Episode 911 – Own a Movie Jeep?
Own a Movie Jeep
The World War II Jeep From ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Band Of Brothers’ Could Be Yours
The Willy Jeep was the workhorse of World War II. The rugged transporter saw action in every theater of the war in the early 1940s and would continue to serve in armies around the world for many years. One pristine example is heading to auction next month with a unique provenance.
The 1944 Willys Jeep comes from TLO Film Services, which has supplied vehicles for movie and TV productions since 1962. TLO’s records indicate the Jeep has been used in Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Pennyworth, and other productions.
TLO purchased the Willys in January 1996, and the listing says it had three former registered owners before that. It was first registered in the UK in 1977. The Jeep received a complete rebuild of its original engine in February 2023 and has 25,975 miles on the odometer. That’s not bad for the 80-year-old, left-hand-drive military vehicle finished in Olive Drab paint.
Many movie cars have ended up in the hands of private collectors. Wayne’s World’s 1976 AMC Pacer was auctioned in January 2022. The only surviving W Motors Lykan HyperSport stunt car from Furious 7 rolled across the auction block in 2021.
The live auction for the 1944 Willy Jeep will take place during the NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 2023 in England on Sunday, November 11. That’s Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in the UK and other nations that observe the end of the First World War. The guide lists it as selling for 18,000 to 22,000 pounds ($21,900 to $26,785 at today’s exchange rate), which is cheaper than the 2024 Jeep Wrangler, but with a lot fewer features, too.
2024 Jeep Wrangler Grill Change
Is Jeep Risking Ridicule by changing the iconic grill?
The 2024 Jeep Wrangler has an updated 7-slot grill. It’s not 6, or 4, or 9, it’s 7 slots.
However, it does look similar to the FIAT 500 spinoff Renegade grill.
Could this be Jeep trying to standardize a look or a theme here? It may be easier to see Jeeps other than Wranglers this way.
I think this would only be true for the casual Jeeper. Die-hard jeepers will notice, and have.
Yes, you can be a die-hard Jeeper and a Renegade owner.
Jeep Talk Show Gladiator Update
Differential Cover and Murphy
The differential cover, or diff cover, protects the gears in that roundish bit on your front and rear axles. It also keeps that important fluid inside!
When you go off-road there are things that can damage the diff cover and cause the cover to either come in contact with the gears or cause the oil to drain out. Sometimes both.
Changing from the stock diff cover to aftermarket is one of those things that most Jeepers decide to change before they experience a trail repair they don’t want to make.
The question is often, which diff cover to I update? Front or rear.
The front makes sense since it’s more likely to strike a rock or something tougher than the cover is.
But a rock can catch the lip of that rear stock diff cover and peel it back enough to cause a leak. You may not know about that leak until you’re heading home and the gears heat up and fail.
Another good reason to do an inspection after wheeling.
JTS listener Steve O. purchased an ARB diff cover.
We’ll have a link to Amazon.com for this – https://amzn.to/3tBzapr I’m going to be buying mine from Northridge4x4 using the discount code available to our Patreon subscribers!
As you may recall I mentioned in a previous episode I was looking at this one for the 2021 Jeep Talk Show Gladiator.
I’ll be following what Steve O. has to say about it on our Discord server.
So what diff do you upgrade, front or rear? The easy answer is both, but most of us have to pick one, collect more aluminum cans, and buy the other.
I’m going with the front. Murphy’s law says I’ll get a leak in the rear.
The JTS peeps tell me that the factory seal can be re-used, otherwise, I’ll use a Lube Locker.
Steve O is installing his this weekend so we’ll be getting updates on our Discord server.
Jeep Cherokee XJ steering geometry
Jeep modifications have a series of issues. I like to say no modification goes unpunished.
A 4.5” lift on my Cherokee didn’t seem to cause problems with bump steer, but going to 6.5” certainly did.
My fix was to get a drop pitman arm. This reestablished the proper geometry for the steering.
This caused more issues!
I’m going to guess there was about 2 to 3 inches of play.
I kept looking for the issue and I found that even though the nut on the pitman arm was super tight, the pitman arm was moving on the shaft.
I figured the pitman arm was the issue, so I bought another. Same issue. My solution was to have a special, large thick washer made to put between the pitman arm and the shaft nut. This made the pitman arm tight and the steering play was gone, well at least back to the factory. It’s likely that what needed to be done was to replace the steering box. Not a bad idea for a 25-year-old daily-driven Jeep.
I did make another change later that made the steering as tight as the wife’s TJ steering. But that’s a story for a future episode.
Must-Have Stuff Pick-of-the-Week for your Jeep!
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Iconic Jeeps and Upcoming Guests
The Jeep Talk Show features news, tips and advice on Jeep equipment
Tony: You know, you don’t have to buy a Jeep, but I think a lot of people really, uh, wish, uh, they had a Jeep at some point in their life. And I’ll warn you, if you get a Jeep, never sell it. That’s a SPAD mojo. Get where you’re going, then keep going. Gear, parts and accessories built to explore well beyond where offroad goes off grid. Get real deals on performance parts and accessories@realtruck.com and bring your truck and Jeep to life. Hi, I’m Tony and welcome to The Jeep Talk Show, the premier show for jeep enthusiasts and hardcore off roaders. Whether you’re uh, new to the Jeep world or a seasoned Jeeper, we’ve got you covered with the latest news, tips and advice to help you get the most out of your Jeep on tonight’s episode news stories. One of our news stories anyway, is going to be you can own a movie Jeep and it’s actually quite affordable. Affordable. I love it when they say that. Um, and ah uh, we’re going to do a Gladiator update on Diff covers and you may remember me talking about this before I think I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on it. Got to get the Gladiator ready for the next Easter Jeep Safari 2024 and uh, we’re going to have an additional one here called no Modification Goes Unpunished. Those of you that have modified your Jeep know how true this can be.
