2014 GC overland, overlander build

[Crittertowne]

Hi guys,
My name is Chris, I'm from st. Louis Mo. And I'm very new to overlanding.
Currently I own a 2014 grand Cherokee overland with the 3.0 liter ecodiesel. It has all the bells and whistles, air ride suspension and quadra drive 2.

I've got a lot of questions about the route I should go.
First and foremost, should I use my GC as my overland vehicle? It is very capable with a very far reaching range and leaves nothing desired in the power or comfort department. While I've read about reliability issues with jeep, I have yet to experience that, aside from EPA things with the diesel (DEF tank going empty, and exhaust filter filling up)
My jeep is a very nice vehicle I don't even think its trail rated due to the luxury aspect but scratches and dings don't bother me that much, hence the dings and knocked out reflector on the back (I intend on getting it wrapped plus I want to be the last owner of this jeep). While I love the Toyota's, I already own a jeep.... and I'm in love with the diesel, which Toyota does not offer. If I use my GC as an overland i already know what I need to do first, armor for the undercarriage, it doesn't even have a splash guard, then tires I would assume. But I think the air ride suspension is going to have to be addressed at some point?

I've got more questions obviously but would like this thread to make sense for at least a page.

 

[Directive51]

Hi guys,
My name is Chris, I'm from st. Louis Mo. And I'm very new to overlanding.
Currently I own a 2014 grand Cherokee overland with the 3.0 liter ecodiesel. It has all the bells and whistles, air ride suspension and quadra drive 2.

I've got a lot of questions about the route I should go.
First and foremost, should I use my GC as my overland vehicle? It is very capable with a very far reaching range and leaves nothing desired in the power or comfort department. While I've read about reliability issues with jeep, I have yet to experience that, aside from EPA things with the diesel (DEF tank going empty, and exhaust filter filling up)
My jeep is a very nice vehicle I don't even think its trail rated due to the luxury aspect but scratches and dings don't bother me that much, hence the dings and knocked out reflector on the back (I intend on getting it wrapped plus I want to be the last owner of this jeep). While I love the Toyota's, I already own a jeep.... and I'm in love with the diesel, which Toyota does not offer. If I use my GC as an overland i already know what I need to do first, armor for the undercarriage, it doesn't even have a splash guard, then tires I would assume. But I think the air ride suspension is going to have to be addressed at some point?

I've got more questions obviously but would like this thread to make sense for at least a page.

You absolutely can use your WK2 as an overland vehicle. It is extremely capable, it just depends on what you are wanting to do with it. Just some light exploring and camping and you would be fine. I've built mine up a bit, but I dont think I would take it rock crawling. I have not had any issues with reliability either. Mine is a standard spring suspension (which will be replaced with OME shocks, struts, and springs soon) but I know there are tricks out there to level and lock the quadralift system.

Good luck, and I cant wait to see what you have in store.

 

[Chadlyb]

I too agree on what you have is more than capable to overland with. Plus you like it. There are tons of aftermarket products for your Jeep . I look forward to seeing your build and your adventures.

 

[Square Foot]

I just picked up a 15 GC Overland today. Mine has the 'trail rated' package, which consists of nothing more than various skid plates. My first upgrade will be the tires. The ones on it are due anyway. I will be interested to see what you do to yours.

 

[leonbmx]

Nice! Get ready to spend some money :) I'll make a post later with some links to great resources!

 

[Crittertowne]

Nice! Get ready to spend some money :) I'll make a post later with some links to great resources!

That's an incredibly helpful reference thank you for sharing that.
The check engine light came on the other day, got my buddy's code reader, pd130, was the code but the reader couldn't read past that, I haven't really had a chance to look it up yet. But if I had to guess it might be because the trip computer thinks it's about 30k miles over its oil change it's not I just can never figure it out to reset it, fingers crossed that's all it is.

But at this point I've been trying to look through the apps, mainly Gaia GPS and ioverlander, to find some decent routes, it's kinda almost daunting going after this on my own but you guys are great motivation to just get after it

 

[leonbmx]

Welcome to the Ecodiesel club! I have a 2015 Summit and I love it. Since yours is an Overland model with Quadra Drive, it "should" have all the skid plates. If not, that is definitely something to acquire. The OEM skidplates are good quality stuff and should run you around $400.


I don't know if you have heard of them yet, but Chief Products from Australia makes really nice stuff for the WK2, and is available in the US.

I have their sump and transmission protection plates, as well as their lower front guard. Since the summit did not come with OEM Tow hooks, I got those too.


Then, since you have the diesel, I would definitely get a DEF harness and injector protection plate. I had my harness snag on something and my car immediately went into limp mode.

I have the shieldproductions one and really like it. The company is sometimes slow to respond, but I have always received my stuff.


And finally, the best thing, by far, that I have done to the Jeep is the Green Diesel Engineering (GDE) WK2 Hot tune. Not for the extra TQ, which is nice, but for the longevity of the engine.


This is a guy on jeepgarage.org who's thread is my inspiration, his sceenname is student4life.



(Sorry for the lack of hyperlinks, I am new to the forum, so I can't post links yet)

 

[chithead]

Glad to see another WK2 Overland owner!!!