The Most Capable 4x4 We've Tested At Tumbleweed!

Hey all, Graham here! Thank you so much for having me out for a little feature! It was a pleasure meeting the TFL folks and running your course. I'm thrilled to be stretching the jeep's legs after working on it for the last several years. Happy wrenching and wheeling and hopefully I'll see you for another run sometime! *Edit to add some specs and answer some questions: -Yes, it's wide, but not as wide as it looks. Total track width is 90" to the outsides of the tires, my Ram 2500 on 20x10's is 88" for comparison. Full width axles look huge under Cherokees, keep in mind they're a pretty small SUV! Wheelbase is about 104", I stretched it as much as I could without having to relocate the steering box forward or the fuel tank back (so the dana 80 diff wouldn't hit it) -on the day of filming this it weighed 5100 lbs with me in it and a full tank of gas. Yes that's on the heavy side in my opinion, but keep in mind ~1600 lbs of that is unsprung. Believe it or not the LQ4 is about 60 lbs lighter than the all iron 4.0, all the weight I added was in running gear and armor/chassis stiffeners -For the record, I whole heartedly believe the 4.0 is one of the most venerable straight 6's in history, absolutely magnificent little engines. That said, many, many 2000-2001 4.0's had issues with the 0331 cylinder head cracking and we were lucky enough to be one of those. It really reared its head in the middle of a roadtrip we were on and in a matter of minutes the oil milkshaked and toasted the number 1 rod bearing. The annoying thing is it didn't have a noticeable coolant or oil loss/mixing issue, or any questionable oil pressure, it happened very suddenly and this was of course before I knew about the 0331 head so alas, it got an LS! -I thought I mentioned this during the interview but I think it got cut, I am in the process of a full hybrid endo/exo cage install from WelderD. Cherokees need all the help they can get being unibody so anywhere I can add rigidity, I am. I was hesitant to try to get it installed since I only had 1 weekend before we filmed this and I didn't want the interior all half assed looking for the video. Never half ass. Whole ass everything haha. -I meant what I said when I said XJs don't get enough love! These things get bought used and absolutely hammered on so I tried to build mine really right before I beat the tar out of it lol. -Yes it's still leaf sprung, leaves party harder, everyone knows that 😁. Leaves retain a bit of stability and predictability in the absence of swaybars and if I link and coilover the rear, which I absolutely may do some day, it's going to necessitate a TON of body and tub cutting to cycle as much travel as a coilover will allow. Maybe someday... -Yes, obviously, this is trending way more towards an offroad only vehicle, so it absolutely isn't fair to apples-to-apples compare this to a Bronco Raptor, JK/JL Rubicon, etc. But keep this in mind too... I have roughly as much money in this as a RZR XP1000, and it'll eat RZR alive in the rocks (not the dunes, but the rocks). It is street legal, has a stereo, full climate control (sans AC lol), and I can seat my whole family. Just a different, slightly more old school way of building something. I don't have crawl control or overdrive, but I have a V8 and a lot of tire haha. Anyway thanks again everyone for checking out the video!

Finally we miss this kind of video

XJs have always been a very useful vehicle. He did address the unibody weakness. Nice build and works well

That’s my neighbor! Sweet build Graham!

Now this is a jeep like it was meant to be very impressive by a master mind gear head . Well played sir 👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸

lmao that XJ probably has a harder time on the Highway than it does offroad

This versus the MORR Banana!

"XJs don't get enough love." Said no one except that guy.

"It's an American thing." ...mix-n-matching, dreaming, daring, working! Great ending! Let's keep this spirit alive 👍

Starting this building with unibody stiffeners was the smartest thing he could have done. He went into this build planning for quality feom the start. Good on him. This is an impressive build.

Matt should bring the banana out from Hurricane...😊

Nice Video! I own a 99 XJ Sport. purchased new. Currently with 160K plus miles, modified, 4" lift all new heavy duty front end parts, 4:11 gear upgrade, upgraded wheels 17". EATON limited slip lockers (love) , upgraded audio system with new double DIN center dash replacement, love as well. Stock engine and automatic transmission. Runs amazing,! New 2024 upgrades will be additional sound proofing and new paint , new 17" rims with 265x70x17 Fallken Wildpeak AT4's. This can be a daily driver but I keep it garaged and only use it for task for towing, or picking up large box items and camping off road. I considered replacing it for fancy new Off Road SUV's, but opt to keep the XJ. This Jeep performs great and its all paid for. Total investment plus purchase about $33K over 24 years which includes maintenance and upgrades.

This guy has his sh** together. Nice work

Awesome Jeep man! I have a 96 XJ that my Grandparents bought brand new and that I have now. I have a 4-1/2 rough country lift with 32" Micky Thompson Baja Boss AT's. Only 111k original miles on it at this time. Drive it pretty regularly. Absolutely love it!

This is a true off roader, and capable!

That XJ is insane!

What an amazing rig! Not surprised that it made short work of Tumbleweed Ranch. I suspect he’s going to have to try very hard to find trails he can’t run. I had an ‘87 and we ran the 4.0 and Renault 5-speed for 130K miles before selling it on. My first Jeep and we had many great adventures in that Jeep. Really the only mod was bigger and better tires. Otherwise, it was really a much younger self and his ability to push the limits a lot farther. Truly a great vehicle to start with, but Graham’s is so far beyond that it’s really to his credit that it’s as amazing as it is. Well done!

I would love to see the MORR vehicles come and run this course.

F'n hell. That thing is a *beast*. It didn't even need the rear locker... not even a little bit. And that funky transfer case/ gearing setup is *amazing*. Wow. Incredible to see what a mere 35K can do when intelligently implemented. I fully expected a 100K+ cost, frankly. Hats off to Graham. Great job!

It’s good to see the course back in action