Episode 1031 – Electric Gladiator?
And the crowd goes mild!
Jeep confirms that next year the Jeep Gladiator will join the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee as a 4xe.
It is very likely that the same powertrain already in the Wrangler 4xe will be what is used in the new Gladiator 4xe. I’ll just mention, you know because I love Greg, that he’s already created a 4xe Gladiator plus it’s a 2-door!
If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out the Quadratec TredLightly 50/50 JTe that premiered at SEMA 2022! You have to wonder if the popularity of this beautiful OEM Plus build from Unofficial Use Only helped sway Jeep into making their own version, just not a 2-door {cough} when {cough}
It’s all pink on the outside!
Well, maybe not the traditional pink, but Tuscadero Pink! It’s always possible that this color has nothing to do with the popular “Happy Days” and Fonzy love interest Pinky Tuscadero, but if you believe that well we know how you’re going to be voting… but I digress.
The 2024 Gladiator is available in Tuscadero pink, the only reason I can pronounce that is because of watching Happy Days!
It’s not pink, it’s not purple, but it is a bright great color. No not as good as red.
Newbie Nuggets with Wendy
Being a good spotter
In episodes 1018 & 1022 I discussed using a spotter and all the possible things you might witness as a driver when using a spotter.
In this episode I want to touch on being the spotter: How to be the best to help a new driver, or anyone, over an obstacle.
As I mentioned before, A spotter is like having an extra set of eyes outside your jeep to help you navigate over a rock, rut, obstacle, or ??. Once you are at and on the obstacle you can’t “see” what is happening underneath and a (good) spotter can help you through it.
Not all spotters are created equal. There are some that are excellent and others that are good and then there’s a few that… well I don’t need to explain. If you want to spot jeepers:
1) Get out of your jeep watch and learn what the jeeps are doing through an obstacle.
2) Learn the difference in how each jeep travels. Four doors vs. two doors vs the gladiator vs an older Jeep or other 4×4. They all travel differently.
3) Then add the experience of the driver and you have a mix of things to watch.
4) If you know someone in your group who is really good (doesn’t get jeeps stuck, is calm and encouraging) then mirror them. Ask them if they can help you learn. Listen and watch – it is really the best way to start.
5) Once you start spotting, it will make you a better driver. Just like driving makes you a better spotter.
6) Don’t be afraid to ask for additional help. It happened to me when I started. I’d get a jeep in a spot and wasn’t sure and I’d ask for help (Bill or Don). I trusted their experience and that’s how I learned. To this day, even with all my experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help or suggestions. It is all about giving that driver the best experience.
Some skills that help you be a better spotter
1) Figure out what method you plan on using to help your driver – verbal commands, nonverbal, etc. Sometimes this may take some time to develop
2) Make sure you discuss with the driver what method you are using and how those commands will be shown. Let them know what to expect. I always reinforce the STOP sign. I need them to really pay attention, especially in difficult situations. I need to think about safety for all.
3) Being a spotter generally puts you in charge/control of the area. You NEED to make sure the traveled area is cleared of other people, etc.
4) You need to have a calm and patient personality. If you get mad easily, yell, or can’t communicate well (w/male or female) – Spotting may not be for you. It’s not for everyone
5) Need to be able to keep the driver’s attention on you at all times while spotting. If you continually yell, scream, or give too many directions, the driver will not pay attention. Their success is your goal!
6) Need to be fit (to some degree). Being able to walk backward, climb up and over rocks, bend down to see what’s underneath, etc. When you wheel with me in the desert area, I’m always climbing up on rocks so the driver can see me. This is a very demanding part of the sport. Having good shoes for traction and your “head on swivel” is a good thing. You will be out of breath a lot LOL
7) A good spotter doesn’t bark orders, they encourage. Being able to figure out that one driver may be new and needs extra help while another may be experienced and don’t want/need the help is part of being a spotter
8) As a good spotter you cannot have an ego. Period! If someone doesn’t want to use me, I’m OK with that. Maybe I’ll learn a new line; maybe they will need my help, either way, I’m OK with that.
9) Need to always be willing to learn. There will always be someone better than you – maybe in a different way, but we can always learn from each other.
10) Best thing is a good spotter is hard to find. If you are lucky enough to be around one, learn from them and enjoy the sport.
Being a great spotter has been one of my specialties and I took to it pretty early on in my Jeep learning. I’m not sure if it was the coaches I had (Bill and Don) or just getting out there and watching, but whatever it is, I love to get jeepers up and over things and I love when everyone gets through and no one gets stuck. Doesn’t always go that way, but that’s what I plan for each time.
