My first Jeep/+tire questions

I have finally acquired my first Jeep. It is a '96 Grand Cherokee Orvis edition with 95K miles, v8, leather, ...and a few problems.

1st, What is an 'Orvis' edition?

2nd. I need to replace at least one tire. It now has 3 good shape Michelin XC LT 4's. Size 225/70/16 This tire is only available at Sears and cost $122+install. Should I replace the one or should I buy a new set of BFG AT KO's (same size) @ $120 each including install and warranty? Or should it have a different size...?

3rd. What size(s) tires will fit this Jeep without modification or lifts? I was thinking about buying a set of goodyear mtr's (245/75/16) from Ebay....will they fit? What mod's would be needed?

4th. How serious an off roader is a stock GC ? What mods does it (eventually) need to make it a serious on & off road vehicle? Or is its best used to tow a wrangler to the site, and make my trips to the grocery store?

thanks for taking time to read all this!

richard '93 Ford F-150 Lightning '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Reply to
k-9king
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"Orvis" is a trim level, with certain features as standard equipment for that edition.

If your 3 Michelin tires are new or near new, you should be OK by replacing the one tire with another Michelin exactly the same size. If there's any significant wear on the 3 Michelins, replace all four tires. As with any

4WD vehicle, matching tires are critical.

Can't help you with sizes, but I do heartily recommend the Goodyear MTR's.

Best regards, Dave Rose Cactus Cowboy Big Wonderful Wyoming '49 Willys Pickup (parts truck) '62 Willys Pickup 4WD 226 '98 XJ Sport O|||||||O

Reply to
cactuscowboy

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| 1st, What is an 'Orvis' edition? | | 2nd. I need to replace at least one tire. It now has 3 good | | 3rd. What size(s) tires will fit this Jeep without | | 4th. How serious an off roader is a stock GC ? What mods does | | richard | '93 Ford F-150 Lightning | '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee

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Reply to
Joseph P

Excerpt from Edmunds review of GC, aka ZJ:

"The Orvis edition was a Cherokee Limited that featured a questionable color scheme of green paint with red and gold accents and a two-tone green and champagne interior with red accents."

Do not replace just one tire. You want all 4 tires to be very close to the same diameter, which includes tread depth.

You can pick up the Michelin LTX M+S from folks like Tire Rack or Discount Tire or Americas Tire. This is somewhat similar to the slightly overpriced XC. These are pretty good tires for a mix of highway and *light* moderate off-road duty not involving deep snow, mud, or really big rocks, etc. The Pirelli Scorpion A/T is similar with a slightly stronger sidewall available, but with cold start thump due to the belt design.

A 235-75/16 should fit nicely, dimly think a 245-70/16 was an option so a 245-75/16 should fit.

Get a small ATV and drive it up into the back. The GC is fairly capable of moderate trail duty, but you'd want to put lifts and new axles for serious duty...and the body is not a frame on rail, so it tends to flex "just a tad" more than is good for it when rock crawling. Still, you can go places most Mall Trailer Queens shouldn't attempt.

The factory gas shocks are ok, but you can get rid of a bit of the head toss with the Edelbrock IAS or the Rancho 9000SX adjustables. The Rancho is IMNHO a bit stiff for a Wrangler, but with the softer suspension of the GC, they tighten it down quite a bit...but then I drive classic sports cars where springs were an extra cost option.

Poke around on the Full Size Jeep website. Also get a Factory Service Manual from

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if your dealers parts guy doesn't know how to get them. Pick the For Owners link and poke for the manuals, which actually takes you to
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the Chrysler tech pubs house.

Reply to
L0nD0t.$t0we11

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