Episode 406 – American Expedition Vehicles is Here!
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Whether you are upgrading your Jeep’s suspension, swapping axles, changing trannies or modifying your transfer case, one component of your Jeep almost always demands attention—the driveshaft. It’s the critical link in your drive line, and a sensitive one at that. A little off here, a little off there, and if you’re not careful, you could find yourself in big trouble somewhere you can least afford it. This is why you should put your trust in the biggest name in drive shafts, Tom Woods. Just go to 4XShaft.com find out more!
“Do you even lift, Bro? Well, whether you lift or not, chances are, if you are listening right now, you probably drive a Wrangler or know someone who does. When it comes to jacking up your Jeep, there are several things you need to take into consideration depending on your personal usage, budget, and even desired tire size. To help make lifting your Wrangler as easy-peesey as possible, the writers at ExtremeTerrain have compiled their definitive guide to Jeep Wrangler lift kits—AND ITS JACKED!
Nexen tire has been around for 77 years. Nexen has made passenger and SUV tires along with street performance for many years, and most recently have started making off road tires. The Nexen Roadian MTX is an amazing long lasting off road tire with it’s all around fantastic performance in mud or rocks. Find out more about Nexen tires by going to nexen tire u s a dot com right now. That’s http://nexentireusa.com/
This Week In Jeep:
Back From The Dead
Hurricane Dorian was the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and is regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. From that storm came many stories of harrowing disaster, and a massive cry for humanitarian support for those affected. Then there was that iconic picture framing the epitome of lack of common sense. You know the one…where someone thought it would be a good idea to park their grand cherokee on the wet sand during a hurricane to do some “storm watching.” The pictures went viral, as did countless videos of random people climbing up on the roof during its last moments for a quick selfie and a claim to fame being photographed with the ill fated Jeep. Many were in an uproar as authorities had no plans to risk themselves or their equipment to try and recover the vehicle during Dorians landfall, essentially sealing the Jeeps fate. Oddly enough the person who drove that Jeep out onto the beach during a hurricane WASN’T the owner. I’m personally glad to hear a Jeep owner wasn’t actually that stupid. It turns out that the actual owners of the Jeep loaned it to a cousin because the weather had turned too dangerous for him to ride his motorcycle. This ever so brilliant cousin drove the vehicle onto the beach to get video of the sunrise over the crashing waves. The Jeep obviously got stuck, and no towing service in their right mind was willing to remove it as Dorian approached Myrtle Beach. The then doomed Jeep quickly became a TV and social media sensation, and one man even serenaded the Jeep with ‘Amazing Grace’ on bagpipes. The Jeep surprisingly enough, did NOT get washed out to sea, and WAS (believe it or not) eventually recovered after Dorian passed. It is of course a complete and total loss. And even though the owners wanted to buy it back from the insurance company, the company refused stating the Jeep was too much of a health risk to ever be occupied by humans again for any length of time. That hasn’t stopped the owners from capitalizing on the Jeeps fame however. They explained to the insurance company the role the Jeep played in the hurricane coverage and that their goal was to help the Bahamas through the Jeep’s popularity. So the company gave the couple a year’s grace period to use it just for that. The red Jeep (now dry and set up for display purposes) will appear at the Pennzoil AutoFair at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week, Its owners are using the Jeep to raise money for Dorian victims in the Bahamas through a GoFundMe account, with all donations going to UNICEF.
If you talk by using emojis, you’re vocabulary (thankfully for the rest of us) just got smaller.