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Tony, I’m calling in to tell you you’re wrong and you’re a dumbass. Bavarian is a Bavarian-born and German-bred line of specialized Jeeps and RAM products, engineered by ORZ-GMBH in the heart of Munich. Bavarian products bring the strength and intelligence in design you expect from German engineering. Products such as Bavarian’s GeoRise 45 suspension, DTX rack and Bons wheels will keep your Jeep or RAM looking great and performing flawlessly for years. Our European customers can find us at meingep.de, now our US customers can buy directly from ORZUSA at bovarian.com, or contact our Carson City, Nevada facility at 1-800-815-0525. Hi, I’m Tony and welcome to the Jeep Talk Show, the premier show for Jeep enthusiasts and hardcore off-roaders. Whether you’re 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 in our news stories, Gladiator 4XE, or, you know, I’m going to get slapped from Jeep about that. 4 by E. Oh, please. Here we go again. 4XE, 4 by E. Come on. So it’s about time, isn’t it, Wendy? I think so. Maybe, maybe it’s too late. I don’t know. We’ll see. And Newbie Nuggets, Wendy shares how to be a good spotter. This is a, is this the third in the series of how to be a good spotter? Is this not all right? It’s a continuation. Yeah, it doesn’t matter. You get to say, yeah, it’s a third one. Then people can go back and say, you’re wrong. You’re lying. I’ll be back and listen to all of them. And of course, that’s how we get you. And the must have stuff for your Jeep, JL Off-Road Tail Lights. It’s not Oracle. I’ll just throw that in there right now. Oh, boy. All right. So you got to watch this episode on our YouTube channel. Wendy, did you know we were on YouTube now? I did. Yes, I know. I tried to get my hair done and no, just kidding. I just show up. Are you kidding? There is that downside to being on the YouTube business. There is. Yeah. You need makeup and wait a minute. I don’t have a crew anymore. What happened to that? That was part of my contract. The whole AI thing where it’s just these perfect looking people talking perfectly all the time. Yeah, I don’t think so.
Well, howdy, it’s Wendy. And stay tuned because I review what makes a great spotter. Very, very cool. I’d like to know, I still want to know how you know if it’s a great spotter or not without the first damage in your Jeep. I mean, yes, exactly. That would be obvious. Yeah. Sometimes it’s too late to find out. That’s right. All right. Now we’re going to beat up on the Jeep again. Here we go. And the crowd goes mild. I think this is a wonderful thing Josh used to say. That was M with a mild, not W-Y-M. Not a B with a billion. Yeah. That’s right. So Jeep confirms that the next year of Jeep Gladiator will join the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee as a four by E. Dun, dun, dun. I guess they have to, right? It’s all part of the lineup. Make sure they capture every dollar they can. Well, you know, we reported recently that the new EV only Jeep Recon is now potentially going to be an EV or an ICE vehicle that you can order one way or the other. Yeah, which tells me that they know and sales across the board on all kinds of vehicles, all platforms on the EV only is very, very low and slow and they’re trying to offload them. Like it’s just, it’s not going where they thought. Well, the, the gladiators have kind of been that way too. The sales for gladiators have been down. Well, and I, I think there’s some pluses to the four XE. I’m going to call it that. Just because you have the option. I think that would have been the best way to segue into electrified is they give us the option. We want to buy, we do half and half. I think that’s what we should be doing. So I’m kind of excited to see how this goes and how the sales go for this. I still maintain. I don’t like the idea of half assing it to half asses it to half asses. Don’t make a whole ass. Don’t make a whole ass.
Maybe we should test that theory. Wonderful Jeep talk show quotes that you get.
You learn all kinds of things here, folks. What you get, and I say it all the time, you got two systems that can fail on you instead of one and, you know, double the fund, double the price of fixing it. And who knows what one thing will cause the problem for the other. If they were two independent propulsion systems, then I’d say, Oh hell yeah. You know, it’s like a jet engine and a scram engine. You know, one one will get you up in the air. The other one will get you in outer space. That’s right. But that’s not we’re talking here with the four by E. So, you know, it’s very likely. It’s very likely and it makes sense. The powertrain already in the Wrangler four by E will be the one that’s used in the new Gladiator four by E. I mean, there’s no sense in re-engineering something new. And also too, we know what we’re going to get from the four by E. We’re going to get 30 miles off on road and three miles off road. Yeah, but it’s still a good, I mean, when you go electric and you start crawling, boy, is that amazing? Oh God, yes. Absolutely. Cork is unbelievable. So it is. There are some features that are good for it. I mean, we beat up the the EV stuff here quite a bit on the show, but but I don’t think anybody here is anti-EV. We’re just anti reasonable and we’re pro logic, pro facts. Yeah. And being from California, I can say forcing us. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s always a bad idea. Whenever you force a population to do something, it’s generally not going to go the way you want it to go.
And I don’t think, and honestly, I don’t jeep. I don’t think is the one forcing us. I think it’s the governments around the country, the local governments and the federal government.
Correct. They’re the ones, yeah, supposedly saving the planet. Yeah. Give me a break. Yeah. And the cool thing is, is that they cannot dictate to us. However, sometimes they, they try to and then bad things happen. Let’s not go off on that deep end. Yeah. Because you could do a whole show on just that. So I’ll just mention this, you know, because I love Greg and yes, don’t tell him that’s he, and he, he’s already created a four by E-glad eater. Exactly. Plus it’s a two door. So jeeps a little behind the wheel is what you’re saying a little behind the time. Yeah. They’re behind the back bumper. Not in a good way. Not a tail gunner here. So so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the Quadratec tread lightly 50 50 JTE that premiered at SEMA in 2022.