Announcer: Are you ready?
Tony: It’s time for the Jeep talk show with hosts Tony, Josh, Wendy and Chuck.
Larry and Mo still in France hunting for Jeeps
Announcer: Hi Tony, Wendy, the whole Jeep Talk Show uh, team and crew hey, this is Larry jeep and Mo still in France, managed to see a couple Wranglers. Didn’t have a sticker on me though. But one thing I’ve noticed out here that the, uh, rubicons are dressed out more like a sport in Europe than a rubicon. They don’t have the high line fenders on them, they have the steps on them like a sport. They’ve got this big obscene front bumper. So things are a little different here. Can’t wait to get back so listening to the show so keep up the good work while I’m gone and I will talk to everybody as soon as.
Tony: I get know it’s going to be rough to be in the south of France and out hunting for Jeeps. I told the uh, Zoom Room that meets on Thursday night just to, uh, have a chat. Uh, I was telling them that if, uh, Larry gets back and, uh, did not try a croissant while he was out there, I’ll be very upset. I mean, if you go to France, you have to have a croissant, you have to eat some of the cheeses and have some of that really rich food. Uh, I don’t know, maybe I think too much about food. I often say I’d like to go to New York just simply so I could try the pizza.
The 1944 Willis Jeep was used in World War II
Tony: All right, so you can own a movie Jeep, uh, the World War II Jeep from Saving Private Ryan Band of brothers could be, you know, of course, you know that the Willys, uh, Jeep was, uh, something that was very popular in World War II. Uh, and I say popular. There was a lot of them. Uh, and I think it was preferential to walking, so that would make them popular, right? So, uh, uh, the Willys or the Willis, I should say. I always remember that by saying, what you’re talking about. Willis so it’s Willis, uh, was, uh, a Jeep that was used in World War II, and I believe everybody’s familiar with that. Interestingly enough, uh, everybody talks about the seven slot grille, is the iconic grille, uh, for the Jeep, and especially the CJS and the Wranglers. Uh, it was more like nine slots on these, uh, Willis Jeeps. Anyway, the 1944 Willis Jeep, uh, comes from TLO Film Services, which has supplied vehicles for movie and TV production since 1962. Good Lord, that’s a hell of a business there. Uh, TLO records, uh, records indicate that the Jeep has been used in Saving Private Ryan, banda Brothers, Pennyworth, and other productions. Um, of course, Jeep is very iconic, and the reason why we all have Jeeps is because of the World War II Jeep that was created to help win the war. So the TLO purchased, uh, this, uh, Willis, uh, in January of 1996, and the listing set listing says it has three former registered owners before that. That’s not much. It was first registered in the UK in 1977. The Jeep received a couple of rebuilds, uh, of its original engine in February of 2023, and has 25,975 miles on the odometer. You got to wonder if somebody took the maybe from Tillo, took the Jeep off road and had a little fun with it. Uh, that would be a little bit dangerous, but, uh, hell, it’s a Jeep, so that would be fun. I guess technically, it’s been off road because it was used on Saving Private Ryan, and that didn’t look like it was on road, so anyway, it’s not bad for an 80 year old left hand drive military vehicle finished, uh, in olive drab paint. Oh, that’s interesting. Uh, it’s, uh, a left hand drive, which I guess means, uh, this is one that was, uh, made, uh, for, uh, Britain, or maybe it was converted. Many, um, movie cars have ended up in the hands of private collectors. Wayne’s World 1976 AMC Pacer was auctioned in January of 2022. The only surviving W Motors lichen hypersport stunt from a stunt car from tourist Seven rolled across the auction block in 2021. The, uh, live auction for the 1944, uh, Willis Jeep will take place during the NEC Classic Motor Show sale 2023 in England on Sunday, November 11. So you got plenty of time to get over there if you want to buy this Jeep. The, uh, Veterans Day in the US. Uh, and remembrance Day in the UK and other nations that observe the end of the First World War. Uh, the guide list, it is selling for $18,000 to 22,000. Oh, I’m sorry, it’s not dollars, it’s pounds. Of course, within the UK selling for 18,000 to 22,000 pounds. Uh, and that, uh, in real money is 21,900 to 26,785. Really not bad for something that was in. I mean, you can point to it, you can say, hey, let’s watch Saving profit. Ryan hey, you see that? That’s my jeep. That’s what’s in my garage. Or if you’re like Jay Leno, in, uh, the warehouse, the vehicle warehouse. Um, and, uh, it’s actually cheaper than the 2024 Jeep Wrangler, but with a lot, uh, of newer features. So I guess it’s a trade off history versus, uh, modern, uh, day, uh, things. So what do you think? Is this something that, I mean, I think everybody, every fanatical, uh, Jeep person would love to have the space to keep it, but also to a World War II Jeep, an actual World War II Jeep, the thing that made Jeep Jeep, uh, really what’s been copied, uh, for, god, 80 years. I mean, the Wrangler is, uh, just, uh, something that they started making, uh, that was based off of this, and of course, they’ve made improvements to it. Uh, and you would expect that, but, uh, having the very first one would, uh, just be amazing, and it certainly would garner you a lot of looks. So, uh, I would say that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to make modifications to this Jeep, just keep it as it is. But it would be pretty cool to mount a, uh, 50 cal machine gun on the back of it, wouldn’t it? In the bed there, uh, the area behind, uh, the seats, that would be pretty cool, especially if it was functional. Hey, are you going to SEMA? Look for Julianne from Chick, Chat and Wrangle, her and Chris, our guest acquisition and salesperson there at SEMA 392. Bill, uh, no, Bill almost referred to him as 392 or not. He knows who he is. And also jeeping mo. Larry, uh, the guy we just heard from, uh, that’s in France will be there as well. The Jeep Talk show team would love to meet you.
