10 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4wd 21k Stage-5-armored Nav Heated-st Pdc Cam on 2040-cars

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Dirt Every Day tries to find the best 4x4 for under $4k

If you want to build a cheap truck that can still do dirty deeds off the beaten path, it's best to start with solid axles and a solid V8 engine. That sums up the lessons learned after watching the 2014 Cheap Truck Challenge from the Dirt Every Day video crew, who took to the deserts and surrounding areas near Reno, NV, in an attempt to find the best 4x4 for under $4,000. Fortunately for us, the whole sordid journey was captured on video.
This isn't the first time the boys from DED filmed a Cheap Truck Challenge, and this year's festivities pitted together a 1993 Chevy S10 pickup, a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 1975 International truck in a series of challenges ranging from donuts to drag races, with plenty of hill-climbing and rock-crawling action in between. We don't want to spoil all the fun, but suffice it to say one competitor was found to be lacking while the other two performed (mostly) well. See for yourself in the video above.

Jeep Wrangler Polar is a tasty frozen treat

Perhaps it's because we've seen so many kitted-out examples over the years, but it seems to us that the Jeep Wrangler tends to wear its special-edition duds better than most models. It might be the icon's familiar rectilinear proportions or the inherent bolt-on look of its extremities - bumpers, mirrors, lighting, and step rails - but we've seen precious few factory specials that look anything but excellent.
Case in point: this new Jeep Wrangler Polar unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. This European-market limited-edition model is said to be a celebration of winter driving, which evidently works out to a body-color hardtop, black-accent seven-slot grille, 18-inch gloss black wheels, Trac-Lok limited-slip differential and a hard hat for the spare tire. Finished here in Hydro Blue (Billet Silver Metallic and Bright White are also available) and a black interior with Polar White accents, the Polar edition features badges displaying 78° S and 106° E longitude and latitude coordinates for Vostok, Antarctica.
This new Jeep will be available in both standard and Unlimited formats with either the 3.6-liter Pentastar gas engine or the still-not-for-US 2.8-liter turbodiesel when it bows early next year. For further details, check out our gallery above and the press release below.

Chrysler's Jefferson North plant builds 5-millionth SUV [w/video]

Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant opened in 1992 for production of the first Jeep Grand Cherokee, but in the subsequent years, the Detroit plant has gone on to produce some of the company's biggest SUVs including the Jeep Commander and Dodge Durango. Earlier this week, the plant produced its five-millionth SUV, which, fittingly, was a Grand Cherokee.
Celebrating the plant's five-millionth unit, the silver 2014 Grand Cherokee was promptly donated to the USO. In addition to this milestone SUV, Chrysler also had a near-perfect 1993-95 ZJ Grand Cherokee on hand for the photo op. Scroll down for the Chrysler press release as well as a video showing some of the speeches from the celebration.