If you’ve listened to the show for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard me touting just how much I have gone out of my way to ensure that I or anyone in my family never own a single Apple device. As a former DJ I have a laundry list of reasons that I used to avoid their products like the plague. That being said I couldn’t be happier for all those who DO have apple devices and use them and our iOS app to download and listen to the show. Just know that it would probably be easier and sound better on an Android device instead. But I digress. This week, Apple did something that on the surface may have a lot of people in the Jeep world upset. Especially those who can’t form proper sentence syntax without using smiley faces, egg plants, and finger gestures. But I for one, as well as the entire Jeep corporation couldn’t be happier. In its latest iOS update, Apple has removed “Jeep” from the list of words that generate an emoji that looks like a small, blue utility vehicle. In other words, Apple clearly has no idea what a Jeep looks like, (I mean it’s not like Jeep more or less has used the same overall vehicle shape for over 75 YEARS OR ANYTHING!) And in Apple;s infinite wisdom authorised what looks to be a super accurate representation of Fiats smallest vehicle or a SMART car to represent the iconic offroader. Jeep is known for relentlessly protecting its trademark, because the name is often used as a generic term for an off-road vehicle by people who are too ignorant and lazy to learn how to speak using proper terminology. Its interesting to know that there is literally not a single other automaker’s name who launches a car related emoji, but it does show up as a selection when you type car, SUV or automobile into a message. So why did Jeep get picked over say Lamborghini or Ferrari? But while Jeep is making the incredibly smart move to distance itself from stupid immature and overly generic emoji associations, Ford has decided to go all in earlier this year, and submitted a pickup emoji that it designed to the Unicode Consortium, which doesn’t currently recognize one and has made no indication it ever plans to. Smooth move ford.
Wrangler Talk:
Hello JTS listeners on this week’s Wrangler talk we are going to cover Lockers and the different types of lockers on the market. So first off, most jeeps, unless you have a Rubicon, do not have lockers in them from the factory, this is what we call having open differentials. Meaning that one tire is free to move at a different speed then the tire on the opposite side of the axle which is very important when having your jeep just as a daily driver mostly driving around on dry pavement where there is a lot of traction. This type of open differential is mostly important for making turns because when you are making a turn around a corner or something the inside wheel will spin a slower rate than the outside wheel which could be problematic if you had a locker. So a lockers is a mechanical mechanism in the differential that when engaged or “Locked” links the two wheels on each side on one common shaft. Meaning that when the locker is engaged both tires must rotate at the same speed regardless the amount of traction that each tire has. So as you can see this would be very beneficial when you are off road and there is limited traction on some of your wheels or if one wheel is not touching the ground any longer. So as we can see that lockers are very useful in off road conditions there are a couple of different styles of lockers on the market. The two most common lockers that I see being used in the off-road community is the Eaton E-locker and the ARB Air locker. The Eaton E-locker come stock on all Rubicons and is a tried and true proven reliable locker. They are electronically actuated by providing a 12V power source to a solenoid engaging and disengaging the locking mechanism located inside the differential. The main benefit of having an Eaton E-locker is that you don’t have to worry much about external components failing when out on the trails, the systems only comprised of a switch and the locker itself. Secondly the other most common locker is the ARB Air locker, which uses compressed air to actuate the locking mechanism in the differential. ARB lockers are some of the strongest lockers on the market and has one of the best reputations too. However, there is a down fall to air lockers and that is if you spring a leak in one of your air lines or inside the differential housing the locker will not engage and return to being an open differential. Although ARB lockers do require more components because they are actuated with compressed air so when getting ARB lockers, you also need to install an onboard air compressor and some other components to supply the air to the differential housings. Although one other benefit of having air lockers on your rig you will also be able to use that air compressor for compressed air out on the trails and depending on the rating of the compressor you might be even able to run air tools from it. So finally, the last type of locker on the market is a mechanical actuated locker that is cable driven. The most common mechanical locker is the OX locker. The main benefit of having a mechanical locker is well that it is mechanical, you don’t have to worry about supplying it with any electricity or air to engage and disengage it. Secondly if for some reason the cable breaks OX does provide a plug or pin system that you can use to engage the lockers all the time or fully disengage it when you get off the trails. So with all the different types of lockers on the market there really isn’t a locker that completely surpasses all the others. They each work in their own way but they all serve the same purpose of connecting both tires on some solid axle forcing both wheels to spin as the same speed. This concludes this week’s wrangler talk and remember if you have any more question feel free to contact us at jeep talk show dot com slash contact and we will be happy to answer any more question and please stay tune for next week wrangler talk where we will be covering sleeving your axle tubes and the process behind it, thank you for listening and talk to you next week.