Wendy’s husband Bill had an issue during a simple operation
Tony: All right, so, uh, Wendy isn’t with us tonight because her husband Bill had an issue during a simple operation. And actually, I don’t know how simple the operation was, because something happened that caused Bill some issues. And, uh, he’s doing really well, but he is still in recovery as far as doing some rehab to try to get back to 100%. So if you could remember, uh, Wendy and Bill and your prayers, it would very much be appreciated. Uh, if you’re new, you may not know about our patreon subscription. The crowd starts croaning because I talk about this so much. We’re at 43 subscribers out of a goal of 100. And it’s just wonderful having 43 people that are willing to be subscribers, uh, for our patreon. Uh, but we need more. As a subscriber, you get ad free content, early and exclusive content access, as well as great discount codes. The discount codes alone can save you more than the cost of the subscription. $5 gets you all this access. Just go to Jeeptalkshow.com contact to find out how to become a subscriber.
The 2024 Jeep Wrangler will have a different grille than previous models
Tony: All right, so I’m sure you guys are aware of this, if you’re not already aware of it, the 2024 Jeep Wrangler grille change. And I suspect it’s on the Gladiator as well. But we’re focusing on the Wrangler in this story. So is Jeep risking ridicule by changing the iconic grille? Well, as we just mentioned, the World War II Willis, uh, definitely had a different grill than what’s on the Wrangler. What’s been on the Wrangler for a number of years, so it seems to have been accepted by everybody. But, uh, you got to wonder that especially those people that, uh, maybe a Willis saved their lives or got them out of a harm’s way or allowed them to win a war. Probably didn’t like the idea of, uh, the grill being changed on, uh, the jeeps that were copies of the Willis. So, uh, I don’t know, I guess it all depends on how you feel about things so, uh, the 2024 Jeep Wrangler has updated its seven slot grille it’s seven slots it’s still seven slots it’s not six, four or nine, it’s still seven. So, I mean, there’s that. They didn’t change the number of slots. Uh, however, just looking at it, it kind of reminds me, uh, that the Grille is very similar to the Fiat 500 Spinoff Renegade. Uh, I don’t hate renegades. Uh, but it bothers me that jeep is doing something, making something that isn’t a Wrangler or a gladiator. A jeep truck. So, uh, I’m an XJ owner. I understand. Some people don’t like XJS. They don’t consider them. Real jeeps because they’re not Wranglers. Hell, there’s people out there that don’t consider the Gladiators a real jeep because it’s not a Wrangler. And, uh, it’s everybody’s personal preference, which I think this is what goes on with this. Grille. So I’m wondering if this could be Jeep trying to standardize the look, uh, or theme here so that the Renegade grille looks like the Wrangler grille and the Wrangler grille looks like the Gladiator grille. And maybe this grille will be similar on other, uh, vehicles that I don’t consider the, uh, offroad Jeeps, uh, like the Wrangler and the Gladiator. So, uh, it certainly would make sense. Because if you are trying to sell a renegade, if it looks more like a Wrangler, then even though you can tell the difference as a consumer, even though you can tell the difference that this isn’t a Wrangler, it might make you feel a little better that you’re getting a Jeep. You’re getting something, um, that you can afford easier. And, uh, it’s a lot smaller, but it still is Jeepy. And I think a lot of people want to be part of the Jeep community. They want to own a Jeep. Uh, there’s so many people out there, you may be one of them. If you’re listening to this show and don’t own a Jeep, uh, you’ve always wanted the Jeep, you’ve always wanted that Wrangler, that open air environment. And for one reason or another you just can’t bring yourself to purchase one. Maybe you’re concerned it’s a midlife crisis or somebody’s going to look down on you because you’re not uh, being uh, um, frugal with your money. You’re not buying something that, uh, makes sense. Well, when you’re having fun with your life, unless it’s drug abuse, I think that you should enjoy your life. Um, buy a Jeep, have some fun. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, you could always get a Jeep and start and fill that void, that Jeep void that you’ve had. Um, and you don’t have to buy a Jeep, but I think a lot of people really, uh, wish uh, they had a Jeep at some point in their life. And I’ll warn you, if you get a Jeep, never sell it. That’s just bad mojo. So um, I kind of think that um, maybe, uh, if Jeep is actually doing what I’m thinking is they’re trying to bring in more people into the renegade market, uh, uh, I think that it would bring in some people that are maybe casual Jeepers, uh, but diehard Jeepers will notice and may have a problem with it. So we’ll see what happens with the Wrangler sales and what the scuttlebutt is, what the comment is, uh, from people that uh, get the 2024 Wrangler. Uh, I think it looks fine, uh, I would prefer the other grille, uh, but this is what I’m used to looking at. So yeah, I mean ultimately for, uh, me, it’s just going to depend on how well it goes and does offroad.
