Episode 1050 – Chic Chat Round Table

Women Jeepers talking about Jeeps! What tires to buy, what winch bumpers, mud or rocks, and the dreaded clean up after the mud fun.

I can’t sit straight in the chair. My ass is too big.

 

Are you ready? It’s the Jeep Dog Show, Chick Chat.

 

Hey, it’s Jamie. I’ll be your host for tonight’s episode. Welcome to Chick Chat, your passport to Jeep Adventures, the podcast where style meets substance, and the conversation revolves around all things Jeep from a distinctly feminine perspective.

 

Join us as we rev our engines and dive deep into the world of off-roading Jeep culture and everything in between. So grab your favorite pair of sunglasses, buckle up, and get ready to hit the trails with Chick Chat because when it comes to Jeeps, the journey is just as fabulous as the destination. Welcome everybody to Empower Hour. I’m so excited for our second one.

 

We’re going to start off discussing our first Empower Hour. So found out that some of the feedback from the first one, which we all had a great time at, was that some of the men did not like us talking about going to the bathroom on the trails.

 

For anyone that’s been on on Tuesday nights, for the roundtable there with the boys, it tends to be a lot of potty.

 

So why is it okay for men to talk about going to the bathroom, but it’s not okay for women to go to the bathroom? Are we supposed to wear diapers?

 

Women don’t poop. That’s why women don’t poop. We pee in private.

 

And we don’t fart. Right.

 

That’s not ladylike. Me too.

 

Nobody ever told my six-year-old that because that’s the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning, literally aims it at you and farts in your direction.

 

Lisa’s kind of girl. Lisa had a daughter that would be her.

 

Yes.

 

So I watched the show the other day. I’ve watched it several times where I’m watching on the big screen in my bedroom and Lisa talking about it and I was hysterical. Like I could not stop giggling. I called her. I’m like that old line does a bear shit in the woods has now changed us to does Lisa shit in the woods and the answer. So question would be yes.

 

So Lisa, you’re now famous. We now have a new tagline for you. Hey when nature calls you got to take care of it just because I’m a female doesn’t mean I can’t go to the bathroom in the woods. I just you know, it’s just we have to take a couple extra steps or processes outside of guys. If I could go as easy as guys in the bathroom, it would be great, but I can’t so I do what I need to do and you know, I dealt with this stuff in the military. It’s just kind of all your female you’re not you shouldn’t be doing this and that and the other look I have to poop. I pee you poop you pee you fart I fart you sneeze whatever, you know.

 

Grow up your burp. You burp. Yeah, I burp. Yeah, she’s good at that. She’s like a human beatbox.

 

No, not that much.

 

Cough cough. So I just need to get that out there that women do the same things that men do. It’s just men don’t like to hear about it, but we are the stronger species. We have more fun.

 

Yes, you know, and if you could I could do it girl could do it. That’s what this empower hours all about.

 

So you guys ready for my first question for this week?

 

There’s nothing to do with going to the bathroom.

 

So we’re going to keep it clean first question. If you were to go camping, do you sleep in a tent? Do you have a camper? Do you sleep in your Jeep or you have a rooftop tent or are you way camping is just not for you and you got to go the the Princess Way and hotel it.

 

So love to hear your answers.

 

I think first. I’ll go to Tina. Go to Tina. No, no, no. I think the Princess Way is having a camper which is why I have one.

 

I don’t do a tent. I do a little scam.

 

That’s my preference for camping.

 

I like it.

 

Lisa. Okay, I prefer tent camping.

 

I’m I have a tent that I can just pack up and throw in the back of my Jeep. I have a cot just because I have a sleeping bag. I throw on top of the cot, you know, it’s just easy to throw in the back of my Jeep get to my site and depending on where I’m going and how long I’m going to be there. Basically, I may throw my 10 by 10 canopy in there too, just so I have what I need, but I don’t really need the canopy. But I have a little two-person tent that does great and it holds up pretty doggone good about two months ago. We saw that with the hellosius winds that we had at Roush Creek where my tent was, you know, kind of that way and I was inside of it.

 

But yeah, I have I prefer tent camping. I like camper tamping.

 

Thank you air conditioning. I could snuggle with the puppies and have the air conditioning, but it’s not required.

 

I just think it’s easier and simpler to and I don’t hate on people that glamp or hotel it. My thing is I don’t mind a tent and I really do like it. It’s fun and enjoyable.

 

You’ve got a big camping trip coming up in 14 days 12 days. Yeah, I do.

 

We’re going to family and I the family and I are going out to Grand Tetons in Yellowstone of the seven days were camping.

 

In a tent and sleeping bag on the ground for five days. So we’re pretty stoked and excited.

 

That’s so okay. Explain to me the packing situation. How are you sending tents?

 

We’re not we’re packing them. We’re going to probably have well initially we were going to carry everything we could carry on.

 

But as a recent weather that they’ve had up, let’s see. This is Sunday Friday. I think there were six feet of snow on the ground in the area where we’re going.

