Episode 507 – Wrong Turns, Peanut Butter, and…
This Week In Jeep
Yes They Can Go Off-Road – No This Is Not What They Mean By That
Jeep’s off-road performance is legendary. There’s no question. The reputation precedes itself. And when behind the wheel of a Jeep, one gets an itchy trigger finger to point that sucker to the nearest obstacle and just go for it. But I think the driver of the Jeep in this story was looking for a different kind of adventure. It was a “wrong turn,” the driver told officials, that caused a white Jeep to end up on the tunnel tracks near the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (or SEPTA’s) 37th Street subway-surface trolley station at 5 a.m. Saturday. Disrupting service on five trolley lines for three hours. Way to go Jeeper! SEPTA surveillance video showed that the Jeep had entered through the 40th Street trolley station open portal at the intersections of Baltimore and Woodland Avenues, in West Philadelphia. (this is where the theme song to the Will Smith TV show “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” runs through my head endlessly.)
When the Jeep was discovered by the station’s staff, over 3 full city blocks from where it had gone underground, the driver was in the vicinity and cooperated with officials. By the looks of the pictures released online of this incident, there was no amount of good driving that could have saved this Jeep from getting stuck.
Crews worked for two hours to remove the SUV and another hour after that inspecting the track and tunnel for any possible damage.
As of the time of this episode’s recording, no charges have been filed.
The transportation agency said this was not the first time a vehicle had gotten onto the tracks. Back in December 1965, a brand new (at the time) 1965 Ford Mustang had to be removed from the tracks after a woman accidentally entered the Subway Surface Tunnel at the same entrance at 40th street.
OC Jeep Week kicks off August 26th
Thousands of Jeep owners will be rolling into Ocean City, Maryland next week. It’s all a part of the 2021 OC Jeep Week. The hub of the event is at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center. That’s where they will have an expo and vendor village.
This whole event is designed for the participants, the enthusiasts, and the four-by-four community as a whole. And if you don’t have a Jeep you can still buy a ticket and come into the parking lot here and check out all the off-road offerings from companies that sell everything for trucks, jeeps, and all the other vehicles out there that are off-road savy.”
For the Jeep community, the sunrise beach crawl is a mainstay. Vehicles will stage at Jolly Roger and crawl 2.5 miles south from 29th Street along with the shore break all the way to the Inlet parking lot. Jeep Jam is also back, a top-level course at the MAYS sports complex in Pittsville. Jeep Jam is open 10 AM-5 PM Thursday through Saturday.
The newest event this year is the Kicker Sand course, a meticulously crafted set of obstacles right on the beach. It’s an exciting, rollercoaster-like ride in your jeep. You get out on the sand, we design a course, where the jeeps are able to go up and down over these whoop-de-doos and massive sand mounds. OC Jeep Week runs August 26-29. If you missed it, no biggie, we’ll have a link to the event’s website where you can get details for future events. https://www.oceancityjeepweek.com/
The Jeep Commander Is Back… But Not As You Know It.
Jeep has revived yet another nameplate since even Jeep’s NEW French owners don’t have any more originality than the previous Italian parent company. The Commander is back, but certainly not as we once knew it. The regurgitated name badge is for a compact three-row crossover based on the updated 2022 Compass. So not only is it nothing like the original Commander, following suit to the previous iconic name badge regurgitations but it also is based on a completely different vehicle. Way to go Jeep.
Jeep’s new red-headed stepchild was unveiled on Tuesday in Brazil where it will start sales on August 26th. Production will also be handled in Brazil, specifically at Stellantis’ plant in Pernambuco. The all-new Commander is confirmed for sale in Latin America only. It’s probably too small for the U.S. with the current market demand for larger and mid-sized SUVs, so don’t expect it here right away. That’s not to say we won’t see a version of it here in the future, but sales performance will likely dictate that.
For now, Jeep has introduced the mid-size Grand Cherokee L in the U.S. market for those who need more seating but can’t afford the luxury of the full-sized Jeep Wagoneer or Grand Waggy. Two powertrains are expected at the Commander’s launch. The range-topping option is expected to be a 2.0-liter turbodiesel rated at about 200 hp. The alternative is expected to be a 1.3-liter turbocharged gasoline 4-banger good for about 185 hp. Neither of these powertrains is available in the related Compass that we get here in the U.S. The Compass here is offered exclusively with a 2.4-liter gasoline engine delivering a measly 177 hp. No wonder the thing isn’t very fun to drive. In other markets, the Compass is offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that relies on a 1.3-liter gas engine up front and an electric motor at the rear. A version of this powertrain is expected to eventually be offered in the Compass here in the states, as Jeep plans to electrify its full lineup. Note, Jeep also sells a model known as the Grand Commander over in China. It’s also a compact three-row crossover but related to the Cherokee. Ok now I’m confused and I think they’re doing this just to piss me off.
