Is my Wrangler Sahara going to be worse offroad then my Cherokee Trailhawk?

[Cycle11111]

From what I understand the Trailhawk is great for a Cherokee, but the rear locker is not really a locker but more like the LSD. TFL on YouTube had a segment on it I watched the other day so my comment is not based on personal driving experience. My friend does have a TH and my Wrangler Sport with LSD does way better than it does - although the TH would likely beat out most other SUVs.

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[BlackGenesis]

The Trailhawk has brake lock diffs too.... It's full time 4wd basically and practically full time lockers via brake locking diffs... And THEN if that's still not enough, you can lock the rear wheels AND you also have drive modes plus descent control, crawl control , and 56:1 4 low.

If you are on an obstacle where clearance isnt the problem (snow for example) I predict the Cherokee Trailhawk will mop the floor against the Wrangler.

I think people don't even understand WHY independent suspension was created ...

There are several reasons... Here's two :
1. To eliminate bump steer .
2. To provide a BETTER tire to ground contact patch and improve slip angle problems that occur with solid axles.

Sahara can do this with front sway bar disconnect. Cherokee would shit itself in the ditch even with e lock.

My 14 Explorer has modes and practically locks all wheels in the sand mode (able to trypod it and drive that way at crawling speed with no extra spin on free wheel). But no matter how many GOAT modes it has, it is not touching what Sahara can to do on more extreme terain. It's just way better in the snow or long trips.

 

[Fordfiveohh]

Don't worry, I "upgraded" from a 2017.5 Compass, and the Wrangler Sport S is a much better off-road. I am sure your Saraha will do just fine, as you have more goodies.

Yes there are things where you have to have a locker and there's no exception.....

I watch the video of a 20/20 Tundra get smoked by a Tacoma..... And the 20/20 Tundra had 35 inch tires on it that were 305 and the Tacoma had stock 265 tires.... The Tacoma smoked the tundra.... Very eye-opening....


150 bucks for a spacer lift kit on a Cherokee Trailhawk would cause it to destroy most stock Wranglers I'm afraid.

That's what I think.

I own the Cherokee Trailhawk and I can tell you that there's a tremendous difference between having four wheel BLD and the rear Locker... The thing just becomes a Savage beast when you cut the Locker on and the only thing that Cherokee was missing was ground clearance and if you add that you got a heck of a vehicle.

I seriously doubt that Wrangler will out corner the Cherokee Trailhawk.

It's not just one of the best handling SUVs I've ever driven it's one of the best handling vehicles I've ever driven... The thing drives like a BMW.....

 

[RubICON1]

OH boy....

 

[BillInDanville]

I had a 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk and was on the Cherokee forum quite a bit. I added rock rails and did the 1" spacer lift. It was quite capable, but it could never be made into a competitor to a Wrangler. It took me a while, but I finally realized that if I wanted an off-road capable vehicle I really should get a Wrangler. No regrets.

 

[ebass_JLUD]

I used to drink the Cherokee trailhawk kool aid as well. I get many more smiles per gallon in the wrangler.

 

[Shibadog]

You will be fine - for extra insurance and piece of mind, use some of that money saved from opting out of the Rubicon package and buy decent AT tires and a winch with recover gear and learn how to use them.... you are good for virtually everywhere you can legally drive east of the Mississippi.

This. A base, stock Jeep will pretty much go anywhere you may legally go in the eastern US. Decent off road rubber is a must, and equipment for self recover is darn good insurance “in case”.

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

A Sahara is still a "Wrangler".. don't let the road-oriented positioning trick you.. that is just to sell to the masses.. it can do insanely better than any off-road-ready CUV pretender

See video below, this was without needing lockers, just crawl through- this is steeper than what is seems, just look at the tree height from the lowest point of the creek/river
Subash Canapathy (@subash.canapathy) • Instagram photos and videos

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

This is from one of our forum members - @SoCal JLUS - sailing his near-stock Sahara with sway bars disconnected over those cross ditches

 

[entropy]

Yes there are things where you have to have a locker and there's no exception.....

I watch the video of a 20/20 Tundra get smoked by a Tacoma..... And the 20/20 Tundra had 35 inch tires on it that were 305 and the Tacoma had stock 265 tires.... The Tacoma smoked the tundra.... Very eye-opening....


150 bucks for a spacer lift kit on a Cherokee Trailhawk would cause it to destroy most stock Wranglers I'm afraid.

That's what I think.

I own the Cherokee Trailhawk and I can tell you that there's a tremendous difference between having four wheel BLD and the rear Locker... The thing just becomes a Savage beast when you cut the Locker on and the only thing that Cherokee was missing was ground clearance and if you add that you got a heck of a vehicle.

I seriously doubt that Wrangler will out corner the Cherokee Trailhawk.

It's not just one of the best handling SUVs I've ever driven it's one of the best handling vehicles I've ever driven... The thing drives like a BMW.....

This makes no sense. That a car with independent front and rear suspension would "Destroy" a body on frame Jeep with solid axles. The Cherokee Trailhawk will never outperform a stock base Jeep. That "rear locker" is NOT a real a locker and it will never be however Jeep marketing frames it.

I've seen cherokee trailhawks on trails where stock wranglers literally walk through. And the trailhawks are struggling with 2 wheels on the air with minimal stuff. They get through, but it is slow and painful to watch.

 

[cs2k]

The wrangler would be much better than the cherokee trailhawk (KL) for low speed rock crawling situations.

The solid axle on the wrangler gives it more articulation than the cherokee trailhawk. according to this comparison, a cherokee trailhawk has an RTI score of 322 points while a wrangler unlimited with disconnected swaybar will get you 690. more than twice the flex.

The solid axle is simply much stronger and more durable than the independent suspension of the trailhawk. Like all IFS setups, the Tie-Rod is a weak point on the cherokee

Although a cherokee trailhawk with a 2 inch lift will in theory have as much if not more ground clearance than a wrangler. This is actually deceptive. The wrangler's solid axle means that when a wheel goes up, it props up the whole under carriage of the vehicle. On independent suspension, when the suspension is slammed, clearance actually decrease. The paper ground clearance numbers is the "minimum clearance" on a solid axle vehicle while it's more like the "maximum clearance" on IFS.

The wrangler will also have much greater rocker clearance than the cherokee because its a body on frame rather than a unibody. The body sits high up on on the strong steel frame.

The driveline on the wrangler is also proven and much stronger and reliable than the Cherokee. On the trailhawk, the "low-range" and "locker" (clutch pack based) and PTU cherokee are also known weak points, the usage of much smaller smaller planetary gearsets in the PTU to simulate a beefy transfer case leads to reduced durability.

The wrangler will have a much higher "ceiling" if you are willing to spend money into upgrades. There are simply more lift kits, sliders, off-road bumpers available for the wrangler platform and you can find great deals online for them. The KL has much less after market support.

You are also pretty limited in how much you can modify a KL, you are pretty much limited to a 2 inch lift before the CV angles becomes a limiting factory (I'm not aware of a diff-drop kit for the KL). On the wrangler, you can easily lift 4+ inches if you wish.

The only place (offroad) where the trailhawk will have an advantage over the wrangler is high speed situations and washboard roads. They are just much more comfortable to ride in. They are also better on the highway with less NVH and better MPG.

With that being said, the KL is a wonderful platform and out of all compact unibody SUVs, it is the king. No other competitors (Bronco sport, Subarus, Rav4 TRD, honda trailsport) offers the unique combination of clearance, low-range, locker that the KL does. I've seen them do some pretty crazy things in the hands of the right drivers.

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