Jeep Commander Tweaks
The load flat floor sits above the rear bumper height - not the best feature implementation (see the photo from our long term test blog).
What would you like to see tweaked to make the Commander more practical or elegant ... or commanding? (that would be SRT-8 territory). :shades:
What would you like to see tweaked to make the Commander more practical or elegant ... or commanding? (that would be SRT-8 territory). :shades:
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2. Resolve wind,leak and stall issues.
3. 3rd row seats are OK by me.
remove some of the dash thickness and
move front seats foward so you can see stop lights.
move the front grab handles to above the driver and passenger.
Add some type of rain gutter.
give more storage under the back for more than a jack.
Anybody got a solution to tweak the cupholders to acommodate larger containers? Does someone make a good quality adapter that slips into the current cupholder?? So far all I've seen are either cheap $1 items or bulky things designed for heavy trucks.
What about removing the soft insert? I don't mind a little customizing if one from another vehicle could be made to fit.
Have 11,000 mi on my Commander and still love it. I drive from NH to Canada thru the mountains about once a month and it is a VERY stable vehicle on snow and ice.
Like most other owners, my biggest complaints are the lack of storage space and the %^&*& cupholders. The rh one is shallow because there's stuff under it. I'm trying various adapters, too since many bottles won't fit. I may try slicing the "bulges" in the sidewalls to see if it helps. As is, it almost crushes a can.
It'll be a sad day if they discontinue it; maybe DCX should spend less $$ advertyising the Nitro.
My wife refuses to take her eyes off the road to poke round
for the button. To her the button is useless.
The '02-'04 Grand Cherokees had the switch
on the shift knob and it was easy to find.
Back to the drawing boards (or computer tablets).
The dealer checked 3 other Commanders on the lot and they
shifted in at 64/66 MPH range. Since most people do not
count the up-shifts they are not aware that they are not in overdrive. For sure my wife had no idea and still doesn't really care. She loves the car. I think it is a pig. I found the problem because the RPM/MPH ratio was so high.
Chrysler says that the learning (idiot) transmission can not be changed and are satisfied with their incompetence.
I suggest that you watch the tach for a "drop" to make sure
that you are actually in overdrive.
Am very happy so far but have noticed a clunking noise from RF when going over bumps. Sounds like shock is loose. Any body else had this?
Thanks!
The other thing to keep in mind if you are considering a Commander is the few folks with vehicle issues tend to post on these forums more than those that are happy with their vehicles.
This is true of any vehicle no matter the manufacturer. We also considered minivans before purchasing our Commander and Toyotas in particular had a lot of unhappy customers as I did my research. Toyota has had problems recently mostly attributed to the company's rapid growth so they have had more problems than in the past. The problem is their dealer network has done a poor job fixing the issues which has made for many unhappy customers. Again, if the dealership were better at fixing problems then selling cars the problems would go away. I wouldn't consider a Toyota a bad vehicle just because they have had more issues recently.
On the subject of chipped windshields, this isn't a problem isolated to the Commander. Think about it, is it really such a stretch for one to realize that a rock hitting a piece of glass will leave a chip or crack??? I just spent eight years driving a Wrangler. Every time I saw a rock coming at my windshield I would cringe thinking the stone was going to end up in the passenger cabin. In the 100,000+ miles I put on the Wrangler the windshield was only replaced once. Not too bad when you consider the Wrangler windshield is much steeper than the Commanders. Before the Wrangler I had a sports car - yep, it had chips in the windshield too! Maybe it is because you get a different cliantelle shopping a Commander than a Wrangler but to me some folks expectations just aren't realistic. So far the best way I have found to avoid a cracked windsheld is to leave more room between me and the car ahead. I've come to the conclusion the only way to totally avoid stone chips is to only drive in parades!
Ok, I'll get off my soap box! Back to the Commander and my impressions as an owner. The biggest surprise to me so far has been the four-wheel-drive system. Coming from the most unstoppable production 4x4 on the planet in the Wrangler I am highly impressed by the Commander. The Wrangler is all about brute force and driver skill does come into play in slippery situations. The Commander on the other hand has ESP which allows the system to "think" its way through slippery situations. I have literally tried to get my Commander to slide in the snow and been amazed at how quickly the ESP does its job to steer the vehicle in the direction you are steering while stopping the slide. This has been alluded to in some of the other posts and I have to agree, this is by far the most stable vehicle I have ever driven in the snow! I lost my first 4x4 to my wife after I made the mistake of showing her how to use the four wheel drive. Hopefully she won't try to steal this one from me after she drives it in the snow!
