New Stuff on Vehicles likes/dislikes

[tphoyt]

I hear ya. I have been driving my 90 4 runner while my work truck is in the body shop.
I love it and can’t part with it but it’s no good for work.

 

[dingbat]

I’m gradually restoring my old 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.0 straight six. Owned since new currently at 185,000 miles.

Didn’t know they made the Grand with the 4.0 in 1998

Had a 1990 Wagoner with a 4.0 that struggled with pulling the boat (19’). Traded that in for a new 1997 Grand with the 5.2.

 

[Lou C]

Didn’t know they made the Grand with the 4.0 in 1998

Had a 1990 Wagoner with a 4.0 that struggled with pulling the boat (19’). Traded that in for a new 1997 Grand with the 5.2.

The ZJ Grand (1993-1998) was originally released with the 4.0 and that continued all the way to the end of the next Grand series (WJ, 1999-2004) the 5.2 V8 was available in the ZJ from 1993 on up. The main difference was the V8 had a lot more torque. The 4.0 towed my 20' boat OK, but my '07 WK with the 5.7 (330 hp, 375 ft lbs of torque) pulled it like it's not there.

 

[Lpgc]

Didn’t know they made the Grand with the 4.0 in 1998

I had one too

 

[dingbat]

The 4.0 towed my 20' boat OK, but my '07 WK with the 5.7 (330 hp, 375 ft lbs of torque) pulled it like it's not there.

The 5.2 towed the 19’ well. First trip with the boat was up to Sodus Pt. NY and back.

Wife loved the Jeep, but the suspension and short wheel base really struggled with a 20’ walk-around I bought a couple of years later.

 

[Lou C]

The 5.2 towed the 19’ well. First trip with the boat was up to Sodus Pt. NY and back.

Wife loved the Jeep, but the suspension and short wheel base really struggled with a 20’ walk-around I bought a couple of years later.

For that, I added:
235/75-15 Load Range C tires
Bilstein 4600 high pressure gas shocks
Air Lift air bags in the rear coils
for towing I set the tire pressure at about 40 psi.

 

[Pmt133]

My trailblazer had a 113" wheelbase. It was fine towing the boat unless you had a strong crosswind. Then you noticed the limitations of the wheelbase and narrow track. That being said the 17' turning radius is missed dearly. I did my road test in that car and for the K-turn portion I just made a u-turn. The instructor gave me the look and I did a "proper" k turn.

I also used our escalade for towing which had a similar weight but a mere 3" longer wheel base and the difference was very noticeable. I think more so the track width is where the improvement came from as I ran the same tires on both trucks.

 

[jimmbo]

Amazon offers a Wiring Harness for GM that plugs into the Hood Switch that permanently disables that Horrible Feature(Auto Stop-Start). My car didn't have a disable button, but that Harness fixed that Problem, cost was about $15(us).
Security and Remote Start are not affected by it either.

An Update. 3yrs later, the Disabler still works fine, but it does cause the charging system to refuse to fully charge the battery. My battery, well the car's, has a State of Health, of 94% but a State of Charge of 47%. It has been that way ever since I installed the disabler, and has never failed to crank the car, even during the winter parked outside. I will admit to keeping the car plugged in at home, as the Heater Cord will deny power to the Block Heater, until the temp drops below -18C. I am going to take this disabler, out and replace it with a different design, that is installed at the Battery, and won't inhibit the charging system. It will, however, disable the Auto Activation of the Heated Steering Wheel, and Heated/Vented Seats, though that is good as they were coming on way too early(8C), I am disappointed that the Auto Venting is also disabled, but they can still be turned on manually.

 

[Pmt133]

You can typically force/override to full alternator output by manually turning the lights on for most GM vehicles. I'd be interested to see if that works

 

[jimmbo]

I don't even know how to turn the Headlights on on the Car. There is no switch on the dash, however, normal mode of Operation, is Auto-on, but when dawn arrives, it switches to the LED DRLs up front, then back to Headlights at Twilight.

 

[Pmt133]

Actually thinking about it, the export models are wired a bit different. So it may not even work. On like my truck, I can hit the tow/haul button and that accomplishes the same thing. Obviously not an option on a car.

 

[matt167]

Top left corner of the center screen is the headlight controls if no switch. The cheap eliminators work by creating an external ghost draw that causes the system to go into a fail safe mode. The eliminators that plug inline with the switch employ a simple logic memory and mimics the switch

 

[jimmbo]

looking the Owners Manual... It appear there is some control of the Headlights on the Turn Signal Switch, but an On/Off only is when the car is not running, If running, the Headlamps can be shut off in Park, but the moment it is shifted out of Park the Headlamps come on.
As for a Switch for turning off the Auto Stop-Start for that Ignition Cycle, there is none. An Eliminator is the only option, and all of them disable something. I guess the least annoying is not having the Seat and Wheel coming on in warm temps(8C, I think that is about 46F)