Author: Jenn

Ever wonder why someone you know has a Jeep Cherokee or why they would decide to buy a vehicle that is no longer made? Here are a few reasons why:

1) They keep going.

In the collection of Jeep Cherokee’s between my best friend, his family and mine we all own 13 Jeep Cherokees collectively. One has surpassed 350K miles, one is within 20K miles of surpassing 300K miles and another is over 250K miles and all are still daily drivers.

2)They are tough.

Late last year my mom’s 93 Jeep Cherokee Country caught fire in the engine compartment. Most people including her insurance, wrote it off as beyond fixing. With some donor parts and a few new parts it was good as new. A friend of mine I go off roading with rolled his modified 92 Jeep Cherokee three times a few years ago. After turning it right side up and letting it sit for a few minutes, he added the needed fluids and cranked it up.

3)You’re not limited.

A four wheel drive Cherokee can do some amazing things, even as a stock vehicle. The first time I took mine off roading I was completely stock. One of the trails I went on everyone was having trouble getting up. It did take me three times and some tire rubber to get up the trail but I did it. Now, I have been known to go over curbs and over ditches if that’s the only way for me to keep going.

4)Easy to work on.

If a lady can do it then most people can. It’s easy to change out a radiator, change the oil, the air filter, battery and even the drive shafts. Of all the vehicles I have owned (from Fords to Hondas) this has been the easiest one to work on.

5)Locating parts.

Majority of the parts are easy to locate whether new or used. Parts stores, junk yards and Ebay will have them.

6)Affordable.

I bought mine for $850 off of Ebay and traveled to Florida to pick it up and take a mini vacation in Daytona Beach. My mom bought hers for $1,500 and I’ve been told by people I meet they have paid less than $1,000 for theirs and fixed minor things.

7)Popularity.

Jeep Cherokees are still quite popular. They are known for there reliability and durability and because of those things most people hold on to theirs until there is absolutely no life left in them.

8)Fun.

Jeeps are fun vehicles. You can take them places most vehicles cannot go.

9)Adventurous.

Jeeps are adventurous vehicles. They love to go off roading, climb over rocks, play in the mud and go through the woods.

10) Easy and affordable to modify.

If you are thinking about doing some serious off roading adventures, Jeeps are easy to modify. If you are on a budget like me, I was able to get some basic modifications done in a years time. A lot of parks recommend a rig have at least a 3″ lift and if possible 33″ tires. Even when I had less than 33″ tires I still could do some things with the bigger rigs.

Lift kits are affordable and for a reasonable price you can purchase bigger tires for off roading. I purchased my 3″ Rough Country one five years ago for about $150.

My first set of off roading tires were the Maxxis Buckhots, 31″ mudder tires that I paid $460 for. Compare that to regular street tires where you will pay close to the same. My next set I upgraded to the Dick Cepek Crushers that cost $850.

Late last year I purchased a custom made drive shaft off of Ebay by a well known long time in business company for under $200. Compare that to purchasing a new regular drive shaft.

 

So with this being said, if you are an outgoing, fun and adventurous person a Jeep Cherokee may be for you. Of course in my situation I am in the dilemma of all three of my kids fighting over who will get my Jeep Cherokee…

Several years ago at the annual Fall Crawl I attend in Harlan, Ky one of the guys in our group gave us all a wake up call to the dangers of off roading.

Adam and “Red” had been riding the trails together all day. The group had been at a section known as the Lower Rock Garden at the Black Mountain Off Road Adventures Park. It’s a popular area that our group goes to nearly every time we are there in the Spring and the Fall.

This time though while most of the group had been playing at the LRG, Adam and Red decided to venture off to a trail nearby. My best friend and his daughter in law had ventured off too going on a trail up on the mountain overhead. As the group finished up playing in the LRG and started to head out to our next adventure we all heard something over the two way radios each rig had that no one ever wanted to hear.

The crashing and clanking of metal, tools and two guys screaming was horrifying. Those in our group frantically started running towards the trail Adam and Red had been on (which has since been closed). As I got to the trail my heart sank. Adam’s 1992 modified Jeep Cherokee was upside down. Two of the tires were off the beadlocks, his tool box, tools and some clothing strewn everywhere. Adam and Red were both sitting on rocks with bloody, busted up heads as some of the guys assessed their conditions. Both were okay, just extremely shook up. For that matter, all of us were shook up.

