love the build so far. Any trimming with the 34" tires?

 

[dmolson92]

Thanks man! She's def a work in progress.

On the front I have 1.5" wheel spacers and had to do the pinch weld mod along with using some self tapping screws to push the plastic fender back. In the rear, I will be doing the fender mod this coming weekend when I'm installing some other goodies. If the brown Santa (ups) brings me my toys on time!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[expoxj]

Nice! I Just picked up a CRD wk a couple weeks ago. I'm not far from your family in little rock, I'm up here in Fayetteville. If you ever make it out to explorer some in Arkansas let me know.