I bought a tow-car! 2003 Grand Cherokee CRD

I bought a tow-car! 2003 Grand Cherokee CRD

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Discussion

gman88667733

1,192 posts

66 months

Monday 10th December 2018
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For £1500, I still think that isn't bad. As long as it doesn't cost a fortune to fix these bits, then it is still fairly cheap motoring!
These are still near the top of my list for a replacement of our Kia Sorento when it eventually becomes too expensive to keep going

InitialDave

11,856 posts

118 months

Monday 10th December 2018
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Seized caliper is an interesting one, I believe the earlier cars suffered badly for it, but a change in caliper design resolved the issue - and I'm pretty sure my 52 plate had the later caliper.

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Monday 10th December 2018
quotequote all
gman88667733 said:
For £1500, I still think that isn't bad. As long as it doesn't cost a fortune to fix these bits, then it is still fairly cheap motoring!
Oh, I agree. I think I was spoilt by my 400 quid Volvo that didn't put a foot wrong in a year!

InitialDave said:
Seized caliper is an interesting one, I believe the earlier cars suffered badly for it, but a change in caliper design resolved the issue - and I'm pretty sure my 52 plate had the later caliper.
Yeah, brief research has told me as much. I'll take a look this and see which calipers I have, before making a call on a refurb kit or total replacement.

K50 DEL

9,227 posts

227 months

Monday 10th December 2018
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InitialDave said:
Seized caliper is an interesting one, I believe the earlier cars suffered badly for it, but a change in caliper design resolved the issue - and I'm pretty sure my 52 plate had the later caliper.
In the 5 years I owned my UK 4.7 (98 on a T) I went through 3 new n/s/r calipers and several rebuilds on others as well...

I always put it down to the fact that my car used to sit unused for months at a time whilst I was living abroad - interesting that it's a known fault.

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Tuesday 11th December 2018
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Well it appears I have the later calipers, so I've gone for a refurb kit for both sides including steel pistons (the standards are apparently ceramic!) and new pads. Should be a fun learning experience this weekend biggrin

RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Wednesday 12th December 2018
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seiben said:
the standards are apparently ceramic!
Is that so they don't seize?! biggrin
Good luck with it. I don't envy you that job.

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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RicksAlfas said:
seiben said:
the standards are apparently ceramic!
Is that so they don't seize?! biggrin
Good luck with it. I don't envy you that job.
Brake saga update:
The calipers were fked. Really fked. I chickened out of doing the job myself so took it to A Man who proclaimed them to be fked after the old pistons resolutely failed to come out, even with a lot of persuasion.

So, new discs, pads and calipers at the front were fitted, fortunately just in time for me to not have to drive the M5 in the [Daily Mail] SNOW CHAOS!!!1!!1!! [/Daily Mail] hehe

BatForcePC

442 posts

205 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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I've just joined the club! Ours is the 4.0 Petrol which we picked up just after Christmas! We needed something with low ratio and something that could do offroad significantly better than our XC60, which frankly is rubbish! It cost a bit less than yours, I'm trying to run it using the "shed" model although I keep getting tempted by the plethora of upgrades on offer!

Here it is in it's natural habitat...



So far we've discovered ours suffers from broken blend doors, the front calipers are the design that warps the discs and it leaks a bit of oil! Nothing too bad and it's getting an engine & transmission oil & filter change this weekend which I'm hoping might make the transmission a bit smoother! I also have a blend door repair kit which I'm going to fit at some point soon as it's getting pretty cold down here!

We love it, it's comfy, effortless and is the cheapest car we've ever had!

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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That looks good! I did have a 4.0 lined up if this one didn't come off, it really was a toss-up between MPG and potential diesel borkage costs. How do you find it, power-wise? In the end I just bought the first one that came along that was cheap, and it tugs the trailer along well enough. MPG has significantly improved now the brakes aren't dragging, which is nice.

Mine has apparently had the blend doors done, but I'm not sure how well given that the footwells don't get warm. I've also got a blown speaker in the dash to replace. I could forgive it many things yesterday, mind, while I was sailing around the traffic on deserted snowy back-roads biggrin

BatForcePC

442 posts

205 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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@seiben

Power wise, it's okay but by no means a rocket. We haven't challenged it properly although it was fine towing a box trailer with a load of sheep feed equipment! The real challenge will be when we load one of the cars on the back! MPG is pretty awful but it's only for the mucky jobs and moving stuff around the farm so a tank will last a while!

