Episode 732 – Buy Back Jeep for SIX FIGURES!

This Week In Jeep

FCA Agrees to Buy Back Defective 2021 Jeep Wrangler for SIX FIGURES!

Jeep manufacturer FCA US LLC recently agreed to a buyback settlement totaling nearly $170,000 for the owners of a Jeep with dangerous defects. In 2021, plaintiffs Maxwell and Veronica purchased a new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for approximately $65,000. However, within two months of their purchase, the pair began experiencing a series of dangerous defects in their new vehicle. On several occasions, the transmission failed to engage, causing the engine to race without moving. When the transmission did engage, it would jump in and out of gears without warning. At times, the engine failed to start after extended cranking. Other problems began to appear as well. The fuel pressure sensor failed. The power control module shorted out, causing the vehicle to lose all its power. The suspension and steering components loosened, causing loud clicking, cracking, and ticking noises. The Jeep’s owners repeatedly took their Jeep to the dealership for repairs. Despite several opportunities to do so, FCA US LLC and the dealership failed to fix the problems with the Jeep – problems that substantially interfered with the Jeep’s use and safety. After just 10,000 miles, the Jeep’s owners had had enough. They claimed FCA US LLC, seeking reimbursement for the purchase price of the defective vehicle under California’s Lemon Laws. A reimbursement or “buyback” is one remedy available to vehicle owners who can demonstrate that they received a lemon that the manufacturer hasn’t fixed after a reasonable number of repair attempts. Other remedies, such as a replacement vehicle and repayment of associated costs, are also available for some plaintiffs. In this case, the Jeep’s owners worked with California Lemon Law attorneys and settled the lemon law claim for $169,999.99. FCA additionally agreed to pay the plaintiff’s reasonable attorney fees, costs, and expenses, as provided by the California Lemon Law.

Moral Of The Story? Don’t Drink and Arson At The Same Time

A Goose Creek South Carolina man is behind bars accused of setting a Jeep on fire in North Charleston last Thursday. 37-year-old Nathan Fish faces charges of third-degree arson after police say he started a woman’s vehicle on fire on Rivers Avenue. North Charleston Police were first called to the residence for a disturbance at approximately 10:37 p.m. on Dec. 8th, according to the incident report. Arriving officers found Nathan being “belligerent” after he kicked the windshield of a Jeep, in addition to smashing a guitar on the vehicle. And according to the report, the owner of the Jeep said she didn’t want to press charges. Officers were called back to the area an hour later (shocking) because now the Jeep was on fire. Upon arriving, officers found a Jeep Cherokee fully engulfed in flames. The incident report states Nathan was walking around the Jeep fire as North Charleston firefighters were trying to put the fire out. It is unclear if he was in the way or just in the vicinity.

Regardless, North Charleston Police detained the man and noted he smelled quite strongly of alcohol. Firefighters determined the fire started in the back of the vehicle. Investigators also noticed the suspect’s suitcase was outside of the vehicle, but the owner’s belongings were still inside. The woman who owned the Jeep told authorities that Nathan had threatened to burn her car and her house during an argument earlier in the day. A court date has not yet been scheduled.

Jeep Agrees To Buy More Power

Automaker Stellantis has signed the second-largest corporate PPA (power purchase agreement) on record, in order to procure 400 MW of new solar in Michigan under utility DTE Energy’s MIGreenPower program. With its participation in the utility program, Stellantis will be able to attribute 100% of its electricity use at 70 Michigan manufacturing and office facilities to solar by 2026. That will reduce the company’s emissions in North America by 50% and across its manufacturing facilities by 30% overall. The clean energy commitment represents the  second-largest corporate PPA on record, and the agreement with DTE Energy represents enough clean energy to power 130,000 homes each year. Stellantis committed to a 2021 plan that called for the addition of self-production and on-site renewable energy generation across its global manufacturing operations and this new commitment represents a step towards reaching that goal.

