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Off Roading with Limited

Dinoburner

New member
Has anyone taken a WL Limited on moderately hard trails? I know it's not an Overland but I am considering trying some moderate trails in the area.
 

MTMark

Active member
I live in Montana and took my limited out on some trails this spring. Mine did just fine. The trails I was on could be be driven in a Subaru (same ground clearance I think) but the Jeep felt a lot more solid. I am sure my Jeep will go to all of the trailheads and fishing spots I go to. It does a lot better than the Denali (with running boards) it replaced.

BTW. I need to remove those silly air dams in front of the front wheels. Those were the only things I scraped. Has anyone done that?
 

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MTMark

Active member
I purposely straddled a ditch diagonally to cause 2 wheels to be off the ground. The Brake Lock Differential works great. Keep steady throttle and you hear the ABS clicking to stop the free wheels from spinning and it climbs right out.

I found a hill that resembled moguls and same thing. When wheels lift off the ground, the ABS clicks. Keep steady throttle and it climbs right on through with little hesitation.

A very steep hill with loose scree rocks was no problem.

I think that I would only want low range for terrain that would probably be too rough for the ground clearance. (Don’t get me wrong, I wish it had low range. Bad decision on Jeep for not offering in low range. To me, not worth the extra $10K for overland.)
 

MTMark

Active member
The Jeep was a beast in the snow. No stopping it (especially with Blizzaks). Make sure to play around with the modes and traction control to understand the system. Use steady throttle to make the traction control and brake lock differential work.
 

MTMark

Active member
BTW. Regarding selec terrain, snow mode obviously limits slip whereas mud/sand allows slip. Does anyone know if mud/sand tightens up the brake lock differential to make it act more like it has lockers? On the dirt trail, it definitely feels tighter in mud/sand mode.
 

PhillyG11

Well-known member
Has anyone taken a WL Limited on moderately hard trails? I know it's not an Overland but I am considering trying some moderate trails in the area.
I drove my WL74 Limited (Quadra-Trac I; OEM Michelins) on easy dirt and gravel trails. No issue. I also drove my WL off road on moderate grassy, flat terrain, and no issue. I drove in sand/mud mode and in auto mode. I never drove over 20 MPH.
 

MTMark

Active member
I am sure all terrain tires would make a difference. I just have the stock Bridgestone’s for summer driving. I would like all terrain mainly for a tougher look. However, I bought Blizzak snow tires which are superior in the winter. Can’t justify another set of tires when the OEM ones are still good. (It will take me a few years to get the tough look I want.)
 

beardo

Active member
Not Limited but I take my Summit off roading very frequently to easy / moderate trails. The only mod I have so far is that all terrain tires and that's about it. Don't have any pictures of my rig going over some gnarly spots but here's some pics from 2 weeks ago in Utah.
 

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Epeeist

Member
Using the OnX offroad trail scale, I would not go on more than a level 3 trail with factory tires. Much more than that and you will potentially run out of ground clearance and approach/departure angles can be a problem. The stock 20" wheels are not good off road, the 18" are a little better.
 

MTMark

Active member
Regarding selec terrain, I flipped to mud/sand mode at the gravel culdesac at the end of my dead end country road. With the wheel cranked, the drive train was binding and lurching like it was “locked”. Of course, the QT1 transfer case is an open diff as are both axles. Nothing is locked. I suspect that mud/sand mode aggressively tunes the traction control/brake lock differential so that it behaves like it is locked. Using mud/sand when off road should make the simple QT1 system more capable.

(BTW, for me, the (AWDish) full time 4x4 system of the grand Cherokee is desirable because, in my opinion, full time 4wd is better for winter driving than part time 4wd. It is winter 7 months a year in MT. I need my grand Cherokee L to get my family around town and to the ski hill in the winter. I don’t need it to go where a wrangler will go. I’ll borrow my dads rubicon for that.)
 
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