 

So we have to pack some Snivel gear. So we may have to have like two checked bags. One bag will have our camping equipment the two tents or sleeping bags.

 

That are all compact. So and then the other bag will have like so the four of us three of us have larger feet. So we need good hiking shoes that don’t wear well when you’re flying.

 

Just some Snivel gear with us. So just a little bit of Snivel gear jacket pants that type of thing.

 

So this week will be a this week will probably be practice packing this this whole week in the first part of next week because next Friday the 14th is when we fly.

 

You send me pictures of everything packed. Oh, absolutely. I’m having anxiety attacks just thinking of your packing. I know. I know. Killing me. Killing me. How are best friends? I don’t really know.

 

Cassie have you ever camped? Yes, I have gone camping before.

 

I bought a camper because I thought I would want to go to try doing that. But instead of buying a new camper, it’s a 1969 that is hard to get open. The zippers don’t necessarily work and it was just a bad decision. So I’m going to sell that and use that money on my Jeep and put that towards my left. But I put the others for a hotel room, but I don’t mind the tent at all. It’s kind of I think it’s fun. The times have gone camping.

 

I’ve enjoyed it. Okay.

 

I’ve gone camping in a camper with my friends, but I recently just purchased the tent and I’m so excited because I want to go camping. I haven’t done it yet. So it’s still in the box. I need to at least open it up and see what I’m doing. But I’m looking forward to going camping.

 

Well, Arlene, the question is since you just popped on if you were to go camping, are you a tent camper, a camper, camper, rooftop camper, or you sleep in your Jeep or you just say the hell with it. I’m going to a hotel.

 

You’re muted.

 

There we go.

 

So I don’t have a tent or anything. So I would totally sleep in my Jeep.

 

My camper.

 

Or in your tent or camper.

 

So I started out when I first started wheeling. They had an overland event at AOA and I opted to stay at the wayside in in Shemokin, which basically if you’ve ever been in the rooms back then seven years ago, we thought we were going to get tuberculosis from the guy coughing in the room next door.

 

It was $40 a night for the room.

 

This was I mean seven years ago. It was still $40 a night. So so we decided okay, I’m going to learn how to camp. So Jackie had bought me a tent for my birthday and it was August and I go to camp and there’s now thunderstorms that are coming in and I was going to back out and I couldn’t back out because I was in charge of everybody’s food. So of course and they my friends were just great. They had a pop-up. They had a canopy already set up. They had the drop cloth down whatever the tarp down and so they got my tent up.

 

And so I camped for a few years and then two years ago, we bought a camper and I walked into it as pop-up camper and I love it. It’s like my traveling apartment at first I walked in. I was like, oh, this is so cool. I still love it. I sleep so well in it. So I could do a tent but my tent has an 18 inch inflatable queen-size mattress and I have a ceiling fan that goes in it. So, you know hot flashes. I need to stay cool. But so I can go either way. I would prefer the camper now and now we’re thinking we’re going to get a motor home this way. Take them because you can’t trailer the Jeep and trailer the camper. So how do we solve that? Get a motor home.

 

So that will be hopefully in the bite, you know end of summer or by the fall and this way when we get camping where there’s rainstorms and Lisa’s camping is jumping into my camper and Arlene needs a place and she’s snuggling with the dogs for the night. So we’ll all have a place.

 

So Tina, we’re calling on you next for that to ask your question.

 

Yeah, I think my question has to do with bumper purchases. So if I’m looking at a bumper and I want to stick with something that’s not cheap off of Amazon whose bumpers should I really be looking for to also have a winch included with them?

 

I want to go first anybody or so I’m a big fan of Smitty built. I’ve got their SRC.

 

I love it. It’s got the winch plate my winch. I was originally with Warren now. I’m with mile marker and they can powder coat it to match your Jeep your winch, but I have been very and I’ve changed bumpers of quite a few times in the build of my Jeep and all times it’s been Smitty built.

 

So I’ve gotten feedback to watch out for just the Chinese manufactured one and that’s what I’m concerned about making sure that I get a really good steel bumper.

 

Yeah, definitely don’t go cheap for sure. I have Rugged Ridge. That’s what was on it when I bought mine. They seem to be holding up pretty well. And if you look at Rugged Ridge prices, they’re actually not too terrible and the coating on it has lasted pretty well even with all the crazy stuff. I do with my Jeep.

 

I’m a huge fan of DV8 stuff, but they’re kind of pricey. I would recommend extreme terrain. Their website has a lot of nice stuff and it you know, the prices vary so you can do good better best kind of thing with extreme terrain. So they have some great products on their site as well. We also have discount codes. So that should be in your admin folder. So I’ll show you how to use that to the best of your ability.

 

What about some people that make custom bumpers?

 

I have no experience with that.

 

It depends on the I think it depends. You’d need to know who the fabricator is and what their reputation is. I don’t know that I’m jumping into. I’ve learned steel bumpers save lives and so it’s there’s a lot of different looks out there. You can probably find something without needing to have it fabricated for you.

 

You know and why take that chance?

