First off-roading experience with my Jeep Grand Cherokee— tips for the beginners
I’ve recently switched to a Jeep to fulfil my long term desire to do off-roading. I did not want a Jeep with crazy off-roading capabilities like a fully modified Wrangler, instead, I wanted a Jeep that I can use every day, for long drives and occasional decent off-roading. These filters left me with no choice but a Grand Cherokee. Moreover, I’ve always admired the Grand Cherokee for its stunning looks. So, one fine day I went to the showroom, traded in my car and bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4×4 Diesel.
The reason behind going for a diesel variant is because of its impressive fuel economy (it gives me about 23 MPG combined) and its amazing torque of 420 lb-ft that I care about the most(for comparison, the torque of a BMW X5 xDrive35i is 300 lb-ft). Torque is what gives you the sudden surge of acceleration when you floor the throttle(yes, it’s a diesel engine, roars like a lion when you do that) and what churns the rocks when off-roading!
Well, given that I had a GC in my hands, I couldn’t wait to get it dirty. Like any beginner, I made some mistakes. I tried driving through a deep mud pit with a stock vehicle that is not at all recommended. The mistakes I made for my first off-roading were:
- Ground Clearance: Although I put the vehicle at the maximum height possible from the ground using the electronic suspension, I couldn’t get enough clearance. Summit being the highest trim of Grand Cherokee has the lowest clearance at the front bumper to improve the ride quality on-road (I got a Summit because of its amazing 825 W Harman Kardon audio and other fascinating tech features, but didn’t see this coming!). If I had known that the bumper might get stuck in the mud, I wouldn’t have gone in. Lessons learned: Remove the lower fascia of the bumper before off-roading — this improves the ground clearance a lot! Also, always check the depth of the mud pits you are about to drive into. It’s very tempting to just do it, but first get off the car, walk around and make sure what you are about to drive into is not too much for your car.
2. Off-road Tires: Tires are to the vehicle what shoes are to our feet. Even though your vehicle is capable of crazy off-roading, it can merely do anything without appropriate tires. The first time I went into the mud was with stock tires that are optimized for on-road driving and hence they failed terribly in the mud. After that, I upgraded to all terrain tires and I was amazed to see what my Jeep can do with these tires!
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I have also installed all possible skid plates underneath to make sure no critical parts get damaged while driving on the rocks.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed my first off-roading experience very much. We make mistakes and learn from them, after all, we are humans. Below is the YouTube link to watch the recovery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sx6QmB4StU
The second time I went off-roading was a lot more fun because I was prepared. Below are some pictures from that experience.
