Episode 590 – She’s Looking For Trails To Haunt
This Week In Jeep
Jeep Grand Cherokee “L’s” Recalled For Faulty Weld (Child Seat Restraint)
In the last episode, we had a recall notice for the 2022 Grand Cherokee and a faulty steering component. A pretty serious one at that. This week, we have the Grand’s longer brother, the Grand Cherokee “L” under recall. Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company, is recalling certain 2021 to 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L models. These particular Jeeps may have been built with a missing weld from the seatback frame to the child seat tether anchorage. That means these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, “Child Restraint Anchorage Systems.”…which could lead to your child and their entire booster seat becoming a projectile in the event of an accident. So far this defect is limited to just over 4,500 units built between Wednesday, October 13th, 2021, and Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022.
Stellantis will conduct a voluntary safety recall to inspect and, if necessary, replace the second-row seatback frame, a process that will be conducted by your local dealer free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on Friday, May 13th, 2022, but if you feel you or your Jeep may be affected by this, we encourage you to contact your local dealer for more information.
But Was It On Purpose?
A Georgia woman was run over by a Jeep after she was thrown out of the moving vehicle, and police say her boyfriend was behind the wheel. 46-year-old Durand Jeremy Mack is charged with aggravated battery, assault, and one count of serious injury by vehicle after he was accused of intentionally running over his girlfriend during an argument Sunday, April 3rd. His girlfriend, 24-year-old Courtney Perry, was found lying in the road near a Jeep Wrangler when officers arrived at the scene. According to the incident report, a neighbor who saw the couple arguing told police that Mack got into his Jeep and Perry climbed onto the side of it. That’s when Mack sped out of the driveway and up the street, throwing Perry off the vehicle into the roadway. According to the report, she landed near the Jeep’s rear passenger tire and was run over. The neighbor witnessed Mack reversing the Jeep after hitting Perry, getting out where she was laying on the road, and rolled her over. Authorities say she was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center for treatment, and Mack the driver of the Jeep allegedly told police that his girlfriend had gotten her foot caught in the tire and fell. But he was of course arrested after giving police multiple different accounts of what happened.
Jeep Being Sued By Bluetooth?
There’s been a lawsuit brewing since 2018, and it surrounds Jeep, or more importantly, its parent company. At the time, Jeep’s parent company was FCA, but since that entity has been absorbed by what is now Stellantis, they are the ones fighting this.
At the core of all this is the standards organization behind Bluetooth, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (or Bluetooth SIG for short.) That’s right, the same Bluetooth in your cell phone, ear pods, wireless speaker, and like a gazillion other devices. They are claiming that FCA was improperly using its trademark on vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Grand Caravan and others, which Bluetooth SIG hadn’t certified. A US appeals court has decided that (then) FCA, and now Stellantis have a valid argument in a trademark case. FCA’s defense, which was initially rejected by a lower court, is that Bluetooth SIG is trying to double-dip by saying that both the car radio and the car itself have to go through certification. Its basis is something called the first sale doctrine — a concept that’s meant to allow the resale of copyrighted works. In this case, FCA is saying that it applies because it buys its infotainment systems from companies like Alpine, Harmon, and Panasonic, which have already paid fees and gotten their products certified for Bluetooth. Why should it have to re-certify what’s already been certified just because it slotted those products into a dashboard? This ruling doesn’t mean that the case is settled, though… It just means that FCA gets to go back to court and argue it all over again. When it’s all over, this case could end up setting a precedent about whether automakers can buy radios that are already certified for Bluetooth or whether they will also have to pay the Bluetooth Special Interest Group to certify the cars, too, adding cost at a time when car prices are already plenty inflated.
Tech Talk with Jeep Talk
TOPIC/QUESTION: How To Clean Electrical Contacts
Jeeps and lights go together like peanut butter and jelly.