You have to wonder if the popular popularity of this beauty OEM plus build from an unofficial use only helps sway Jeep into making their own version, not just a two door when it should be. Yeah. No, I’m sure it did. It had to look at the how popular this was. And it’s, you know, it’s using their tread lightly uses it doesn’t don’t they? So they’re going out and driving it and doing stuff with tread lightly. Oh, Quadratec’s been using the hell out of this thing. I mean, it’s tread lightly. It’s used it for putting up those fences at EJS. And they drive that they drive the hell out of this thing. And it has as far as I know, it has had zero problems. Now it had a lot of problems when Greg was cutting it in half and redoing all the all the wiring and stuff. That’s called fabrication. It’s supposed to be fun. Yeah. Yeah. But apparently he figured it all out. So he did a wonderful job on here. I do not like the mix of the white paint on this. I think it would have been a lot better than black or something or gray like a dark gray. Yeah. Yeah. But it is an absolute absolute beauty and you can look at it if you don’t have you haven’t already seen this or you just want to look it up. You can look do that or just go to Jeep talk show.com and look for episode one zero three zero. And you know what? We’re recording this ahead of time and it may be that this isn’t one zero three zero. It might be one zero three one because Wendy, we have a new crew with doing the opposite weeks that you and Julianne do, Chick Chat. And they’re going to be doing a potentially be doing a Chick Chat coming up this weekend because we record this on Thursday or Friday. And this might actually be our episode here might actually be 10 31.
So hard to keep track anymore. You just have to stay with us every week to figure it out. Yeah. Yep. Yep. That’s right. Well, you know, just all you have to do is subscribe and you’ll be told when there’s a new, a new episode that you must go listen to. Yeah.
With Hoes, Tony, Josh, Wendy and Chuck.
Hey, Tony, guys, just listening to a getting caught up on some episodes while I’m out in the garage working this weekend.
And about the rock slides out at Black Bear Pass, all of that rock, that shale, that’s any of those slides like that, not just up there on Black Bear Pass, but any of them out here in the mountains are super unstable.
That none of that settled. It’s fresh.
Nobody, nothing’s been over it. There’s not any rainstorms that have caused it to settle or anything. So driving over it would be a very bad idea.
And with Black Bear Pass, if there’s a slide, you just put it in park and wait because they monitor it and will come up with equipment and clear the trail. People aren’t stuck on the trail for like days or anything like that. It’s literally hours that people are stuck when there’s a slide like that. It happens. It’s not actually that uncommon of an occurrence. It’s not like every day, but it happens a decent amount and they are prepared for it and have a crew in place that comes up and clears that. They usually have it cleared rather quickly. So, all right. Talk to you guys later.
Very cool. I’m like, I’m very happy to have, I think Wendy, you, Bill, Chip, several people have all echoed that same thing. So for all you Jeepers or off-roaders out there that didn’t know like I didn’t know, hopefully we got the word out to you and now you know. Sometimes you have to ask the hard questions and expose yourself as not knowing what you would do. But that’s how you learn. Ask a question or you say, “Hey, this looks easy to me. What do you guys all think?” But I think that’s what you have to do. I think you can’t just… This is the problem that I see is that, like I said, you have a Jeep, you’ve modified it. Do you sit there like an idiot when people are thinking, “Go, dumbass.” Or do you do what appears to be the right thing, wait and let it be cleared by somebody that has the right equipment? Well, I’m glad that he said too, that particular pass is monitored. So it’s not like they had to call and did their communications work or not work? Were they stuck there for a few days? You know, doesn’t even know they’re missing kind of a deal. So that’s good to know. I didn’t realize that they did monitor that particular one, but it makes sense because that’s pretty serious pass. And I think there’s probably the slides happen a lot there. Yeah. And if you watch that video, that bleeping Jeep video, there was a lot of people on foot. And I don’t mean they were like leaving their off-road vehicles behind. They were just hiking it. And they had to deal with the hail and the rain and the slides.
And I think if I remember right in that video, there was one spot where, or one part of the video where rocks, large rocks were coming down, basketball size rocks coming down off the side of the mountain there. And I think it actually went over one of the vehicles that was there in the run. So very dangerous situation.
All right. So it’s all pink on the outside, Wendy. I know. Yuck.
I’m a pink girl. Sorry.
I’m not. Well, it’s maybe not the traditional pink, but it’s Tuscadero pink. It’s always possible that this color has nothing to do with the popular happy days show and Fonzie love interest. Pinky Tuscadero. See, they just right swap those words. Tuscadero pink, pinky Tuscadero. You see what I’m saying here? Yeah, I know. But if you believe that, well, we know how you’re going to be voting.
But I digress.
So did you watch, were you a happy days fan? Did you watch happy days? Yeah, we loved it. And you remember pinky Tuscadero? Yes, of course. Not a, I’ll just say it, not an extremely attractive woman and especially for somebody like Fonzie. Yeah, exactly. You’re the thought.
But definitely somebody that stood out as a, I would dare say even like a, an off road woman, one that is not pushed around by men telling her you can’t do this and so on and
this is, this is back in the seventies. I believe it was seventies whenever happy days came out. And, but anyway, the 2024 gladiator is available in Tuscadero pink.
And the only reason I can pronounce that is because I watched happy days because everybody knows I can’t pronounce it anything on this show. Well, I don’t know if I like it. This the gladiator in this color, I don’t, that’s a lot. Well, it certainly is a, a bright, unusual color and it makes the Jeep stand out. I don’t know. And then, uh, I guess I’ll get some, some kickback on this, but I don’t know that as a man, I would want to be driving a Tuscadero pink Jeep as a woman. I don’t want to. Me. No, no, certainly. Yeah. No, it’s definitely definitely not a color for everyone, but it’s, I think it’s a need that Jeep has given you the option to make something to, and it’s only available for a limited time. So it’s not like this is going to be around forever. Didn’t they do this in the four door Wrangler and then they brought it back right this year. Yeah. Was it, was it two years ago? They had the, and it sold very, very well. In fact, I’m surprised they didn’t do more of it. Uh, and especially waiting a couple of years before they brought it back. Well, it makes sense that they would move it into the gladiator. You know, this color sold really well as, and maybe that’s going to help the sales as well. I don’t know. Yeah. It’ll be interesting to see what it is. It’s not for everybody. So yeah. Do you, do you have a, and I have no problem with it. If you do, do you have a negative connotation to the, to the, uh, the, the gladiators? I mean, it seems like a lot of people don’t really consider it a Jeep. No. I love how they are very capable.
