WJ2

You may have noticed from my last couple of trip reports that I’ve replaced my Jeep Grand Cherokee that was destroyed by a distracted driver nearly eight weeks ago. I’ve spent a lot of time since then dealing with insurance, shopping for just the right replacement vehicle, and putting the new Jeep back the way I want it. I documented some of the work on the original Jeep, and I’ve done similar work on the new one. So far I’ve installed a new stereo, crossbars for the roof rack, lift supports for the hood and liftgate, coil spacers, and tires.

The new Grand Cherokee just after purchase in SLC
The new Grand Cherokee just after purchase in SLC


Stereo install
Stereo install


New stereo
New stereo


Installing crossbars for the roof rack
Installing crossbars for the roof rack


Before the coil spacer install
Before the coil spacer install


Coil spacers
Coil spacers


After installing only the rear coil spacers
After installing only the rear coil spacers


Front coil spacer install
Front coil spacer install


After coil spacer install
After coil spacer install


New tires mounted
New tires mounted


New tires mounted
New tires mounted


I have a few items left to work on: drilling out the hinge pins so the rear seats will be easily removable (like I did for the old Jeep), replacing the radiator which has a tiny hairline crack, and installing fog lights. Although I’ve already sunk way more money into this Jeep than I received from the insurance company for the old Jeep, I ended up with a much nicer vehicle. The new one is in much better physical condition, with only 94,000 miles (compared to 138,000 on the old one). It gets significantly better fuel mileage, too. The old Jeep had a few issues that were going to be costly to fix–the transmission was beginning to slip and one of the CV joints needed to be replaced–so maybe this is all for the better.


Photo Gallery: WJ2

2 thoughts on “WJ2

  1. A. You are an impressively skilled mechanic.
    B. There is nothing wrong with this vehicle that won’t be improved by three or four nice dual band antennas feeding some choice Icom radios.
    C. Glad to see you are Jeeping again!

    1. Aww, shucks–thanks! 😀 My Kenwood handheld can output 5 watts, and I really should mount an external antenna for it on the Jeep. It would be a fairly inexpensive addition, and I know it works significantly better than the handheld antenna ’cause I had a similar setup on a car when I was just out of high school.

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