Our family Adventure WJ "Dinosaur"

Bretthn

Explorer
With all of the information and ideas I have stolen from other members on the forum I figured I should start a build thread of my own. Hopefully it can help or inspire someone else.
This will be my daily driver as well as the family adventure rig for me, my wife, and 4 year old daughter. Hopefully our adventures will eventually progress into some off the beaten path multi-night expeditions.
About Dinosaur as my daughter has named it.
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
4.7 liter v8 gasoline engine
QuadraDrive system with front and rear verilock axles
130,000 miles
This is the only photo that I have from when I bought it stock in March 2012.
IMG_0534.jpg
How it currently sits.
View attachment 102332
 
Last edited:

Bretthn

Explorer
Maintenance items

The first things I took care of when I bought it were the basic maintenance items like oil and filter, air filter and spark plugs. I also upgraded the extremely tired battery terminals to some that we used to use on HMMWVs when I was in the military.
c7b4774c.jpg
df69a0fa.jpg
f5df5911.jpg
I eventually added a new DieHard Platinum group 65 with 930 cold cranking amps. I also found some great terminal covers. I may eventually add a second battery but for now this thing should be fine.
ba41f567.jpg
1900eff9.jpg
 
Last edited:

Bretthn

Explorer
New Suspension

After hours of reading and searching about lift, tire size, comfort, and load handling capabilities I made a decision. I chose to go with Old Man Emu HD, 936 front and 945 rear. They provide 2.5-3 inches of lift.
20697188.jpg
a978752e.jpg
I also replaced all 8 spring isolators as mine were extremely worn and probably contributed to at least .5 inch loss in ride height before replacing.
4d6f343e.jpg
I replaced the steering stabilizer with a Moog Super Trail Boss, and put in a JKS adjustable track bar.
d6ba1a52.jpg
I ordered some Bilstein 5100 shocks and cannot wait to get the rears, the fronts have arrived but the rears have been on back order since before I ordered mine.
1c41eb33.jpg
From what I have read the wait will be worth it. Everything else has been installed. I ordered everything at the same time and got a killer deal from Nick with Kolak Performance and Offroad. He is the owner and a really nice guy who talked to me by phone for over an hour answering questions about what I need and don't need when I placed my order.
 

Bretthn

Explorer
nice and clean battery posts looking good

Thank you, I used marine grade lugs soldered on the factory cables and adhesive lined heat shrink before re-wrapping in the factory split loom and then with electrical tape. Also these terminal covers are made specifically for these terminals so they fit pretty well. The engine bay would have to be fully submerged before any water would get into the connection to cause corrosion. I may eventually upgrade the wires as well since they used 6awg from the factory. It can wait until I work out a dual battery setup though.
 

Bretthn

Explorer
Tires

I was really torn on tires but eventually chose the Nitto Terra Grappler based on the performance vs treadwear. I have read many people getting over 70,000 miles out of a set. I went with 245/70r17 since this is the largest tire that will fit in the factory spare tire well. The matching spare is more important due to the QuadraDrive so I will be on a 5 tire rotation.
567c38ca.jpg
5873ed24.jpg
I could have fit a 265/65r17 which is the same diameter but a little wider but wanted the narrower tire for economy and also the wider tire would have made the spare tire floor stick up a little. I am pretty pleased with the lift height and tire size since I wanted something that would look factory to unknowing people. I think this is the way it should have come off the line.
f2dd9d9a.jpg
bd65ec04.jpg
22febebd.jpg
c23c4aa9.jpg
e68005eb.jpg
0a3862a2.jpg
This is how Dinosaur sits for now. Please leave comments and suggestions. I will continue to update.
 
Last edited:

tizzdizz

Geologist
I love that color. Mine is charcoal, which I like, but I wish I could have found one in your color when I was shopping for mine. That's a great stance, and it looks like you did a lot of research in choosing top quality suspension components. Did you determine how much lift you wound up with over stock?
 