Differentials can leak when jeep goes off road, causing damage
Tony: Gladiator. My name is Gladiator.
Announcer: Gladiators.
Tony: Are you not entertained?
Announcer: Are you not entertained?
Tony: Is this not why you are here? So I think you guys may remember, uh, I’ve been talking about purchasing various things to upgrade the 2021 Jeep talk show, Gladiator. Uh, especially before going to uh, Easter Jeep Safari in 2024. Uh, one of the things I was talking about getting is sliders. Not sliders, uh, a skid plate system, full skid plates, uh, for the underneath of the Gladiator. I drug on enough stuff out there, it wasn’t bad, but it’s a little scary when you hear uh, that scraping. You get used to it. I mean, once you don’t see any fluids leaking out and it drives you back home 1000 miles, you kind of go, well, it did just fine, but there’s always a possibility that it could do some damage, could happen, uh, just because you survived once doesn’t mean you’ll survive every time. It would just make me feel better. But anyway, one of the things I got to think about is the thing I call the low hanging fruit, at least for damage, which are the differentials. So if you don’t know what a differential is, uh, it’s that big round thing on your axle, both front and rear, on a gladiator or a Jljlu, uh, as well as pretty much any wrangler. And, uh, YJ there before, uh, there were some two wheel drive versions but we won’t go down that dark road. Uh, anyway, so, uh, uh, that differential is where the gears are stored. That gets the rotational force from the drive shaft that’s connected to, uh, the back or front of the differential out to your wheels and tires. And, uh, then that all goes back to, uh, the motor turning and, uh, lets you, uh, engage, uh, one, two, three or four tires, uh, when you’re off road. Anyway, uh, the differential cover helps protect, uh, those gears and keeps the fluid in there the gear fluid. And I’ll tell you what, I don’t know why. Uh, I guess it really doesn’t matter the big scheme of things, but good Lord, that gear fluid stinks. It just really smells bad. Uh, it’s not baby poo or anything like that, but it smells surprisingly bad. So when, uh, you go off road, there are things that can damage the diff cover and cause the COVID to either come in contact with the gears, the differential gears or cause the oil to drain out. Sometimes both, depending how hard you hit something. Uh, changing, uh, from the stock diff cover to aftermarket is one of those things that most jeepers decide to change before they experience a trail repair they don’t want to make. And let’s be honest, none of us want to do any trail repairs. We want everything to go perfectly fine and never have an issue. But there’s reality. So the question is often which diff cover do I update, uh, front or rear? Front makes sense, since it’s more likely to strike a rock or something tougher than what the factory cover is. But the rock can catch the lip on that rear stock diff cover and peel it back enough to cause a leak. And sadly, you may not know about that leak. It could be a small leak. And if somebody doesn’t notice it, uh, you may run out of diff fluid on your way home. And if that happens, the gears can heat up and fail. Uh, more than likely, you’re going to hear some noise before any lockup happens. But it’s going to be a bad day and it’s going to be expensive having that ring and pinion, uh, replaced because that all has to be set up. And if that does set up and you don’t already have a locker in there, buy a locker and then have them replace the ring and pinion and install a locker because while you’re in and uh, speaking, uh, uh, of issues, this is another good reason. And one of the things Wendy has always recommended to do an inspection after wheeling. So look and see and check for the things like know you need to be underneath there anyway to have a good idea uh, of what to look for, how it looks when everything’s fine. So get to know your Jeep and hell, you can even take some pictures with your uh, smartphone in uh, case you don’t remember or you can verify back when, well, that doesn’t look right, let’s go to the pictures. And then you go back to the pictures and you go, oh yeah, that took some damage there. And uh, you should be able to see the fluid or something uh, on the bottom of the diff where it’s leaking. But you definitely want to know about that before you start driving a long way home. Like for example, if I had peeled the diff cover back on uh, my rear uh, Dana 44 on the Gladiator and I was driving back from Moab, I think that was a good 1000 miles, maybe 750. I have to go back and look. But uh that would have been a very ugly thing to have happened to me on uh, the way back home and it probably would have been a dead ass in the middle on the way back and the middle of nowhere. There’s a lot of middle of nowhere by the way, uh, going between Moab and back to uh, southeast Texas. So uh, listener Steve O purchased an ARB Diff cover. I think he just got it today. He was posting up on discord about it and uh sadly they were out of red and uh, he had to buy a black one. No, I’m not kidding. It’s a back and forth fight that we have about colors. Uh, and I, uh like the red ARB, uh, diff cover of course. But uh, anyway, he posted up some pictures of uh, the diff cover uh, on our discord server and uh, it is a beautiful diff cover and the thing I really like about it is it has uh that little notch in it, if you will, for the ring gear. And since uh, I’ve learned recently that it’s important where the gear oil goes as all the ring and pinion is turning that this helps keep the pinion lubed, uh, and uh, also to the ring and the pinion, et cetera. Well, the bearing in the back where, uh, the pinion goes as well that I really have uh, been looking hard at these type of covers instead of something that maybe has less of a channel, uh, for the ring gear and the fluid to be slung. So uh, I think I’m going to go ahead and get this ARB Diff cover in red, of course and uh, we will have a link to Amazon for this diff cover in, uh, Jeeptalkshow.com, episode 911.