Tech Talk with Jeep Talk
TOPIC/QUESTION: Personal Preparedness For Off-Roading
(multi-part series)
In Episode 505, we left off with knowing a little more about personal preparedness and the beginnings of what one may want to have on hand to be prepared for wilderness wheeling or Overlanding, in the event something goes horribly wrong. This is of course taking into consideration that you are alone, outside of cell service, and leaving your unrepairable vehicle behind to seek civilization and or some help. And since we all don’t carry a mountain bike with us every time we go out, we can also assume you will be hiking out on your own two feet. And it was in episode 505 that we went over just what you will need to protect and treat those feet. Now we move on to dealing with the only other things that stand in your way of recovery. Time, Hydration, Caloric Intake, and Communications. The only thing that is out of your control is time, and there’s not much you can do about that. You can occupy your mind while you trek out by calculating the amount of distance you travel in a given time and by knowing where you are in relation to where you’re going and how far you have to go. Getting into distance, rate, and time calculations isn’t something we will go into here and now, but having this forehand knowledge may come in handy down the road. Hydration is something we only briefly touched on but it’s also one of the most important.
In the last Tech Talk, I mentioned the versatility of today’s modern Hydration Packs. They’re lightweight, meant to be worn on a long hike, and can deftly carry other useful supplies. A hydration pack, for those who don’t know, is like a small backpack that has a separate compartment for a bladder-like device that can hold a certain amount of liquid. This bladder often has a hose and mouthpiece attached to it that is routed along with one of the straps. In some packs, the compartment is insulated to keep the contents of the bladder from getting too hot. Know this though, even hot water is better than no water when facing dehydration. Now we don’t have to start thinking like Bear Grills and be trained on how to extract water from a couple of twigs and a shoelace, but we can still be prepared for a multi-day hike if that’s what it comes down to. Hydration packs need to be kept clean, so don’t keep this full at all times and treat it like a bug-out bag. You prepare the Jeep well enough for a trip out, this pack can be prepped and ready to go faster than you can roll up a sleeping bag. And the last thing you want is to be dealing with a bacteria-filled bladder when out in the wilderness. Regardless of how capitally important hydration is, you still need calories to burn to get you out of this situation. Energy or protein bars can be a good go-to solution, but take into consideration these have a shelf life. So if you only go out once or twice a year, and don’t use these supplies, they can easily be forgotten about, spoil on a shelf or in the pack, and that’s money wasted. Let’s not waste money on preparedness and think long term if you don’t already have a constantly rotating supply of energy or protein bars in your house. Here’s a more long-term solution that is easy to make, cost-effective, high in both calories and protein, contains essential nutrients, and has an incredibly long shelf life. It all starts with peanut butter and oats. Take a half jar of peanut butter, fill the other half with regular rolled oats, not the quick or instant stuff. That’s garbage and isn’t the best choice for this. Oats are a good source of protein, dietary fiber, thiamin, folate, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and niacin. Oats are one of the world’s healthiest foods and have been cultivated for thousands of years. Here’s a pro-tip… Leave a little room for some other things. I like to add dried fruit. Dried fruit lasts for years if not decades. Has high nutritional value, and provides essential nutrients as well. Think of things like apricots, dried cranberries or raisins, and other small or easily chopped dried fruits to create your own concoction. Sweeten it and add even more calories by adding in some honey. Honey too has an incredibly long shelf life and is a great way to add some sweet yet healthy flavor. Want to boost the protein even further? Add some protein powder to the mix. Don’t go too far here, you don’t want to make concrete, nor do you want this to be chalky.
Warming the peanut butter just slightly will help with the job of mixing all this together too, but don’t boil it or nuke it too long. Another tip is to stay away from the glass. Don’t get cute and make a hundred of these in little mason jars thinking you’ve got it all figured out. You’ll be figuring out how not to die as you pick the shards of broken glass out of your only survival food if that jar were to ever break. Now you have a full, sealable, and easily transportable, not to mention storable (and shatterproof) survival food container that can be added to any grab-and-go scenario. A couple of spoons and this on your next road trip will have you thanking me later. On the next tech talk, we wrap all this up and address communications as we wrap up this multi-part segment in self preparedness.