 

Yeah, for sure because like me when I was doing Fern Ridge a couple weeks ago, I kept bumping into trees with my bumper and you would never know. I mean my bumper has really held up because I always bump into trees and stuff.

 

My nickname was chainsaw because I used to just take trees out. So and my bumpers never looked I mean who is someone has my rear but who had someone’s got my front but oh your old Jeep had Lisa which one of my bumpers did you you had my front bumper right? Yeah, I had your old front in my old front and then Tracy had my rear. I mean and I torture test everything on my Jeep and they held up great. So I mean I really for all the trees that I have backed into and taken out and driven over just because well they were in the way.

 

Oops.

 

It’s a chainsaw just put Jamie up there.

 

So yeah, so that we could you know, we could definitely work and try to find something of what you’re looking if you know what style you’re looking for. Do you want the bull bar on the front? Do you want a stinger? Do you want it full with you want it stubby like, you know, there’s just so many different components that go into it. The best is that you know that you want it to fit a winch. So after that, it’s okay. Let’s figure out what style and for which one of your Jeeps because you guys have a whole collection over there.

 

Well, the LJ has the steel bumpers on it. And we got cheap owned on the JL with rocks light engineering steps and they saved the G and I’m still driving it been since December and the parts aren’t in to repair it yet. Wow. Come down to the door the driver door.

 

Wow. So the great thing with my bumper that I have on my Jeep it’s the Rugged Ridge is you can put so Rugged Ridge made it so that you can buy just the middle piece. You can go winch non-winch and then they have different end caps. So you can do like tubular end caps. You can do like solid end caps. You can put the S loops over it to go over your winch to kind of protect your grill. You can do the thing that sticks way out. You can keep it bare. You can put hooks on the front of it. You can get fog light non fog light. So mine actually had the tubulars on the front that kind of protect the tires and I took them off just to see how I like the look and I can always put them back on. So that’s the great thing about the bumper. That’s all you can keep changing it. Yeah, you can make it stubby or you can add the end caps onto it to make it, you know, protect more. So that’s kind of nice.

 

With all those options. That’s why I asked the question because there are so many options when you start to get in it. Yeah.

 

That’s like if you look at fenders.

 

Holy crap. There’s a whole different world of that of you know, how many different choices? So my one with the DV8 armors, but it was like because I knew I wanted to go with steel fenders. I figured if the front and the back are steel and I’ve got my side steps that are steel, you know, like let’s just do it. You know, I was tired of ripping fenders off constantly and I couldn’t get over the you know, they were expensive, but I mean it definitely has made it quite a difference with protecting my vehicle, but the different style like who would think that fenders would have so many different styles. Yeah.

 

Cassie’s got a whole different breed over there to find parts for with the Grand Cherokee.

 

I know I’m the oddball out with just having to be different. I can’t just be with the group. I have to be different like blue hair like it’s just apparently my thing, but I guess that’s why we love you.

 

But Tina’s question really kind of led into a lot of stuff. I’m thinking about right now with modifications myself because with my 04 it’s I just rolled over to 215,000 miles yesterday and the lift kit that I’m looking at it’s a kit that’s already together. It’s a long arm kit because I know I want at least four inches because my gas tank is really low in the back which is a known thing.

 

But there’s also thinking about well, the long arm kit is $3,200. I also need to get a an exhaust reroute kit and then I should definitely change my steering setup as well or replace those parts just because they’re 20 years old. They have 215,000 miles and now I’m putting this extra space in there as well that it’s like just thinking myself like when when do you say maybe I should do something else? Maybe I should be looking at a different Jeep that is newer with that. I might get more out of or do I stick with it because this is kind of my thing. The Grand Cherokee is just something I fell in love with. The one that I have has very little rust for how much mileage is on it and they’re kind of cheap to fix other parts on. So it’s like where do you find that balance? Where do you draw the line with them?

 

Good question.

 

Now I’m going to start researching parts for the Grand Cherokee just to see what’s out there. See what the option, you know, it’s one of those things that you don’t know until you start with it. You know, I got the Cherokee unlimited and it’s a whole different world than what my Wrangler is. Yeah, and like the old four is totally different than the 17. I there even just groups of people that I talked to about them. They are totally different groups of people, but it’s

 

I don’t know.

 

I there’s a lot to think about with it and that’s all that it comes down to but I do. One of my thoughts is I want to look at my suspension needs to be replaced no matter what. I mean, it’s just rough. So I want to look at what parts do I need to replace stock? How much do they cost versus then how much this lift kit is going to be since I need welding and like big stuff done with it. I have to write out a Santa list for you.

 

A couple years Santa list.

 

Kim, so how’d you pick your bumper?

 

I had a full width and I’ve wanted to stubby.

 

Just because I like it. I got the full width just didn’t look right anymore.

 

So I’m ignoring you. So I got Barricade which is not expensive, but it’s not the cheapest either. You get it through extreme terrain, but the fenders that I have are Barricade and they’ve held me up against rocks and trees like nobody’s business. So I figured I would try the bumper.