Jeep Life:
Jeep Momma Fired!
They finally fired me at my job. I am now unemployed. It’s been a stressful 2 weeks. Neil’s Maggie May Engine woes. We went from Plan A to Plan F. Neil is finally on the way! We both have had our share of bad luck these past 2 weeks. My ball joints and pinion flange to personal female health issues to Neil’s maggie may issues to money woes. But that’s we are persevering! It’s what Jeepers do. We adapt to the road ahead of us. Tammy’s Final Day Before The Big Trans America Trail Adventure
Interview with:
Matt Feldermann – Marketing Manager at American Expedition Vehicles Inc.
Matt Feldermann is the Marketing Manager at American Expedition Vehicles. He has been with them a little over 7 years but has been in the aftermarket industry for the past 20. Matt likes Philly sports, metal, rotary powered race cars and raccoons. Matt and his wife just had a baby boy back in June named Chase, so his life is pretty much consumed with either work or baby stuff right now. AEV’s website is www.aev-conversions.com
Nicky G:
Introduces us to his imaginary friend Bill.
Jeep Weather:
Hey Jeeper, its Mitch and it’s time for your weekly Jeep Weather Report. That’s where I suggest places to Go Topless this weekend! Since we read left to right here: let’s start in Portland, Oregon it will be cloudy all weekend with a chance of rain. 65 on Friday, 57 on Saturday and 58 on Sunday. Just leave your top over your shoulders for accessibility when it rains. If you want to check off your yearly polar bear swim early while Jeeping, then you can go topless in the forecasted hottest location in Canada this weekend. Victoria, British Columbia is 54 on Friday, and 53 on Saturday and Sunday. To make it a true polar bear drive, it will be raining off and on all weekend. That is a three for one deal: a polar bear drive, in a Jeep, while topless. Now if nippily days and getting wet isn’t your kind of Topless Jeeping, then I have a place for you! Virginia Beach, Virginia is in the temperate neutral zone for Homo sapiens. 70 on Friday, and 72 for Saturday and Sunday. Mother Nature is providing clouds for your Topless . . . Jeep Instagram pictures, just make sure they are within policy to post or just send them to us directly. If clouds aren’t your thing and no tan lines is important to you, then go Topless in Mesa, Arizona. It will be sunny with 85 for Friday, 89 for Saturday and Sunday. If you have any suggestions or want to know YOUR local weather for the weekend. Just reach out to me at JeepTalkShow.com/contact and send me a message. It’s always great weekend to Go Topless if you’re brave enough! Just Go Topless responsibly.
Wheeling Where:
California Four Wheel Drive Association – Panamint Valley Days
November 8th – 11th
Trona, California
More Info: https://cal4wheel.com/panamint-valley-days
This event is a fundraiser for Cal4Wheel. All funds raised go to support the daily operations of the association, as well as fund our natural resource consultants (John and Jeff), to help with conservation projects and the education of the public in the proper use of our beautiful outdoors and to keep our land open for all to enjoy.
SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Markets Assoc.)
November 5th – 8th
Las Vegas, Nevada
More Info: https://www.semashow.com/
Links Mentioned in Episode 406:
American Expedition Vehicles Inc.
https://www.aev-conversions.com/
https://www.facebook.com/aevehicles/
https://www.instagram.com/aevconversions/
https://www.youtube.com/user/aevconversions
Tom Woods Drive Shafts – http://4xshaft.com/
Extreme Terrain – https://www.extremeterrain.com/axial-jeep-wrangler-parts.html
NEXEN Tires – http://nexentireusa.com/