Steve O. recommends getting an ARB diff cover for your Jeep
Tony: And you can go there. But I got to be honest, I’m going to be buying mine from Northridge, four x four, using the discount code available to our Patreon subscribers. Uh, and the thing I’m a little concerned about now, I’ve been over there and I’ve checked, and it does say that this diff cover that they sell, uh, on Northridge is good for either a, uh, rubicon, uh, gladiator, uh, or the non, uh, rubicon I’m, uh, going to check because that should mean that it doesn’t matter. But I, uh, have the Max tow package, which means I have the same axles that’s on a Rubicon minus the lockers. Uh, but before I go and order this thing, and especially before I’ve got the factory cover taken off and put this thing up there and it doesn’t fit right, I want to know ahead of time at least. I guess you never can know until you’re actually replacing it. But, uh, it’s worth a call. So I’m going to be calling up Northridge, uh, uh, tomorrow and asking them just to confirm. And I believe, uh, the axle is m m 210. That’s the, uh, Dana 44 model number. So, uh, yeah, I’m going to go ahead and get this because I think, uh, that, and I’m going to go with the front one, uh, first, because I think that’s the one that is more likely to get damage. Uh, but, uh, sure as shit, I’ve got to get the front one and I’m going to damage the rear one. That’s all part of Murphy’s Law. Uh, and that’s fine. They do sell them in pairs, so you can get both front and rear, uh, for about $367, I think, if I remember what I was reading, uh, correctly. So you can do it. Uh, but, um, a lot of us have to go out and collect more aluminum cans between buying diff covers so we can, uh, do the other one later. So my goal is going to be, ah, to get a few things, um, stiffened up, uh, armored, uh, before my next trip to EGS in 2024. Oh, and this was interesting. I was, uh, talking to the JTS peeps and they tell me that the factory seal on the diff cover can be reused. And, uh, otherwise I was going to recommend getting a lube locker, I guess, that we had on a few years ago, which is just a wonderful idea, according to the Peeps. They say that, uh, the factory diff cover is a lot like a lube locker. And, uh, the other reason, of course, if you don’t have, um, the COVID or I’m sorry, or the seal on there, lubelocker is great. And the way it works is it may even help you if you do peel back a diff cover. Now, you ain’t going to be peeling back an ARB diff cover, which is kind of the reason why you go this direction. Uh, and let’s be honest, it just looks cool. It’s just so much fun to modify a Jeep. And, uh, this is what I was telling Steve O. He got the black one, uh, the red one just kind of stands out and know, wow, look at me. This is a modified Jeep. It’s not enough just to have lift and bigger tires aftermarket bumper, winch aftermarket bumper, front and rear, et cetera. And of course, off road lights. You got to do as much offroad goodness that you can do. And, uh, there’s things that you can get for your Jeep that are functional and nobody knows that they’re there but you. And then there’s other things that like this, this ARB Diff cover that’s functional. But also, too, you can show it off because it’s right there. And especially when you lift your rig, uh, it’s very easy to see. So I know it’s silly, but it’s fun because one of the cool things about having a Jeep is making it your own, putting things on it that, uh, stand out or in a lot of cases, copies everybody else. But it also tells people that you’re into the Jeep thing. You’re into off road, uh, whether you go off road or not. I mean, just don’t put 22 inch wheels on it and, uh, people won’t know if you go off road or not. Oh, and, uh, speaking of discord, again, steve O is going to be installing, uh, his ARB black ARB Diff Cover, uh, this weekend. So we’ll be getting updates on our Discord server. If you don’t know about our Discord server, it’s free. There’s nothing that we’re selling there. It’s just a great place to have fun and talk about Jeep stuff and other things, too, but mainly Jeep stuff. Uh, all you have to do is just go to that one place we always tell you to go, jeeptalkshow.com Contact, and you will see an invite for the Discord server. And again, doesn’t cost you anything if you don’t know what Discord is. It’s just kind of like a place that you go that you could do texting, but also send pictures, which you can do on texting nowadays, too, but, uh, it’s kind of like a multi person chat server, and we have multiple channels on that server. So if you want to talk about, uh, off road events, uh, Easter, Jeep Safari, you’ll be able to go to those channels and have specific information about, uh, events or other things that, uh, we talk about. Hell, we even have, uh, the Chuck Wagon where we talk about food. I don’t think anybody’s posted anything in the Chuck Wagon in a while, though. That’s kind of disappointing. I mean, we all love food, right? Hey, if you want to get more out of your weekend, you’ve got to get more out of your truck. Storage for your tools, cover from the elements and protection that stands, uh, up under pressure. Whether it’s a little DIY or your next big project. We say bring it to the backyard, to the barnyard, to everything that you can throw at it and everything that stands in its way, because it’s not about getting the job done. It’s about getting the job done right. Real truck, bring your truck to life from the mind of Nikki G. Hey.