 

It has held me up through so much stuff.

 

I would recommend them. They’re just my rails, my fenders and my front bumper. They’re all Barricade. My winches Barricade.

 

Are you sponsored by Barricade? Are you an ambassador for them? I was, yes. Are you still?

 

I haven’t fulfilled.

 

Instagram stuff.

 

It’s so hard.

 

So Kim, we’re going to put you in the hot seat. What’s your question?

 

So when it comes to off-roading, do you prefer mud or rocks and why?

 

Yep, that’s a tough one.

 

Like me personally, I prefer rocks. I find them to be a little bit more technical and mud just wreaks havoc underneath and in the engine and all that good stuff. So I try to stick to rocks.

 

Lisa, what are your thoughts?

 

I like the mud, but I want to try more technical rocks just because the same thing. I mean getting up under my Jeep, not that I don’t all the time or majority of the time, but as of recently getting up under my Jeep and just kind of looking.

 

Well, I just got my Jeep. So last year, January is when I broke her cherry because I bought it. She used to be a patent Princess.

 

I took it in to the shop or something. The guys are like, oh, you just so you wield it. This is the first time it’s been wheeled. I’m like, how can you tell? They’re like, well, here’s here’s some evidence of being in the mud and the said that in the other and whatever.

 

And I was like, yeah, and I explained the whole story. They’re like, okay, well, that’s good. They were like, well, what do you do for rocks? And I’m like, I’m not that strong yet. I’m not that confident in it. But there’s been times to where when we’re out on the trail,

 

we have to go over some rocks.

 

And then, you know, it’s like, okay, I am white knuckle or pucker factor or whatever, but it’s it’s it’s interesting. But then there’s been those ones where you just slide off and you drop and that just scares the bejesus out of me. There’s been a few times to where I’ve had to spot people on rocks. Kim and just being on the off not standing in front of the vehicle, not seeing what was going on the passenger side. I could see, you know, the front passenger to the driver’s side because I was standing on the driver’s side.

 

Just navigating folks.

 

Folks in teaching myself to just how to get around on rocks. I think it would just be just a learning experience. I mean, I’m like a sponge when I’m out on the trails, you know, I’ll ask you crazy questions and you’ll be likely to get no better. But you know, it’s just one of those things. Some little hard-headed takes a while for it to sink in. But I like the mud, but I would want to try the rocks a little just because of.

 

You know, you can’t see under the mud. Like if you don’t if you just happen to reach down to adjust your, you know, get your chapstick or put your radio down and you don’t see where the person in front of you went through the mud. You don’t know if they navigated over a rock or something or a stump in the in the mud or whatever. Excuse me. So at least when you’re on rocks, you can kind of see, oh, you know that that one’s got to take some serious navigating, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever. So I like the mud, but I’m starting to like the rocks a little just a few times that we’ve been on them. I don’t know if I’d want to go full full-time rock just because of the whole white knuckle pucker factor of rocks.

 

I leave.

 

So growing up, I always rode four-wheelers side by sides. I’ve always been in the off-roading things, but I was always known for I was the first one in the mud. So I definitely love the mud.

 

So like four-wheelers and stuff, they’re way easier to wash off than Jeep. I just spent two hours today washing off mud from last weekend.

 

So really enjoy the mud, but it is horrible to get it out of all the crevices because if you let the mud there, it creates rust and I don’t want that. So I do love the mud, but I do really like the technical trails. My friend Charlie and I, we venture out every once in a while and he makes me do some blues and it’s a lot of fun just navigating over stuff and seeing what your Jeep is capable of. And I have to say, I’m super impressed with some of the stuff that my Jeep can do, even not, not having lockers in the front. And it’s every time I go out with it and I go on some new blues, I’m just honestly shocked at what it can do. And I’m always proud of myself when I’m done with it. I’m like, oh, okay, I can do this.

 

So I like both. I like a good technical day on the trail over the rocks.

 

I don’t have as much cleaning to do afterwards, but mud holes are also my favorite. When I leave muddy, I feel like I accomplished something that day.

 

I’m with you on that. Yeah. When I first started, it was more rocks and then happened to find a whole bunch of people that like mud. And so then I started going towards mud and I forgot about how much I like the rocks. Yeah, I really I’m a 50-50. So I like my easy days of roaming and seeing where we’re going and getting into whatever mud puddles and whatever. And I keep hearing no more mud and water, no more mud and water, but there’s different types of mud. So like what we’re used to here in Pennsylvania is completely different than what you’re going to get in Virginia and North Carolina and Tennessee. So we’ve got our wet mud, which is more like puddles than that sloppy slippery stuff where you’re losing control and you’re sliding and you’ve got it. You know, and it’s a different way of wheeling.

 

So it provides a different challenge.

 

So, you know, we’re used to doing our, you know, splash mountains and things like that and you know, and having a good time and puddle roads and whatever.

 

But I also do enjoy the rocks and it’s so many newbie days of me not getting to do the rocks and to flex, you know, it’s those muscles that you forget that you have.