And there’s one thing that the newest lighting technology and the oldest Jeep lights have in common. They need electricity to run properly. The older a Jeep is, the more likely it is that it doesn’t have plug-and-play LED lighting tech. There are actual gas-filled glass bulbs, with elements, and contact points, and they rest in these things called 
sockets. Ew. How Vulgar. In all seriousness, this form of holding a bulb behind a lens and getting it to light up on command for one purpose or another was the way things were done on all cars and trucks for decades. Those Jeeps are still around, and although there are plenty of options on the aftermarket for converting over to LEDs, there’s still the likelihood that that LED conversion bulb will have to go into an old-school socket. Lighting sockets are out there in the corners of our Jeeps. The only thing protecting their delicate brass contacts are the lens and if you’re lucky a gasket. Sometimes not even that. The same applies to virtually every single wiring harness connector in that Jeep. So the brass does what brass does when exposed to the elements, and that is oxidized or corrode as any other metal will. When brass oxidizes, it doesn’t turn that brownish-red like what we associate rust with as the iron in the steel turns to iron oxide. Brass turns shades of a greenish-blue or even black, and the oxidation hardens like a thick crust over the surface of the brass. This buildup prevents the flow of electrons from the contact to the bulb or to the other contact on the other side of the plug, no matter how new or expensive the bulb is or how well protected the plug may be. Obviously, when this happens, you’ll get an intermittent response from the light, or circuit. It may flicker, or cut in and out. If the situation isn’t taken care of, the light or circuit may not work at all, and you may think the bulb is burnt out, or that there’s something wrong with the switch or wiring. Oftentimes, it’s just a little oxidation and I’ll give you some tips on what to do about it. They make stuff called electrical contact cleaner. Think of it like a 
brake cleaner for electrical parts. This harsh, aerosolized chemical can clean away the grime, dirt, dust, and even things like skin oil or light petrochemicals from electrical contacts with ease. But this electrical contact cleaner will have a hard time cutting through any amount of oxidation, but it’s a good idea to have a can of this around regardless as it works very well in conjunction with other methods. Options to this that you may have to lay around the house would be isopropyl alcohol, and distilled white vinegar. Either of these fluids is a great cleaning agent unto themselves, but can also help break down oxidation on electrical terminals or contacts, but again, won’t provide the same results as a physical
or mechanical cleaning. The kind of buildup that brass oxidation can create is a lot like the plaque that builds up on your teeth. No mouthwash can duplicate what the dentist does with his pick tools and drills. The same applies to cleaning electrical contacts on your Jeep. And 99% of the time I’m guessing you won’t have access to a dentist drill, and your own cordless drill isn’t the right tool for the job anyway. The pick set, however, is just right. Now you don’t have to try and locate a medical supply outlet to get that level of tool the dentist has, nope. The most simple and basic 4-piece pick toolset available at your local harbor freight or auto parts store is plenty good for the task at hand. But make sure you get a set that has multiple types of pick tools. Pick tools generally have a good sharp point to them, and it’s that point that you will use to scratch the surface of the contact clean, just like the dentist uses his picks to clean your teeth. This crusty blueish-greenish coating on brass or gold plated contacts typically flakes off with little pressure and can be removed to reveal the shiny surface below. A quick, steady, back-and-forth scratching action will have that metal cleaned up in no time. Micro files and small cylindrical wire brushes are also two other kinds of tools that produce great results but may be harder to come by. One word of caution here though, depending on what you’re working on, the circuits that are associated with those contacts may be live, so it is imperative you don’t short anything out. It’s always best to remove the fuse, pull the battery cable, turn the breaker off, or disconnect whatever it is that is supplying voltage to whatever it is you’ll be working on. Now, if the oxidation is extremely light, almost more of varnish than anything, you may be able to clean it off with a pencil eraser. A pencil eraser has enough give to be gentle, but enough bite or grip if you will, to pull off surface contaminations 
with ease. Again, a steady hand and micro-movements can erase that tarnish on your electrical contacts without having to worry about shorting anything out, since the eraser is basically rubber. Another word of warning here. Depending on what you’re working on, the contacts could be set up to create a mechanical connection by providing positive pressure, much like a spring. That resistance as you push a light bulb into its socket and rotate it to lock it in is the spring pressure of the contracts. Applying too much force can bend the contacts beyond their range of applying that (much needed) positive pressure. So it may be necessary, once again using the pick tools, to gently pull the contact terminal back up to where it should be. A term called spring back is something that you should be familiar with here. The metal these contacts are made up of, will want to “spring back” to its previous position. So you’ll need to pull it back farther than its normal position to ensure it springs back to a position better than it was before.
There’s one thing that no cleaner or tool can take care of though and that’s corrosion.
The blueish greenish oxidation that can appear on brass contacts has no effect on the integrity of the brass itself the way corrosion does. Brass is technically an alloy, two or more metals combined to make new metal. The alloy that makes brass is copper and zinc. There are actually different forms of brass corrosion, and depending on the environment or conditions that led up to the corrosion, it can be fatal for the parts involved, and hard if not impossible to reverse without part replacement. So staying on top of the oxidation is key to preventing it from turning to corrosion. Whether it’s the brass contacts in a switch, the contacts of a light socket or your trailer plug, or that old Nintendo cartridge even, these tips can work for you to get those juices flowing again to keep those lights shining, the trailer brakes working, or just to keep Mario jumping.
