1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ - Featured Vehicles - Shafted! - 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine

Most of the time, getting the shaft is a bad thing. It's a bad thing unless you're getting your latest shaft, or set of shafts, from Tom Wood. Tom's company slogan, "The Best Drive Shafts In The World," may sound like boasting, but since "it ain't bragging if you can do it," that slogan is just telling it like it is.

Tom's personal '95 ZJ Grand Cherokee served him well as a stocker for a long time. Tom would attend wheeling events such as Moab's Easter Jeep Safari, the Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari, and various rockcrawling competitions. Using the Premier Power Welder under the hood, Tom rescued many an otherwise-hapless off-roader. Mangled driveshafts, split leaf springs, torn spring hangers, and cracked frames were fused back together in the field, allowing their owners to make it back to camp with their dignity intact. The ZJ was also a comfy road-trip vehicle that took the pain out of the drive to and from faraway off-roading events. Finally, the Grand's abundant power readily lent it to towing duty, a good thing since Tom usually dragged a trailer along for the ride. While there wasn't anything wrong with the ZJ, there were some limitations. The stock tires and wheels weren't meaty enough. The axles weren't strong enough. The suspension wasn't beefy enough. Finally, as a promotional vehicle for his driveshaft company, the then-stock ZJ was too "plain Jane." It wasn't noticeable enough.

Transforming Tom's Grand Cherokee took about a year. The parts used are all readily available - no super-wazoo unobtanium was called into play. The bolt-on parts add up to a Grand sans former limitations. A pair of stout, Dynatrac-built Dana 44 axles spin 33-inch Pro Comp Xtreme M/T tires. Tera and Sky's Extreme suspension components add both height and trail toughness to the package. There's no mistaking the former plain Jane for a stocker now.

Even with all of the mods, the most important parts on board are the driveshafts that propel it all, both literally and figuratively. Tom is out to prove that getting the shaft is a good thing, as long as it's a bombproof shaft from Tom Wood's Drive Shafts.

The Premier Power Welder lurking behind the K&N filter is one of Tom's best trail tools. Although our trail run was largely problem-free, Tom still had the "opportunity" to stitch a broken spring hanger back onto a frame during the final miles.

There is over a quarter of a million miles on this chassis. The engine and transmission were replaced at 250,000 miles. They had more than lived up to their expectations at that point, and Tom decided it was best to freshen up the powertrain before any breakdowns happened. The stock engine is Chrysler's 5.2L V8: a mill that's a perfect match for the size and weight of the Grand Cherokee.

A RedTop Optima battery and a K&N intake were easy bolt-on upgrades. The term "upgrade" is appropriate here because the Optima's gel-cell construction won't spill even if the battery is punctured, and it is very vibration-resistant. The K&N intake flows and filters better than the stock intake and filter.