2000cherokee Sport 4x4 Runs & Looks Great Driven Average 10,000miles A Year on 2040-cars

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The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is the all-wheel-drive Hellcat you've been waiting for

If the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT was the venerable SUV cranked to 10, the new Trackhawk goes to 11. Actually, make that 707, because the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a Hellcat by another name. Under the hood is the same 707-horsepower supercharged V8 from the sinister corporate cousins Charger and Challenger. The torque rating drops just a bit to 645 pound feet, versus the 650 of the Hellcats, but we don't think many people will be too upset. Especially since Jeep claims the Trackhawk is capable of a 3.5-second 0-60 mph run and a quarter-mile time of 11.6 seconds. The former is right in line with the Challenger Hellcat. View 24 Photos The Grand Cherokee Trackhawk also offers a unique difference to the Hellcats, and its not the SUV body style. The Trackhawk is all-wheel-drive. Power goes from the supercharged V8 to an 8-speed automatic and a single-speed transfer case. There's also an electronic limited slip differential at the back. Jeep beefed up the transfer case with a wider chain that features forged sprockets. The rear drive shaft and half shafts have been strengthened to handle the extra power. Power is split 40/60 front and rear in the default automatic setting, and becomes more rear biased in more aggressive driving modes. In the sportiest "Track" mode, power is split 30/70. In the least aggressive "Snow" mode, power is split 50/50. The sportier drive modes also firm up suspension and decreases shift times. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Helping manage all the power is a high-performance suspension with adaptive Bilstein shocks. The suspension lowers the SUV a full inch compared with normal Grand Cherokees. Wheels are 20 inches in diameter and 10 inches wide wrapped in 295-millimeter wide tires, either all-seasons or optional three-seasons. An optional forged set of wheels is available, too, which Jeep says will save 12 pounds of weight. The wheels are stopped by Brembo six-piston calipers and 15.75-inch rotors up front, and four-piston calipers and 13.73-inch rotors out back. Jeep says the front brakes are the largest ever fitted to one of its vehicles. Visually, you'll be hard-pressed to tell a Grand Cherokee Trackhawk from the current SRT variant. The bumpers and fender flares are roughly the same. But a tell-tale sign is the lack of fog lights.

Jeep to stop using bad Takata airbag inflators next week

FCA is gradually ceasing to produce vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflaters found to be inherently faulty. These airbags, which lack a certain drying agent, have been linked with dangerous premature ruptures. According to FCA, the only vehicle still in production with the named airbag is the 2016 Jeep Wrangler, and in this case they are passenger-side airbags. Fiat Chrysler says it isn't aware of any incidents involving these air bag inflaters in Jeeps, but amidst concerns that vehicles with failure-prone airbags are still being marketed to customers, North American-market 2016 Wranglers will cease to be equipped with them starting next week. As per FCA's statement, global production is expected to end by mid-September. In addition to Toledo, Ohio, the Wrangler is produced in Egypt. FCA isn't going to sell the cars with the deemed-faulty airbags without disclosing the fact to the customers: anyone buying a 2016 Wrangler will be notified that the vehicle will most likely be subject to a recall in the future, even if there is not currently a recall announced for them. NHTSA has specified a "Coordinated Remedy Program" recall schedule for the coming years, and the airbag inflaters will degrade over a time frame of several years, when subjected to a humid environment. Related Video: News Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, The Wall Street JournalImage Credit: Julien Amado / Autoblog Quebec Plants/Manufacturing Recalls Chrysler Jeep Ownership Safety Takata airbag recall

Ford will put solid axles under the Bronco as the off-roading gods intended

We've been wondering what sort of creature the Bronco would be since we first heard of the thing last October, when a union chairman spilled the beans on the SUV and the Ranger pickup. Ford confirmed a 2020 arrival date for the Bronco at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, but at that point pretty much all we were sure of was that the Ranger and Bronco would be returning. The open question would be how hungry Ford was to spoil the Jeep Wrangler's solo party as a compact(ish) off-roader with dual solid axles, since the easiest thing would be to carry over the suspension design of the presumably related international Ford Ranger and its Everest SUV version: independent front suspension with either a leaf- (Ranger) or coil-suspended (Everest) solid rear axle. Enter Dana, the long-time supplier of Jeep stick axles, to confirm that the 2020 Bronco is getting a pair of them. That means solid axles front and rear, just like under a Wrangler. So reports Automotive News, citing an investor presentation from Dana. All signs so far, such as the report that the Bronco would be engineered by the same team in Australia that created the Ranger pickup, indicated that the Bronco would share a platform with the Ranger and thus be body-on-frame. The solid axle confirmation essentially confirms that theory. Some off-road-capable vehicles have paired solid axles with unibody frames, like the Jeep Cherokee (XJ generation) and Grand Cherokee (ZJ and WJ generations), but they are outliers. Generally, if you've got solid axles at both ends, they're going in a vehicle with a ladder frame. It also lends credence to the notion that our Bronco won't simply be an imported Everest, which might be too understated to stand out from lesser crossovers anyways. This is good news if you have Blue Oval in your blood and pine for a modern SUV that'll show up the Jeep guys on the trail. Less directly, it could mean a wholesale assault on the formula that makes Jeeps successful in the first place: the massive aftermarket of off-roading equipment and dress-up bits that appeal to Jeep buyers almost as much as a Trail Rated badge. At a minimum, Bronco enthusiasts can breathe easy that the reborn SUV won't merely be a light-duty crossover with styling "inspired" by true off-roaders. There's still a lot left to learn about the Bronco. Keep up to date with our running summary of everything we know about the returning off-roader.