Jeep Commander Review [ BEST VALUE 4x4 SUV under $10k ? ]
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- These 4wd/SUV's seem to have mixed reviews, probably more bad negative reviews than good, but after so many years I have found them to be mostly misunderstood and very underrated.
You can find them for absolute bargains now, and providing you get one in good condition, you would need to spend 3-4 times the value (including preventative maintenance) to get anywhere close to the same capabilities in a newer vehicle. Obviously, a newer vehicle will likely have more tech and perhaps nicer/refined interior design which the Commander cannot compete with, but in terms of foundational capabilities, the Commander is still relevant today, in my opinion obviously. Watch the video and let me tell you why I believe this.
In my video, I go through some of the modifications, reliability, and some interesting characteristics that ultimately led me to enjoy mine so much. 
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Great video. They are 100% hidden gems. I have an 08 Hemi in black.
Thanks.
Great video! And I agree 100% with everything you have said. The Commander is a beast and one hell of a deal. Great rig.
Thanks mate. Love your channel, was great to see you purchase, maintain, and improve one of these Commander's!
I love commanders! And you sir have a sweet one
Absolutely loved it! Excellent vehicles
MAN I LOVE THIS!
Awesome video, any chance you can give details on the engine tune, and "deletion" I'm presuming this is and EGR delete? Do you run a catch can or anything?
Great video. Just bought one myself. Can I ask where you got the suspension kit from? And what size tyre did you get in metric? Very much interested in doing these mods as I’m about to do some serious touring with the wife in a couple of months around Australia towing the caravan.
Thanks. The tyre size in this vid are 255/75R17 with 1.5" hubcentric wheel spacers. This tyre diameter (32") and offset will rub like crazy unless you do some clearencing. I actually modded and setup the Commander to run 33x12.5R17 tyres on 0 offset rims (which is larger and sit even further outwards), which I ran for a few years, therefore the clearencing I did to fully accommodate them makes fitting anything smaller even easier.
The susp height is from Lovell's HD coils, but if I did it again I would use either HD Dobinson coils or a custom coil... I've tried a few different spring offerings from Aussie brands and they all are too soft for my liking and end up sagging quickly with my load and weight. And Aussie manufactures don't expect someone owning a Jeep Commander to use if for anything other than shopping apparently so don't offer off-the-shelf heavy-rated springs. This is why I fitted the air bags to the rear, which is great and highly recommended. For shocks, unfortunately, there isn't much avail that is good quality off the shelf. Bilstien made same great shocks that'll fit but they are stock size (not lifted). Despite everyone using their front strut at least, I wanted a longer strut to not lose downtravel with increased lift which is typical on IFS, the Bilstien's wouldn't give me this. So after much research I discovered Gabriel who makes a strut with is ~0.5" longer than stock (equates to ~1" more down travel). For the rear, after much research and trial and error, I discovered that JL Wrangler shocks are most suitable for me. The top shock eyelet needs some trimming down to narrow the "ears", easy to do. Then you have heaps of options to find the right shock for your budget, ride quality, and size for your suspension travel (I had 2" lifted JL shocks which provided 4" more down travel at the rear of the Commander vs stock).
Great setup! Can you put some links to the interior touch screen and how you set up the performance gauge on the android?
Hi, the stereo setup was done a few years ago now, I am sure there are updated models now. In my research for the setup I realised this era of Jeep/Chrysler vehicles is really hard to adapt and upgrade the factory audio systems as they were in between non-CANBUS and full CANBUS exlctrical systems and Chrysler fitted all vehicles with a very odd size and shape stereos (1.5 DIN with semi-circle protrusions on the side) which makes it extremely difficult to fit anything universal. Plus due to the age of the vehicle, and its idiosyncrasies, proper PnP systems were hard to come by although they do/did exist.
My way to get around all of this was to convert my stereo system to a single DIN using a dash fascia, then using a "Connects2" adaptor harness specifically for this model Jeep allowing me to run a universal single DIN headunit of my choice. The Connects2 harness also had provision to adapt the steering wheel controls too. The headunit I chose was a universal single DIN unit from "Joying", it was top of the range at the time with max RAM, CPU speed, and screen quality. It had a 11.5" screen which IMO is oversize for most vehicles but the Commander has such a huge and boxy dash that I think it actually integrated nicely.
There was one trick that needed to be done to make the whole setup work flawlesslessly and that was when connected the factory wiring to the Connects2 patch harness, you must reverse the front and rear speakers cables in the plug. The system will work just fine if you don't do this, BUT for whatever reason when making blutooth phone calls you won't hear the other person at all. There are no instructions anywhere on this final step that I could see, but its only necessary if you want to use blutooth calling.
Overall the sound system is amazing, huge upgrade to the vehicle's entertainment system with modern functionality, interior looks clean, and sounds much better than stock (with heaps of EQ adjustment for your liking). The Android based OS is great too, I know there are many units on the market that are much cheaper, but I opted to get the top of the range and the performance and UI are fantastic, smooth and responsive.
I will also add, that my Jeep had the top of the range Boston sound system with the amp under the back seat. You don't need to mess with the amp or anything, but its important to know when buying the patch harness' as there are different models.
The OBD data was obtained using an old Samsung android phone that I dedicated to running the "Torque" app (only avail for Android) connected via bluetooth to a OBD2 transmitter plugged into the OBD2 port. I had it setup for my liking, theapp is fully customizable so you will probably set it up differently. In fact in this vid the UI was actually set for another vehicle completely, otherwise my normal setup for the Commander would have had similar dials and colours to the Jeep's dash cluster. Make sure you buy a better quality OBD2 transmitter as the cheaper ones are more basic in the data they can access in the vehicle, and while the Torque app (and most mainstream app based diagnostic readers) are at the basic level, you may explore with other specific Jeep based diagnostic apps (ie OBD JScan) or use specific manually entered Jeep plugins on the Torque app, and if the transmitter is not up to the task it won't read that data.
Try super clean degreaser deleted 8 to 1. It took all the sticky off my dash and steering wheel.
Nice Commander man, i have 3.0 too. Do you have something special for an engine temperature? Mine does not show engine temp on any OBD. And your fuel economy is amazing. I can go barely under 11l/100 with no suspension lift.
Hi whats your suspension setup and how much inch lift is it?
Can you please mention the obd setup you are using and did you bought it with black headlights ?
I run the "Torque" app from the Google Play store on a old Android phone connected to a good quality OBD2 Bluetooth transmitter.
The headlights are aftermarket US style headlights. Living in Australia we have the same headlights as European markets that are fully clear with indicators on the side and different globes to the US versions. But I hit a bird and cracked one of my headlights and replacement cost with Australian or Euro version was more than double to buy a set of cheap US style. And I love the black headlights personally. If you are converting yours you need to buy new globes and wiring adaptors to be able to plug into the Australian or Euro headlight hardesses.
Hey could you tell me your setup for the front disconnects?
They are Rubicon Express sway bar disconnects for a JK Wrangler. You can run any brand JK dico's, just need to make sure they are long enough for the Commander. I found that stock JK length wasn't enough, I had to get one made for a 2-4" lift on a JK.
@_TenaciousD_ thank you so much, did you have any problems bolting it up to the lower control arm?
@@scottlentine1513 no it threads right in no probs. But a tip, regularly check the lower dicso mount in the LCA, they like to back themselves out. I used locktite and they still managed to loosen themselves.
@_TenaciousD_ alright, u appreciate it!