Episode 402 – Trail Recon and The Gladiator Recall
This Week In Jeep:
STOP The Presses! (or whatever machines are making the Gladiators)
It’s not uncommon for vehicle manufacturers to occasionally get something wrong. Something that causes a recall to be issued. We’ve heard about countless recalls over the years right here on the jeep talk show. But out of all the recalls that I myself have reported on, i have never heard of one that led to a stop sale order. Sure, there have been some pretty serious recalls over the years too. Faulty welds, shifting and ignition issues, risk of fire, engine failure and even loss of control of the vehicle. Any of which could lead to a serious crash and possibly kill you. But none of those required FCA to call for a stop of all sales of a particular model. Stopping vehicle sales is serious business. Car makers make money on volume, so it’s imperative that dealerships have the ability to sell said vehicles that are in demand. Stopping that is an immediate blow to the bottom line to both the automaker and the dealer. This week FCA called for a complete stop on all Jeep Gladiator JT truck sales and initialized a recall of over 3,400 Gladiators to repair a problem that could lead to a fractured driveshaft. These trucks were delivered without grease in their monoblock drive shaft joints, which could then seize after a period of use, and cause the rear driveshaft to fracture and separate. Thankfully, no accidents or injuries related to the issue have been reported. According to NHTSA, the vehicles were built from December 15, 2018 through June 25, 2019. About five percent of the recalled trucks are suspected to be missing the grease, but with something this serious, they’re not taking any chances. The Wrangler-based Gladiator is Jeep’s most important new model this year and its first pickup since 1992. Over 7,000 were sold through June, which was when Fiat Chrysler filed its latest quarterly sales report. Affected owners will be notified, but can also search the NHTSA website for information using their VIN. https://www.nhtsa.gov/
FCA orders immediate stop of all Gladiator sales. Recall issued. And we have one more “dumb criminal story” this week.
Famous Last Words
I was exclaiming on last weeks show about how much I love stupid criminal stories. It seems the Jeep gods were listening, and decided to teach one Arizona business owner a lesson, giving me more fodder for the news cannon. To that end I present to you this weeks dumb criminal story. It was Tuesday morning when a local business owner on his way to work briefly stopped in at a local convenience store in the 800 block of South Main Street in Cottonwood Arizona for some refreshments. When he came back out, his Jeep was gone. A story we hear about all too often. But what if I told you that it was his own damn fault. Ordinarily I put all the blame on the criminals, and rightly so. I hate thieves, I’m sure you do too, ‘nuff said. But this time the story has enough stupid in it to go around. I don’t know about you, but if I owned and drove around every day a well built, lifted and armored JKU on 37’s, I probably wouldn’t leave it running, unlocked, with the keys in it, as I went in to buy a Slurpee. Well, lesson learned, as it was only until about 2pm that same day that Cottonwood police found the stolen Jeep at a Corneille residence. It was there that they arrested 20 year old Micheal Dean May (junior). According to the police report, the keys to the stolen Jeep were found in May’s pocket, and he was taken into custody without incident. Police also reported that the thief had been seen by a business owner pacing back and forth in the same strip mall where the Jeep was taken just prior to it being stolen. Cottonwood police handled things internally, but also posted on social media asking people to keep an eye out. They of course received several tips of the Jeeps location because of the Jeep’s bright orange color and large business logos on the sides. Kind of hard to miss, which also begs the question: why steal such an eye catching, one of a kind vehicle? One would think it from sheer stupidity, or maybe he was under the influence of meth or heroin or something. Nope! Cottonwood police interviewed May about taking the Jeep. When he was asked whether he had permission to take the vehicle, he replied, “Well, it was running.” … The 20 year old kid was booked into the Vapidity County Detention Center for unlawful use of means of transportation, a felony offense. The Jeep, which was returned to the owner, didn’t appear to be damaged or missing anything except fuel from May driving it. So happy ending I guess, and a lesson learned the hard way.
Wrangler Talk:
Xtreme Off Road Adventure Update
I now have 3 floors in my Jeep. I have a Jeep basement, a Jeep attic and my main floor. My Jeep basement. My rear seats are out and I have a wood platform over that area that is flush with the rear “Trunk”. I had a friend at work form cut the platform then I got out the old handy dandy hand saw to cut some 2 by 4’s as a stand. It’s pretty solid. It’s sits high enough where I can fit my 2 tool bags, hi-lift, hi-lift base and my air compressor underneath. Plus there is room for more. My Jeep attic is the Molle Platform Solutions over head shelf. So simple and easy and lots of room. Most likely store my clothes and personal items. Then my main level which will be my sleeping level has the molle ammo can carrier shelves which hold my “kitchen & camping” items. I can fit my twin foam mattress. I’m thankful for Willie Waggon as he’s giving me some rotopax. I will need to find a place for my extra fluids and parts. Neil will be carrying everything else. The shower, solar panels, fridge, stove & grill and kitchen ware. So I’m pretty set for my Jeep set up. Now it’s time to make sure the mechanical part of my Jeep is prepped. Today I had my Tom Woods front driveshaft checked. Shawn wanted to make sure it was working good and if it wasn’t he was going to get it shipped to Utah and get it fixed but it’s all good. However while under my Jeep at Adrenaline Off Road Jeff noticed that the front pinion flange has some excessive play. He suspects the pinion bearings are worn. He suggested it might still be covered under the powertrain warranty. Which I am for 6 thousand more miles or until October 31st. So early Friday Morning I’m heading to Adams Jeep to get it looked at. Possibly just needs to be tightened I’m told too. Right now I have no idea. I sure got a sinking feeling in my stomach. UGH! But my overland partner Neil set me at ease. Even if they tighten it and it fails there are Jeep dealers all over the country that will fix it. AND Neil said he could fix it on the trail for me. I am so thankful to have picked such a great team mate. He just did a JK Build for a guy who is so ecstatic with his build. He has folks lining up with their builds. Then there is my oil/tranny skid which I took off because it was rubbing the exhaust since I banged it on a rock pretty good. We are going to try and bend it back. Then the last thing is tires. Both Neil and I are waiting for our Nexen tires. Whew!!! Don’t forget my Go Fund Me. Tee Shirts are for sale with proceeds going to 4 Wheel To Heal.