 

So it’s, you know, we’re now doing things differently so that it’s not just newbie days and that, you know, I can go out and work on my skills besides helping everyone out, but I enjoy both, you know, so there’s going to be a whole different way of us doing things with events. So this way everybody can take advantage of wheeling a girl’s play off-road, you know, and doing a bit of everything, you know, from the little tiny pebbles that we see some people like to do with spotters and to the bigger stuff that some of us like to do with spotters or without spotters, you know, and that’s why we’ve got some badge of honor trail days coming up and, you know, a new big newbie day event, which is open to everybody.

 

And so Lisa, your whole comment made me think about our newbie day because it’s not just for green trails that day. This is going to be a day of learning starting in the morning. You know, yes, there’s stuff that like you’ll have no like someone who’s experienced will know, but you can never learn enough.

 

So our newbie day on August 10th at Rauch Creek, there’s going to be stuff for everybody to learn from whatever skill set they’re at, you know, and everybody can add in to what they know to help someone out. So there are going to be groups that are going out that are going to be doing rocks, you know, and doing more challenging things. And then there are going to be people that are going out and doing green trails that are, you know, basic, you know, for people that are stuck and or who have never wheeled before, you know, and are scared to death because of what, you know, what the hell are they doing? You know, we were all shitting our pants the first time we went out. Willy, what are we doing? Who came up with this idea to take expensive vehicles out onto the trails and drive over rocks?

 

Yeah, when I first got my Jeep, my stepmom was like, you’re going to like take that on trails, like, like over rocks and stuff. I’m like, yeah, she’s like, well, aren’t you afraid you’re going to ruin it? I’m like, that’s what I bought it for. That’s what it’s made to do.

 

But that’s what it is. So this way, I’m looking at newbie day as being a full day of empowerment for everybody, regardless of what vehicle. We’ve got Cassie’s coming with her Grand Cherokee. We’ve got Vanessa who’s coming in her toaster, you know, the Renegade. She she put a little bit of a more aggressive tire on, you know, and is now looking into getting a lift because she likes going, you know, and so there’s something for everybody, you know, so we can learn. We could empower each other. Definitely laugh our asses off, you know, and just enjoy, you know, being together and getting better at things, you know, and then of course eating together is always oh, yes, we have to we ended yesterday’s mud run lunch was ice cream Sundays. No way that shocker.

 

Yeah, two trunks does not disappoint. It’s oh my god, two trunks is the bomb day. Yeah.

 

I had an apple pie ice cream Sunday.

 

It was it was unbelievable. It had one of those hostess apple pies. I think crushed at the bottom. Okay, and vanilla ice cream and apple pie filling and some caramel and it was and then you did the blueberry crumble. Yeah, that was amazing. I saw like a thing about today was like I should get on my bike and go back up there.

 

Well, we’re doing an ice cream path on August 21st. I think whatever that whatever that Sunday is of all breeds.

 

Yeah.

 

Yeah, the 21st. So we’re going to leave from all breeds and do I think we’ve got five or six ice cream places to go to from there. So dinner will be ice cream that day. Perfect. Could probably find a pretzel a pierogi to just add some carbs in there to soak up all the pierogies right now.

 

So who’s up for a question Lisa? What’s your question? My question because I’ve really experienced this a lot since we’ve known each other. What is your preference and why automatic or manual?

 

That’s a good one. And I will I will say I bought my 15 that I had I built it basic. I wanted a manual transmission and manual everything else and your windows locks everything but it taught me it taught me how to take it easier on the trails being a manual is learning to feather the petals or in some cases not feathering the petals and I’d wind up fat footing it and stalling out mid trail to I’d have to throw it in Reverse and you know push it again.

 

But then when I got my my current Jeep, it’s an automatic taking the same trails that I took before in my manual and just the ease and just the just just the simple little things you you’re not stressing with making sure that you keep a hand on the wheel and the gear your gear shift in your other hand and feathering the gas in the clutch and then whatever then maybe having to hit the brake or whatever going from manual to automatic was awesome. If I had if I had to go the other way, I think I would be even more scared and not test myself as much as I did in the beginning.

 

So yeah manual or automatic.

 

If you could drive a manual, I mean, I would think that a good chunk of our community has done a manual.

 

But there is ones that do not you know, just because of you’ve never had to experience that but if you if you’ve done both, which is your preference.

 

I want to take it a manual. It’s I’m not the greatest at it. I could definitely survive if I had to do it, but for the exact reason you’re saying of the level of stress that there is with it and being so new into wheeling. That’s why I prefer the automatic that instead of having to concentrate on all four of those pieces like just let my brain get to my feet and figure out how to get over this next obstacle. We’re at versus both hands doing something different both feet doing something different. My eyeballs trying to do something and whoever is in my passenger seat and the meltdown they might be having like it’s just

 

automatic.

 

Yeah, so I had a my YJ my TJ were both manual, but I never off-road those. They was just kind of my fun vehicles and then my JL was automatic and now my JK is automatic and I specifically wanted automatic because I knew I was going to be trailing it and I just don’t want to deal with the extra.

