Episode 462 – Jeep, Don’t Call It a Concept…
This episode brought to you in part by, ExtremeTerrain! Be sure to check out the latest episode of ExtremeTerrain’s Throttle Out YouTube Series where host Merideth Evasew selects her top 5 Wrangler mods you should consider for your JK. Since the JL and Gladiator are currently taking a lot of the spotlight, this video will appeal to owners of the longest-running Wrangler generation since the CJ.
This Week In Jeep:
The “Top Dog” Concept Jeep
Jeep has built a custom offering for SEMA like it has done every year for god only knows how long. This year, it’s a Gladiator. Go figure. LAst year the all new Jeep Gladiator JT was one of the most represented trucks in the whole show, with many of the more popular manufacturers opting to showcase their latest R&D with Jeeps newest platform. This year, Jeep’s Gladiator Top Dog concept is a parts and accessories showcase built specifically for the SEMA auto show, which is taking place virtually this year. The 4×4 pickup has been reimagined as the ultimate mountain biking base camp with auxiliary lighting, rock rails, a two-inch lift kit, roof racks for bikes and gear, and a PCOR (Patriot Camping Offroad https://explorationoutfitters.com/pages/pcor-tray) flatbed storage system in place of the stock bed. And this thing… is packed with some interesting accessories. Along with lots of storage drawers and shelves, there is a battery-powered refrigerator and just because I am sure Jeep is having some fun with us, it’s literally got a hot dog roller grill installed next to the fridge. I mean with all the wildfires we had this year, maybe Jeep is playing it safe. I mean why build a campfire now, when you can have that classic convenience store taste right out in the middle of the woods. Ok that’s cool and all, but uhh… once again, I’ve got to be the bad guy who is faced with the task of calling Jeep out on their complete lack of originality in this one. I’m honestly completely shocked that the social media and Jeep worlds combined are making this a damn near viral story. Nearly posted enough times to compete against the news of the election results. Seriously, that’s how many outlets are talking about this, and how many times this news has been shared or re-reported. Yet, once again, The Jeep Talk Show is the only one who sees through the marketing glitz, advertising glam, and bullshit to point things out for what they really are. And in this case, this is absolutely almost the EXACT same vehicle that Dynatrrac brought to LAST YEAR’S SEMA show. Dynatrac https://www.dynatrac.com/ in 2019 unveiled their CODEX Jeep Gladiator build. Easily more of a concept vehicle than that Jeep bolt-on-extravaganza. Dynatrac actually changed the wheelbase of their SEMA rig, to make the JT a little more off-road obstacle friendly by doing what we all wish Jeep would have done in the first place, and shrunk the wheelbase down by making the Jeep a true extended cab 2-door truck. They even dropped a 707 HP Hellcat engine in it for good measure, and put the thing on 4” of lift and 40” tires. There is absolutely no mistaking this beast for an offroad dominator. The same however cannot be said for what Jeep is calling a concept vehicle. I’m actually quite disappointed. Jeep historically has done a very impressive job when it comes to their concept vehicles.
Man who flipped Jeep with front end loader will not face any jail time
I’ve got to propose this question in the fireside chat segment one of these days… Have you ever been so mad at your wife or husband that you would have taken a piece of heavy machinery, a front end loader for instance, and used it to flip that person’s Jeep clean over on to its top? I’m not sure what she said or did, but that’s JUST what this New Mexico man did in January of 2018. So why are we talking about it now? Well although this IS technically a story which has a Jeep at its core, It’s just one of those head scratchers that gets more strange as the story goes on. So the guy then leads police on a nearly half hour slow-speed chase IN said front end loader. I mean, he’s no OJ Simpson, but this guy has my imagination working overtime trying to put mental images to all of this. But wait there’s more! The chase only ended when the Roosevelt County Sheriff pulled his service weapon out and shot the now 50-year-old Jeep flipper James McFarlin in the head. That’s right, this incident taking place nearly two full years ago (at the time of this recording), involved a man being shot in the head, …and he lived. Yesterday, there was a hearing, and during his court date, McFarlin says he knows what he did was wrong, but outlined how difficult his life has been since being shot. Gee ya think?! Due to being shot in the head, he is disabled and unable to work or drive. He’s had multiple surgeries and hospital visits. A few weeks ago, he even had a fainting episode and a seizure that almost killed him. Back in January 2018, deputies were called out to McFarlin’s home when neighbors say McFarlin came home in the front end loader. He then crushed his ex-wife’s Jeep and flipped it over in his front yard, then took off. During the 20 minute chase that followed, McFarlin refused to pull over for deputies and ultimately drove into an empty field. Deputies say he ignored emergency lights and several commands to stop, so they fired, shooting McFarlin. McFarlin told deputies he was going through a divorce and Wednesday, his attorney’s say this behavior was a one-time thing, also pointing to his ongoing, critical health issues. The judge ruled that sending McFarlin to jail wasn’t needed. “However, I am sentencing the defendant to serve one year on house arrest with an electronic monitor at his own expense,” said the Judge. McFarlin is only permitted to leave his home for medical appointments or emergencies for the next year. Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker also spoke during the hearing saying he thinks about shooting McFarlin in the head every day and regrets having to do so. McFarlin also filed a federal lawsuit against Roosevelt County claiming the sheriff used excessive force. That case is still making its way through the court.