Interview with:
Brad Kowitz from Trail Recon
Brad is the creator of the YouTube channel TrailRecon which he and his son started a little over 3 years ago. His videos bring viewers along for the ride on some amazing off-road adventures and he shares the projects he’s working on in the garage on one of his 4 Jeeps. Brad is a retired Navy Corpsman and while his Jeep is silver, he does have one yellow and three RED jeeps in the family!
You can follow Brad at https://www.youtube.com/trailrecon or https://www.instagram.com/trailrecon/
Tech Talk Just the Tip:
Switch Install Door Less Override
If you’re the owner of an older Jeep Wrangler, you may have experienced some frustration with the interior dome light. For those not in the know, removing the doors on a warm day or for a bit of open-air fun can lead to a dead battery. This happens because the Wrangler’s light stays on because the door is no longer there to depress the switch to shut the dome light off. And unless you remove the fuse to that circuit, or pull the bulb itself, either way, you’re going to lose your light. That is unless a custom shutoff switch is added. And this peace of mind will come at the expense of some very basic wiring and maybe a trip to the parts store or wrecking yard. Now despite projects like this being about as simple as a wiring job gets on a Jeep, you still need the proper tools and supplies. A good set of terminal crimpers is first up, and outside of normal everyday hand tools, you’re likely not going to need much else. What we’re going to do here is interrupt the door switches feed to the dome light itself with a toggle switch of some kind. This can be a simple little paddle switch, or something like a slider switch, either way, it needs to be a switch, and not a momentary on/off button. What you’re going to do is find the wire or wires that goes to the door switch. Thats the little plunger device that sticks out of the door seam by the hinge side of the door. They can be found in the kick panel, the area adjacent to the foot well, between the cab of the jeep and the body. There’s a space there where wires pass from one area of the jeep to another, and you should very easily be able to trace the wires from the back of the door switch down to where you can get to a few inches of it to work with. You’re going to cut one of the wires (if there’s two), and install the switch inline on that one wire. So long as the connections or terminals used are insulated you can simply tuck the switch into the kick panel, or route it up to the rest of your switches, or install it in a custom switch panel. Now when you take your doors off, just flip the switch and the dome light is turned off as if the door or doors were shut. Depending on how it’s wired, your Jeep may need this done to both doors, or install the switch inline to the main feed going to the dome light itself. If your wiring and fabrication skills are a little better, you can source a dome light that has a built in switch, and retro-fit this into your Jeep in place of the existing light to create the same effect. Two different ways to go about the same problem, and depending on where you source your parts from, this could potentially cost you next to nothing.
Jeep Momma Product Review
Black Rock Steel Wheel SERIES 997 TYPE 8
Steel construction, matte black finish, conical seat lug (coned shape lug nuts), cap included A Conical Seat lug nut is sometimes called an “Acorn” or a “Tapered” lug nut. This is the most common seat type. They are available with 60° or 45° taper. 60° is the most common and is found on most aftermarket wheels. 45° conical seat lug nuts have a larger, wider surface that engages the wheel. The threaded fasteners that secure the wheels to the chassis are perhaps the most critical components on any vehicle, yet they’re often the most overlooked and under-appreciated. Improperly sized threads or seat styles or improperly installed wheel fasteners can result in loss of a wheel and tire package (wheel separation from the vehicle) during vehicle operation. With that in mind, we need to pay more attention to these vital fasteners. If the angles don’t match, there will be very little contact area of the lug nut in actual contact with the wheel itself. This can result in the fasteners (lug nuts) vibrating loose, or in some cases, putting shear forces on the lugs themselves which could cause them to break and the wheel to come off in some situations. When taking into perspective the amount of side-load a wheel sees when off road, this a critical issue that should be paid attention to. Lug centric wheels need the tapered angle of the lugs to match so that the wheel is actually centered on the axle. If the angles don’t match up, the wheel could be mounted off center, and this can cause serious if not catastrophic problems. (especially at higher speeds, or on severe off camber situations)
Nicky G:
Steals Lugs Nuts and Duct Tapes Socket Sets
Wheeling Where:
4th Annual Rebelle Rally
October 10th – 19th
Lockhart Basin, Ut.
More Info: https://www.rebellerally.com/
The Rebelle Rally is back for its fourth year as America’s premier women’s off-road navigation rally! (Ep. 304 Coralee Lack – competitor)
Bayou Mudfest
October 10-13
Muddy Bottoms ATV & Recreation Park – Sarepta, Louisiana
More Info: http://www.muddybottomsatv.com/
Links Mentioned in Episode 402:
NHTSA VIN Check For Recalls – https://www.nhtsa.gov/