 

Head on and shifting and I know when for low, it’s they’re not too bad. They kind of just go on their own, but I just don’t want to deal with that and deal with burning up a clutch and getting water in the clutch and so I definitely preferred automatic. I just kind of like to get in and cruise especially after a long day of wheeling. The last thing I want to do is drive two hours home and have to be shifting and stuff. So I just want to get in and cruise. So I went automatic but I can do manual if I wanted to but definitely automatic is easier.

 

What’s your preference?

 

Me automatic.

 

Me? Yep.

 

I have not driven a manual vehicle since 94.

 

I could do it if I had to but yeah automatic for me just because that’s what I’m used to.

 

So the only time I ever drove stick was probably back in the 90s. I had a boyfriend that was trying to teach me so he’d give me his RX-7 to take him to the train.

 

He drive us to the train station and say okay take my car home and I had to figure that out. I don’t know how to drive this. I really I wouldn’t trust myself with it. And so the funny thing I’m all automatic and so now with this Florida trail team trail team challenge because I can’t speak.

 

Mary Burns my partner. Her Jeep is Emmanuel.

 

You’re going to be driving the whole thing. She’s like what I’m like, I don’t know how to she’s like it’s easy to learn how to do it during the competition.

 

Bless her heart that she is like so patient with me.

 

So one of our admins has agreed to let me practice on her Jeep.

 

But so now I have a question. How do you get water in a clutch? Like I what is what does that even mean? Someone explain this stuff. When you’re clutch when you push your clutch in to change gears if you’re not Arlene correct me if I’m wrong. When you’re pushing the clutch in and you don’t like to let’s just use my last year. Yeah. Yeah, if you’re in a water hole and you go to press your clutch in to be oh, no, I’m not in the right gear. You will and can get water in your clutch when I will with Charlie. This actually happened to him and he was like, oh man, I don’t water my clutch. He’s like I tried not to press my clutch in but he’s like I needed to grab another gear. So I can.

 

How do you get it out? I guess the water will come out then but it will slip and carry on.

 

Yeah, I didn’t know that was a thing either until I willed with him.

 

Always Charlie’s fault whether it’s your Charlie or my Charlie. It’s always. I know.

 

Charlie’s. So you just have to you have to make sure like what that was one of the things every time we did a water obstacle.

 

I would have to make sure that I’m in second year.

 

Or I’m in first, but I’m hanging it out on our gear. I have to stay until I get out of the water. You either you get in your gear that you need to be in before you hit the water and then you’re there until you’re done. Because if not, you’re running that chance of getting stuck in the water hole. Yeah.

 

Oh, this is.

 

That’s why we haven’t power our Jane. The anxiety is building. So I was going to need to empower me with learning how to drive a manual. Holy. Well, you’re going to have to try it out in four low because most of the time in four low if you just slowly let the clutch out, they’ll just about take off on their own. That’s what she said. She said it basically does it itself. Yeah. It’s the best. Yeah, the best.

 

I mean coming down some of them rocky Hills that we’ve done in the beginning when I was when I was told by my spotter to just let take it easy and let your Jeep show you what it’s capable of. Yeah, and then she just cruise right down the hill. It started going a little too fast and just tap your brake just a little bit to slow it down. But yeah, you treat her you treat her nice and she’s going to walk walk you right through the park with no problem.

 

Or he whatever you decide gender your vehicle or for Mary.

 

We’re going to get you squared away. Don’t worry. We’re going to take care of you. My goodness. I have to learn so much. So navigation marksmanship. We could handle that. They will not let me know what type of firearm it is. I already asked is it a handgun a shotgun a rifle or like what do we do? So I’m I had bought my husband a crossbow for his birthday. So I’m going to figure out how to use that just in case and goes I could do a rifle. I could do.

 

Shotgun. I haven’t found one that I’m strong enough or comfortable enough to do. So that’s so I’m going to have to you know, so this way I’m willing to learn we have to do first aid with to do mechanics, which is okay because she’s a mechanic by trade.

 

So but you want to think one thing you need to understand on situations like this and this is how we’ve done it with my with my soldiers when we were in you find out what every person’s what is their advantage and then you take that person out of the equation. Okay, she is a mechanic but they could throw a scenario at you that something, you know, that roleplay or whatever they could be. Okay, something’s going on and you now you need to fix it and you cannot ask her question basic information.

 

Good. I’m the weakest link. No, no, no, no, no, don’t look at it like that. Don’t look at it. If you have basic knowledge on the littlest things, it’ll help you and if you get to the point and not knowing how this event works, if you if you’re there and you’re busting your ass to try and figure it out, you know, who knows they may be like, okay, you’re good. You got it. And now Mary’s back in the game, but it could be to where they say, okay, mechanical is her thing. Mary, you can’t talk Jamie. Here’s the situation and it could be not knowing Mary. It could be something to wear. Okay, Mary.