Anybody I’ve wheeled with that has one, the people I know that have them, they are, they’re awesome and they’re doing some great things with them. So I’m all about the gladiator. I think it’s an excellent vehicle. I mean, they do have their challenges simply because of their length. Uh, and, uh, if you know how to drive and you know how to get, it’s, I’ve not seen any real issues with that. Actually it’s a benefit in a lot of these rock crawling areas too. I’m just amazed at how well it does off road. Uh, and it did, did so from the day I got it. We, cause I think we took it up to, to hidden falls within a day or a couple of days. We were just driving around and then went out there with it in its stock configuration
and it was, uh, it was, it was just so much fun getting off road with a brand new Jeep and having it do so well. I mean, it was impressive just on stock tires. Yep.
So, um, I dunno, uh, Tuscadero pink, it’s not pink, it’s not purple, but it’s a bright, great color. Yeah. No, not as good as red, but of course not, you know, yeah, you know, not everybody can do the red thing. It’s not for everybody. There you go. So there you go. Do you think the red is too, is just too bright and look at me type of color for some people? No, I love the red. I think the red is a good, it’s a color that you see. So when you’re out driving, hopefully people notice you and don’t run into you, you know, it’s like the yellow or some of these colors are really, really good. The blue is stunning. You know, it makes you really see the vehicle. So I just, for me, I think this Tuscadero pink is going to do the same thing, but it’s not for everybody. I remember driving and actually making this statement out loud while I was by myself and in the Cherokee, which is also red. Uh, and I remember, uh, driving on the road and somebody coming out on one of those strip centers or something and pull that out in front of me and I, and I’m like, it’s big. It’s red. How did you not see that? See it? How did you not see it? It happens all the time. It’s like, were you paying attention? No, no, no, I weren’t. Love it. So you know, that’s one thing I don’t think I ever remember seeing on, uh, on happy days was a Jeep. Uh, dukes or hazard had a Jeep. Uh, hell the walking dead had all plethora of Jeeps on that show. I don’t think, I don’t know. Yeah, right. I don’t think I ever saw a Jeep and it’s interesting. More about what the Cadillacs and Chevy. Yeah. All the, the fifties, the fifties. I mean, it’s not like Jeep didn’t, didn’t exist in the fifties. Uh, so it would have been a time specific. I mean, uh, certainly, uh, available as something that they could have. I guess it would have to have been a military thing and I don’t say it wasn’t cool back then. If, uh, if, uh, uh, I want to call him a camera, his name, I did, I did this the other day and somebody had to write in on the YouTube video what the name of the, of Garth was, uh, Dana. Oh, yeah. I’ll just call him Opie and everybody will know who it is. So I think Opie was an ROTC at one point on happy days. Uh, but I don’t ever remember seeing a Jeep course. It’s been a long time. I have to go look that up. I have to Google that and see if there was one. Oh, and speaking of army and ROTC, that was one of the colors that I thought about. Uh, whenever I went to get the 2021 Jeep talk show, glad eater was that, that kind of the military green sergeant sergeant green. Yeah, absolutely. And my wife says, look, you see that red one right there. That’s a pretty red. Get a red one. Yes, get a red one. It matches all the others. You have to give it wasn’t like, it wasn’t like a hard sell or anything. So, of course not. You didn’t have to twist your arm or anything. No, no, I love it. So Tuscadero pink. If you get one, let us know if you tried to get one, but they just weren’t available because they are all bought out. Yeah. Let us know. We’d like to know how, what you think about it, especially if you’re a, maybe you’re not going to get one, but maybe your man and you doubt you’d rock the Tuscadero pink. Let us know. Just reach out to us. Just go to Jeep talk show.com slash slash contact and you will find out all the ways you can contact us.
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I mean, that’s deep. That’s amazing.
Yeah. I was just amazed when I interviewed Patrick, owner of a Baguarian about the in Germany, them the German government allowing 39 inch tall tires on bead locks and a four and a half inch lift. I mean, I consider and no offense to Australia and New Zealand, but they’re kind of like East Texas. There’s a bunch of hillbillies that will do anything that they want and make it happen
and they can’t lift their vehicles in either one of those countries. I believe I remember that correctly. And to find out in Germany, you can. It just totally blows me away. I mean, it’s different countries, different laws. I understand. Mind boggling. But it’s just Germany just kind of seems like to me, it’s just like, you will do this. What is that thing where they say, knock, knock.
The guy slaps him and says, who’s there? And the guy slaps him. He goes, we will ask the questions. That’s right.
Tony, I’m calling in to tell you you’re wrong and you’re a dumbass only because you sit on the show to do so. So, but I wanted to make sure somebody did. And at the end of this, because I just did that, you can tell everybody what my name is.
Oh my gosh. F you, Bob, right? That’s right. I love it. Hey, thanks. Thank you, Bob. Because, you know, we have to tell the listeners exactly what’s going on here. It’s like when I give my wife a hard time, our daughters would just just laugh and giggle because you know, they’re they can’t do or say anything because that’s their mom. They must respect them. But whenever I do it, it just stays so funny.