Speaker C: This is Nikki G. And in honor of Larry visiting gay Paris yeah, we don’t judge. I’ve got a Paris, uh, joke. What does the Eiffel Tower and a tick have in common?
Tony: Oh, no.
Speaker C: Yeah, they’re both parasites. Yeah, but that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling to tell you that I just love the feel of putting on warm, fresh underwear hot out of the dryer. And it’s fun to look around the laundry mat and see who they belong to. Uh, all right, boys and girls, I’ll chat you later. And have a good one. Bye.
Tony: Nikki G. The answer is just like borrowing a handkerchief. Once you blow your nose in it, it’s yours. So, uh, I don’t know if you guys caught it or not, on our last interview episode, nikki, uh, g’s Ten Minute Offroad Podcast was, uh, placed, uh, at the end of that episode. So everybody that wasn’t already familiar with, uh, nikki G’s Ten Minute Off Road podcast, uh, would be familiar and could listen to it. So I highly recommend going and looking up nikki G. If you think nikki G calling in to the show, uh, now, twice a week, uh, for, god, nine, 8910 years, you get a lot more, uh nikki G. In that ten minutes. And we all need a little more nikki G. Right. Oh, I’m sorry, I should have said a lot more. Nikki G he’ll correct me on that.
All right, let’s talk about some of the older Jeeps
Tony: All right, so, uh, we’ve had some people talk about let’s talk about some of the older Jeeps. And I understand this may not be as old a Jeep as you want to talk about, but it’s something I know about. It’s the Jeep Cherokee. Many of you may already know that I have a one owner 1998 Jeep Cherokee that’s also known as the XJ. It has the four liter war course engine in it. And, uh, I was really lucky. I didn’t know what I was getting, uh, at the time. I found out later that I was lucky because I got the Chrysler eight and a quarter rear axle, uh, and a high pinion Dana 30. Now, the only thing worse than the Dana 30 is a Dana 35, which is a rear axle. Uh, but the Dana 30 is pretty good. It’s definitely not as good as a Dana 44, and it’s not as good as a Chrysler eight and a quarter. Uh, but if the Jeep that I had if the XJ that I had bought had had, uh, the what do you call it, the anti braking, not anti braking, that would be. Bad, uh, the antilock brakes, then it would have been a Dana 35. Uh, so if you can find an XJ, if, uh, you pop open the hood and if you see a lot of plumbing and stuff over there by the power steering, uh, boost unit, vacuum boost unit, uh, that means that’s the antilock braking and that would mean that it has a Dana 35 in the rear. Now, it may not be a deal killer for you, but if you’re going to put bigger, uh, tires on there, uh, you want to make sure that you don’t go too wild. Like maybe thirty three S. Now the eight and a quarter, I’ve always been told I haven’t done it, but you can go, uh, up to 35s with a locker on Chrysler eight and a quarter. Uh, not so much for the Dana 30. Uh, but you can do things to the Dana 30, of course, to make it stronger, but that goes into the realm of polishing a turd. Uh, but it really depends on how much money you want to spend, especially on XJ. I mean, XJS have gotten more expensive, uh, here relatively recently in the last two or three years. Uh, but uh, before you could find them for $1,000 or less. And uh, it was kind of tough to put a $5,000 axle on $1,000 vehicle. But people do it. They’re great rigs and a lot of fun. And uh, I’ve still got mine. I need to do some work on it. And now that the temperatures are going down from the 100 and 107 that it’s been here in southeast Texas, I’m looking forward to getting out there at the garage and uh, doing a couple of things that I need to get it uh, back on the road. Uh, it does fine. I have a little leak on the automatic transmission lines, which I have two new lines to install. Just got to get out there and do it.
