Jeep Commander xh

[hornet44]

Hi Guys,
I need your help & advice. I am thinking of buying a Jeep Commander in the next few months, the main reason is, to tow a 19foot 6 inch caravan, that has an all up weight of about 2600kg. I have been looking at " Carsales" & there appear to quite a number at just under my limit of $20000, but I would rather only pay about $18000.
I have never owned a Jeep before but have owned 4wds in the past ,& at present own a Hyundai Terracan 2.8 Diesel, that like it's owner is getting a bit old & has a good few thousand kilometres on the clock. So are there any things that I should look out?, according to the figures it will have plenty of grunt to pull the van, but will I need to put air bags or up market suspension units in the back?. I have also just been reading in a caravan magazine that due to the dirty diesel that we have in Australia that it would be a good idea to have installed a Pre Filter System for the Diesel especially in view of the fact that the engine is a Common Rail Direct Injection that has a very low tolerance level to foreign substances & water in diesel.

Any other help & advice would be appreciated,

Many thanks Hornet44

[Clarky]

The CRD Commander would make an excellent tow vehicle for that weight, you may even forget the van is there.

I assume you want trouble free touring so there is a few things that you may want to do.

Suspension.
At around $18,000 your Commander may have a few km on it. The factory suspension will be a bit spongy by now so a good set of springs should be on your shopping list. Medium duty for the rear would be my recommendation, I had heavy duty found the ride too hash when not towing.

Kings springs are popular & not expensive but I think you only get the choice of standard rate or H/D

Old Man Emu are more expensive but you get a choice of standard, Medium & Heavy duty.

I have H/D kings in the front & M/D OME in the rear.

Drive line
The 4wd system is a full time type, this means that the transfer case drives all 4 wheels all the time (no 2wd available). If you remove either of the front or rear tail shafts you loose all drive in high range & you are not going anywhere.

I tell you this because??

The front drive shaft has no uni-joints, it has CV style couplings. These CVs are prone to failure with age & especially if there is to much movement in the front diff due to worn out bush's. If the CV fails completely (like it did on me just outside Wilcannia) you are stuck.

The cure is simple. Replace the 3 front diff bush's & replace the CV with an XR8 ford tail shaft CV (direct fit replacement). After my experience I replaced my bush's with poly ones & had a new tail shaft made up with traditional uni-joints.

Fuel & filter

Any decent diesel mechanic can fit a pre-filter for you, personally I haven't experienced any trouble with the factory filter, it has a water sensor built in.
Doesn't mean I haven't thought about it thou. I was looking at a Donaldson 4WD filter kits.

Transmission
Get the filter & fluid changed! Originally Jeep said that the transmission was sealed for life so some have never had the fluid changed.
By the way mine is a Grand Cherokee not a Commander but the mechanics are exactly the same.

[bjm]

I can only agree 100% with what Clarky has said. I have a 2010 WH CRD just back from a quick 4 week trip up into gulf country towing a 1300kg camper. Forget I am towing sometimes. Easily the best bang for your dollar on the road.
NB.Just one other very important thing. Try low range in any you are looking at. There was a world wide recall on both GC and Commanders due to transfer case problems ,some have been fixed and still have the problem. Some may never have been fixed If the vehicle still has the problem a dash message will state check 4x4 system.

[robertodonnell]

I'll add my two cents:

Are you familiar with software? If you are adept with such things, purchasing a good OBDII diagnostic system will reap you rewards, before and after your purchase.

I personally have Bluedriver, it works with the GC and Commander on ALL systems. Many only do the standard engine codes, and not much good if you have had a battery issue and the low range has gone as a result (ask me how I know!). It will also give you negotiating power prior to purchase if you are allowed to plug it in and find out its issues.

The King Springs for the commander are the same front as the GC, but the rears are heavier due to the longer overhang/3rd row seats. Get them, particularly since you are towing. I paid under $300 delivered, and how it transformed my GC was hard to describe.

Other than that, I second everything the other guys have said!