Channeling their inner their inner child. And their mom is great. I just, you know, it’s always fun to get around the ones that have the say and the thumb on you all the time. What? Where’s the new new new new enemy? Newbie nugget. It’s time for newbie nuggets.
Well, this is an ongoing series of using a spotter. I did that on episode one thousand eighteen and one thousand twenty two, where I talked about you as a driver using a spotter and what to look for. So this one, I want to discuss about how to actually be the spotter. And I think it’s something that we don’t really touch base as long as I do a lot of newbie stuff and generally someone who’s spotting may be a little more experienced and not necessarily consider themselves a spotter, but you can be. So as I mentioned before, spotters like having an extra set of eyes outside of your Jeep helps you navigate when you’re on an obstacle or getting up to an obstacle. At some point, you won’t be able to see underneath what’s happening. So being able to utilize somebody to see for you is really what using a spotter is about. So I’m going to talk about you being the spotter. Now first, I want to say not all spotters are created equal. I have been out on many different runs, even in the beginning before I was a spotter and also after and not everybody is created equal. And that’s OK. There’s some excellent ones. There’s also some good ones. And then there’s a few that I don’t need to explain that.
But if you want to learn to spot, I’m going to give you some tips on how to kind of get started. First thing I’m going to say is get out of your Jeep, watch and learn what the other Jeeps are doing through an obstacle. And what I mean by what is that vehicle tracking? How does the vehicle get through? Who is the spotter? What are they doing?
You can learn the difference on how each Jeep travels. We’re talking about a four door versus two doors versus gladiator versus an older Jeep versus any other four by four. Each one of those vehicles might travel a little differently.
And I’m going to talk about picking a line on the next episode. And that is something that you have to understand is what’s the size and length of the vehicle and how will it travel through that obstacle.
You also need to add the experience, the driver that you’re watching, and you have a mix of things to watch, not only what the vehicle is doing, but also you’re learning, hey, was that person new or was that person experienced? And then how can I better their experience? And that’s really what we’re talking about here. So if you know someone that’s in your group that you will with that doesn’t get Jeep stuck is super calm and encouraging, I would mirror them. That’s one of the best ways to learn and ask them if they can help you to learn and then listen and watch.
That’s how the best way to do it. It’s really, really the best way to do it is to watch other people do it, ask them what they’re doing or listen to what they’re saying or the cues they’re giving. Now once you do start spotting, it actually makes you a better driver. And just like driving makes you a better spotter. When you understand how to pick a line and you understand where you’re putting your vehicle, when you’re on the outside as a spotter and you’re doing that for somebody, you’re actually doing things for yourself as a spotter to be a better driver. So believe it or not, they kind of work hand in hand.
One thing I would say is don’t be afraid to ask for additional help. It’s happened to me when I started. I didn’t know everything, of course. I still don’t. But if I got a Jeep in a spot and I wasn’t sure I’d ask for help, my, I don’t know, coaches, if you will, were Bill and Dawn. I was very fortunate to have two very experienced people who knew what they were doing and were calm and were able to train me. I trusted their experience and that’s how I learned. I felt super comfortable. So to this day, even with all the experience that I have, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help or suggestions. There’s always going to be a situation where I’m just not sure or I need to double check myself or I just need help. I’m not sure how this is going to work. It’s really about giving your drivers the best experience. Now I have a list of some skills that will help you be a better spotter. One is you need to first figure out what method you plan on using to help your driver. So we talked about in the last two episodes, verbal commands versus nonverbal. You really need to figure out what’s going to work for you and what system you like. This is also going to take some time to develop. So it’s not going to happen overnight that you’re going to certainly master these commands. You will have to practice them a little bit to understand what you’re doing.
One thing I love to do is always discuss with the driver what method I’m going to be using. So I’d recommend that you want to make sure you’re talking to your driver to let them know what commands will be shown. I’m very nonverbal. I don’t even, I just use complete hand controls. And so I want my drivers to understand what those signals are going to mean. I always, always reinforce the stop sign. Remember that’s when I do this with my hand.
Any driver, even if you’re experienced, I’m going to remind you that if I say stop at mean stop and that’s more of a safety thing. So I need them to pay attention and I need to make sure that if it’s super difficult situation that I may be stopping them along the way because I need to get out of the way. So there’s really important to go over that with your drivers.
Usually when you’re a spotter, it’s kind of puts you in charge or control of the whole situation, believe it or not. So if you, if you’re a girl, you may need to use your outside voice as I call it that somebody’s not paying attention. Your job is, if you are in charge of that, is to make sure that that whole area going over the obstacles where the vehicle’s going to travel is cleared of other people. And we’ve talked about it where we all love to watch, we all like to come, and sometimes we all have opinions. But the spotter’s job is to be in control of that vehicle, but also making sure that there’s no safety issues going on. So don’t be afraid that you need to exert yourself sometimes. And I’m just saying that as a woman, because sometimes some guys don’t necessarily want to listen. That’s fine. But it’s, I had to holler, I had to holler back at you and go, I can’t turn it any further. I can’t do it. I can’t do it. It won’t turn. The wheel won’t turn. It won’t turn anymore. Exactly. So, but just know that that’s possible. You know, and sometimes there’s a situation where a guy doesn’t want to take instructions from a woman. Sometimes women don’t want to take instructions from women. Trust me, it’s all out there. So just know that that is something that you need to be aware of as that safety issue.