The interior is very comfortable with supportive seats and nice leather. I love all the little cubbies in the front row for storing things like a cell phone and wallet. Unlike many other vehicles, the cup holders are left free for their intended purpose. The seats fold very easily. Some minivans we looked at have the fold into the floor feature with their rear seats but what I found when I tried them is those seats are awkward and heavy which makes them hard to deploy. Not so in the Commander... If the seats aren't easy to fold then you end up trying to avoid folding them whenever possible. I tend to use my vehicles for transporting large objects a lot and also have kids that necessitate the extra seating so I end up folding the seats a lot. The third row in the Honda Odyssey is slick the way it folds down but pulling that heavy seat up again takes too much effort!
The three sun roofs are nice and my kids love the added touch of having them in the back seat along with the DVD system. They also love the theater seating. This is the first three-row vehicle anyone in my family has had where the kids like riding in the third row. This is one feature Jeep doesn't get enough credit for in my opinion. Most people complain about the limited view out the back window with the third row seats up but I tend to disagree a bit here. Over the years I have driven many vehicles that are harder to back into a parking place than my Commander. Perhaps it is the fact that I use my mirrors to park and don't expect to see behind me through the vehicle when parking a vehicle of this size. My wife's extended length Chevy Trailblazer is much harder to parallel park and I have never heard a Trailblazer owner make the same complaint. I would compare parallel parking the Commander more to a minivan than a full size SUV or pickup truck. The backup sensors do work well and make the task of parking easier so I do recommend them.
I guess the only other area I haven't mentioned is the engine. I test drove both the V8 Hemi and the V6 and between the two the only advantage I would give the Hemi is how quite and smooth it is. It is definitely a nice engine but I couldn't justify the added fuel consumption. For me the V6 has more than enough power to merge into traffic and only makes a little more noise during acceleration. When cruising along you don't hear the V6 at all. I have no disappointment with choosing the V6. I would only consider the V8 if I had towing requirements - which I don't.
I just like you own a Yukon and it's a 02 with 80,000 on it and have never had a problem with it. Told that to the "technican" on the test drive so he could "hear" the noise and he made some smart comment about head gasket repair on the GM's. Told him I've had no problems EVER with it.
BTW the first two times we had it in they replaced the pinon bearing and then some other bearing in the front diff. Niether of these fixed the problem. Seems like they're just guessing on this. I'll let you know what happens today and if they finally get it right.
Any suggestions will be a great help
called chrysler today and crystal said that - i told her gas cap had been loose and i filled with ultra premium but light was still on - she explained that 'several typical driving cycles' would = about 50miles and that if light remains on after 50 miles, bring it to service center.
other than the light, the commander is finally driving well enough. since purchasing used at a local Westport-Norwalk Jeep Dealer (who failed to file warranty papers at time of purchase thus leaving me without a warranty) i have put another $6k into the car, bad brakes, bad tires, new starter, leaking fuel, transmission and power steering lines, etc., i .e., i am hoping that the loose gas cap really could have brought on this light and that 50 miles of driving will cure it.
any insights?
and, in case the man who traded in his wrangler reads this, i can tell you that i have had two wranglers (no problems at all!) as well as bmw convertible (no problems) and jaguar (finicky and more expensive oil changes and tune ups but not as expensive to maintain as this commander; at least jaguar was regularly scheduled maintenance, whereas this commander is nothing but surprises that usually need to be towed ($100-150) in)
It replaced our 1997 Ford Expedition with 230,000+ miles on it. Ran great but rusted away.
I like the quiet interior, the get up and go, the smooth shifting, comfy seats.
It's just my wife and I so the third row back seats are folded down with a spill-proof packaged tray with access from the lift tail gate. Nobody rides in the second seating.
Brakes are fantastic, steers like she is on rails.
Gas mileage is terrible ... 14 or so in town 21.3 on the highway ... but wait! Any Air Force guy or gal will tell you that " resistance through air SQUARES as speed DOUBLES ". So keep your foot out of it and use cruise when possible. She is tall and boxy and that style of body will not cheat the wind. It is not possible to fool physics. Drive like you have a raw egg between your foot and the gas pedal.