Interesting the hear about your brakes, once I've got some time I'm going to put a set of the newer calipers on the front with a new set of discs which will hopefully prevent the them warping...it had a set a year ago according to the service sheets!

BTW if you mean the tweeters in the dash, they are a doddle to do!


seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Friday 22nd March 2019
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I'm about 5k miles in with the Jeep now - it's been performing daily duties while my rusty old beemer is being welded back together - so we're probably due a little update.

I replaced the dash speakers after ordering them from a company in the US (there don't seem to be any aftermarket units that fit), and that has improved the stereo no end. More recently I've also had the front control arms and diff bushes replaced, which has made a massive difference - as Iv'e mentioned, it really suffered with tramlining before, to the point where driving it on the motorway for any length of time was a feat of concentration keeping it in a straight line. This has been the single biggest improvement to the car to date, i reckon (well, aside from replacing the seized brakes....)

Also managed another stint as tow-car when we took the RX8 to Brands Hatch (including the bloody great hill on the way up there!) without any bother:





I reckon I'm about £2500 in at this point (including purchase price and labour costs). Looking around at what else is out there for that sort of money, I'm not too displeased with that. Although I am certainly missing the M5 hehe


SimonTheSailor

12,543 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th April 2019
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I've been trying to find out how much space there is in the back if one of these.

Any idea what sort of length there is when you lay/take out the rear seats ?

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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Good question. All I can say, from experience, is that it's not as big inside as a 2001 Volvo V70 (but then, not much is!).

I'll try to remember to get the tape measure out for you over the weekend thumbup

wormus

14,509 posts

202 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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I like these, are they better built than the more modern versions?

SimonTheSailor

12,543 posts

227 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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Cheers, thank you !! Just thinking of a camper car 4X4 but I have a feeling this might be a bit small for me length wise.

Would be comfortable and a good 4X4 and the diesel doesn't sound too bad on mpg.

seiben

Original Poster:

2,343 posts

133 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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Gave it its first wash in the 8 months I've owned it yesterday. The colour really hides the muck well!

Before:



After:



Can't help feeling it wasn't really worth the effort hehe


Also, my apologies to Simon for completely forgetting to measure the space in the back. If it's still useful, here you go...





Those headrests are attached, so I don't think you can remove them easily. From the headrest to the boot sill the length is 163cm (5'4"), although you get another foot or so if you pile stuff on top of the headrests. The boot opening is 120cm (3'11") wide.

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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Interesting to read your thread because last year I was looking for a tow car and basically settled on a WJ CRD, then an ML270 CDI with the same engine popped up and it was the perfect car for my needs at the perfect time, so I went for that and love it.

It shows me what I'm missing out on! Interesting to compare the two popular DaimlerChrysler luxury SUVs of the era

johnxjsc1985

15,948 posts

163 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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had quite a few Jeeps including the G.Cherokee. My last one was a cheap buy for winter and it did like to find its own way across the road back and forth regardless of what I did with the steering wheel.

Evo

3,462 posts

253 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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Great read and you seem to have done precisely what i'm looking at currently. I have been threatening to finally get my track build 924S "on track" and decided that driving it to and from an event wont work as either me or the car will break at some point.

I've been looking at a couple of ends £4-5k or just take a punt on something really cheap and came to the conclusion that the Grand Cherokee shape you've bought is about as good as it gets for the cheap end without buying super old jap stuff that probably has dust for a rear subframe including Disco 2's or an ML which just rusts everywhere but has a decent engine ( injectors aside ) which is also in your car.

Perfect choice btw, the seats look perfect for a long journey and it's not easy finding a budget 4x4 capable of safely towing 1800kg+

I ruled out a later 3.0CRD Cherokee as the interior is just too plasticky for me and i think your Grand Cherokee looks a much nicer place to sit.

I've decided to go for a facelift E53 3.0D Sport on the basis i can fix most of the things that pop up in a "what goes wrong" search, my wife has a new Range Rover but i have been very clearly told it wont be towing anything smile and to get my own tow car.

Do you own your own trailer or are you weekend hiring?


MuscleSaloon

1,541 posts

174 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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johnxjsc1985 said:
had quite a few Jeeps including the G.Cherokee. My last one was a cheap buy for winter and it did like to find its own way across the road back and forth regardless of what I did with the steering wheel.
I've had a few WJ's. The steering has always been the worst thing about them. It spoils the car IMO. The subsequent WK model was hugely improved in just about every area and finally got a steering rack so it drives so much better. Useable WK's are down at £2k - £3k now. Unless a WJ was very clean and silly cheap I would avoid..