Active Drive I or II
 

New member here. I searched this forum already as well as the internet in general and can not really find an answer.

I am considering a purchase of a 2019 Cherokee. Looking up online they talk about offroad capabilities between Active Drive I, II, or Lock. Honestly, if I purchase a Cherokee the only dirt it would most likely see is an occasional parking lot or dirt road. The biggest challenge in my area (Boise, ID) is we do normally get snow during the winter and the city plows the main streets but not residential roads. In the past this has resulted in month long snow/ice pack by my house with ruts where people have been driving. Total accumulation in a snow storm is usually less then a foot. Would Active Drive I be OK with this amount of snow or should I consider the Active Drive II for 4WD low? I am assuming the Trailhawk 4WD Lock is overkill.

Thanks,

Mike

Do you have specifics, like do you prefer the latitude or limited to the trailhawk?

Here's what I can recall about those systems. Active drive 1 is the basic system. Active drive 2 includes a low range feature / button, trans cooler, and includes a one inch lift. The difference is minor, but if you put an active drive 1 and active drive 2 next to eachother, you will see the difference. The Lock is only available on the trailhawk I think. My jeep has the active drive 2, and I appreciate it for the little bit of clearance, less chance of scraping some of the plastic trim on a snowpile in the winter. Honestly, the 4 low is probably not necessary for actually driving, but it comes in handy if you are having a hard time getting moving.

Also, I dont know what tires come on them, but if its still the firestone destination le2's, they will only last for about 30,000 miles. If you see alot of bad weather, consider upgrading the tires and maybe selling the factory ones on craigslist on something.

More than happy to help with questions.

Right now I am looking into the Latitude Plus but if Active Drive Lock would benefit me then I am opened to the Trailhawk. If you put the V6 Option and Active Drive II on the Latitude Plus it is beginning to approach the price of a trailhawk anyways.

I spoke to a friend last night, he owns a Ram 1500 4x4 so a completely different truck but he mentioned he has needed 4 low only a few times on roads but the locker was only needed a few times when he was stuck in very muddy off road conditions.

Yup, the trailhawk still comes with Firestone tires. I was not aware of their longevity issue.

Mike

Its not a major issue on the tires. Fierstone's Destitation AT tires are pretty good. Firestone Destitation LE2'S are the ones I'm not fond of. My Jeep sees mostly local road driving, with awd, I got about 30000 miles out of the LE2 tires. Also, 4 low may not be necessary if you have an all terrain tire, not an all season tire.

If you are not adverse to the trailhawk, it may be a little better. It comes with the destitation at tires, not the destitation le2 that the latitude came with, which will have a bit more traction and bite in snow and other stuff. I think the difference is only like 2 or 3 grand between latitude plus and trailhawk.

Whatever you do, get the 3.2 v6. Stay away from the 2.4L 4cyl. I have a 2014 latitude, 3.2 v6, ad2, tow group, cold weather group, etc. When I drove the 4cyl, it drove like crap, no get up and go so to say. The 3.2 v6 drives alot better, and I get about 25 on the highway and 18-20 city.

Also, are you going to keep the car for a long time? Or do you trade in every few years?

I was planning on the V6. The base I4 does not work out well and between the turbo I4 and V6 I would prefer the V6. A turbo unit is just another thing to be replaced when it goes out down the road.

This would be a purchase, not a lease and I am most likely looking to stay with whatever I purchase for a long time. The car I am selling or trading in is only a 2014 and the shortest I owned a car. I purchased it before I moved up North and it is a RWD with low ground clearance. It is not working well for me and is the only reason I am looking into something new.

Mike

I'm of the same mindset. Keep it until it rots away (the benefit of living in NJ where they use tons and tons of salt). If you plan on keeping it for awhile, look into the chrysler extended warranty. When I got the truck, the chrysler warranty, unlimited mileage, unlimited years, as long as you owned the car, was 3300 bucks. If you sold the car and never used the warranty, they refunded you the total amount. With the costs of system repairs and parts being what they are, might not be a bad idea to have, just read all the limitations first.

Do you do your own maintenance work?

I own a 1990 Honda CRX and that car is all about maintenance work. My newer car has not really needed anything outside of regular scheduled maintenance which was covered by it's warranty so I have not really touched it.

For 3300 I would opt for a lifetime warranty. I thought I read somewhere where it has ended however, I could be wrong.

It may have, that was what they quoted back in 2014, so things probably have changed.

Active drive lock official video
 

This may help you, these are harder to find than they should be

Active drive lock video
Active drive video
​​​​​​Active drive II video

If you want low range get active drive 2.
If you are planning on doing lots of offroading then go for the trailhawk,

That said. I have a Trailhawk and an Active Drive 2 vehicle.
Other than the lack of skidplates and les approach angles due to the bumper design on the active drive 2. From a drivetrain standpoint they are almost the same, Active Drive 2 doesn't have the rear locker however that is really only needed in difficult offroad situations.

Thank you everyone for all your updates. It gave me a lot to think about.

As an update I spent a lot of time at dealerships driving different Cherokee 4WD systems as well as engine combinations. I also drove some other vehicles that were in the running. Though I could of get by with AD1 I found I preferred the offroad suspension included with AD2 or the Trailhawk trim level. When all was done, at least at my dealership once I added up a Latitude Plus with AD2 and my preferred engine which is the V6 it was very close in price to a Trailhawk due to dealer incentives so I went with that. This is my new ride.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Mike

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...22ec266e5c.jpg

When looking for a used Jeep Cherokee how do you know if it has the Active Drive 2 system?

ADII will have the Low Range access.



.

The easiest way to tell is if the Cherokee in question has the 'ACTIVE DRIVE II' badge on the rear liftgate. Also, if it's a Trailhawk, it'll automatically have Active Drive II. You can also look at the center console where the Selec-Terrain dial is, and if there's a 'LOW RANGE' button, then it also has Active Drive II.

-Vince

You don't need active drive II. With the standard active I, when its in snow mode it starts the car in 2nd gear to avoid too much torque and wheel spin. So there is no need to go to low range if you had it.
Low range is for climbing steep trails, or going over obstacles like rocks or trees. For normal driving and mud and snow low range will only spin your wheels more.