Jeep Commanders Mopar Accessories - High Command Vehicles

The bolt-together racks were assembled at Off Road Unlimited, while they measured for new brackets that they prototyped on our Commanders to fit the new Jeeps. By the time you read this, you'll be able to purchase a Defender rack for the new Jeeps. The brackets go directly onto the factory roof-rack rails.

Though they really added to both Commanders' looks and functionality, the racks also added some wind resistance when moving at freeway speeds. We saw our fuel economy go down, and our acceleration suffer as well. This is partly due to our 4.7L V-8 engine in our Commanders, which could barely push them into excessive freeway speeds as it was. We surmise that if we had the Hemi, we would not have noticed any difference.

After the racks went onto Shortie and Biggie, we decided to add Off Road Unlimited's Defender Light Cage to Biggie. This would allow us to place four 9-inch Pro Comp off-road lights on the top of Biggie. They significantly helped our late-night wheeling visibility, and turned night into day wherever we had Biggie pointed.

Both Commanders also got Mopar's genuine rock rails. They bolt into existing holes using supplied hardware and a 17mm wrench. On the passenger side, a cover for the climate control lines will have to be temporarily removed to tighten down the bolts for the rock rails. Four braces on each rail hold them onto the body of the Commander and give support.

The Mopar rock rails are a nice addition and are the only bolt-on rails in existence for the Jeep Commanders. The problem we found with them is that they don't support the weight of the vehicle if you hit them really hard on the rocks (of course we did!) and they get bent up. The braces for the rock rails also hang a little low and sometimes catch on objects under the vehicle. Are they better than having nothing there? Definitely. Would we suggest that Mopar take a look at redesigning them just a little? You bet.

We knew Biggie was going to be getting a winch in front, and we didn't want to have Shortie bare in the front either. Mopar's Tubular grilleguard bolts over the front plastic bumper fairly easily. The grille has to be moved to install the guard, but the installation is easy and straightforward, and can be finished in less than half an hour.

Off Road Unlimited fabricated a pretty bitchin' winch mount for Biggie. They added a skidplate and tied it into our Commander on the main body's rails and down on the Superlift subframe for the control arms. It sticks out a little far, giving a worse approach angle, but it adds superior front protection and holds our Warn winch onto the front firmly, in case we get stuck.

Our custom Off Road Unlimited winch mount was fit with a Warn 9.5ti winch to give more than enough oomph to yank Biggie out of almost any situation we could get it into. If a winch wasn't necessary, Off Road Unlimited added tow hooks to each side of our winch mount to attach a strap to.

Our high-command Commanders were complete and finished in time to make it out to the Ultimate Adventure. They performed their duties of hauling people and equipment beautifully. Biggie would double as an extraction vehicle should something go wrong with our U.A. Rubi Wagon, and Shortie would make sure that the entire camera crew was there to catch the action. There were times when we would've sworn that the two Commanders were getting more looks than the super-modified vehicles on the trip. After all, you half expect any Wrangler or CJ-7 to have an extreme build, but it's not every day that you see not only one, but two modified Commanders!