Before the Trackhawk, there was this Jeep autocros...

Off the Overwhelmed Path

Whereas the Wrangler is essentially the most direct descendant of the World Warfare II Jeeps, the bigger Cherokee mannequin, launched in 1984, spawned a legacy of its personal. For higher or worse, it paved the best way for the game utility car craze. Embracing the Jeep’s go-anywhere popularity, promoting for the Cherokee depicted the SUV in all method of off-road settings. It was typical escapist fare for the Jeep’s loyal following.

You’d suppose the 1986 pickup truck model of the Cherokee, known as the Comanche, would hunt out related wooded trails—maybe on its option to choose up cargo from a logging job web site or an ore-rich mine. Brothers Tommy and Bobby Archer shattered that preconception once they hit some very unfamiliar terrain of their Jeep pickup: the monitor. Their crimson Comanches had been quick and dependable within the SCCA Race Truck Problem, and the Archers scored back-to-back producers championships for Jeep. Highway racing turned out to be simply one other area through which this versatile model may excel.

Within the years because the car’s inception there have been amphibious Jeeps, navy Jeeps, mountain-climbing Jeeps, soccer-mom Jeeps and even track-ready Jeeps. There had by no means been a Jeep within the Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2K Problem, nonetheless, till occasion veterans Jeff Hutton and David Seavey demonstrated what a little bit of low-buck engineering may do to a 1995 two-door, two-wheel-drive Cherokee. The Jeep’s efficiency shocked everybody on the occasion, together with the fellows who constructed it.

A Challenger Seems

Jeff, a civil engineer, and David, an engineering scholar and longtime mechanic, made their first journey to one in every of our low-buck Problem occasions in 2006. The Gainesville, Florida, venue was an extended haul from their residence in Massachusetts. “I used to purchase GRM off the newsstand and I might learn in regards to the Problem yearly, wishing it was nearer,” Jeff recollects. “Lastly, one 12 months I used to be speaking to my mom and she or he instructed me I ought to simply do it. Being that she’s a reasonably conservative mother, I used to be considerably shocked, however you solely stay as soon as. I knew Dave could be on board, however the unknown of constructing a race automobile and getting it 1500 miles south was ominous.”

Their first effort was a 1990 BMW 325is, they usually targeted on suspension modifications. The BMW carried them to thirty second place on the $2006 Problem. They realized loads in that first 12 months after seeing the competitors firsthand. “That first Problem in 2006, I distinctly bear in mind pondering ‘I’m not alone on the planet!’” David explains. “It’s a really releasing occasion with only a few guidelines. Creativity is king.”  They returned in 2007 with a gutted automobile, and a stroke of luck helped them climb the ranks: The occasion’s drag portion, traditionally their Achilles heel, was canceled as a result of rain. Their nimble BMW scored eighth within the autocross and eighth total. 

A not too long ago married Jeff needed to skip the $2008 Problem, whereas David returned with a turbo Miata group. After that race, the duo turned their consideration to their 2009 undertaking. As Jeff places it, “A Jeep Cherokee appeared like a logical alternative. Really, it was a working joke at first, however the extra we talked about it, the extra we wished to try to make it aggressive. The 4.0 is highly effective for the small chassis, and the dealing with is superb for an SUV. That, mixed with the legendary reliability and the abundance of low cost examples, set the fingers in movement.”

Due to craigslist, the pair discovered a two-wheel-drive 1995 Jeep Cherokee two-door in southern New Hampshire for $1000. The car had 243,000 miles on the odometer, a southern historical past, and no rust, however the dealership had no title for the automobile and the windshield was cracked. Jeff leveraged the truth that a two-wheel-drive Jeep was much less fascinating within the snowy Northeast to barter the value right down to $600. The fellows drove it residence and set to work on disassembly, they usually had been astonished by the Jeep’s good situation. “Usually you break each bolt you contact on a Jeep,” laughs David, “however this factor got here aside with none drama.”

The car wasn’t totally with out points, it turned out, as a brown coating within the engine bay proved to be residue from a cooling system that had exploded sooner or later. “We’re nonetheless flushing this brown coolant out to today,” Jeff laments. 

Eat, Sleep and Jeep

Impressed by the success of their earlier BMW construct, Jeff and David had a primary plan for his or her Problem Jeep: Enhance the dealing with and intestine it to get the burden down. Additionally they determined that the sturdy 4-liter, straight-six engine would profit from some increase, so that they added a turbo and MegaSquirt engine administration to their to-do record.

The autocross competitors on the $2K Problem occasions is a giant issue within the total factors, and Jeff and David knew that their Jeep would wish to carve cones like a 1900-pound Civic to have an actual shot at glory. A look at any pictures of the SCCA-winning Jeeps reveals a stunning quantity of unfavorable camber on the entrance wheels.

Jeff researched the race vans and found that the Archer brothers had merely bent their entrance axle to attain that unfavorable camber—presumably to skirt any guidelines points which may have forbidden modifications to the Jeep’s suspension elements. Unhindered by such laws, Jeff and David notched the stay axle up entrance and welded it collectively at an angle, gaining 2.5 levels of unfavorable camber for every entrance wheel.

Chopping the coils on a set of raise springs allowed them so as to add some spring fee and decrease the Jeep. They doubled up on the leaf spring packs within the rear for the same impact. To protect the remaining manufacturing unit alignment angles on the lowered automobile, they relocated the management arm mounts and monitor rod. Additionally they mounted some meaty discarded Hoosier A6 tires on 10-inch-wide Aero Racing wheels ($173) to make sure that their comparatively heavy SUV would have ample grip for the corners. Used Addco anti-roll bars ($50) had been additionally fitted to attenuate physique roll. David estimates that they spent greater than 40 hours massaging the entrance and rear suspensions.

