Grand Cherokee Technology

[Zak_]

I hear there are some other grand Cherokee drivers in this group and was wondering if anyone had similar experiences?

I drive 2016 Grand Cherokee and the terrain system in the car often cuts power to either my engine or the front axel at weird times.

I haven’t found a way to completely turn off all the tech in the car.

@Emmanuel Hello,

You were telling me a marshal who also drove a Cherokee could you @ him maybe so he see’s this I’m curious to see his input.

thanks so much 

[Frederic]

1 hour ago, ZakWarah said:

I hear there are some other grand Cherokee drivers in this group and was wondering if anyone had similar experiences?

I drive 2016 Grand Cherokee and the terrain system in the car often cuts power to either my engine or the front axel at weird times.

I haven’t found a way to completely turn off all the tech in the car.

@Emmanuel Hello,

You were telling me a marshal who also drove a Cherokee could you @ him maybe so he see’s this I’m curious to see his input.

thanks so much 

@Brette will be your man 

[Brette]

@ZakWarah  The selec terrain system is pretty good and does exactly what it's supposed to. On the other hand all the safety features the JGC come with are brilliant on tarmac but can be a real pain in the sand. When you use the sand mode, although the system shows traction is off, it is not off 100% and if it senses extra wheel spin it will overwrite the select terrain system and kick in. The only way to completely kill the traction ESC and ABS would be to install a kill switch.  

Also note that the transmission on the JGC is adaptive and if you have been driving on tarmac only it recognizes your driving style and you would notice the upshifts happen very fast. The more you start driving in the desert the more the DTCM will learn and it does get better over time with the upshifting. For this in particular, there is no work around, you give it time to learn or you use the manual or paddle shift.

Whenever you go off-road, please remember to pull the airbag fuse. It is very sensitive and can just go off if the sensors detect a 90 degree tilt which is very often when riding dunes. 

 

[Srikumar]

@Alex Sidorov as we discussed yesterday, @Brette is the Marshal I was referring to who drives and has excelled in a JGC 2018 model. You can direct your queries to him on what basic stuff needs to be done interms of front bumper protection, Airbag, TC, etc.

[Alex Sidorov]

Thank you @Srikumar

@Brette

I’ve got 2017 JGC Night Eagle

Is my car ok for trying out a Newbie ride without modifications?

I’m a bit concerned for paint, front bumper and rims.

Front bumper sits pretty low as you know (lower fascia/air dam).

 Rims are black shiny coat and 20” diameter.

What are the chances to damage the bumper and scratch/damage the rims and overall paint?

Thank you

[Brette]

@Alex Sidorov it should be fine for a newbie drive, however I would suggest removing the lower fascia of the front bumper as you can never be too careful in the desert. As much as the leads keep every car in mind during the drive, there are times when if you make a small mistake you may end up with the lower fascia scraping the sand.  It is made in a way that it can be removed and put back pretty easily. There are a few videos on YouTube showing how to do it and no additional tools are required.

As far as the paint is concerned, I wouldnt say nothing will happen as the chances of stone chips flying into you from the car in front are higher in the desert than on tarmac. It does not happen very often but I would not say it never will.  

[Rahimdad]

@Alex Sidorov if you're worried about the trim of your bumper, your paint job or your 20 inch rims, this is either not the right sport for you or you need a desert toy. The desert is an uncertain terrain and like @Brette pointed out the slightest of mistakes can damage your vehicle. Even @Lorenzo changed his rims and tires from 20 inch to 18 inch on his Nissan Patrol Y62. Deflating 20 inch rims exposes more danger to the rims in case of the slightest of bumps. Interested to know which way you're going to go.

[Alex Sidorov]

Thanks @Rahimdad

I’m for taking calculated risk. I guess every sport requires it’s proper equipment. As of now, I’m not 100% sure is that my car variant is up for serious riding as it is. This model/variant is more for the road-painted everything, large rims, etc. I used to have 2014 Grand Cherokee in past-that was more adapted to proper off-road, I feel-unpainted plastic bumpers and arches, 18 inch wheels, etc.

i might be 100% wrong in my thoughts though as I don’t have much experience.

i understand many folks have a second car which they are using for desert without any concerns.

 

[VipinShetty]

I believe @Ashy drives his grand Cherokee on 20s ... maybe he could give his thoughts here ... 

[VipinShetty]

I drive the grand Cherokee trailhawk and even with 10.6” of ground clearance I would still second the changes advised by @Brette to prevent unintended damages.

To disable the techs I use the sand mode in selec terrain and pull some fuses in the fuse box - Fuse# F85- airbag, F76- ESP,

I have seen @Ashy drive wonderfully on 20” at higher level drives so you could certainly give it a shot!

cheers!