New Grand Cherokee!!

[Malduin]

Hi, I'm very very close to trading my 2007 Freelander2 for a 2012 GC, the Freelander has given me 95,000 k of trouble free and enjoyable motoring but I'm feeling the lack of cargo space when camping. Also I can't justify the enormous price differential between a Disco 4 over the GC. Many people have warned me of Jeep's unreliability, but the same sort of people were warning me about Land Rover 5 years ago - I guess every modern sophisticated car is prone to some issues from time to time, they are increasingly complex beasts. I have a couple of questions that I would appreciate some advice on if possible: are there recovery points on the GC? and is it possible to get a matching 20" alloy wheel to replace the steel wheel as a spare. I am still on my original tyres with the Freelander and I think being able to rotate 5 rather than 4 tyres has a lot to do with.

cheers,

Ian

[David Scott]

Hi there
I have a Laredo CRD and it is fitted with 2 at the front and 1 at the rear. I did read on a forum somewhere that the 2012 models which are landing in Aus now do not have the 2 at the front fitted but are available to purchase. It may be because the Mopar nudge bar when fitted the recovery hooks are removed however I have spoken to Central Coast Jeep and was informed Mopar are in the process of changing the mounting so the hooks can be fitted with the nudge bar. It is not available yet but will be released in the very near future. I would when ordering a new Grand have them fitted as part of the deal.

I just went out and placed 20 mm pieces of timber on top of the spare 245 and the cover will not close. The spare is 245 and the mags (18") are fitted with 265 some 20mm wider so if you wish to obtain a spare mag it would have to be mounted on a rear bar or raise the floor by 20mm. There is not enough room underneath at the rear. The overall size is too big.
David Scott

[Malduin]

Thanks for that David, most appreciated. I will negotiate around the hooks when ordering, disappointed about the spare. Still, could be worse - a few weeks ago when I had a rush of blood to the head I looked at an X3 and noticed that there was no spare - the salesman said not to worry 'after all how often do you realistically expect to have a flat?"

[JnK]

We have a Laredo on order with delivery expected mid Fed 2012....when we placed the order we did check that front and rear hooks were fitted.
I had a look at a newly arrived crd Laredo at a dealers yesterday having gone in for just that purpose, and although it still has a very stout rear hook - the front two are gone and with plastic covers over the holes.
There must be an easy way to flip out the plastic but I couldn't see how that happens - but in the spare compartment is a steel eye on about 150mm of 20mm bar with a threaded end. The salesman advised that this bar is able to be screwed in when required. He did also comment that he believed there was going to be a nudge bar marketed that mounted where the hooks used to be - in line with David's comments.
Certainly the eye bolt didn't look at all as strong as the hooks that have been replaced.
We will be keeping an eye out for a reasonable replacement for the original hooks.
John

[timbotrog]

Those screw in eye bolts would be for towing on a road only and definately not rated for off road recovery. A fair few European and Japanese vehicles now come with those as standard front and rear.They screw into the chassis via an M12 ish size single bolt and offer absolutely no strength what so ever for anything other than break down towing.
Cheers
Tim

[drover]

I'd stick with the 18" rims the 20" rims are for the town cruising brigade.

[pwy]

I'll wait until I get my GC and if it does not have the hooks I'll switch to plan B:
Order the original front tow hooks from the US and fit them myself. It's an easy job and the hooks are around $270 landed. No dealer here will do it for that price