Jeep Talk Show Interview
Chelsey Gregory “trailhaunterjlu”
https://www.instagram.com/trailhaunter/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-b17UVJ7uD2Fe58sZLn7aA
Chelsey Gregory & Trail Haunter
Her Jeep, “Trail Haunter”, is a 2018 JLU sport in the color Punk’n orange. Together they’ve accomplished some amazing trails, traveled across the country, met some amazing people, and have taken the off-road community by storm.
Chelsey, & her husband Dan, recently made a cross-country road trip to buy a school bus converted into a Jeep Hauler, which they appropriately named “The Haunted Hauler”. Chelsey is a goal setter, an adrenaline junkie, a dream believer, and an overall happy person who loves to wheel and support her friends.
Coming up next week – Jerry Huber with the 2022 Toledo Jeep Fest
Jeep Life – With Jeep Momma
I am in Maryland visiting my kids and watching my youngest play Varsity Boys volleyball. He is so awesome making incredible plays. His Jersey number is 10 and his name is Ben. The kids chant Ben 10 for him. It warms my heart to hear that. BTW Ben 10 is some anime character. Just getting to Maryland was an ordeal. My ex bought my plane ticket which was very nice. However, my flight got canceled and rebooked for 12 hours later. Seems I was the only passenger who didn’t know, and I arrived at the airport at 545 am. There was no way to go back home because the home was 2 hours from the airport, and I took a shuttle bus. My ex claimed he never got a notification. Well, the new Jeep Momma took the negative and turned it around to a positive. I decided to document my Stuck in the Airport every hour on social media. It was actually quite fun. I am sharing this because I need to thank some awesome Jeep Talk Show fans for keeping me busy during this long day. It turned out my flight was delayed so I was in the airport for 13 points 5 hours. Then when I landed at BWI we got stuck on the tarmac for another 15 minutes or so. I wanted to thank some awesome JTS Listeners! You guys Rock! The guys in the discord room made those hours go by fast… Chuck, Dustin, Zesty, Tony, Kristie the LJ, 2 Jeep Guys, Jeeping MO, Dixie Overland I hope I don’t miss anyone thanks!!! I even had a fan send me $15 to get a margarita and pickle juice shot. I poured the pickle juice into the margarita. It was pretty good. The discord room is for anyone to join. Join us on our Discord channel! It’s a FREE chat service that you can access from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone! Here is the invite link https://discord.gg/txeYMs45sm You’ll find us in the General channel! Now time for Jeep Life with Jeep Momma. I am always seeing questions on social media. Who do you Jeep Wave to? All Jeeps or Just Wranglers?
How do you Jeep Wave? It seems there is always debate on these questions. I just want to say you Jeep Wave to whichever Jeep you want. You Jeep Wave however you want to. You can do the 2 finger steering wheel wave or the 4 finger wave. Or you can put your hand out the window. You can even have your passenger wave for you. I even wave when I am not in my Jeep. I feel that is okay too. As for what Jeeps to wave to. Just wave to all of them. What’s the big deal. I even wave to the UPS truck. There is even some debate on how the Jeep Wave started. One explanation for the tradition of the Jeep Wave is that during WW2, the Jeep had earned its place in the hearts of the servicemen, and upon coming home, they wanted a Jeep of their own. When they passed other Jeeps on the road, they knew the driver had most likely served, and waved to their brothers-in-arms. Some claim the wave began when civilians started buying Jeeps and taking them off-road. With the shared fun and excitement of tackling seemingly impossible trials and obstacles in the nimble Jeep, they felt a kinship with other Jeepers. The wave acknowledges that shared understanding and appreciation of the Jeep’s amazing capabilities and the enjoyment of being a jeep owner. Whichever is true, the Jeep Wave signifies kinship and understanding between Jeep owners, and it’s an honor to continue the tradition that most likely began with those who fought for our country and for our freedoms in my opinion. For me, it is an honor to be part of such a tight-knit community. It is definitely a unique experience to share such camaraderie with a group of complete strangers. Unless you own or have ever owned a Jeep you most likely wouldn’t understand. It’s a Jeep Thing. My Jeep makes me smile, makes me enjoy running errands, and makes me want to enjoy life to the fullest. The Jeep wave has become an iconic gesture in the jeep community (it has a rich history and stood the test of time, even today, new Jeep owners are fond of the wave. See you all Live next week when I update you on my Oil Woes.
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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Rat Bastards Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ratbastard
Rat Bastards Webpage https://ratbastard.lol
Looking for Amazon products we’ve talked about on the show? https://jeeptalkshow.com/amazon
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