Tech Talk with Jeep Talk

TOPIC/QUESTION: A Cheap Solution To Loud D-Rings

If you’ve spent much time out on the trail, you’ve undoubtedly heard vehicles that have steel bumpers with recovery points typically consisting of a Clevis, or D-ring shackle. These invariably will swing back and forth and “clang” against the face of the steel bumper, making it ring out like the liberty bell, all day long, up and down the trail. Cla-CLANG, clang-clang CLANG! Now there’s no getting around the typical clangs, clunks, and other noises typically found on the trail or in the rocks from any given off-road rig. I’m pretty sure we haven’t reached the stage of stealth wheeling yet, but still. There’s no reason to be “that guy” when out with your Jeep off-road. So if you have loud d-rings there are several options out there to shut them up. The first is going to be choosing any one of the ten thousand options out there for the go-to off-the-shelf solution. These are called D-ring Isolators. These are typically a plastic type of material that is molded to snap onto the lower portion of the D-ring, isolating it from coming into the metal-on-metal contact of the bumper face. These come in all sorts of colors to match whatever theme you have going on, and some are molded with interesting patterns to set them apart from other competitors. The first generation of these was no more than a couple of little plastic “U’s” that you snapped on. Now there are colors, and different materials and some are now even coming with washers to further help the isolation, and that’s where we find our DIY solution that I myself have been rocking for years. I shopped for the isolators just like you and decided I can better spend that money elsewhere. Yes I know they’re pretty cheap now, but over 10 years ago, I needed something else, and it had to cost next to nothing. So I found myself in the hardware store, one of my favorite places to spend some time.

I always end up finding solutions for this or that by just slowly walking up and down the aisles, letting my imagination go wild. I ended up selecting some large-diameter industrial washers used for larger pipe fittings. These are about an inch and a half in outer diameter and range in thickness, but the inner diameter only has to be large enough to fit over the threaded stud of the D-ring.  The ones I have are way larger than they need to be, but it was the price that I liked. For less than 25 cents a piece, I had some washers that could take up the slack of the shackle on its mount. Typically there is a metal stud that protrudes from the bumper or a plate that is mounted on the bumper. This stud has a hole through it that the D-ring is threaded. There is usually space left over between the inner edges of the D-ring, and the outer edges of the stud. These are the spaces that will get filled with the washers. My bumper design and the D-rings I have ended up only needing one washer per side, it was a tight fit, but I was able to get everything in. Now comes the part that many may argue about. I torque the living snot out of the shackle at this point. The clamping force of that large threaded bar of the D-ring will clamp down on those washers with substantial force. Have you ever wondered why there is a hole in the finger handle of that threaded bar? That’s for you to stick a screwdriver through to get some extra rotational force. Using a tool like a screwdriver, you can get a couple more turns out of the shackle stud. You want it tight enough to where the D-ring no longer moves freely, but can still rotate if forced to. It may take some back and forth, but you’ll find the sweet spot. And for less than a few dollars, you now have quiet D-rings, and you didn’t even have to put any colored plastic on to do it! I think this trick is something even Chuck would approve of. Other solutions that don’t work as well or last as long would be things like 5-50 cords and wrapping the shackle. This of course may prove to get in the way if you were ever forced to use that D-ring in a recovery situation, but I’ll leave that up to you. Another solution would be a tool handle dip. It goes by the brand name Plasti-dip or Rubber-dip and it is an air-dried coating that is used to refinish the handles of old tools. It creates a rubberized coating that is bonded to the metal. Think of it like bed liner or undercoating, but way more rubbery.  It may be possible to find a way to get a D-ring dipped multiple times to create a thick, sound-isolating coating. This of course would likely be torn off in the course of a serious recovery, but it may look cool until then, and be easy and relatively inexpensive to re-apply. Zip ties, large rubber bands, hell even tying a sock around the D-ring would work. Although that may send the wrong message. Let me know if you have a different solution than these for DIY D-ring isolators. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts.

Genright CJ7 3/16” Corner Guards 

Alcan Spring Orbit Eye

https://www.alcanspring.com/newpage

Links Mentioned in this Episode

NEXEN Tires USA https://www.nexentireusa.com/

Trails 411- POWERING Your Adventure https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver

The 4×4 Radio Network http://4x4radionetwork.com/

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