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The Rene mostly was a descent vehicle, but due to the transmission I hated driving it. It was also fragile, had to replace parts after the first 20 miles.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
I don't own a Renegade or Cherokee, but have driven a Renegade, and to me it felt fine. The only thing I really noticed is sometimes it has to downshift more than one gear.
We test drove the Renegade Trailhawk before buying the KLTH, but it was a solid test drive since the dealership is in Golden at the foot of I-70 (we've also had them for a rental car twice; in Seattle and Portland).The test drive route is up I-70 then back on US-40. While size was the ultimate deciding factor (there where numerous reasons we liked the KLTH better, but going from a Honda Fit to a Jeep we were trying to keep it small at first), the only complaint I had about the Renegade was I couldn't figure out how to adjust the seat. It's got a bottle Jack handle type doohickey. With the rentals we've had since then, I've figured it out. Never had an issue with performance, in any of the three we've driven. Again, these were all Trailhawks though.
As for lifting the KLTH, the biggest limiting factor isn't the suspension geometry, it's that nothing bigger than the stock tires fits in the wheelwells. Even with that 1" lift, the next size up rubs the fender liners. My pipe dream (after it's paid off and we get something new for my wife) is to design and fabricate some hub-reduction dropped spindle knuckles that can give some lift and correct for revs/mile. Then I'll have to figure out how to hog out the wheelwells to make room for 33s.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
Yesterday I leaned the KL won't let you drive with a door open. It puts the parking brake on IMMEDIATELY! Embarrassed me in front of a salesman and his customers, who preceded to wonder if something was wrong with the jeep. I thought it was pretty neat (but annoying).
Nikkormat wrote:Yesterday I leaned the KL won't let you drive with a door open. It puts the parking brake on IMMEDIATELY! Embarrassed me in front of a salesman and his customers, who preceded to wonder if something was wrong with the jeep. I thought it was pretty neat (but annoying).
Another reason to avoid it.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
Nikkormat wrote:Yesterday I leaned the KL won't let you drive with a door open. It puts the parking brake on IMMEDIATELY! Embarrassed me in front of a salesman and his customers, who preceded to wonder if something was wrong with the jeep. I thought it was pretty neat (but annoying).
Another reason to avoid it.
Why? Lets say your child opens a rear door while going through a parking lot, do you want to run them over? There was also the issue of people being injured/killed (Such as Anton Yelchin) by their Jeep after getting out and the parking brake not being on.
And besides what you keep saying, there is no widespread failure of the 9sp trans. There was programing issues early on, but those have been almost entirely solved with newer firmwares.
But we get it, you hate the vehicles for whatever reason, everybody can have their opinion. But no need to constantly let everybody know in this thread.
I’re read and listened to many owners having the transmission fail after a few thousand miles and waiting months for replacements because FCA couldn’t build them fast enough. Mine was having issues starting at 15000 miles. Never was so happy to get rid of a vehicle.
Igo through many gates, with the door open, so that “safety” feature was really annoying.
I will take a 4T45 any day over that stupid nine speed POS.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
Umm, for those of us unfamiliar, and too lazy to google ourselves , please provide a link to what a 4T45 is. What do they come in? I'm gonna google it but, really, when you make a claim like that, you should provide some reading material for my boredom.
Ron
2005 KJ, Hit-n-Run, 2am 6-17-2012, Totaled.
1977 SJ J10, 4v360, T18, D20, 37x14s, SOA & SF on tons, still ugly.
1978 SJ Wagoneer, 4v360, QT, 33x12.5s, lift by Sawzall NOT Running
1977 SJ J10, SniperEFI 401, QT, D44s, 31X10.5s
2006 KJ
Mars wrote:One man's trans leak is another's penetrating oil
KJ Ryu wrote:Umm, for those of us unfamiliar, and too lazy to google ourselves , please provide a link to what a 4T45 is. What do they come in? I'm gonna google it but, really, when you make a claim like that, you should provide some reading material for my boredom.
It’s a FWD 4sp known for solinoid failures. Nothing special.
Personally I have never driven a 4sp auto that I liked. Rarely in the right gear. Either lugging or running too many rpm.
I think 6sp’s and the ZF8 sp are the sweet spot for drivability.
I think the issues with the 9 speed are from 4-banger units. I test drove a bunch of configurations and the 2.4 and 9 speed was not a good match in the Cherokee, TH or non. It just doesn't have enough low end grunt and the transmission does have to compensate some. It was fine in the new Compass I drove and fine in the Renegade, but those were both just too small for me. I would say starts are significantly smoother than the Patriot or my work Hooptie (a 2015 Explorer with the Turbo V6). 2000 Miles in, still smells new and fits 4 adults with ease.
"Wait, what's on fire!?" KJ7TCT
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1976 Cherokee w/t 'Susan' 401/TH400/QT(PT)
FiTech Go EFI, Edelbrock Performer intake
3" Rough Country Springs, HEI Dizzy
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2018 Cherokee Trailhawk V6 'Sedna'
While a bit off topic, I have actually been pretty happy with the Mercedes 5sp in my JK. Does a great job holding gears down hills and such. I do greatly miss the 6sp my old JK had, but they are near impossible to find on JKU’s.
Oh, and nobody should ever by the Cherokee with the 2.4L, it’s only an option to make CAFE happy.
We have 3 ....2014 Sport 4 cyl, 2016 Trailhawk V6 Loaded and a 2017 Latitude 4cyl. We have had no problems with all 3. The trans shift just fine and the 4 cyl are quiet, and have all the power you can expect. We live on a farm 20 miles from pavement so the first 2 don't get babied. The Latitude is in Florida. I've talked to quite a few owners and no one has had trans problems and no one dislikes the 4 cyl. By the way I tow my boat and car trailer with my 88 Grand Wagoneer.
I guess mine was a fluke. Man I hated driving it. Only good thing was the fuel economy.
Ninth gear is a joke. Conditions have to be just right before it would shift up, then 5 seconds later it would shift back to 8th. I could never hold speeds on hilly roads. It would drop 5mph before the trans would downshift, then it would shift too many gears, I would have to lift off the gas, which would cause the trans to upshift again and restart the whole process. Going down hills as worse. I know the the shift from 5th to 4th requires rev matching to engage the dog clutch, but after it shifted, it wouldn’t close the throttle and I would pick up speed faster than if I were in 5th gear. It also could never figure out what gear to start off in. I would start moving, the vehicle would hesitate, then thunk/lurch into either first or second. I had the software updated, twice, but didn’t fix anything.
That four cylinder is going to really suck when it gets worn and starts loosing oil pressure.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.