Jeep Life – With Jeep Momma
Jeep Momma and The Gambler 500
Tony, Josh, and Wendy… My Jeep broke this past weekend. The driver’s side shock mount broke off. It had broken before when Neil took my Jeep on Engineer pass while I was visiting my kids in Maryland. He welded it back. It was holding pretty well. I even wheeled it again on Engineer and it held. Well, this time it came undone again. It was the bracket that came with my lift back in 2016. They have since upgraded that mount. I was just on a dirt forest road. However, it was horribly wash-boarded. I was going pretty fast trying to keep up with the Mitsubishi Eclipse, minivan, and a grand marquis. You might ask what in the world were those cars doing off-road.
Well, it was the Gambler 500 Colorado.
The Gambler 500 is a mostly off-road Rally Style Navigational Adventure using cheap, impractical, or fun vehicles. It is a 2-day event held every year in Colorado. They do have them in your neck of the woods, Josh. I believe in Oregon. I think that was the original one and thousands come out for that. The general spirit of the gambler is to take a “beater” or impractical vehicle and punish it over 500 miles of back roads, off roads, and some pavement. This year the Gambler 500 Colorado was here in the valley where we live. So we signed up. We were working really hard to get our new 1942 Flattie up and running for last weekend’s event. Guess how much we paid for that flattie? Are you sitting down? SO in July when True Patriot was visiting us this guy stopped by our shop. He had a storage yard and this Jeep was sitting in it for over a decade. The owner paid for the first month’s rent then never showed up. He was in the process of building it and had a whole bunch of new parts in it too. So the storage yard guys were asking $40. Yes, four zero. We gave him a Benjamin and said keep the change. Can you believe it? It’s such a cute little Jeep. We did an SOA… (spring over axle) and put on 33 inch Nexen Roadian MTX tires on it. We finally found a distributor of Nexen’s here in the valley. WOOT! WOOT!. Well, we were getting close to the deadline and didn’t make it. So we took the J4000 Jeep Truck to the Gambler.
I was just the media chase vehicle. I technically wasn’t participating. We arrived Friday night at an open field of tent camping right next to the Colorado Gator Farm. Yes, there are alligators here in Colorado. One is the Happy Gilmore Gator. There was a bonfire Friday night and some adult beveraging. Then Early Saturday morning was the driver’s meeting. They basically give you waypoints… lat and longitude. You head out and try to meet all the waypoints. To prove you made it there you take pictures of yourself and your vehicle at the waypoint. The vehicles participating were from all spectrums. There was a Scooby-doo painted minivan with the top cut off, a Volkswagen beetle, a Rubicon Nope, (that Jeep was for sure not under $500) but they are pretty loose with their rules. It’s all meant to be fun and the other portion of the race is a trash clean-up. We had a great time. The best part was the meeting of new friends, camaraderie, and helping get the broke down vehicles back up and running. It was fun to pull out repair parts from my Jeep and get that look of What the heck… you’re a girl. I showed them some recovery items they had never seen before. Like the soft shackle and a tire repair kit. Josh, I pulled out that tape you shared a while back for one repair too. I have posted two videos so far on Youtube. One is of the flattie and the other is part one of the Gambler 500. Just head over to youtube and search Jeep Momma. We only made it through day one. I didn’t think it was a good idea to keep running with my shock hanging. At about 40 mph I got to experience the death wobble. Plus Saturday night is another bonfire with adult beveraging and some in our group had a little too much beveraging… There was also a tractor pull of sorts. All those testosterone macho drivers like hooking up their vehicles to a tow strap and finding another vehicle to attach the other end of that tow strap to then put the pedal to the metal to see whose vehicle is the badass one. It was hysterical watching grown-ass men being so silly. It was a fun experience, and I would love to do it again. Isn’t that what life is all about… Experience, not stuff. This brings me to my life lesson learned during this Jeep Journey I have been on the past eight years. Live in the Moment. It’s been a hard lesson for me to just let things go and enjoy the moment I am in at the time. I was able to do just that when my youngest son Ben came to stay with me for a month here in Colorado. My time with him is short so I savored every moment with him. I realized there are some things you think you need to get done right this minute really don’t. Just because you have a to-do list doesn’t mean you need to do it. Dishes can wait, laundry can wait, but time with your loved ones can’t. Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It is living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift. Be in the present moment. It doesn’t mean having a plan or goals for the future. Those are good. But enjoy the present. Next week on Jeep Life I will share some upgrades I have done on my Jeep.
Links Mentioned in this Episode
NEXEN Tires USA https://www.nexentireusa.com/
Trails 411- POWERING Your Adventure https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver
The 4×4 Radio Network http://4x4radionetwork.com/
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OC Jeep Week – https://www.oceancityjeepweek.com/