I put a 4.5 inch lift on my Cherokee back in 2005
Tony: All right, well, anyway, back to, uh, the thing I was going to talk about. I’ve always said this Jeep modifications, uh, have a series of issues. If you’re lucky, you don’t. Uh, but uh, I like to say no modification goes unpunished. Now originally, and this is back in 2005, I believe, I put a 4.5 inch lift on my Cherokee and it didn’t seem to cause any problems with like, bump steer or any of those issues. But going to the 6.5 lift later really did. So I got bump steer and I have never experienced that before. It’s not horrible, it’s not like death wobble, but it’s weird because you hit a bump and the Jeep is steering itself, it’s going over here. So it’s like, what are you doing? And I think I knew about this, that this possibly could happen whenever I did this. Uh, but uh, it was certainly because forums were big back then. I mean they’re still forums, but they certainly were a lot more popular back, uh, in 2005, 2007 when I was doing all this stuff. And uh, I knew that I needed to put a drop pitman arm. Now the pitman arm is what connects to the steering, uh, uh, the uh, drag link and the tie rod, uh, and actually moves, um, back and forth. The pitman arm goes onto, uh, the steering box and as you turn the wheel, that little, uh, thing turns and it moves the pitman arm back and forth, which of course, moves your wheels. So, uh, I got a, uh, drop pitman arm and I think it was a rough country drop, uh, pitman arm. I was a little concerned about the, is that a good quality pitman arm to go with? I mean, obviously you want to make sure you have good steering. Bad, uh, steering, uh, is not good if you’re trying to go someplace. Uh, but somebody was telling me, I think it was Steve 4.3 LXJ. Uh, one of our forum, uh, experts told, uh, me at the time that, uh, basically there was no, um, special place that pitman arms were made. It was made from one or two companies. So it really didn’t matter if it was from rough country or whoever. So there was no reason to spend $7,500 for a pitman arm, just get one that’s inexpensive. So I got the rough country, uh, drop, uh, pitman arm and uh, I think it was good for six and a half inch, uh, lift. And uh, installed that on the Cherokee, on the XJ. And uh, I didn’t have any bump steer any longer. But I developed probably two or three inches of play in the steering wheel. So if you don’t know what I’m talking about, if you’ve never driven an old truck or Grandpa’s 50s or 60s, uh, truck, you would turn the steering wheel a good two or three inches before it would start adjusting the direction of the vehicle. And I wasn’t used to this. Now, mind you, the XJ isn’t super tight steering anyway. Uh, and I think that has to do, uh, because it’s a unibody. And with, uh, the steering box, uh, bolted to the unibody, you get a little flex there. Uh, it’s not such a big deal if you have stock size tires, uh, and wheels. But whenever you start putting thirty three s now you’re getting a little more extra torque on there and you’re going to feel it wander a little bit or, um, it’s like a fighter jet. You have to think about what’s going to speeding up or slowing down with that jet engine as it spools up. Anyway, uh, uh, but it wasn’t this bad and it took me a little while. I mean, I was driving this thing back and forth to work, grocery store, the whole nine yards, daily driver. I was driving this all the time and I was able to steer it, but it was a little more work, uh, to drive it. And I, uh, was like, I got to fix this. Especially if my wife goes to drive this thing. I, uh, really don’t want her to have to deal with all this. So I think I finally, uh, got her or one of the girls out there in the garage to turn, uh, the steering wheel back and forth so I could, uh, watch all the steering components. And, um, this is the same thing you do when you have death wobble. Uh, you look at all the steering components with a flashlight and you look for any movement in, uh, the drag link, the tie rod, the tie rod ends. I mean, just a 16th of an inch can be enough to cause a death wobble. So I’m looking around, I’m looking at all these spots. Maybe I’ve got a bad tie rod end tre that’s causing me an issue. And I don’t see anything. Everything looks great. I mean, I had updated all that stuff. So, uh I’m looking, I’m looking. And then I just happened to notice the pitman arm was flexing it’s very thick piece of metal. So the pitman arm itself was fine. But where it attached to the shaft on the power steering unit, uh, it was literally, um, moving. Uh, kind of like, uh, how can I say this? Where it was, um well, I’ll explain what the issue was. The pitman arm was all the way up on the shaft and the nut was all the way up and it was torqued to like 180 pounds, uh, that, uh, they recommend. But what was happening was that the pitman arm was actually riding up higher on the shaft than what the nut would push it. When you go to torque something and it torques down to that 180, uh, footpounds you go that ain’t going nowhere is what you say when you get done doing it. Especially if you’re doing 180 footpounds. That’s tough. And, uh, this thing was actually like waffling on the shaft. So it was raising up on the edge and down and I’m like, what the hell? So I figured out I shouldn’t have got that rough country pitman arm uh, that bit me in the ass. So, uh, uh, I did a little, uh, research. I did a little talking on the forums about it and, uh, there was, uh, some chatter about that. But ultimately what I did was I bought another pitman arm from a different manufacturer. I forget now who made it and put it on there. Same exact problem. So this wasn’t happening with the stock stuff. The pitman arm that was on there from the factory was just fine. It tightened up just fine. Uh, and I think when I had it off, I actually compared them and the top part of the pitman arm that, uh, the, uh, thickness of it was the same thickness. So I don’t understand. I figured it must be the splines in there were uh, a little bit bigger or something. Something wasn’t made to specification and it was riding higher on that uh, power steering unit shaft. I don’t know what the answer was as far as I don’t know why it was doing that. But ultimately I came up with the idea that what I needed was a big ass washer. I needed something that had a large hole in it. So uh, it would fit over that power steering shaft, the steering box shaft, and uh uh, that nut, uh, would tighten up on it. It would basically push the pitman arm. And we’re not talking about a lot of room here. I mean it was less than of an 8th of an inch, uh, maybe uh, a few 16th of an inch. But again, it doesn’t require much movement in your steering before you have an issue or you feel an issue with the steering. So anyway, I had this washer actually, I had this washer made by an off road manufacturer that I used for uh, the uh, bumpers and sliders that are on the XJ. And I got that thing in, put it on there, fixed it 100%. Uh, the steering was at least back to the way it was uh, from Factory. And I actually did uh, uh, some actual, um uh, added a few more things. Uh, actually uh, if you have an XJ or a TJ, I highly recommend I am ironman four x fourfab.com actually uh, added uh, one of the things that they make for the XJ for steering that oh, it made a huge change uh, and it really tightened up the steering so much. So it reminded me it was really close to the great steering that’s on my wife’s TJ 2003 TJ.
