New Member from Great Britain

[Erskine]

Morning Y'all
Thanks for having me on board. After a series of Isuzu and Mazda 4x4 I've just become the owner of a 2005 2.8 CRD Auto. It took me 3 months to find an example in the right condition/spec/colour but I'm glad I held out. I live down in the South West on a farm in quite a rural area. I don't have a 4WD for fun, more out of necessity. One minute I'm going down a farm track and dodging potholes on B roads, then next minute I'm heading up the motorway.
I'm still getting to know the truck, it's far more electronically dependent than I expected.
At the moment I'm going through the process of resetting the service status and about to have a deep oil/lube service done including diffs. No spare key so having a new one reprogrammed tomorrow, had the ECU optimised last week which has given a pleasant transformation in delivery. I'm quite pleased with the fuel economy, especially as I can't run it on veg oil like the Isuzus.
It's sitting at 18" which is going to be a bit sketchy for some of my winter activities so I will be having to increase suspension travel although I certainly don't want to stiffen the ride at all.
I have to admit to being a bit shocked when I looked underneath and saw how vulnerable the vitals are! I've also cleaned off the back of the sills and outriggers and given them a waxoil treatment as preventative maintenance as there was the beginning of corrosion.
All in all I'm impressed with the driveability so far.

 

[klc]

Welcome to the neighborhood. Yes, these Jeeps ride smooth, and you might find yourself getting attached. Lots of good info here.

 

[tommudd]

Morning Y'all
Thanks for having me on board. After a series of Isuzu and Mazda 4x4 I've just become the owner of a 2005 2.8 CRD Auto. It took me 3 months to find an example in the right condition/spec/colour but I'm glad I held out. I live down in the South West on a farm in quite a rural area. I don't have a 4WD for fun, more out of necessity. One minute I'm going down a farm track and dodging potholes on B roads, then next minute I'm heading up the motorway.
I'm still getting to know the truck, it's far more electronically dependent than I expected.
At the moment I'm going through the process of resetting the service status and about to have a deep oil/lube service done including diffs. No spare key so having a new one reprogrammed tomorrow, had the ECU optimised last week which has given a pleasant transformation in delivery. I'm quite pleased with the fuel economy, especially as I can't run it on veg oil like the Isuzus.
It's sitting at 18" which is going to be a bit sketchy for some of my winter activities so I will be having to increase suspension travel although I certainly don't want to stiffen the ride at all.
I have to admit to being a bit shocked when I looked underneath and saw how vulnerable the vitals are! I've also cleaned off the back of the sills and outriggers and given them a waxoil treatment as preventative maintenance as there was the beginning of corrosion.
All in all I'm impressed with the driveability so far.

At 18 inches you are needing new springs and shocks all around for sure
then skid plates

 

[Erskine]

At 18 inches you are needing new springs and shocks all around for sure
then skid plates

Hi Tom.
I had a cursory search for dimensions to make a front skid plate but nothing came up. I have access to a fair amount of fabrication equipment and assume the options are 1/4" steel plate or 8mm ally plate?
With regards to suspension choices a compromise I also have to keep in mind is that my elderly father needs to be able to get in and out of it. He was able to manage my Isuzu Trooper, which was unlifted but rocking 235/85/16 BFGs - that was more than I was comfortable putting him through.

 

[Billwill]

My 2002 Export 2.5 CRD KJ Sport came out with a hefty Steel Skid Plate under the engine!

I think all Sport models came like this in those days....maybe only the Export models?

Maybe you may be very lucky in finding one in a scrapyard!

 

[lfhoward]

Welcome! There is a large CRD community over on LostJeeps.com with some overlap with people on here too. It’s definitely worth getting plugged in with that group as well. In particular, check out:

LOST JEEPS • View topic - Sam's CRD Noob Guide:

 

[Deb'nKJ]

My 2002 Export 2.5 CRD KJ Sport came out with a hefty Steel Skid Plate under the engine!

I think all Sport models came like this in those days....maybe only the Export models?

Maybe you may be very lucky in finding one in a scrapyard!

Over here you'd have to be very lucky to find a scrapyard & they certainly wouldn't have any Jeeps in them, they all go to specialist dismantlers.
However, if export Sports did have skid plates, an Evilbay search should turn something up.

 

[Deb'nKJ]

Hi, I suppose I should've done this first as probably uniquely qualified to welcome you to the group.

Only 3 months, took me well over a year to find one that met my very specific requirements.

In which particular part of the rural SW is your farm? Presumably in the M5 corridor. But KJ's not a bad choice for that sort of mixed use, not in the V8 Grands' league as a M-way cruiser but quite acceptable & while no serious off-roader mine quite impressed in poor traction situations, particularly wet grass.

