How the 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited Sparked a Revolution

It all started back in 1987 when Chrysler purchased the American Motors Company. AMC had one final design on the drawing board, and it would debut in late '92 as a '93 model. Loaded with the latest technology and a comfortable ride, it quickly carved out a niche as a worthy competitor to the Explorer and Tahoe. Initially offered with a 4.0-liter inline six and their 44RE automatic transmission, the venerable Dodge 318 (5.2L) arrived later in the year.

While Ford and GM chose independent suspension, the Jeep’s solid axles made it look antiquated on paper. However, the coil springs and trailing arms offered better feedback thanks to less moving parts. Being unibody instead of body-on-frame allowed for a curb weight of 3,900 pounds (1,769 kg), making it the lightest V8 4WD on the market. As one of the first true crossovers, the suspension was tuned for street manners instead of offroad supremacy. This led magazines to imply it was too soft to have real 4WD potential, even though it offered the same results in comparison tests.

With the arrival of an all-new Grand Cherokee slated for 1999, engineers decided to reward loyal Jeepers with one for the ages. Starting inside, Infinity offered 10-speaker “Gold” audio rated at 180 watts with a unique sound bar above the 2nd row. Those rear passengers were spoiled with an armrest, wood trim, and American-sized cup holders. Jeep’s normal leather was replaced by calf skin, and it extended onto the doors, shifter, and the full-length center console.

On the outside, aerodynamics were enhanced by sculpting a lower roof rack and incorporating ground effects into the rocker panels. New 5-spoke wheels were cast in 16”x 7” and wrapped in high-performance Goodyear rubber. A new front end used recessed grille slats above a cooling duct that allowed a straight shot to the radiator. Eliminating the bumper guards and color-matching the cladding was long overdue. The 5.9 badges offered no questions as to what was under the hood.

Dodge had recently updated their classic 360 (5.9L) with a hotter camshaft and swirl-port cylinder heads. An earlier version was extended by adding two cylinders to form the basis of the Viper’s V10. The “Magnum 5.9” used a 9.1:1 compression ratio to offer 245 horsepower and 345 lb-ft (467 Nm) of torque.

This prodigious low-end grunt arrived at only 3,000 rpm, pinning everyone to their seats. This allowed it to reach 60 mph (97 kph) in 6.8 seconds with quarter-mile times in the low 15-second range to become the quickest SUV to-date. Their MOPAR division replaced the 2.5” exhaust with a full 3” (76.2 mm) system for deep vocals along with a 25% reduction in back pressure and a snazzy chrome tailpipe.

The 44RE transmission was replaced by the heavy-duty 46RE and it sent power to all wheels through the full-time Quadra-Trac 4WD. A second shifter was used to engage the 2.72 low range. Limited-slip Dana 44 axles were loaded with 3.73 gears to keep the RPM in the fat part of the torque curve. But these aggressive gears also capped fuel economy at 12 mpg.

Nevertheless, eager Jeepers bought nearly 15,000 of them, making us wonder just how “limited” it truly was. Only a handful remain, standing as a testament to those who think outside the box. Looking back, the Jeep 5.9 Limited destroyed everyone’s notion of what SUVs could be, and we wouldn’t have changed a thing!