The TJ was hard for me to drive initially because the steering was so tight
Tony: The TJ was hard for me to drive initially because I was used to really holding that steering wheel and making changes. And the TJ was I had to really have double light touch because if I sneezed, we might wind up in the ditch, which I’m exaggerating, of course. But the steering was so different. And it may have been the steering box that they use, but I think it was the frame, because the TJ has a frame and you get very little flex, uh, whenever you’re, uh, putting that torque, especially with the larger tires, you, uh, get a lot less torque I’m sorry, a lot less flex, uh, from the power steering unit. Anyway, I did make that change later, uh, with the Iron Man Four x four stuff. Uh, and uh, it was really tight. The steering was very tight. But uh, that’s a story for a future episode.
Martin Stamel recommends Rough Country drop pitman arm for Jeep Wrangler
Tony: Hey, we’re excited to announce that on our next interview episode, we’ll be featuring a special guest interview with Martin Stamel. I apologize if I didn’t get that name pronounced right, but you guys know how I am. Uh, and um, Marvin has a YouTube channel. Uh, and I bet you a bunch of you guys already have heard of this. I’d never had. I’m sorry that, I mean, I’m surprised that I’d never had because this is just fascinating stuff. The YouTube channel is flex rocks and rollovers. A very interesting conversation, a lot of fun. And, uh, there’s some insight into being a successful YouTuber, and I, uh, think you’ll really enjoy it because, uh, we all want to know, what the special talent that you must have to be a successful YouTuber? Hey in the must have stuff, uh, for your jeep. Uh, I’m going to tell you about that pitman arm. And uh, now that I have experienced having two drop pitman arms, uh, for my XJ, I think going with a Rough Country drop pitman arm is just fine. So you can get a Rough Country or Drop Country drop pitman arm for an 87 through six, uh, Jeep Wrangler or 84 through one, uh, or 2021.
Announcer: Uh.
Tony: Uh, or 2001 Cherokee XJ part uh, number is 6605 and it is 49 95. Now, the thing that I was really surprised to see on my Amazon page, it says 100 have been sold in the last month. So there’s still quite a few Cherokees and Wranglers out there that people are, uh, lifting and needing to put on, uh, this drop pitman arm. So it helps maintain optimum turning radius, maintains proper drag link alignment. Again, that solves the bump steer issues, helps reduce steering vibrations. Interesting. I don’t know why it would do that, but that’s what it says here. Easy, uh, at home installation and support provided by Rough Country, uh, backed by Rough Country’s limited lifetime replacement warranty. Rough country does have, uh, or has had in the past. I haven’t had any warranty replacements on any of the Rough Country stuff that I bought other than the track bar that I bought, uh, from them and mildly, uh, wheeled. And it bent on me. Took me about three months to figure out it was bent, though. So it wasn’t, uh, a trail fix, uh, but anyway, they have a good warranty replacement, uh, at Rough Country, uh, and it’s the first lift I went with, uh, on the XJ. I’ve since changed out everything, I think the leaf springs on the rear, I believe, uh, those are, uh, Rough Country as well.
JTS Chick Chat is a women centric episode run by Julianne
Tony: So I just want to remind you about Chick Chat, or as we like to call it, JTS Chick Chat. It is our fifth episode a week now, it’s not every week, it’s every other week. And uh, the Chick Chat, as you can well imagine, is a women centric, uh, episode run by Julianne of Wrangle Her, and now of Jeep Talk Show and Wendy, uh, of Trails, uh, four, one one, and also to the Jeep Talk Show. So it’s great they get to talk to it’s not just women that they’ll be talking to, but that’s kind of the focus. Women that do offroading that actually, uh, work on their own rigs or are part of our own, uh, offroad businesses. And there’s a lot of them out there. And it’s wonderful hearing the stories from these women. And off roading, they’re just like the men’s stories, but it’s, uh, a little bit different angle. Uh, then it’s very interesting. For example, I’ve been most impressed. All our guests were very impressive. But when I found out that, uh, America’s Most Wanted four x four, that their primary welder is a 21 year old female, uh, that is in charge of all those modifications that happen. There’s two welders there, and she’s the primary one, the one that’s in charge. And, uh, that was really impressive to me, not only because she’s able to do it, but because something people that are selling $100,000, uh, Gladiators and Wranglers with, uh, these hemi engines and multiple, um, modifications, uh, trust her to do that kind of work. That says a lot about both, uh, uh, the lady and the company. Well, thanks for listening to this episode of The Jeep Talk Show. If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us improve the show and reach more Jeep enthusiasts like yourself. Also, don’t forget to follow us on social media like, uh, Instagram. Instagram is where we really like to post our stuff, but you can find us on LinkedIn, uh, the TikTok, uh, where else? Facebook. But, uh, yeah, check us out on Instagram. If you’re not following us, follow us and you’ll be able to get the latest information about all the episodes that we have from The Jeep Talk Show. Finally, if you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future episodes, we’d love to hear from you. Go to jeeptalshow.com contact and you will find multiple ways to contact us. Call in and leave us a voicemail like Larry did. Uh, we love hearing from our listeners. Hey, thanks again for listening and we’ll see you on the next episode of The Jeep Talk Show. Broadcasting since 2010.