Curious as to where you found to re-program a 2nd key, as I've only had one key for each of a succession of Jeeps.

Surprised those wheels are 18" 'cos they look like the later OEM ones, which I though were 17"

 

[tommudd]

Hi Tom.
I had a cursory search for dimensions to make a front skid plate but nothing came up. I have access to a fair amount of fabrication equipment and assume the options are 1/4" steel plate or 8mm ally plate?
With regards to suspension choices a compromise I also have to keep in mind is that my elderly father needs to be able to get in and out of it. He was able to manage my Isuzu Trooper, which was unlifted but rocking 235/85/16 BFGs - that was more than I was comfortable putting him through.

My 90 year old Mother who is 5 foot tall, has had both knees replaced still gets in my 03 with 2.5 inches of lift and 265 70 16s, Now my 04 , no but with 4.5 inches of lift and 32s it was hard for her. I have my 05 that she primarily goes in did have 1.75 inches of lift and one size larger tires

 

[Erskine]

Hi, I suppose I should've done this first as probably uniquely qualified to welcome you to the group.

Only 3 months, took me well over a year to find one that met my very specific requirements.

In which particular part of the rural SW is your farm? Presumably in the M5 corridor. But KJ's not a bad choice for that sort of mixed use, not in the V8 Grands' league as a M-way cruiser but quite acceptable & while no serious off-roader mine quite impressed in poor traction situations, particularly wet grass.

Curious as to where you found to re-program a 2nd key, as I've only had one key for each of a succession of Jeeps.

Surprised those wheels are 18" 'cos they look like the later OEM ones, which I though were 17"

Hey!
I'm a Somerset hillbilly, as opposed to a Somerset swamp dweller, but yes, being able to get out of the fields after watching a point to point meeting is a must. (Point to point is a British type of grassroots horse racing over jumps - for US readers!)
A mobile car locksmith spent a couple of hours trying to programme a key yesterday, however the server in Turkey that he was hoping to get the encrypted code from went offline. He's swinging by next week to have another crack at it. He did say CRD keys are a total mare.
My wheels are 17"s, it's the ride height that is 18", I had expected them to be 16"s but hey ho. I may switch to 16"s in the future as there is a better selection of tyres available.
Where are you based?

 

[Erskine]

My 90 year old Mother who is 5 foot tall, has had both knees replaced still gets in my 03 with 2.5 inches of lift and 265 70 16s, Now my 04 , no but with 4.5 inches of lift and 32s it was hard for her. I have my 05 that she primarily goes in did have 1.75 inches of lift and one size larger tires

I found out last night that he's managing getting in and out of a Landcruiser with a 2" lift ok so not so concerned now.

 

[Michael Wolfe]

Hi Tom.
I had a cursory search for dimensions to make a front skid plate but nothing came up. I have access to a fair amount of fabrication equipment and assume the options are 1/4" steel plate or 8mm ally plate?
With regards to suspension choices a compromise I also have to keep in mind is that my elderly father needs to be able to get in and out of it. He was able to manage my Isuzu Trooper, which was unlifted but rocking 235/85/16 BFGs - that was more than I was comfortable putting him through.

1/4" plate is probably overkill for a skid plate, and at 10+ pounds/ sq ft, kinda heavy too. The factory is probably 1/8 or less. Given a formed shape (not a flat piece of steel) has inherent strength, any large spans can be braced by welding additional steel to the top side. 3/16 would be more than adequate, imo. The oil filter location on the VM engine is pretty bad, and totally unprotected with the factory plate.

 

[Erskine]

1/4" plate is probably overkill for a skid plate, and at 10+ pounds/ sq ft, kinda heavy too. The factory is probably 1/8 or less. Given a formed shape (not a flat piece of steel) has inherent strength, any large spans can be braced by welding additional steel to the top side. 3/16 would be more than adequate, imo. The oil filter location on the VM engine is pretty bad, and totally unprotected with the factory plate.

This is all do-able. Thank you.

 

[Deb'nKJ]

Hey!
I'm a Somerset hillbilly, as opposed to a Somerset swamp dweller, but yes, being able to get out of the fields after watching a point to point meeting is a must. (Point to point is a British type of grassroots horse racing over jumps - for US readers!)
A mobile car locksmith spent a couple of hours trying to programme a key yesterday, however the server in Turkey that he was hoping to get the encrypted code from went offline. He's swinging by next week to have another crack at it. He did say CRD keys are a total mare.
My wheels are 17"s, it's the ride height that is 18", I had expected them to be 16"s but hey ho. I may switch to 16"s in the future as there is a better selection of tyres available.
Where are you based?

