Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

2015... a little different?

Tags
2015
2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  JTS97Z28 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone!

New on the forum, and very happy to be here! I've had a long run with German and Japanese cars (02 Jetta, 06 Jetta, 07 CX-7, 10 TSX, 02 A4, 06 A6) so when I got the urge to jump back into an SUV, I was all set to go German.

That is, until I started comparing vehicles, and dollar for dollar, there is nothing German or Japanese that even comes close to offering the quality and style of the Grand Cherokee. So, I recently picked up a 2015 Overland, and I couldn't be happier!

Coming from mostly Volkswagens and Audis, I've always had a lot of "forum family support" so I was thrilled when I found this site prior to making my purchase, knowing that kind of support would still be there. :)

I've been reading up on all the threads here, and it seems like with each year, there are some minor differences and changes to the WK2, so I have some questions I'm hoping some knowledgeable folks can answer.

1. The fog lights. Do the bulb and housing types change between trim levels, or just model years? Most of the posts I've read list the fog light bulb type as 5202 (needing an H16 conversion for HID install), and having a reflector type housing. It seems like possibly the 2014 has H11 bulbs and projector housings. I know I have projector housings in my 2015, but does anyone know if the bulb type is in fact H11? That would make an HID conversion much easier, and I probably have an H11 kit lying around the garage somewhere.

2. Ambient lighting. I've read that the LED's in the map lights are not easily swapped. I do plan to do an LED conversion on most of the easily accessible bulbs. My rig also has foot well lighting for the front and rear passengers. However, the light is so dim, it may as well not even be there. When I stuck my head under there, it looked like the same circuit-board mounted LED. Can anyone confirm this? I would love to be able to install a higher output bulb if possible. It does have regular bulbs under the dash when the doors are open, but those go out once the doors are closed.

3. The rear glass. My sister has a 2013 GC, and she has a button that releases the glass on the rear hatch. Since I can find no such button, I'll assume this feature was deleted on my 2015 - but I thought I'd ask just in case.

4. This one isn't really a design question, but every so often I feel a hard clunk going from 1st to 2nd gear. Is this something others experience, or should I just keep an eye on it and schedule a trip to the dealer if necessary?

I think that's about it for now. Thanks so much for reading my initial novel. Even with these small (setbacks? problems? quirks?) I'm thrilled with the vehicle and to be part of the Jeep family!
 
See less See more
#2 · (Edited)
3. The rear glass. My sister has a 2013 GC, and she has a button that releases the glass on the rear hatch. Since I can find no such button, I'll assume this feature was deleted on my 2015 - but I thought I'd ask just in case.

4. This one isn't really a design question, but every so often I feel a hard clunk going from 1st to 2nd gear. Is this something others experience, or should I just keep an eye on it and schedule a trip to the dealer if necessary?
Which country are you in?

The rear glass hatch was discontinued on the MY14 and later, unfortunately.

There are some software updates for rough transmission changes, not sure if they apply. I have also found that turning off hill start assist results in smoother low speed changes.

List of TSBs for the GC:
http://www.wk2jeeps.com/wk2_tsb.htm
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the quick reply. I'll look into both the Hill Assist and the TSB's. I'm in USA.

Another question... I've seen people post pics of Fogs + Low Beam, or Fogs Only. On the Audi's you could code the car as "Rest of World" instead of USA, and it would enable Fogs + High Beams (you know, for off-road) or Fogs + Parking Lights (aka Fogs only). Is this something that can be enabled on the GC?
 
#4 ·
I suggest you review the Owner's Manual which is on the Official Jeep Website. At over 600 pages, it contain "lotsa info".
Also be sure to order the free printed versions of the all the Owner's Manuals either via the website or toll free phone number.
Enjoy.
 
#5 ·
Hi Everyone!

2. Ambient lighting. It does have regular bulbs under the dash when the doors are open, but those go out once the doors are closed.
The best point to connect Ambient Lighting LED strips is the square LED behind the driver's side footwell light. This LED is on when the doors are opened, and when the headlights are on, it is also on..as well as being dimmed by the same control that dims the dash lights.
 
#6 ·
1. Cant speak for the 2015 although I can say for 100% certain my 2014 Summit uses an H11 fog light bulb. Instead of going with the more complicated HID setup (more wires, ballasts, probably even need a harness to protect wiring as well), consider going LED. You would be surprised at how good the color and output is now on some of the newer LED bulbs. As for as different housings between the years im not sure. You would think they are the same with the only differences being brackets on what not for the different models. All I can say is to know for sure what bulb is in there, look in the manual or simply pull a bulb out. They are very easy to get to, just simply reach up from just in front of the front tires. Atleast there is plenty of room on my Summit.
Here is a picture of my VLED VX3 5000K LED fog bulbs. Perfectly sharp cutoff retained with nice and even light spread.



LED output next to original halogen output:





2. yes the ambient lights on the 2014 models are nice, but yes they are pretty dim. You can simply unplug the LED module and take it out and i'm sure if you are good at soldering you can get a higher output bulb in there.

3. The flipper glass feature was deleted for the refreshed 2014+ model. I don't know for sure but I believe the reasoning was for structural rigidity and sound deadening. No clue if thats the correct reason but I thought I read that somewhere.

4. Its tough to say about the clunk as I have the V8 which has a totally different transmission and shifts perfectly. Unfortunately the V6 models sometime suffer shifting issues. There are countless threads about this exact issue just do some digging around and you will find all the info you need.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top