What did you do to your WH/XH today?
 

Just a new thread to find out who owns a WH, V8 or CRD and what has been done to it, where it was done, how much $$$ and was it worth it. Also STR8 owners welcome.

Big one is has anyone got the Startech chip done yet on the CRD????.

Mine;

-Stock until the baby comes!!!

Want;

- AEV 4 1/2" lift
- Startech chip for 193KW
- 33" baja claws
- Jeep luggage rack
- Jeep nudge bar (still not sure of the ARB one???)
- Lightforce spotties
- Draw system for the back
- Fridge for travels

JTO

Even though we have a commander, rather than a WH, I thought I would jump into your thread. We have done a 2" lift (Dobinsons springs and keep existing shocks), and put on coopers ST 245/70R17 (which are about 1" bigger than standard). Have a GME CB and got the rock rails from the dealer. Am currently in negotiations with LRA to get a 110 litre aux fuel tank added (in place of the spare tyre). Would be interested in getting the chip, but this seems to be fairly unnecessary, given the power on tap.

Dont tell me there are no other WH owners who want to share info and post a pic of their rig??? Where have all the Grand Cherokee owners gone???

JTO

they bought kj's :) hehe how ya been mate carnt be long for the bubs now ?

send me a msg re the spot lights when ya ready i can get hold of nava ones cheep

Howdy

Got a V8 HO (Overlander) and had no mods done as per yet other than internal cosmetics (DVD kits in headsets, GPS).
Looking at following mods:
- second recovery point in front chassis
- air compressor --> not sure where to fit it yet as ain't that much room!
- lift - not sure how higher yet
- roof rack
Chipset not good to me as not CRD model but hey, anything with more power am game!

Steph

my WH 3.0CRD
 

I have 61,000km on my clock now. I have coopers ATR255x65x17's, ECBull bar which is so bloody ugly but is was the only thing avalible,
Jeep rock rails, custom made front skid plate,fog lights and spot lights. performance chip, 60mm lift with King springs alround and Bilsteins on the rear still stocks on the front until Ranch bring out their front strut.
I was also thinking about the Long ranger fuel tank also but thought it would wreck the after sale prospects as you cant now carry a spare tyre..
jenko

Need PICS!!!!!!!!

Yes I agree,

A pic or two with the description would be good. I have included mine in the first post.

JTO

Jenkomagic,

Nice pics, I do see what you mean by the front bar. Needs the loops cut off like the KJ bars.

JTO

Yeah it saved me from a couple of Roo's but it limits my ground clearence a little. was thinking of changing over to the ARB unit. Are there any others you know of?

The ARB bar also looks a little bulky and again I would like the loops cut off. I dont think I will ever install a winch so I am going to go with the genuine nudge bar and get the genuine recovery hooks added at the same time. Can still use a portable winch and wont affect the clearance too much.

JTO

Jenko, who did the custom bash plate.

Jenkomagic,

Love the vid, the sound of the TD is awsome. Now you have me thinking of doing a similar thing!

Stand by.

JTO

My 2005 Grand Cherokee Laredo has done 41,000 and has had a few mods to date.

First up was the suspension. Ordered and fitted a lift kit from Rocky Road in the USA - steel spacers up front between the top of the strut and the body and poly-something spacers at the rear under the springs. Front shocks standard and new rear ones from Doetsche Tech (came with he kit - longer travel). That gave me about 60mm lift which made the vehicle much more enjoyable off-road (I hate underbody scaping noises). Also installed a set of Coil-Rite air bags inside the rear springs to help with levelling under load.

Next up was a second battery - but where to put it? I ended up removing the plastic luggage area liner and installing a plywood floor. That gave me a bit more height in the luggage area and, most importantly, a solid base to mount things to - not terribly impressed with the standard issue plastic tie-downs which are secured to the plastic floor with plastic fasteners. I have mounted a 105 aH deep cycle AGM battery on the new floor behind the passenger rear seat along with a 12V charger. Cabling back to the engine compartment is heavy (16mm sq.) and goes under the door sill trims to a circuit breaker near the main battery. The charger is basically a step up charger and only operates when it senses the alternator is running. Works real well and keeps my EvaKool fridge, which is permanently mounted on the driver side, as cold as I want it. The space left allows me to put in a couple of tubs and soft bags. But not enough room for the tent and poles so...

Up top I've mounted a Rhino Rack Luggage pod on Rhino Sportz Bars and in it I can fit my canvas centre pole tent, canvas awning, solid table, roll-up table, 2 folding chairs, shower tent, and a few other light odds and ends. The pod has a limit of 50 kg and I just make that. Alongside the pod I have a pole holder made from 100 mm plastic pipe for 6 awning poles and the centre poles for the tent. The roof load limit as stated by Jeep is 68 kg and I'm pretty close.

Now that there are some local suspension options I'd like to see if I can maintain the lift and get rid of the softness and wallowing inherent on the factory gear. But I'll settle for softness and wallowing rather than reduce the lift.