Newbie Nuggets:
Hi-lift Jack – Do you have one and have you used it?
The Hi-Lift jack is probably one of the most recognized accessories on a jeep. Almost every jeep that does off-roading has one. It’s that large “jack” that is mounted near the spare tire and sometimes you see them mounted on the hood near the windshield. Doesn’t matter where it’s mounted, it is sure to make a rattling sound as you wheel through the rocks and down that dirt road. Hi–lift jacks are an essential tool that you need to have on board and you may not EVER use it. But you will be glad you have it IF you need it. It is primarily designed to help when you get high centered on rocks or debris. It is a very versatile tool and is great for jacking the vehicle up for tire replacement but is mostly used for building the road under the tires when you get high centered. Hi-Lift jacks lengths range from 32’ to 60”. Most common is 48” for most of the JK’s. It is fairly easy and simple to use, but you must be aware this can also be a very dangerous tool if you don’t follow basic safety rules. Make sure you read the operating manual before using this tool. Serious damage to your body (human) can occur if you don’t follow instructions and maintain proper safety while using a Hi-Lift jack. If you are unsure about using it DON’T – let someone show you how to use it, or let them operate it and you watch. It’s that serious. Operating a jack seems simple – you place it where you need to lift the jeep, like a flat bumper or rock slider, “lift” the jeep hi enough to insert rocks or debris, remove the jack and drive the Jeep away. Sounds easy right? Sometimes with lifted Jeeps, if you lift from a bumper or rock slider, the suspension will travel a long way before actually lifting the tire off the ground. And here’s a suggestion: If all you need to do is lift the tire high enough to stack rocks, Hi-Lift makes the Lift Mate. You attach the Lift Mate to the spokes of your wheel and lift only the wheel off the ground and stack the rocks under the tire. Easy and you don’t have to lift the entire jeep for just a few inches of clearance. (Link in the show notes) Here’s a few things to be aware of when operating the jack: 1) You will need to lubricate the Hi-Lift jack often to keep the working parts working smoothly. If you haven’t lubed your jack in a while, now is a great time to do it BEFORE you need the jack. 2) Place chocks, blocks or rocks in front of or behind the tires to secure the jeep BEFORE using the jack. The Hi-Lift jack can go really hi, but that also means it can get very tippy at the top of the travel. Take care to see if the Jeep starts to shift one way or another as you raise it. If the jack starts to tilt too far you may need to reposition the jack to prevent this tilting. 3) Place the jack under a flat bumper or rock slider. Somewhere it won’t slide out as you raise the Jeep. Some bumpers and rock sliders have built in areas specifically for the jack to fit into. This is much safer than just a “flat” area under your bumper, so if you have these areas, familiarize yourself with them and use them. 4) Position the handle away from you, and against the vertical steel climbing bar. Stay out of the way of the travel of the jacking handle. If you’re jacking the Jeep down, the weight of the Jeep can cause the handle to swing up quickly and if it makes contact with your head it can break your jaw, or worse. 5) Only lift one tire at a time or one point of the jeep at a time. Don’t try to lift the whole jeep. The tall Hi-Lift jack can be very unstable as you lift higher and higher. 6) Do not go underneath the jeep while using the Hi-lift jack. If the load fails, it could cause great bodily harm. You don’t want to become one more Darwin Award recipient. 7) Do not drive OFF the jack – lower the jack slowly to avoid possible injuries. The jack could “spit out” as you move off and it could hit you or someone standing nearby. At the very least, Murphy’s Law will dictate a huge dent in the side of your Jeep from the jack hitting the jeep. 8) When finished, carefully lower the jack and release the tension built up from the load. THIS IS WHERE MOST ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. Make sure your head and body parts are clear of the jack while operating. If it goes, and you are in the way, it will cause serious harm. So even with all the warnings, this is a great tool to have on board. We had to use one on a jeep once – the driver didn’t follow the spotter’s line and got himself in a real pickle. WE tried everything to get him out, but had to use the hi-lift. It worked beautifully and we made sure all were clear. Some trail runs require certain equipment to be on the run and this may be on the list. So if you run out and buy one and plan on using it, make sure you understand how to operate it safely and correctly for the task at hand. Now you just have to figure out where to mount it and how to keep the “rattle” down to a minimum ughhhh. We have a cover on ours and it still rattles! HI-Lift – prices vary $80 to $140 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=HI-lift+jack&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 Lift Mate link – $38 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00042KGWG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_imm_awdb_lUePFbZVJ6FA8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Tech Talk With Jeep Talk:
Almost everyone knows that it’s important to keep your tires properly inflated for everyday driving on surface streets and highways. But here on the Jeep Talk Show, we like to spend as much time OFF road as possible, and more often than not, that means airing down. We’ve talked several times here on the show about the importance of airing down, what it means to do so, how to do it, and with what gear. I know both Tammy and Wendy in each of their own segments have talked at least a couple of times about WHEN to air down your tires, and what benefits you gain by airing down. But one of the things that we’ve only briefly touched on is how MUCH does a Jeeper need to air down? For those completely new to the offroad world, when you air down your tires you are increasing the contact area. How this works and what that means, is that as the pressure in the tire gets lower the more rubber touches the ground at any given time. Not only do you increase your traction, it also provides a smoother ride by allowing the now softer tires to absorb the impacts rather than transmit it like a very stiff tire would. Also, going along with the softer tire concept, you reduce the risks of punctures because your tires can be pushed in more rather than being a solid surface that can be stabbed through rather easily. Ok, so now that everyone is up to speed on the how’s, why’s, and when’s, let’s talk about how much. For some Jeepers the magic number is whatever your buddy is doing. Although this may work to a certain extent, you may find that trial and error work best to find what is optimal for YOUR set up. Now, it goes without saying that aftermarket wheel and tire configurations will outperform anything off the dealer’s lot any day of the week. Think I’m wrong? Let’s see how far your stock setup can air down when compared to a Jeep on beadlocks. Yes… there IS a line in the sand when it comes to how much you can air down, and it’s completely dependent on a few factors, and we’ll go over them here in a second. The biggest risk in airing down too far is losing a bead. This is where the tire unseats itself from the rim, and you lose ALL air pressure and any traction whatsoever. The wheel is just spinning inside the tire, and the tire is sitting there doing nothing. Obviously this is taking things too far, but wouldn’t happen at all if you were running beadlocks. Beadlocks are designed to …wait for it… lock the bead of the tire to the wheel. This is done with mechanical force, by pinching the bead of the tire to the rim between a ring bolted to the rim itself. This type of specialty wheel allows you to run extremely low tire pressures, clear down to the single digits in most cases. Although some other wheel and tire combinations can get you close, it’s oftentimes risky to do so. The experts are going to tell you that generally speaking, there’s no “magic formula” when it comes to the right air pressure. And I would have to agree, based on my experience I have tried to come up with one, but failed to create a formula that worked with wheel and tire combinations that I know for a fact cant air down as far as others. What do i mean by that? Well for instance, most seasoned wheelers will tell you that having a larger difference in wheel width vs tire width will produce more bead pressures, allowing you to reduce overall tire pressures more without risking losing a bead. For example, you could take a 12.5” wide tire on an 8” rim down in pressure lower with less risk than you can take that same tire on a 10” wide rim. There will be some out there that will challenge this, just like there ARE a couple guys out there running 40” tires on a locked Dana 35 rear end that will swear it’s just fine and have the videos to prove it. That doesn’t mean the rest of us will EVER get that lucky. And that’s just what that is LUCK, and nothing more. While it does depend on your tires, vehicle, the trail/terrain conditions, (and how often you go off-roading) most enthusiasts and experts are eventually able to determine the perfect amount after several test runs. With that said, I will repeat what Wendy has stated as a good starting point for all of you. That would be the magic number of 15. 15 PSI is a safe and relatively effective pressure to run offroad. I personally prefer a pressure of around 11 to 13 psi, but again, that’s just years of experience with the wheels and tires I run. I know my rig well, I know its capabilities, and what the trials around here have to offer and what that means for my tires. I highly suggest playing around with tire pressures, starting with the 15 psi mark and go down from there incrementally each time you go out wheeling, until you find where the sweet spot is for your own Jeep. Good luck Jeeper. Oh and for F’s-sake, make sure you have a good, high quality tire gauge, or all this is a moot point.
