fbpx

Jeep Talk Show

A Show About Jeeps!

Episode 412 – Tuffy Security Products

Please visit our sponsors:

ExtremeTerrain,Todays Jeep Talk Show is brought to you by ExtremeTerrain, Wrangler off-road parts and accessories outfitter. Stay tuned to learn more about XT’s Jeep Seat Covers Buyers Guide Video.

This episode of the Jeep Talk Show is sponsored in part by: Black Magic Brake Products, they build Big Brake Kits for your Jeep!  BlackMagicBrakes.com sells Direct Bolt-In Vanco Big Brake Kits with Black Magic Brake Pads and NEW Steering Knuckles. Find out more by visiting Black Magic Brakes dot com, that’s Black Magic Brakes dot com.

This Week In Jeep:

Major Recall on Grand Cherokees

Announced just this week, FCA is recalling nearly 700,000 Dodge Durangos, and Jeep Grand Cherokees. The recall is due to faulty electrical connection that could prevent the engine from starting or completely stall out on you at the most inopportune time. 

This affects all 2011 through 2013 Dodge Durangos, and Jeep Grand Cherokees, most of which are in North America, but there’s over 100,000 that are outside the US as well, so heads up to all our Canadian and Mexican listeners too. The current issue, pun intended, is apparently with the fuel pump relays. Silicon deposits can collect on the contact points disrupting the electrical current which of course would starve the engine of fuel causing it to die.  As serious as this problem is, FCA is still trying to figure out ALL the steps required to fix the issue for good. The reason I say “for good” is that SOME of the vehicles being recalled were ALREADY part of a previous recall for a very similar issue where the fuel pump relays would lose signal and the engine would shut off. Right now, the plan is to notify owners to schedule appointments with their local dealers, and the dealers will then be instructed as to what to do, and when they can begin doing it. FCA said it is not aware of any crashes or injuries related to this issue.  If you own a 2011 to 2013 Grand Cherokee or Dodge Durango, or know someone who does, hang tight, and FCA will be contacting you soon about when you can schedule your fix with the dealer.  Want a discount on a new Gladiator? We’ll tell you how. Also, FCA initials a massive recall of Grand Cherokees.

Willing To Give Up That Colorado or Frontier?

There’s no denying that the Jeep Gladiator is a booming sales success, and Jeep is all about selling them off as fast as the Toledo Ohio Factory can build them. Since officially going on sale earlier this year, over 16,000 Gladiators have been sold. And with an average price of over $50,000, there’s also no denying the profits Jeep and FCA are raking in. Jeep along with virtually every other automaker, wants to end the year with a bang. And one sure fire way of making that happen is to sell more units. But, of course, buyers need to be enticed. It was discovered this week, that a bulletin was sent to Jeep dealerships authorizing an old but useful sales tactic, the conquest bonus.

Let it be known that this is not the type of conquests you’d have at a college frat party. As fun as those are, this is simply a discount designed specifically to get buyers to switch brands. Unlike those keg stands at a frat party that had you switching teams. Jeep is apparently sending a promotional offer, via either direct mail or email, to certain groups of truck owners in the US. This offer is worth $2,000 towards a new Gladiator.

Remember that coupon we spoke of a few episodes back? This trumps that for sure. It turns out this is the single largest discount on the 2020 Gladiator that FCA has EVER authorised. In fact, this offer is double that of last month’s loyalty discount coupon that targeted Jeep owners. Unfortunately, yes…. there IS a catch.  The offer cannot be applied towards the top-of-the-line Gladiator Rubicon trim. Actually it may come as a surprise to some of you, but Jeep recently increased the Rubicon trim’s price by $330 without explanation. Maybe it’s just supply and demand, who knows, either way, you’re not getting a discount on a Rubicon Gladiator. Fortunately, there are three other great Gladiator trim levels available: Sport, Sport S, and Overland. The Sport’s MSRP is currently $33,545 without any added options. Combined with this latest discount, assuming you’re coming from a rival brand, that price drops to $31,545.