Jeep had a recall called an --:> N-23 <:-- I don't know what hat was all about but it was a re-program of a computer. Drivers are finding that their 4 wheel drive low on the Quadra-Drive II transmission stopped working ... EASY FIX. And there is a U-Tube video on this too.
Under the hood~driver's side is a fuse box. Find fuse location #25 and remove the 20 amp fuse. Start the jeep and put it in 'N' and pull up the 4wd Tee handle ... you will get the " Service 4 Wheel Drive " lite. Shut her down ... re install the 20 amp fuse and start it up again. Find 'N' and pull up the handle ... she'll slip into FWD Low flawlessly, over and over again. You just reprogrammed the computer. Don't let the dealer tell you differently.
The big difference between the Ford Expedition and the Jeep Commander is gearing. The 5.4 liter in the Ford turned 1650 rpm at 60 mph while the Jeep [a much smaller and 1000 lb lighter SUV] turns 2150 rpm at 60 mph. Less rpm's + less gas burned.
But 'gas' is the cheapest part of driving a vehicle. You can't drive anything for much less then buck-a-mile.
The big V-8 has 16 plugs ... the smaller V-8 has 16 for the high output 4.7 liter and 8 for the standard 4.7 liter [mine]. And 6 for the 3.7 liter V-6.
Change the fluids and appropriate filters ... Air-oil-trans-axles-brake fluid and power steering on time [use a Turkey Baster to suck out all the brake and power steering as you can and replace with new. I do this once a year]. There is an optional 'cabin air filter kit' for dusty driving goes under the wiper alley façade.
And note that aggressive driving will tear the three bushings up that hold and position the front axle differential. You will hear a 'Clunk' when they tear.
Let me correct my line in #1 post to read --:>Less rpm's = less gas burned.
As to the commit about the V-6 Commander being a slug ... we drove our 1996 VW Wasserboxer 2100 cc Syncro awd van for 200,000 plus miles at a snail's pace. But we arrived eventually. Get my drift?
I don't buy a car to crash in so I don't care how safe it is, and I gave up road racing my 1954 Austin-Healey/Ford V-8 in A-Sport Race in SCCA.
Our most dependable ride turns out to be the wife's "Land Yacht" a 1930 Ford Model 'A' ~ B-40 Standard Roadster. Always starts ... never stranded her and drives swell.
Her other car is a 2007 Mercury Montego Premier awd, she only racked up 22,000 miles on it. So far so good.
Hint: Water cooled? ANY temperature is O.K. as long as your not loosing water. And don't switch from the right fuel tank filled with 12-1/2 gallons of Shell premium to the left fuel tank filled with 12-1/2 gallons of regular Shell gasohol on the 'Dirty Dan Ryan' expressway in Chicago and expect the computer to happily and correctly keep injecting fuel. Crank her long enough to rid the fuel rail of the gasohol and replace it with premium and she'll fire right back up.
I don't race either but I'd like some safety gear around me for a bit of protection from the boy-racers who think the feeder streets are Indy.
Ahhhhhhhh Haaaaaaa ! The round thingy up in the right hand corner allows for editing .. cool.
1~Fully synthetic engine oil has been created by processing Natural gas into a liquid oil.
2~Because this oil is so slippery it runs down off the cylinder walls. Hence cold start-ups are dry start-ups. Need a bit of the 'old' style oil to keep components oiled during shut down.
Read this engine discussion;
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/47.html
Oil Note--:> " The oiling system isn't radical, using a clever design first seen on the AMC V8s: the georotor-type pump is mounted in the timing cover, and is driven off the crank snout. Direct drive, unlike the current LA engine, which, if you think about it, is a nightmare. The oil pump drive torque comes off the crank nose, through the chain, to the cam, back through the full length of the cam, through a bevel gearset to the intermediate shaft, and then through a hexagonal drive to the pump itself. Whew ! Can you say, simplified ?
The new, block mounted pump has a 75 psi relief valve, and a displacement of approx 1 cubic inch per revolution. The oil pan is stamped steel, includes a windage tray (integral with the pan gasket) and has a capacity of 5 quarts plus one in the filter. Pump clearances are designed for the recommended 5W30 oil [this appears to have changed to 5W20, probably with the 2008 model year]."
My Commander with the 4.7 low out put [8 spark plugs] has been running well, but the mpg are low 11 to 14 mpg in town and 21 to 23 on the highway at 60 mph. Remember resistance through the air squares as speed doubles. So slow down. Push less air.