Your location must've been a blessing a few years back when trains struggled to cross the county.

Still not in the same league as a Quadradrive equipped WJ but KJ's do fields/temporary car parks very well ('though imagine tyre choice is important). Don't know about if towing a horsebox but, if that's a consideration, the CRD's torque should take care of it.

Talking of which, had no idea CRD keys were different/special.

Ah, so was right about the wheels, yes, they went up an inch with the facelift.

I'm down on the English Riviera (when I'm not at work in London)

f-w-i-w, one of the reasons I got my 1st XJ Cherokee was that my mother, who was 90 & disabled, was having real difficulties getting down into my Jaguar XJ40 & the Cherokee's seat was at just about the right height for her.

 

[Erskine]

Your location must've been a blessing a few years back when trains struggled to cross the county.

Still not in the same league as a Quadradrive equipped WJ but KJ's do fields/temporary car parks very well ('though imagine tyre choice is important). Don't know about if towing a horsebox but, if that's a consideration, the CRD's torque should take care of it.

Talking of which, had no idea CRD keys were different/special.

Ah, so was right about the wheels, yes, they went up an inch with the facelift.

I'm down on the English Riviera (when I'm not at work in London)

f-w-i-w, one of the reasons I got my 1st XJ Cherokee was that my mother, who was 90 & disabled, was having real difficulties getting down into my Jaguar XJ40 & the Cherokee's seat was at just about the right height for her.

Hey.
Yes, towing a horsebox is a pre-requisite round this way! So we are practically neighbours, how ever I don't envy you having to get over Telegraph Hill (aka the climb of doom).
The locksmith said CRD keys were one of his few nemesis, but if he cracks it I'll let you know, he covers all of our region.
The 16"s on a 70 profile pretty much work out the same rolling distance as 17"s on a 65 profile on factory sizes.
Have you lifted yours?

 

[tommudd]

Hey.
Yes, towing a horsebox is a pre-requisite round this way! So we are practically neighbours, how ever I don't envy you having to get over Telegraph Hill (aka the climb of doom).
The locksmith said CRD keys were one of his few nemesis, but if he cracks it I'll let you know, he covers all of our region.
The 16"s on a 70 profile pretty much work out the same rolling distance as 17"s on a 65 profile on factory sizes.
Have you lifted yours?

Of course they are all 29 inches tall

 

[Deb'nKJ]

No doubts about the KJ's towing ability, just couldn't speak for their performance on wet grass when doing so.

Over the years I've done Telegraph Hill in everything from those you had to stop part way up to put in (non-synchro) 1st to a couple that arrived at the bend at the top too fast to skeeter round it (but, unlike someone I met on another forum, I've never tried to cycle up it ). I bought my KJ in Aberystwyth so the 1st attempt at that climb was at the end of a long day & drive in the course of which I discovered it didn't like accelerating hard up hills . Turned out that was LPG conversion related & since a little place I'd found in a Newton Abbot side street sorted that out it takes TH in its stride .

No, not lifted, & probably won't be (although both my XJ's are) because it seems expensive to do properly, only a couple of times (in the Scottish Highlands & Islands) have I thought it'd have been an advantage & the whole idea was to run it for a year to assess whether I liked it enough to keep &, right now, it has far more pressing needs . Toying with some sort of skidplate for the front end though, because the front X-member skims the top off the central peak between ruts (or I could avoid tank tracks on Salisbury Plain )

 

[Erskine]

+1 on the skid plate for sure, I need to make up a template. Mine is in for a deep service on the 24th, so while it is up in the air I'm going to ask if I can go under while the mechanics have a tea break, armed with a tape measure and big sheet of cardboard.
Yes, a lift is a big investment, pretty much twice the cost of a standard suspension refurb. Goes beyond the kind of budget I'd expect to burn on transport and sort of crosses over into the notional hobby budget however I am starting to quite like the Jeep after weeks of being very apprehensive whether I'd made a wise choice.
Coming back over the Quantocks yesterday through the flash flooding during the cloudburst I would have been happier with a couple of extra inches for sure. Wouldn't have given it a second thought in the Izusu, just dived on in.

 

[Deb'nKJ]

Remember someone suggested export Sports had skid plates? I wonder if that was a SA/Oz spec thing.

I was thinking of something more modest, just to span the front X-member & diff.

I suspect mine needs new rear shox (it's a bit twitchy on the M-way) which could've led me towards lifting it but I share your reservations.
Never thought of the benefit in deep water but as yours is a deezel I suspect you'd be more adventurous in floods than I.

 

[kristie745]

hello everyone, how are you doing?