Wires are heavy, so the group trimmed down the harness to the naked necessities and added a $162 MegaSquirt ignition setup. “That course of took fairly a very long time, wanting by way of a Jeep manufacturing unit service guide and ensuring we didn’t lose wanted leads,” David recollects. “One mistaken jumper within the early phases of constructing MegaSquirt can actually mess with you, however join the jumper and—bam!—working Jeep.”

Because the $2009 Problem drew close to, the construct changed into a thrash. “We spent three to 4 days every week for the final seven or eight weeks—possibly 15 hours every week,” Jeff figures. “It’s so exhausting to estimate hours spent, and I don’t even wish to admit it to myself.” 

Modifying the suspension mounting factors and the entrance axle devoured up many hours of labor, and the MegaSquirt system wasn’t going to be prepared in time. The fellows minimize their losses, ran their trusty BMW within the Kumho Tires $2009 Problem (ending twelfth total and fourth within the autocross), and postponed the Jeep launch one other 12 months.

There’s Solely One

David and Jeff had been dissatisfied that the Jeep didn’t come collectively in time, however relatively than wait for one more last-minute thrash, they targeted on getting the Jeep prepared with a while to spare earlier than the $2010 Problem. As soon as their Cherokee was gutted and its inventory engine was working with the MegaSquirt controller, they headed out for a summer time take a look at.

“We had a few hurdles on our solely take a look at outing,” David says. “The entrance finish shook violently below exhausting braking, and our MegaSquirt tune was very ugly to start out—it was a modified gasoline map from [fellow Challenger] Greg Stewart’s 1.6-liter turbo Miata.”

To deal with the shuddering, they refit a steering stabilizer to the suspension and diminished the scrub radius by becoming wider wheels. They refined the gasoline map, and the Jeep responded with a smoother powerband. Nevertheless, cooling points persevered regardless of greater than 12 radiator flushes.

Life has a method of absorbing storage time. With the $2010 Problem simply across the nook, the Jeep was principally prepared, however the deliberate turbocharger setup was nonetheless on the bench. The fellows had fabricated a turbo manifold utilizing a inventory Jeep half and a few Dodge 440 header scrap; materials from a junked basketball hoop served as a hanger. They threw these turbo elements in a bin and introduced them right down to Florida simply in case.

When the Jeep arrived on the $2K Problem, it was effectively obtained by racers and editors alike. First up was the autocross competitors, and the group’s intensive suspension work paid off: The automobile modified course with enthusiasm and tore off a 34.842-second move, good for Thirteenth across the cones and simply 2.5 seconds off the highest time. Professional driver Alan McCrispin reported that the Jeep turned in tougher than he ever anticipated, and he declared the brakes “superior.” He added that the weak limited-slip differential was costing the automobile as a lot as 2 seconds on the course.

The concours judges favored the Jeep, too, awarding it sufficient factors for a Thirteenth-place end in that class. All that was left was the quarter-mile run, and that bin filled with turbo elements was just too tempting for the fellows to depart alone. They began the set up simply earlier than midnight, with the drag racing competitors lower than 10 hours away. Fellow Challengers chipped in to assist with the set up.

“Someplace between 11:30 p.m. and beer, we misplaced one in every of our large gasoline injectors,” Jeff explains, “which turned out to be an issue as a result of the wastegate regulator we had available was a 10-plus-psi unit. In keeping with the MegaSquirt information log, utilizing the smaller injectors, we ran out of gasoline fully by 4000 rpm. It could go lean and backfire, blowing the turbo plumbing off the compressor.”

They obtained the Jeep working effectively sufficient for it to make a move simply earlier than the strip closed on Saturday. It wasn’t making all the ability, however the appropriately named Crew Exterior Combustion Jeep did handle a 15.5-second run, aided by a shorter last drive from a Ford Explorer rear finish. That point was adequate for a mid-pack consequence within the drag standings in addition to fifteenth total.

Their sudden beginning platform, creativity and nice perspective through the occasion additionally earned David and Jeff the Editors’ Selection award on the $2010 Problem. 

The duo already has a transparent thought of the right way to enhance the Jeep for future $2K Problem occasions: run 8 psi of increase and add a correct limited-slip differential. Jeff figures these tweaks will permit the Jeep to dig deep into the 14s on the strip and get extra energy to the wheels across the cones.

Pleased Trails

David and Jeff are desirous to return to the Problem with the Jeep, though their more and more hectic schedules make storage time a uncommon commodity. “We will need to have spent 200 hours every,” Jeff says of their final construct, “however a number of that point was ingesting beers and determining the right way to make a Jeep deal with.”

The Jeep’s stunning agility across the cones—particularly contemplating it was a superb 500 kilos heavier than lots of its opponents—confirmed {that a} intelligent suspension setup is the important thing to good efficiency. David was very pleased with the result: “Personally, I have a tendency to love bizarre initiatives that could be largely unloved to a standard automotive society, and the considered bringing the primary Jeep to the Problem definitely had its enchantment. I actually solely wished to do it if we felt we’d shock quite a lot of sports activities automobiles out on the cones.”

Add the Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2K Problem to the record of locations a Jeep can excel. Will our Final Observe Automotive Problem be subsequent? How a few Jeep on Mars? With intelligent fanatics pushing these machines past what their engineers ever imagined, who is aware of the place a Jeep will present up subsequent.