[KRP102]

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...