I would like a bar as I live in a Kangaroo excessive area but not real taken with either the ECB or ARB offerings so will leave that for a bit.

Basically I'm pretty happy with the way the car is now but you never know...

Guys, I believe TJM has just released a decent bullbar for the WH.

Its not on their website yet but give them a call.

Albion CJ and/or TJM should have some pics they can email you.

Waaay better than that ECB rubbish.

There are more WH owners out there so dont be afraid to tell us what you have got and a pic. There are 2 new members from Perth with WH's in the last couple of days.

JTO

I have a 2005 crd WH with a 2.25 lift, front and rear camara set up, front nudge bar.rock rails rear bar protector,armor plates underneath,roof rack cross over's and front bar light's

Not to sure about TJM and their bar yet. The Coopers Plains store told me they had it but then he could'nt find any pic's or details, so I called their head office in Sydney. NOTHING has been designed yet...so they say

Rang up ARB to find out when the bits would be here for the 2" lift (half were on the shelf) and now they tell me that there wont be any parts for it until April or May or possibly June?


Has to be a WH lift somewhere on the East Coast???

JTO

As noted above, we have the Dobinsons spring lift, which I assume is available on the east coast, since that's where we are :-)

jammy jeep,

Was that just springs or the rear shocks and front struts?

JTO

just the springs, still have original shocks. Apparently, not too many types of aftermarket shocks around that suited when we put the springs in. But will be changing the shocks as well, once I find something I like.

My option now is a set of 4 springs from Performance Suspensions on the Gold Coast, $600 fitted and tested will give me approx 55 - 60 mm lift and the long travel rear shock from ARB for $150 each. They say that they are still working on the front strut replacement and that would be around $225 each. They say that they can fit the whole system for the same price as the lastest Prado kit which is around $1500.

JTO

I got an email from ARB yesterday saying that the OME lift + shocks are now available for the WH/XH

I saw the action alert for the kit, of all places at TJM. I have it booked already at Performance Suspensions and wil source the shocks seperately. I should have it all done before the Jeepmuster at the end of March.

JTO

I phone ARB yesterday and they HAVE NOT developed the front stut yet

I went to ARB yesterday to check what they could do for the XH and they said "No, they cannot do anything for the XH it has not been tested"

ARB Southside has stated that the kit wont be on the shelves until after April. I asked them about performance testing, results of the test vehicle but no answer was forthcoming?

Most of the 4x4 mobs will use King Springs for the source of the coils so I have gone directly to a rep reccomended by them. Front strut will always be an issue until its available.

JTO

The underside of the XH is exactly the same as the WH - if it fits the WH it will fit the XH. So, just tell them to do what you want and to stop arguing :-)

Been in contact with Ray at 4WD1 regarding Rancho replacements for the rear. Should be in around mid March at $165 each. I have my order in for them. As you can see I need more front articulation from the pic.

JTO

Mark, i've got to get you over here one Saturday or Sunday after lunch to start playing around with your rear wheel travel. There's a little testing spot ive got up the road. We need to unbolt the rear shocks and have a play, take some measurements of extention and compression.

Stu,

Would probably be Sunday but need to see what the wife has planned this weekend.

JTO

You let me know what w'end your avail & i'll be here.

Jammy you're missing the point here, I would like to see that email. Believe me there is no manufacture world wide that has made a frount strut yet for the WH-K Grand. JTO and I have been onto this for about 18months. ARB are close but not ready yet , same with Rancho in the USA.
You can get any suspension place fit up some rear shocks, i'm running a set of bilstiens with 60mm lifted king springs. But, as of the 22/02/06 there are no frount struts avalible.

Found this on the net last night. Supposed to be the front strut replacement for the WK? Although a 3" lift.

JTO


http://fabtechmotorsports.com/applic...93-05xjzj.html

The link help's!

yeah, you're right JTO its been around for about 6months. I had Mermaid suspension look into it for me when I had my Bilstiens fitted.
They said the specs he got from the us on it said it would be a very hard strut more suitable for off road racing not for what we would require.

Thats why I didnt mention it before

I just spoke with ARB head office and all their bits are available except the front strut which should be about 6 weeks away.

Part numbers are:

Front Coils - OME 990 (light duty, 40kg more load than standard) or OME 991 (up to 85kg over standard)

Front Strut - N188S

Rear Coils - OME 992 (medium duty, ARB rep not sure on spec) or OME 993 (heavy duty, 45% more than standard)

Rear Shocks - N190

Estimated cost is $1,260 + $330 fitting - 2yr 40,000km warranty if fitted by ARB.

ARB advised that anybody in Melbourne is welcome to go and have a look at ARB's WH with their bar and suspension installed.

I am just going to wait for the Rancho set up and not worry about ARB. The Fabtech one looks ok but as you said its quite heavy duty.

JTO

The thing I like about ARB is that they are making different bushing rates for extra's such as bullbars. I dont know if Rancho will have that option