Jeep Life:
Top 5 Accessories I Don’t Use Anymore
Hey guys. Last week was fun adding the Zoom people to the whole show. It was a nice break from the norm. Always a good thing. So back to the Jeep Life Norm my Top 5’s. Anyone who has been following me on my blog at Jeepmomma.com or on my YouTube channel or here on the Jeep Talk Show knows how much I love Top 5’s. I would share my Top 5 accessories, modifications, tools and etc. I kind of ran out of topics, so I decided to go back and look at those top 5 items to see if I am still using them. So, this week it’s My Top 5 accessories I have tried at one time or another and don’t use anymore for one reason or another. The first item is a window roll. This is a storage system for your vinyl windows when you are not using them. When you decide you want to go topless in your Jeep you can roll up those soft top vinyl windows into this protective storage system and attach it to the Jeep. It is a great idea and I used it several times when I first had my Jeep. But now I am too lazy and just put the windows flat in the back when I decide to put the soft top all the way back or even just to take the windows out. The second item is Seat Gap organizer. I remember when I first shared this on the Jeep Talk Show as a Jeep Momma Review I remember Josh asking some questions about it moving around. At the time when I was just traveling to work or grocery store most of the time it seemed to work fine. Now I am finding over time it’s more of a pain since both Neil and I take turns driving and we are moving the seats back and forth a lot and the seat gap would get moved around too so I no longer use it. However, I have been finding a lot of missing items under the seat since it’s not there anymore. The third item… that stubby antenna. The reason most people get one of these to avoid the tree branches while off roading. That’s why I did especially since I was wheeling at Rausch Creek where there were a ton of tree branches on the trails. I didn’t have much of a problem finding a radio station while I was in the big mecca of the DC area plus I had my phone with music on it. Now that I am in the middle of nowhere Colorado it’s a different story. I went back to my OEM antenna so I can find a radio station. I have since changed phones and lost all my music and am to poor for those pay for music sites. So it’s back to old school radio. The fourth item… a dual cup holder with trash recepicle for the back seats. This was a great item to have when I was a Soccer mom. The back seats has a cup holder but this was a modified cup holder with trash can so the McDonald’s fry cartons and hamberger wrappers weren’t all over the back of my Jeep. I have since passed it on to another soccer Jeep mom as the back of my Jeep no longer has back seats. The fifth item… mySpiderWeb shade. This is a great item for those who want to be topless and protected from the sun and to add that splash of color to their Jeep. I personally like to openness of the top being down and looking up at the sky. So another item I passed on to another Jeeper. Next week on Jeep Life with Jeep Momma Preparing your Jeep for the cold Colorado winter months and the Top 5 winter accessories needed for your Jeep.
Interview with:
Larry Accord
Larry has been Vice President of Operations for a non-profit group, Operation Jeeps for Wreaths USA. There mission each year driven towards only one campaign. That campaign is Wreaths Across America. A nationwide campaign to produce the holiday “Remembrance Wreaths” for Arlington National Cemetery and to include all national cemeteries in the US. A Army Veteran, Larry is also a member of the National Jeep club, Warrior Jeeps USA. Larry’s first Jeep was a 2013 JKU and still owns it today. You can find out more on how to make a donation, by going to their Facebook page, Operation JFW USA And the website, OJFW.org. There you will find a link for Wreaths Across America.
Campfire Side Chat:
Winter time (for many Jeepers) means parking the jeep IN the garage and having all winter to work on it. Or is it time to pull the Jeep OUT and use the 4wd for the inclement/snowy weather? So… are you a winter-tinkerer or a winter-wheeler?
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Operation Jeeps For Wreaths https://www.facebook.com/Jeeps-For-Wreaths-Across-America-100713181439104
https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/
http://www.ojfw.org./
SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) https://www.sema360.com/
PCOR (Patriot Camping Offroad) https://explorationoutfitters.com/pages/pcor-tray
DYNATRAC https://www.dynatrac.com/
Hi-Lift Jacks https://hi-lift.com/
Buy Hi-Lift Jacks: https://amzn.to/3ew22DP
Lift Mate link – $38 https://amzn.to/3p0TKc3
Extreme Terrain https://www.extremeterrain.com/