And that’s before you start haggling on the price. Imagine getting a decently trimmed Gladiator for 30 grand or less. This still gets you a new Gladiator with that very powerful V6, a six-speed manual transmission, 17-inch wheels, and a 5-inch Uconnect touchscreen display. Might have some of you thinking about switching teams afterall!

Contributor Segment:

Chris with Sevenslats.com The seven slats myth.

Wrangler Talk:

Steering break down starting with the building blocks of our steering systems.

Hello JTS listener and let’s get right into the steering system of your jeep. There is a lot to talk about when it comes to our steering system of our rigs and jeep has used two different styles of linkages on our wranglers over the past few years, so this is going to be another multi-week wrangler segment. So, let first cover the main building blocks of your steering system and this might sound weird bit your whole steering system starts with your ball joints. Yes, I know that some people might say that they are not the building blocks of our jeep but through my experience they are usually the main culprit for a lot of problems when it comes to the steering system of our Jeep. So, lets dig into what a ball joint is, and an automotive ball joint is considered a spherical bearing that connects our axle shaft inner C to the steering knuckle. A ball joint most similarly represents the human hip joint meaning it is a ball and socket assembly that is free to move in any direction with limitations. All ball joints are made of very durable materials and they serve as the pivot point between your axle and wheels. Ball joints can also be found in the linkage systems that link your steering knuckles to your steering box. Although they are made of very durable material, they are naturally designed to wear out. This is part of their design, so they can take a lot of the abuse that we put them through when we are on road or off-road with our jeeps. There a couple different types of ball joint out on the mark although they all have the same general design. There are two different types of ball joints out on the market. The first type of ball joint is a standard ball joint that has three main components the ball, the socket, and a plastic polymer insert that provides low friction movement of the ball inside the socket. This type of ball joint is great for low-load applications, and usually they are called sealed ball joint. The sealed ball joint is considered lubricated for life meaning they do not need any type of service during their lifetime. These ball joints come stock on your jeep from the factor and they are great for the stock application that we use them for until we start making those fun modifications. Also, these types of lubed for life ball joints are found on the steering linkage of the stock wranglers. So when do you replace these lubed for life joints well a good rule of thumb is for sealed ball joints is to replace them every 80,000 miles. This is the common recommendation from all ball joint manufacturers. The next style of ball joint is a HD serviceable ball joint where engineers eliminated the polymer insert. These style of ball joints have three main components as well, they have a ball and socket which is the same as the sealed joints however there is now a hole located on the socket where a zerk fitting is placed. A zerk fitting is a metal fitting that is used in mechanical systems to feed lubricants into the ball joint under some pressure. HD serviceable ball joints are usually made of a case-hardened socket and ball that has been precisely machined to fit together. These ball joints are a metal to metal friction and that is why very important to regularly service the ball joints. For serviceable ball joints they should be greased every oil change, which is a good rule of thumb unless you are heading out on a wheeling trip then I recommend greasing them before you go, your ball joints will thank you in the long run. So how do we tell if we need to replace out ball joints? The most common way to tell if you need ball joints is you may hear a clicking or snapping sound when you turn the wheel one way or the other, and a squeaking sound when you hit the brakes. This is cause by the ball moving around inside the socket. Another common symptom of wearing ball joints is losing control when hitting bumps in the road because the ball joints are too loose inside their sockets. This can also be observed if you jack up the front end of your jeep off the ground and push on your tire in the lateral direction and watch the movement in the ball joint. There should not be any play in the lateral direction, meaning from the outside of the tire towards the axle shaft. If there is any play side to side I would recommend getting your ball joints replaced immediately. Another symptom of your ball joints going bad is that your rig might being to drift when driving down the road. So, if you have never checked or greased your ball joints it might be a good idea to do that this weekend. Driving on worn ball joints is dangerous too. Also, with worn ball joints you are putting a lot more stress on the other components of your steering system, and can lead to premature failure of other components in the steering system. This concludes this week’s wrangler talk. I hope you have learned something about Ball joints even though this talk was supposed to be about steering systems. Well Ball joints are the main building block of our steering system, so we need to start with the basics. Thank you for listening to this week’s Wrangler talk and remember did I get something wrong or forgot something important well head over to our contact page on our website at jeeptalkshow.com/contact and send us an email or leave us a voice message and we will continue talking about steering systems next week.