 

Jamie’s the marksman on the team right now. Jamie can’t do anything. You are now the marksman. So you have to look at all of the aspects of this and accept the challenge and just learn bits and pieces. You don’t have to learn everything. I know you but I’m telling you you just need to learn bits and pieces of each aspect. So you have you have the basic street smarts to survive.

 

Okay. We’ll get me to it.

 

I’m going to need some empowering ladies and some educating. So I’m going to be tapping in for all my resources.

 

So who’s up for a question?

 

Arlene, did you ask a question yet? I didn’t and I didn’t come into this having a question, but I came up with one in my mind only because I’m going to be running into this scenario.

 

Probably a few months or so maybe but so my question would be tires.

 

What like what have been your favorite set of tires? Do you have a brand preference preference size preference? I can’t decide what I want to get when it’s time and whether I want to stay with 35. Do I want to try 37?

 

So what’s what’s everybody’s favorite tire that they’ve had so far?

 

How long you go? You’re the queen.

 

You’ve got big tires. So my favorites for the Mickey Thompson and he tease the threes. They’ve rebranded them and they were supposed to be the same thing. They’re not called the legend. They are not the same. So when it comes time for new tires, I’ll be looking again. But the previous they were awesome like I just ran so smooth and they were good and you know, rain and dirt and mud and everything rocks.

 

The rebranded ones I slide off of rocks that I’ve never slid off before. I just they’re wearing like crazy.

 

As far as size, I think it comes down to just personal preference. Like I went from the first to the second. I went from 33 and I knew I wasn’t going to be happy with 35. So I just jump right on up to 37. I don’t regret it. In fact, now I think I might eventually go with 40s at some point. Did you regear for the 37s? I did every year and since then I’ve swapped out axles and the axles that I bought had 513. So I’m geared enough to do the 40s. Okay, cool.

 

But yeah, I think it’s definitely a personal preference and what you’re going to be using them for. Right.

 

Okay, so I just pulled up. So when I was looking because I got new tires last summer. So I’m looking at the conversation that I had with one of the performance shops because we went through that and so we had gone over the Mickey Thompson Baja XS the Nitto Trail Grappler the BF Goodrich KM3 and the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss MTs and the Maxis Trepidors.

 

So we kept it at 35s. I have a set of 38 that I didn’t really feel comfortable on the Jeep. I’m geared for it to go up to a 40 or 38 things up to 40s. So when it came down to it, his thoughts were that more aggressive 35 that would do the he liked the Trail Grappler or the KM3s for me.

 

So the BF Goodrich, he thought the sidewalls were a little too soft for wheeling. And so we wound and he swore by the Nitto Trail Grapplers. So I went with that.

 

I will say that I don’t love them on the road when it’s wet.

 

Right. Not Kim same with you not loving the way my tires are wearing that I my previous set was BF Goodrich. And so I will that’s I’m heading back there, you know next year once I’m set for a new set of tires.

 

And I went yeah, I stuck with 35. I might go up to that. I wasn’t ready for 37s yet. Now it’s maybe next year. We’ll go a little bit bigger.

 

Lisa you just got new tires. What did you get? What did I get?

 

Nitto Trail Grapplers or fridge Grapplers?

 

What did I get? I got the same thing you have. You do? No, you don’t. Yeah. Yeah. I have the same tire. I have the same tires. I didn’t get the same rims. Yeah, I think you have the Trail Grapplers for I’m weird. So like I always I’m checking out people’s tires whether it’s on a car Jeep, whatever. I don’t know. I guess it has I guess it’s because I’ve worked around cars my whole life. I’ve been in dealership parts for like 13 years. So I’m always checking out people’s tires and I don’t know my Jeep came with Goodyear Wrangler Duratrax. They’re 35s.

 

And I wasn’t I was like, I wonder how those are going to be but honestly, I’ve been really impressed with them. They’re great on the trail. I usually air down between 15 and 16 pounds. They grip rocks great because the edge of the tire and the sidewall have like the little you know, the tread there. So it helps grab the rocks and stuff. I’ve never been a fan of Goodyear. So I was skeptical but I have to say like on the road in the rain. I thought it was going to be a little sketchy, but it’s been great in the rain and snow as well. I’ve read a lot of good things about the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrax and they’re right up there in price too along with the Mickey Thompson’s and the Niddles and stuff.

 

I would definitely go with them again, but I kind of feel like I want to try something different.

 

But I have been really impressed with them. They’re a little bit on the softer side, which is great for gripping and stuff like that. Like I said, they are good in the rain and snow. So it’s good for that. So I kind of like to stay with a softer tire even though they don’t last as long.

 

But it’s one thing or the other. They’re going to be a hard tire. They’re going to last much longer, probably not that great in the rain and snow or you’re going to go softer tire, grip the road better, grip rocks better and stuff like that. But I’ve been impressed with them so far. Yeah, so I just got new tires late April, early May and last weekend was the first time you actually wheeling them. So I had a good five or 800 miles on them all already, which I wanted to do. It was a phenomenal ride. So I’ve had Mickey’s and I’ve had, I want to say I’ve had some Goodyears. I don’t remember the brand, but I like the way my Niddles are riding on the road and on the trail.