Septu

Explorer
Damn that's a sexy jeep! I love my JKU, but if they hadn't made a 4 dr wrangler, one of these would have been my next choice.
 

Bretthn

Explorer
I love that color. Mine is charcoal, which I like, but I wish I could have found one in your color when I was shopping for mine. That's a great stance, and it looks like you did a lot of research in choosing top quality suspension components. Did you determine how much lift you wound up with over stock?
Thanks, I love my Jeep but would have loved charcoal even better, it is my favorite color on any vehicle.:drool: I was at about 17.5" center axle to fender in front and 18.5" rear, I am now at 20 3/4 front and rear. The great thing is when loaded up with a couple hundred pounds of gear in the back while hauling a utility trailer full of funiture from Boone, NC to Winston Salem, NC the thing still sat at the same height and rode as if there was no load at all. I think stock should have been 17" and 19" so I chalk that up to spring isolator sag which is why I changed mine out.
Damn that's a sexy jeep! I love my JKU, but if they hadn't made a 4 dr wrangler, one of these would have been my next choice.
Thanks, I looked at a lot of vehicles before deciding on this, unfortunately the 4 door Wranglers were not in my range.

nice jeep, looks like we both did the same mods first, hood struts and new terminal clamps, haha
You only had to do hood struts! I had to replace hood, hatch, and hatch glass. The hood was just first priority. Thanks for the kind words.
 

alexfm

Explorer
Your WJ looks great. I'd love to have one someday, just don't have the cash for one right now. That lift looks great too, looks factory, and I love that. :D My XJ is the same way, for now. I also really like those battery terminals. I may have to do something like that when it comes time for a new battery for my rig.
 

Bretthn

Explorer
Your WJ looks great. I'd love to have one someday, just don't have the cash for one right now. That lift looks great too, looks factory, and I love that. :D My XJ is the same way, for now. I also really like those battery terminals. I may have to do something like that when it comes time for a new battery for my rig.

Thanks, the factory look was what I was going for. How do you like your front receiver? I am thinking about installing one for a front recovery point and lower radiator protection.
 

Bretthn

Explorer
Off Road

So I am both proud and ashamed to admit that my 4 year old has done more offroad driving in the Jeep than I have.:) I have heard this is on a list of 50 dangerous things your should let your kids do...... check
748f63d1.jpg
311bbeab.jpg
04291c73.jpg
We took her to Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC. It Safari/Zoo that you can either drive your own vehicle through or ride a horse drawn wagon. We always drive our own vehicle. Abby enjoyed driving more than seeing the animals... as usual.:smiley_drive:
3c5302a5.jpg
9f2f5f4d.jpg
319ba791.jpg
f2bb465e.jpg
Abby trying to feed the giraffes, we were not moving.
36c1e6bc.jpg
f4e98c2e.jpg
d2ef6c02.jpg
More below
 

Bretthn

Explorer
More from our Safari.
8dbe579d.jpg
20330767.jpg
ee357bb7.jpg
a8b99e31.jpg
They also have a small gift shop with popsicles and ice cream.
62c95c93.jpg
a0da246a.jpg
These are just the some of the highlights. We usually spend a good 2 hours or more driving through to see everything and another 2 hours in the walk through zoo and petting area. If you are in the area you should really check it out even if you don't have kids. It is also close to Bass Pro Shop at Concord Mills and Razoo's Cajun restaurant. We usually hit all 3.
 
Last edited:

alexfm

Explorer
Thanks, the factory look was what I was going for. How do you like your front receiver? I am thinking about installing one for a front recovery point and lower radiator protection.

I like my front receiver. On the XJ it does hang a bit low, and sticks out a bit so it cuts into my approach angle, but I'm not rock crawling, so that's not terribly important. Thats mostly why I got it, as a front recovery point, and I didn't really trust trying to pull my close to 5000lb Jeep on a pair of little metal tow hooks. :D Not to mention I got the receiver for a steal on Craigslist. :sombrero:
 

Forum statistics

Threads
189,834
Messages
2,921,462
Members
232,931
Latest member
Northandfree
Top