Follow up on the Rocky Road Cherokee

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 02/26/2014 at 17:50 • Filed to: Jeep, Truck Yeah

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Andrew wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about rocky road off road's attempt to lift the Cherokee, unsuccessfully...or rather...that they found it impractical. I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with the company when I went to pick up some of my own parts when they showed me the work they had been doing on it. I just got a photo from their facebook page of the finished product. I love that rack.

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There is a 9000 lbs which in the bumper, a pusher bar, rock sliders that are so well integrated they look stock and the coolest rack ever. Seriously, it bolts to the roof in the existing racks location and has mounts for a hiLift, Shovel, Spar tire, lights, gas and water. To be honest, I think this would be a great adventure machine as it sits (though please....get the v6).

At the time, these parts were pre-production, so I didn't post my pictures out of courtesy, Now that's its out, here are a few of my pics that I took

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 17:54

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If it has 4 wheels, it will be lifted. The easy way,

Or the hard way.

Arben72 > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 17:54

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I would love one of these as my winter beater. Small, quirky, still look bad ass.

HammerheadFistpunch > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 02/26/2014 at 17:55

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It can be done, its just costly. The trouble is alignment.

HammerheadFistpunch > Arben72 02/26/2014 at 17:55

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Surprisingly good road manners, I really enjoyed driving it.

TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 17:56

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I like it, now for some wheeling footage! There's a couple Trailhawks round here and they look good in person.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and story.

HammerheadFistpunch > TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma 02/26/2014 at 18:01

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I'm trying to see if there is something I can do on that front. Stay tuned.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 18:12

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something something about lipstick on a pig. I'll reserve judgement until I wheel one but I'm a skeptic.

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 18:16

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Looks pretty good. Although, I finally saw the new Cherokee in person this weekend, and actually thought it looked worse than the pictures. The grill didn't bother me at all (I have actually grown to like it) but there was just something about the proportions that I didn't really like. And the size of the front and rear overhangs really ruin the appearance of having any off-road ability.

Side note: I have always wondered why, on cars like this, manufacturers don't replace the rocker panels with harder steel (at least on the off-road trim lines), essentially making integrated rock rails. If the car isn't going to be liftable, you need to make the most out of the ground clearance you do have, and bolting on rails under the rockers does not help the cause at all.

HammerheadFistpunch > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 02/26/2014 at 18:19

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The honest truth is, its not really for you and me; people who are happy to trade off some day to day niceties to get the capability we love. However, for the husband who was forced out of his XJ Cherokee because of rising fuel costs and a wife that wanted not to die in a crash (picky picky) this really is a great choice. Its like this:

For overlanding the trailhawk gets a 6 (out of 10)

for rock crawling a 5

for being a car it gets an 9

that's a net score of 6.7

Compare that to, for example, the 80

For overlanding 10

for crawling 7

for being a car 4

it comes out to 6.7 as well, so its a wash all things considered.

You have to figure out what side of the scale you are on; I think on a scale of "there's a sale at the mall" to "cross all the deserts!" It skews a little left, but its right were most people who buy Jeeps want to be anyway.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman 02/26/2014 at 18:23

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The cherokee looks bad from the side...it does. The front overhang is tragic, but I think it looks okay from other angles. On the rocker panel path, I agree, how hard would it be to integrate something like that? its unibody so sliders are going to be bolted to the body anyhow, why not just weld a plate there, or even have a blot on plate, that does the job?

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 18:30

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I totally get it, actually I take that back, sensibility has never been my thing. However, I applaud Jeep for keeping the Wrangler genuine and because of that I can swallow the bitter pill, and accept, the new Cherokee.

Also lawls re crashing and not dying. I'm clearly not married, but if my future wife (god bless her) ever tries to list safety as a criteria, actually scratch that if she ever weighs in on car purchases its over.

HammerheadFistpunch > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 02/26/2014 at 18:32

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good news the 80 is actually pretty safe eh?

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 18:36

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Exactly. Like it or not, body-on-frame, solid axle off-roaders are a dying breed, so we need to work with what we have. It would be really cool to see a manufacturer innovate a bit more by making the most of the capabilities of cars like this.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman 02/26/2014 at 18:44

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The zero camber adjustment was a total gaff on the part of jeep, I hope they get wise and recast that strut with some adjustment for the mid cycle refresh.

desertdog5051 > J. Walter Weatherman 02/26/2014 at 18:46

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Ahh... JWW. I must disagree with you. I have seen many of the new Cherokees. I even got a chance to talk with an owner at a Walgreens. She was admiring my MC when I walked out and it gave me an opportunity to look her car over. That, IMO, is the ugliest iteration of a Jeep front end I have ever seen. She said she has owned a few Cherokees and this one was the worst she ever had as far as size, interior and styling.

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 02/26/2014 at 18:53

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Admittedly, I know absolutely about the economics of vehicle production, but I can't imagine there being a material difference in the cost of having a camber adjustment vs. not having it. And the failure to do simple little things like that to help facilitate owners that want to actually use these things off-road seems like a major fuckup for a company like Jeep.

J. Walter Weatherman > desertdog5051 02/26/2014 at 18:59

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I do realize that I am in the minority on this, but the front end really doesn't bother me, and I think that the car looks pretty decent in a lot of the pictures. The lede picture, for example, with the front bumper and rack, from the 3/4 view, looks fantastic to me.

I completely agree with you about how the car looks in person, though. I thought it was quite a letdown. It just looks all sorts of awkward in person.

desertdog5051 > J. Walter Weatherman 02/26/2014 at 19:09

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Agree. It is a polarizing styling exercise at the least.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HammerheadFistpunch 02/27/2014 at 09:19

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People are always surprised when I tell them it doesn't have airbags. I guess just ride in the back seat?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > HammerheadFistpunch 02/27/2014 at 10:28

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So I like the kit, I really do. Cool look overall, even if I'd go with a darker color.

BUT, did it get lifted at all? even an inch or 2? Were the alignment issues to difficult?

Thomas R > HammerheadFistpunch 02/27/2014 at 11:30

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At first glance, I thought this was Lego...

HammerheadFistpunch > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/27/2014 at 11:51

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they found it would require more money in parts and labor than people would pay for a tiny lift and it was abandoned

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > HammerheadFistpunch 02/27/2014 at 11:59

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Damn. we talking probably thousands?

HammerheadFistpunch > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/27/2014 at 12:05

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the problem is you can't change the camber, so the solution (or one solution) would be new lower control arms, but you can't get to those without taking off the subframe, the subframe holds the engine, transmission and radiator. Its basically dropping the engine out to do a 2 inch lift.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > HammerheadFistpunch 02/27/2014 at 12:21

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I see, I see.

It would have made thing thing so much cooler if someone could have gotten an affordable 2 inch lift on it.

megalomaniac > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 02/27/2014 at 12:53

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Keeping the Wrangler pure for now atleast.

I could see the new model going Unibody (but finally snagging a diesel) but keeping the much beloved solid axles until a good IFS/IRS setup can be developed that keeps up with the Wrangler's reputation.