Interview with:

Jason Larson – Western Region Sales Manager w/ Tuffy Products

Jeep Momma Product Review:

Nexen Tires Roadian MTX

I put 10,000 miles on my Roadian MTX tires over the span of 1 month. We wheeled every terrain out there from mud, sand, snow, rocks, dirt roads, highways and even sharp lava rocks in the Mojave that would of shredded the sidewalls of other tires. These tires held up amazing! We tried out 14 PSI on a trail and 35 on the same trail and they both rocked it. You don’t need to go lower than 14 PSI on the trails and they have the same foot print as another tire would at 8 to 10.

The forward bit was amazing, Neil told me the forward bit is on par with competition stickies. The lateral stability is solid. Their unique sidewall construction is amazing too second to none. I beat the crap out of those sidewalls and they held up with the beating. I would say they are just as noisy as my Duratracs. Neil felt that’s the one downfall is the noise. They are sensitive to air pressure but you can expect that because they are born from a performance tire. Nexen Tire is new into the off road world as their tires are performance tires racing and drifting. You will need to find the right tire pressure for your vehicle while your on the highway. 14 definitely for off road. 27 worked good for dirt roads and 32 for the highway for my Jeep. another note you need to remember these tires have an F-load sidewall rating.

Camp Fire Side Chat:

DJI Mavic Mini

Jeep Weather:

Mitch

Mitch takes you on a Thanksgiving wet t-shirt contest trip. Hey Jeeper, Mitch here, today is the Twenty-Second of November 2019, and it’s time for your weekend Going Topless-Jeep Weather Report. As we are going into Thanksgiving in the U.S. I figure we can do a little historical tour to go topless this weekend in preparation. Hopefully the nippily temps burn calories for you, so you’ll have more room for food. Starting off, let us Go Topless in Jamestown, Virginia. Here the first recorded prominent celebration was held in 1610. This weekend it will be great for a wet t-shirt contest too! Rainy with 59 on Friday, 50 Saturday, and 55 on Sunday. However, the most famous U.S. Thanksgiving was in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 when the settlers of the Plymouth Plantation celebrated their first successful harvest after a harsh winter killed half their population. Depressing to be sure now but change that around by going Topless here and making people smile. Plymouth will be also rainy with 55 on Friday, 46 for Saturday, and 51 on Sunday. The Continental Congress with The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1777 was made in York, Pennsylvania. So that is where I suggest Going Topless next! As with the whole east coast of the U.S. it is raining here too. 52 Friday, 47 Saturday and Sunday. My favorite president of the U.S. Teddy Roosevelt declared in 1901, Thanksgiving to be a national holiday. This was his first proclamation as President. Taking over for President William McKinley when he died from a gunshot to the stomach. In his decree he said: Be thankful for work, prove your thankfulness through actions not words, and stop everything to be thankful. From us at the Jeep Talk Show, Happy Thanksgiving. If you have any suggestions or want to know YOUR local weather in an upcoming episode. Go to JeepTalkShow.com slash contact in order to find all the ways to get a message to me.

I’m Mitch and its always great weekend to Go Topless if you’re brave enough! Just Go Topless responsibly.

Wheeling Where

GenRight – Christmas To New Years Week Of Wheeling
Dec 26th – Jan 1st
Johnson Valley, California (King of Hammers)
More Info: https://genright.com

Guided Reindeer Run
December 8th
Rausch Creek Off Road Park, Pine Grove, Pennsylvania (http://rc4x4.org/)
More Info: https://offroad-consulting.com/

Links Mentioned in Episode 412:

https://www.tuffyproducts.com/
http://www.blackmagicbrakes.com/
https://www.extremeterrain.com/wrangler-jeep-seat-covers.html
https://www.nexentireusa.com/tires/roadian_mtx
https://amzn.to/2pGg7d3 – Mavic Mini Drone