Being a good spotter, you need to be calm and have a calm and patient personality. If you get mad easily, yell, can’t communicate with a male or a female, spotting may not be for you. It is not for everyone. So don’t take this upon yourself if you have a tendency to just get, you know, ticked off because somebody looked wrong or something. It really isn’t about that. It’s about that driver’s experience. You need to be able to keep that driver’s attention on you at all times, while spotting.
If you’re continually yelling or screaming, give too many directions, too many commands, that driver is going to lose their attention span with you and probably not pay attention. And that happens a lot. Just check out YouTube. There’s so much of that.
You also need to be fit to some degree. I’m not saying it to be in shape. That’s right. But you do need to think about what terrain you’re going to be on.
Being able to walk backwards, climbing up and over rocks, bending down to see what’s underneath. The spotter is kind of like a little monkey. You know, we’re sometimes jumping around. But sometimes, like I tell you about some terrain, you can’t jump from rock to rock to slip. I’ve done it. I’ve fallen on terrain in the desert, believe it or not. You know, a rock gets you. You’re just not necessarily you’re so focused on that driver that you can slip and fall. So being fit just means that you need to be aware of your surroundings, making sure that the driver can always see you. If you wheel with me any time in the desert, I am climbing rocks to make sure that you can see me because sometimes the vehicle is pointed up, pointed down. I might have to bend down. I might have to get up high so that you can always see that driver and the driver can see you. So having good shoes is important for traction and your head on a swivel. You’re constantly looking around for safety things. You’re looking around for all sorts of things that you need to be aware of.
Good spotter doesn’t bark orders. Man, I’ve been at gatekeepers and watched husband and wife teams. I call them that.
Man, it’s like being at the boat dock. Have you ever been to a boat dock and watched people try to back their vehicles in and watch their boats or pick up their boats from being out in the lake all day? It is worth the hamburger and beer to sit and watch, seriously. So if you want to go for fun and you want to see what not to do, go to some gatekeepers, sit around and watch. And it’s just it’s very sad. But do not bark orders. It’s not going to get your drivers to be encouraged to want to wheel with you. And it’s really about their experience in getting through. So it’s important to make sure that you’re there to help them.
There’s no ego in spotting. I’m going to just say it. If someone does not want to have me spot them, I’m OK with that. I don’t have to prove anything. They don’t have to prove anything to me. Maybe I’ll learn their new line. Maybe they’re going to need me to help. Either way, I’m OK. It doesn’t matter. But if you have an ego where you have to get everybody through and you think it’s important and it makes you feel better, spotting may not be for you. And it doesn’t give that driver a really good experience for that particular run. There’s no there’s no trail ride that requires you to follow a spotter, right? I mean, ultimately, your pilot in command and it’s it’s your your Jeep and your nickel responsibility as a driver. And I talk about that the other two episodes where you do get to pick your spotter. And if you’re a newbie and you’re not sure what to do, get out and watch. That guy’s yelling at people and getting them stuck. Ask a friend to help you. At least it’ll be something better. But as a spotter, you always need to be willing to learn.
There’s always going to be someone better than you. I don’t care what industry sport you’re in. Maybe it’s a different way, but we can always learn from each other. I’m always learning. And when I’m out with other experienced drivers and they’re spotting somebody over, I might not pick that line for my my Jeep or whoever I’m helping. But I’m watching what they’re doing. I’m always trying to pick up cues, you know, technique. Did that work or not work? Or I know why that didn’t work. Like I’ve learned now I can watch somebody going over an obstacle and I know why something didn’t work and I know why it worked. Don’t ask me how I know that I just experienced, you know, so always be willing to learn. And the last thing I’m going to leave you guys with is best thing is a good spotter is hard to find. It really is hard to find. But if you’re lucky enough to be around one, learn from them and enjoy the sport. Being a great spotter has been one of my specialties and I took to it pretty early in my Jeep learning. I’m not sure if it was the coaches I had with Bill and Dawn or just getting out there and watching.
But whatever it is, I love to get jeepers up and over things. And I love when everybody gets through and no one gets stuck. It doesn’t always go that way, but that’s what I plan for each time. So hopefully as a spotter, there’s some tips you can take to make you a better spotter and make your group even have a better experience. So hopefully it’s going to be some helpful, helpful tips. So one thing you didn’t mention here that I have a question about and really it’s the question for the spotters. Hell, I guess it could be a question for anybody. I mean, I recommend not getting out of the Jeep because it’s tough out there. I’ve never getting on John Bolden trying to walk around. It’s like, holy crap. Yeah. I like this uphill. Yeah. It’s like, this is easy for the Jeep. It’s not easy for me and my fat ass. So what’s a good shoe to wear? I mean, how do you pick a shoe? Well, like a hiking shoe. I mean, there’s people who wheel in sandals and flip flops and crocs and hey, more power to you. But when you get into crawling and you’re doing some terrain differences, we’re not talking about a fire road or just a fun little graph. You should have some sort of shoe that has traction, probably even some ankle protection. So maybe like, I don’t know, like a hiking boot.
