Motorweek Online Story About "Trail Rated" Jeeps

Spike6901 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:13 pm

He he, Chrysler's genius advertising scheme that is working on the masses who don't know any better. The name 'Jeep' use to mean 'Trail Rated' without the badging. I believe that they started the badging so that they COULD build non-trail rated Jeeps and somehow justify it. Well, I guess they did build 2wd Jeeps in the past too.

When my KJ was stock, I used to lay it on the front bump stops at about 2mph on the speed bumps in my apartment complex. No, I am not joking. Not even my Mustang did that.

Should it be "Trail Rated as long as it isn't too rough and you don't need to clear anything over 6" tall"

On the other hand, with some slight mods, the KJ does quite well and get 20mpg on the way to the trail with the A/C on. :wink:

BVCRD · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:27 pm

Spike6901 wrote:

He he, Chrysler's genius advertising scheme that is working on the masses who don't know any better. The name 'Jeep' use to mean 'Trail Rated' without the badging. I believe that they started the badging so that they COULD build non-trail rated Jeeps and somehow justify it. Well, I guess they did build 2wd Jeeps in the past too.

When my KJ was stock, I used to lay it on the front bump stops at about 2mph on the speed bumps in my apartment complex. No, I am not joking. Not even my Mustang did that.

Should it be "Trail Rated as long as it isn't too rough and you don't need to clear anything over 6" tall"

On the other hand, with some slight mods, the KJ does quite well and get 20mpg on the way to the trail with the A/C on. :wink:

Probably just "Trail Rated As Long As You Use Common Sense."

MacAttack · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 3:27 pm

So how can they put 9.1 inches of ground clearance on their website, if that's not the case.
Isn't there a law against false advertising?

BVCRD · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 3:37 pm

MacAttack wrote:

So how can they put 9.1 inches of ground clearance on their website, if that's not the case.
Isn't there a law against false advertising?

I think he was joshin. It has more than 6 inches.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 3:51 pm

MacAttack wrote:

So how can they put 9.1 inches of ground clearance on their website, if that's not the case.
Isn't there a law against false advertising?

I felt that was a little misleading myself. They should note that the clearance measurements does not include the differentials. That pumpkin sets way too low for my comfort. But then again, it seems like most manufacturers are doing the same thing. I honestly think they build the Jeep for the majority of the people who don’t intent to take their rigs seriously off-road. The factory set-up can surprising go a lot of places if the driver is skilled. And those of us who take our rigs more seriously off-road are going to modify them anyway. Unfortunately, due to the economic demand, Jeep has to cater to those who are going to need a fairly off-road capable vehicle without having to compromise poor fuel economy, roll over, and other safety expectations. In my opinion, Jeep should have never neglected the front solid axle for the Liberty. I have a hard time giving an independent front suspension a TRAIL RATED BADGE and calling it BADGE WORTHY. Don’t get me wrong, I love our Liberty’s, but I hope the ‘08 goes to a Solid Axle.

KW AV8R · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:13 pm

I'm pretty sure that Jeep will never take an IFS vehicle and go back to SFA. IFS is the way of the future as far as DCX is concerned. I don't think that the Wrangler will IFS any time soon but nothing is guaranteed. The one hope I have for the KK is that it gets a steel front diff or at least a stronger aluminum front diff.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:30 pm

Blue KJ in PA wrote:

jasonk wrote:

as far as water fording goes, i went through a couple feet of water and had to send the kj to the dealer to replace the entire fan motor assembly because the water shorted out the fan relay.

how is that trail rated...

quote]

That is what the peanut butter (Peter Pan since you can't eat it) is for...put it on the electrical connectors.... :roll:

Check out Jeeps website, they show a Liberty water fording on video. You also can watch Liberty Videos covering articulation, maneuverability, traction, and ground clearance. It’s pretty cool. http://www.jeep.com/trailrated/waterfording.html

CTjeeper16 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:00 pm

I'm pretty sure that 9.1" ground clearance figure is measured from the ground to the rocker panel(?), not ground to the front diff, which is probably about 3" or so lower...

jerbacher · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:05 pm

The rocker clearence is whats really important anyway because you should be planting the obstacle on your tire and riding over it under your rockers. Stradlling a rock is asking for trouble...

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:48 pm

CTjeeper16 wrote:

I'm pretty sure that 9.1" ground clearance figure is measured from the ground to the rocker panel(?), not ground to the front diff, which is probably about 3" or so lower...

9.4” ground clearance according to the Jeep website for the newer models. But it does not specify their guidelines for which they measured from.

http://www.jeep.com/en/liberty/exterior.html

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:59 pm

Blue KJ in PA wrote:

jasonk wrote:

as far as water fording goes, i went through a couple feet of water and had to send the kj to the dealer to replace the entire fan motor assembly because the water shorted out the fan relay.

how is that trail rated...

quote]

That is what the peanut butter (Peter Pan since you can't eat it) is for...put it on the electrical connectors.... :roll:

According to Jeep, 20” inches should be the MAX fording depth without possible damages. Here is the link.
http://www.jeep.com/en/liberty/exterior.html
The Water Fording video is in this link:
http://www.jeep.com/trailrated/waterfording.html

dirtykj · **Posted:** Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:24 am

KW AV8R wrote:

The one hope I have for the KK is that it gets a steel front diff or at least a stronger aluminum front diff.

That's an interesting thought. If the parts are interchangeable, I might just "upgrade" to steel diff for the peace of mind that I won't be stranded somewhere all by myself ...

65thKJ · **Posted:** Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:17 am

Jeep4me99 wrote:

people like stickers and badging...the more the better. I may buy a geo metro and put a TRD, SS, TypeR, and corvette badges on it. Maybe even a big ole #8 on it as well. That would be hard f***in core! :lol:

hahaha

Stickers make a big difference. My brother bought an F150 work truck w/ the steel wheels rubber unpainted crill and bumper and vinyl seats. For a small amount of money we converted it to a Sport. (~$300 for takeoff wheels/tires, ~$200 for junk yard seat, $300 to paint front grill and both bumper to match color of truck, ~$20 for "sport" stickers). He bought it for $12,900 and traded it in 2 years later w/ 40k miles for $12,000. Prob would have been ~8k if still a work truck. So, $1000 to convert to a sport model added ~$4000 in value.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:01 pm

Everyone talks about Jeep producing other models and griping about it, WHY? If they only produced OFF ROAD models with lockers, factory lifts etc, How many would they sell? I have been in Columbus (Ohio) all week working and now mini vacation and I have seen over 50 Rubicons that you can tell NEVER have even been out on the back lawn! So they should only produce them so people can get to Starbucks when it snows? Jeep has to produce other models to survive. Besides true four wheel drives are built not bought, so throw a SFA under your Libby and stop complaining :wink:

LoganSix · **Posted:** Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:26 am

Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC)

Trail Rate Jeeps have the badge because of the testing from the link above. A third party testing process. It's more than just a Marketing ploy. Any manufacturer can do the testing, if they thought their vehicle could pass it.

Motorweek Online Story About "Trail Rated" Jeeps

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