 

Yeah, I’m like huge. Really well.

 

Yeah, so.

 

Okay, Cassie, what size tires you rolling with on that Graham Cherokee?

 

I’m doing good.

 

Also, it’s 16.

 

I’m going for it. You’re a good reviews.

 

You’re a little out of static.

 

Okay, we’ll see if Cassie comes back to us and focus and we could answer that. So we have nine minutes left from this awesome show.

 

So before so we’re going to go into joke time.

 

But before I do I need to tell you Cassie’s back with us. Cassie let it rip. Tell us about your tires.

 

You’re muted. Unmute yourself.

 

I’m the one that the older one. I have BF Goodrich all-terrain. They’re 16s and they’re wearing really nice. They’re definitely a softer tire. They’re more mud than snow but this past winter and the thing was unstoppable. I was able to get wherever I wanted to go size 16th. 33 31 35.

 

Not sure whatever the stock tire was on it. I didn’t get anything bigger just because I didn’t want to mess with the wheel well and stress it out with turning since I didn’t do the lift yet. So there’s still got to be something that’s coming down the line.

 

Okay, so before we before we head into our joke time since we skipped that last one. I need to tell you guys a little bit about the mud girl mud run that we did yesterday. I was so proud. So it was 11 of us and to watch everyone jump in together and to support each other.

 

And it didn’t matter if you are on our team or not and we’re watching all these other teams and they’re just blowing by and women are struggling and nobody’s stopping and then there’s the girls playoff road team. We were wearing our mud hole mermaid shirts that thankfully we were sponsored by mud hole mermaids. Stacey Griffith is awesome and we were a mud hole mermaids. I mean to see them so crazy under some strange girls, but pushing her up and he was at the top pulling them over and rooting them on and an older woman came up to one of them and said, you know, like I’m doing this by myself. Can you help me?

 

Yeah, when it was the same thing as last year. We did the run Arlene broke her ankle and everybody just jumped in. So Arlene, how great was the team yesterday? I mean it really was like amazing. Yeah, I mean Sucre really she was helping everybody like just grabbing a hold of everybody’s butts and just pushing them up the mud hills and we had between her and Eva. It was a great beginning. Yeah, you know, like there was everybody was getting over it and we all went at each other’s pace. So we walked it, you know, and it was just so supportive. I was the camera person with my not feeling well was trying to prevent bronchitis from setting in. So I think I took over like 260 pictures or videos yesterday. Yeah, you know, capture my skips to obstacles. I was like, I think I’m good.

 

Everybody tried, you know, they did the best that they could and everybody supported each other through it and that was amazing and that’s truly what you know, so it was the kind of psyched about tonight being an empower hour after coming out of such an empowering weekend of just being around these powerhouses of women.

 

So Kim you have had a joke waiting for two weeks.

 

I’m going to let you take this one and in the true Kim quick-go spirit this better be perverted or something because that’s just not cool. Come on.

 

What do you call a bagel that flies? A plain bagel.

 

Okay, Lisa, I know you’ve been researching.

 

I actually have a few but I’ll stick with how we started this podcast.

 

I found a wooden shoe in my toilet today. It was clogged.

 

Oh, hi. Oh, my.

 

Cassie, do you have a joke?

 

What do you call a witch on the beach?

 

A sand witch.

 

Nice.

 

Like, I have just so bad.

 

So Arlene, do you got one? I don’t think I do. I’m trying to come up with someone in my head though. Does that count?

 

So I mean, this is just bad. So let’s see some of this. I have another one while they are thinking.

 

Good. Okay, go for it. How do you make a tissue dance?

 

Little boogie in it? Yes, but a little boogie. Look at my giggling.

 

Okay, let’s see. I don’t know if it was a house next door. Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer?

 

She kept running away from the ball.

 

But I’m bummed.

 

Why did the ketchup blush?

 

Why?

 

Because he saw the salad dressing.

 

These are also, this is like embarrassing.

 

You know what? Let’s just do it any, I don’t know. I can’t, this is just. How is life like toilet paper?

 

Oh, you’re either on a roll or taking shit from somebody.

 

Yes.

 

Okay.

 

I like it.

 

So on that note, we’re going to tune out on this one. So I want to thank you all for joining us on this episode of Chick Chat, your passport to Jeep Adventures. We hope you’d enjoy our journey through the world of Jeeps from a women’s perspective. Hope you made you laugh quite a bit. And of course, a big shout out to our listeners without you Jeep Talk Show. Chick Chat wouldn’t be possible. We hope you found today’s episode empowering, informative, and entertaining. Don’t forget to tune in next time for more exciting adventures, captivating stories, and invaluable insights from the world of Jeeps. We will be back with Empower Hour in two weeks. Until then, stay stylish, stay adventurous, and keep on jeeping. This is Jamie signing off from Chick Chat. See you on the trail.

 

Broadcasting Sense 2010.

 

You’re my friend. You’re my new friend.