That’s hard to do for some people, especially where it’s harder climates and they don’t want to have heavy shoes on. We wheel in the desert. I hate when it’s 110 degrees. I mean, it’s like, oh my gosh, but I’ve got to wear the shoes because I have better traction around that slippery rock. So I would say something with tread on the bottom. Tony. Think of it like an ice skate, I guess, because if you’re ice skating and you’re not used to it, you need a lot of ankle support because pivoting on that, that blade is very, very difficult. And I would imagine that some rocks are like that where it’s a, it’s an unsure positioning and you could wind up twisting your ankle pretty easy. Well, and you have to look when you’re backing up in a sense, cause you’re moving the Jeep forward and you’re backing up is that you also need to look at those rocks before you land. Um, a lot of them, especially in our area, they’re not stable and stuck in like concrete. They’re just loose. So if you had a rain or sort of a snow season, uh, that stuff gets loose. So it’s always testing things. So I will do a lot of stopping where I make the Jeep stop. I will turn around, look at the path I need to take, reposition myself, and then I will bring the Jeep through further. So I don’t just make it continual or have the Jeep keep moving while I’m turning around and walking away. Um, that stop is super important as a spotter to really be in control to make sure that you’re getting them. And it’s also learning where to stop the Jeep. If the Jeep needs to come up over a certain spot and then you can stop them as opposed to halfway up or coming off of something. That’s another thing you got to learn because starting uphill, climbing and trying to with no traction, maybe the ground slippery or there’s that’s still, we have up here super slippery. Um, it’s not stopping them too soon. So there is lots of things to think about as being a spotter. So, but yeah, it depends on where you, where you stop to, especially if you’re off camber, uh, that first step getting out of the Jeep may be a doozy or getting back. I’ve actually had it back up. Yes. Exactly. Like on John bull, you know, where that after the gatekeeper, it’s like this nice, you know, super high incline and you know, it’s like a rut in there too. You can get yourself in a position where you get out and you’re like, Oh, this is easy. Getting back in, you’re using the back tire, climbing on your rock slider and getting in because you cannot reach. You can’t jump up. You can’t leave. And heaven help you if your foot is slippery, uh, is wet or something. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s, it’s fun. It’s all about, it is an adventure and that’s one of the things that makes it so great. It is.
In the mind of Nikki G. Hey, this is Nikki G and, uh, Tony and Wendy talked about alternative fuels like electric and, uh, compressed gas and hydrogen. And we’re forgetting the most plentiful resource we have. Watch is going to be methane from our farts. Yes. It’s not a charging station. We could just have a Taco Bell on every corner. I imagine here in the United States alone, we will have enough gas to provide unlimited transportation.
Well, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling to tell you that when I die, I want to be cremated. Yeah. It’s my last chance to have a smoke and hot body. I did not see that coming. What can I say? It’s been a slow week. I’m not. Congratulations. Have a good one. Bye.
Three taco Supremes per mile. I think it’s what he’s thinking. If the, with the political climate, we might have enough gas. Well, I don’t think, I don’t think he’s even the political climate. I think it’s all politics all the time. I know. God, I hate politics. I know. All right. So coming up later on this week, we are going to be talking with Chris. What do you, I’m going to say picante just because I like. There’s no T in it. Pecony.
I’m going to say the Coney. Yeah. That’s just the way for me to let you pronounce it.
So Chris, yeah. So Chris is a classic four by four and I’m just going to say it. This rat bastard gets to sell other people’s classic off-road trucks. Oh yes. Oh, if you go over to classic four by four.com, you will see some amazing rigs like the, the OJ Simpson Bronco, not the specific one OJ used, but like that model.
And I would believe talking to Chris in the interview, I was actually looking at a K5 Blazer that he purchased, which I think was either the same year or very close to the year of my 83 short oil base Chevy truck. And I just loved that truck. I don’t think I had that truck, but maybe a couple of years before the birth of my first son was coming about and it was a, it was a two door truck and it was, you know, 12, 12 inches up in the air and there was this no way you’re going to get a baby in there. So I had to trade it and it gets something else, but I loved that truck. And this is definitely in the classic four by four realm. So yeah, give, give a listen to this interview. I think you’ll find it a lot of fun and just see, just find out how cool it was that Chris took something that was just something that was a hobby to him and turned it into a business at classic four by four.com. Love it.
All right. In our must have stuff for your Jeep. Now I thought this was really cool. There’s more people, more companies getting into the tail light replacement. And I think Jeep kind of made this happen because of the way they designed the tail lights, especially on the gladiators where they just kind of hang out. And I don’t mean having hanging out and having a good time. I mean, they hang out away from the body so far. Yeah. So you can clip them. And they, they, they tend to, uh, you know, uh, get broken very, very easily. Yes. We’ve heard about that, Tony. So motor built has come out with a high clearance tail light for the Jeep JL at the price tag of only $769, which I’m a little surprised at, frankly. That’s for two. Maybe we would hope. I don’t know. I’m asking when one shows up, you go, damn it.
No, it is for a pair. But this is a really, really cool aftermarket light. Now it’s not that fancy curvy looking thing that you can get from Oracle. Uh, but it is definitely an off-road light. Wendy, you can see it here. This is a good looking tail light. Yeah. And, and I think that they have, uh, some, some aftermarket, um, led, um, Mark, I forget who it is. Wasn’t it with now. Uh, but, uh, it probably says here, I’m probably going to read it here in a second. But anyway, uh, it has some really nice aftermarket lights in there and, uh, the high clearance tail lights, uh, unleash your jeeps, JL full potential motor built high clearance tail lights designed to help you conquer the toughest terrains, I’ll give me a break and reduce the chances of damage drive into adventure with confidence and style. Let nothing hold you back. Not even the dark. Um, so you can go over to motor built, uh, and check this out. We’ve got the link and the show notes for episode one, zero three zero, or trying to one one zero three one based on what I was saying earlier. Either one. Yeah. Just look at them all. I say, so I think this is a really cool and I’m glad to see that there, we’re getting multiple, uh, multiple, uh, not chances, multiple, uh, selections, uh, for replacing the, the stock tail lights. Yeah, we have choices. Exactly. It’s always good to have choices. Very cool.