Neal, our usual trail leader worked with some of the guys to determine what to do about Adam’s rig. Mike decided that they would use Neal’s air compressor to air up the tires while it was still upside down so they could get them to seat back on the beadlocks much easier and without damaging them. Once that was done, they started to winch Adam’s rig right side up to assess the damage to the top. Luckily for Adam, he had chopped the top of his rig off and built a roll cage.

The only visible damage was that his windshield was shattered and his tailgate that used to be a hatch was busted up. They rolled the rig down to the bottom of the trail where there was a flat area and they checked the fluids and let it sit there for awhile. Scrounging up enough engine oil and transmission fluid, they filled up what was needed and then started it.

Amazingly it started just fine and even with a little smoke (from the fluid that had leaked out) it was running fine. Adam was able to drive it back to camp for the time being. He dreaded taking it home and his wife seeing it. A lot of us thought that would be the last time we would get to see Adam driving his rig. Not so much though. The next time around he had fixed the damage and added more things to his rig, including a helmet.

The group learned that Adam and Red were nearly to the top of the trail when his rig began rolling. Apparently it had rolled three times before being stopped by a tree. Jeeps are tough cookies.

Labor Day weekend 2011 is one I will never forget. My best friend and I were working on my Jeep Cherokee in his workshop barn upgrading the gears. Deciding to take a lunch break, I walked to the house and checked my phone. I had five missed calls from my mom.

Earlier in the day my friend and I had to go into town to the parts store to pick up a bearing since the one that came with the master kit I purchased was the incorrect part. On the way back to the house we met up with my mom, step dad, niece and nephews who were taking their newly adopted basset hound  dog to the vet nearby.

Fast forward an hour later. I call my mom back to see why so many phone calls. She is frantic and I can decipher is Jeep and fire. At first I am assuming they seen a Jeep that had caught fire. She repeats herself but slowly this time. After they had left the vet’s office they decided to go across the street to get something to drink at the grocery store. Apparently she  tried turning into one of the old entrances that was blocked so she made a sharp turn. As she did she noticed smoke coming from the hood, found a place off the parking lot to stop and then the flames erupted. Luckily for her there had been a traffic accident just a short ways down the road and a fire truck was able to get to her in less than three minutes.

After digesting everything I got off the phone and told my best friend what had happened and that mom wanted us to come and get it. Apparently there were people already eyeing mom’s Jeep for parts and inquiring about it so she didn’t want to just leave it there.

Trying to imagine what had happened just turned my stomach. I love Jeeps and I hate to hear about stuff like this. Mom was nearly in tears when she finally talked to me so I could only imagine it was really bad. I remember as we neared the store I was trying to brace myself for what I was about to see.

When we finally pulled up I had a sense of relief that the only damage I could see was from the engine compartment. I mean I had briefly imagined the interior was affected too, but it wasn’t. Mike opened the hood to assess the damage. The grille was gone, the radiator damaged when the fireman had to use their ax, the electric fan was melted into nothing. And also the brake cylinder and booster were melted into nothing as was the power steering pump and there was absolutely nothing left of the air box except the skeleton of the air filter. The worst part was that the computer and wiring harness were burned beyond repair.

The fireman had told my mom they were declaring it a total loss. Mom didn’t want to hear any of it. At first Mike also said it was beyond repair and that we could take off the parts and sell what we could and then scrap the body so mom could get another one. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear either.

After we finally got it up on the trailer with the come a long we headed back home. I took pictures of it* and then had to use a tarp when it started to rain. Mom had the windows down which was a good thing. Apparently three of the doors had been locked at the time of the fire and she had two of her grandchildren and a niece with her.

Fast forward again to six weeks later. Mom was out of town visiting family in New Mexico when Mike and I started the Jeep for the first time since the fire. I was able to call her so she could hear it. She was nearly in tears when the sound of the engine could be heard.

Donor parts were used from a Jeep we had there at the house as well as what my brother in Texas could send from a Jeep Cherokee he had at his work. Some things had to be purchased new but that was okay. It was definitely a tedious job though it was a fun project to do since we had some doubters that it would ever be a useful Jeep again.

*Due to my laptop dying and taking the hard drive with it, I currently do not have pictures available to upload. However, I hope to be able to retrieve them in the near future.