So, uh, the JTS chick chat is back and be sure to look for new chick chat episodes on Monday and I said, not necessarily this Monday, but all Mondays because we are looking at having a chick chat every Monday. Don’t panic, Wendy. You know, we’re bringing in, uh, another pair of chick chatters, uh, to help out to cover every Monday and every month. Good. I’m glad to hear that. It’ll be fun. Yeah. Yeah. Cause, uh, women need a voice on the Jeep talk show. And, uh, if you don’t, if you’re not already aware, if you’re not aware of the chick chat episodes, uh, there is, I’m not on there. Uh, there’s, there’s no, uh, male, uh, host. It is all female hosts. So, uh, you can, uh, feel like you’re in a, God, I hate to say safe space, but a place where you’re, you’re dealing with other women and you can ask the questions that, uh, maybe you feel more comfortable, uh, asking women, uh, uh, the questions or making your comments too, uh, because men can be kind of rough and the more they like you, the rougher they are.
All right. So, uh, the Jeep talk show off road event, Texas coming up on June 7th and 8th. Are you coming? Please fill out our form. Just go to Jeep talk show.com slash contact to find the link for this form. Uh, we now have just got to remember to create the form before this, uh, this published, if you go there and you go, where’s the form? Where’s the form? I heard about it. Send me a message and say, Hey, Tony, where’s the form?
But anyway, it’ll be there. Uh, eventually we’d like to know if you’re going to come and whether you’re going to be there for the seventh and the eighth or just the trail ride on the eighth. So we’ll be at the hidden, uh, uh, hidden Valley. I always do that. Uh, hidden falls adventure park in the United even Texas. And you know what it’s called, but I know what it’s called.
That’s how much I suck. So, uh, we’ll be there at the, uh, the hidden falls adventure park on the eight. Uh, but June the seventh bill and, uh, John Lee are going to be taking everybody around to some nearby locations. And I think it’s going to culminate in a, uh, a nice Texas barbecue place that you can purchase a lunch at and talk about how, how much better the barbecue is from Tennessee or Kansas or wherever, wherever the hell you’re from. Here it starts. And John Lee will explain to you why you’re wrong. That’s right. I’m just going to say he’s going to give them an education. So we have another Jeep talk show meetup coming this month, uh, the month of May. Keep listing for the date. It will be an old town, Katie, Texas at Katie crossings, uh, ice house. It will be on a Sunday. Uh, and it will be from 1 PM to 4 PM. Uh, stay again, stay tuned for the specific date.
All right. So we need your help. We love all the Patreons subscribers that we have, uh, that have signed up where we’re not seeing any more subscribers. What’s going on? I don’t know. Are you not entertained informed or just don’t think the show is worth $5 for four episodes a week? Yeah. I’m making you feel bad. Well, maybe we should charge 10. Like they need to see the value, give them a higher dollar. Five dollars is just a suggestion. They can put, they can do a billion in there if they want to. That’s with a V. Uh, and, and, and these four episodes are both audio only and audio and video on YouTube, and it’s not a static image. You actually see our shiny little faces with our shiny little smiles. Uh, yeah. Yeah. So, uh, and that just means more editing for me, which, uh, I’m getting used to. I like it. I like doing the YouTube thing. Uh, the amazing guests that we have, uh, often with products you didn’t even know existed, you get from the Jeep talk show. And if you do, you can get details that may not be in that slick sales ad that they have or even YouTube videos, because we go in depth talking to these people about their product and maybe where they came up with the ideas and even where the directions they may be going with a future product. So this is stuff you get from the Jeep talk show. So I recommend, and I think it’s imperative as I would to go to jeep talk show.com slash contact right now and subscribe. You can unsubscribe at any time, but as Josh once said, but why would you? Why would you? There’s no reason to so much content and knowledge that we provide and laughter. So yeah, exactly. Uh, support the show. You love the Jeep talk show.
All right. Thank you 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 fah, favorite fah, fah, favorite podcast platform. I don’t know where these words come from. It’s so strange.
Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram. Uh, we love to see your posts on Instagram and hopefully you like ours as well. It’s so funny. I posted a bunch of past images, uh, today on Instagram and there was a one person actually, cause I did the, I put up the, the, the, uh, uh, next in tires that got delivered to the house and they’re all, they’re all stacked there, but you know, in the, uh, at the front door and somebody says, I thought you already have the 35s on the gladiator.
Yeah, I do. This, this is the, this is the past. We’re reliving things here. It’s a throwback Thursday. Oh, wait, it’s, you know, I put up so much stuff from the editing of the, uh, the YouTube videos and I thought, you know, let’s, let’s put some stuff up about the XJ let’s put some stuff up about the old, uh, the, the original gladiator before it started to get modified and stuff. Yeah. And uh, yeah, exactly. Maybe. And there’s probably people out there that have subscribed to us on Instagram that have never seen them before. So yeah, we put them out there.
So anyway, you can sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and Jeep events. Finally, if you have any questions or comments or ideas for future episodes, and I know Wendy and, uh, Larry both would love to have some ideas. Uh, we’d love to hear from you. Just go to Jeep talk show.com slash contact and you’ll find multiple ways to contact us. Hey, thanks again for listening and we’ll see you on the next episode of the Jeep talk show, Wendy, thank you so much for being here with us and, uh, we’ll see you next week. Yeah.
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