Episode 424 – Jeep Shows and Jeep Mods

This Week In Jeep:

What Does it Mean To Be “Desert Rated”

Not everyone is into mud or rocks, in fact there is a giant percentage of this multi-billion dollar industry that are absolute sand adicts. You may not understand – never having had your Jeep on miles of open sand dunes, but it is certainly a much different wheeling experience than picking a technical line to navigate your way through a boulder field, or finding the best line to get up that trail. In open sand it’s a whole nother world. Given the success of various off-road-race-ready pickups in today’s marketplace, it’s becoming apparent that a significant number of buyers are just as interested in storming across the undeveloped landscape as they are in climbing rocks. So Jeep has devised a new Desert Rated designation for its vehicles, one which made its debut on the 2020 Gladiator Mojave Edition pickup truck.  Earning a “Desert Rated” badge involves excelling in five key performance categories: Ride Control and Stability, Traction in Sand, Ground Clearance, Maneuverability, and Desert Prowess. Compare this to the criteria for Jeep models to earn a “Trail Rated” badge which are Traction, Ground Clearance, Maneuverability, Articulation, and Water Fording.) Now I could spend the next 10 minutes outlining just exactly WHAT equipment a Desert Rated Jeep will have, but I won’t. Mainly because the list is gigantic and quite impressive in it’s details, but I’m going to at least attempt to impress you. The gist of it is this, you’re getting a nearly competition level Jeep off the showroom floor, that could very likely put you in qualifying times for the Baja 1000 in the same form it will be sitting in your driveway as. And i’m not joking. This Isn’t just bolt on gear either. They extended the overall track (that’s the width of the vehicle at the wheels mounting point) by a half inch each side to add stability and clear for larger remote reservoir shocks, and this is just a start. The axle tubes are 10mm thick not 7mm, and the knuckles are cast iron and reinforced. The entire suspension system is reinforced and comes with military grade fluids in all shocks and even the hydraulic bump stops which also have their own remote reservoirs. Heck even the seats and their mounts have been reinforced to provide better stability for the driver and passenger. You get a series of skid plates that no Jeep has ever seen before, and if that’s not protection enough, the frame has been beefed up in the areas that would take the most abuse in a dune jumping scenario like the engine mounts and front control arm mounts. In addition to having an additional 1″ of ground clearance over the Rubicon, the Desert Rated Jeeps get an entirely re-tuned steering system that has a widely different ratio compared to the Rubicon to account for better control at higher speeds offroad. There’s a whole electronic suite of software to control the Jeep during something like an impromptu desert race too. For instance, for some inexplicable reason, your GPS has navigated you to the starting line of an official SCORE event in the desert. If you were in the 2020 Gladiator Mojave you would simply push the “Off-Road Plus” button that tailors throttle, transmission shift points, and traction-control parameters for peak performance at higher speeds on sandy terrain. There is one downside to the Desert Ratted Badge however…. If you’re planning on this Jeep doing double duty and performing well in the trails or on the rocks, think again.  Both the axles gear range as well as the gear range in the Transfer Case have been ramped up to provide higher speeds in lower gears, taking away much of that raw grunt torque you need down low to crawl you over the rocks. So if the sand is calling to you, well you can expect to see the Gladiator Mojave in showrooms this summer with a starting price around $45,000 to $50,000.

Want To Own A Piece Of Americana?

A 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon that appeared in a Super Bowl commercial starring actor Bill Murray is now for sale at a car dealership in Michigan’s Thumb region. Denny King, salesman and internet sales manager at Moore Auto Group in Caro, said Chrysler asked to borrow the orange, or “Punk’n”-colored, Jeep for a TV commercial in January, but he and his colleagues didn’t know until the morning after the Super Bowl that it had been for the “Groundhog Day” inspired ad. In the 1993 film “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray plays the role of a TV meteorologist who finds himself reliving the same day over and over again. King, who calls himself a Jeep enthusiast, first saw the commercial when it aired during the Super Bowl and got confirmation the next morning that the dealership’s borrowed Gladiator Rubicon had appeared in it, along with a second vehicle of the same model. Word of the Jeep’s Super Bowl connection spread on Facebook after it returned to the dealership on Feb. 7, where it immediately went back up for sale. It currently has a sticker price of $57,350 – if it hasn’t been sold already. Apparently the dealership has had an almost nonstop string of fans coming to see the Jeep and take selfies with it.  The only thing that would have made this any cooler, is if Bill would have signed it himself. Who knows, maybe inside the glovebox he scribbled something, that just kind of seems like something Bill would do.

Wrangler Talk:

Simple Interior Installs and Mods.

Hello JTS listener and welcome to this week’s wrangler talk, where we are going to be jumping to the interior of our jeep. Over the past week I was finally able to get some of my Christmas gifts that my wonderful girlfriend got me. So, the first Mod or part that I was able to install was a really nice set of grab handles. Now when I say grab handles I am not talking about the Velcro style roll bar grab handle. I am talking about the ones bold into the a-pillar. Now the installation took a little longer than I thought it was going to take, but after learning a little trick, that I will tell you about, the installation went much smoother. So, as I said before these grab handles require the removal of two bolts on the a-pillar, then the grab handles bolt into where those two bolts came out of with the addition of a spacer to set the grab handle out and easier to grab. So, I originally have the Velcro style grab handles that wrap around my roll bar and I have always just come to the conclusion that they are just in a bad spot when it comes to needing a handle to get in and out of my jeep. When I was giving my wonderful girlfriend ideas for Christmas presents I gave her this idea and her eyes lit up well because she has to basically get a running start to get into my jeep. Yes, even with the original grab handles that I had. So, one of my fellow jeepers and best friends purchased these grab handles a long time ago and they peaked my interest. So why not I would give them a try and well let me tell you, these new grab handles make a world of difference getting in and out of my jeep. Well I am sure you know if you have listened to previous episodes I have 37” tires with 4.5” of lift and it is a bit of a jump to get into my jeep.  So, the little tip or trick for the installation of these amazing grab handles. When you remove the stock bolts from your a-pillar you are going to want to clean out the threads of the nut that is still in the A-pillar. It will make the installation of the new bolts and hardware a lot easier. Trust me it will save you a lot of frustration. Secondly thread the provided bolts into the nuts on the a-pillar too, this will help with the cleaning of the threads and just help the overall install. I personally got the wildboar grab handles from amazon however there a lot of different brands out on the market and also lots of different styles and designs but they all serve the same purpose to help you get in and out of the jeep and give you an O-shit handle. Now onto another little install that I was able to get done as well and that is this fancy little flashlight holder that I got from Quadratec. Now this flashlight holder mounts to the driver side seat frame with two bolts and tucks snugly between the seat frame and the drive side door. The holder probably only took about 3 minutes to install bit let me tell you how nice it is to have a high-powered flashlight at an arm’s reach and you always know where it is. So, I did get the flashlight and holder combo from Quadratec which comes with a really nice LED style flashlight that is bright as anything although the holder is designed to hold any type of larger mag light or one of the heavy duty D cell battery style flashlights. So, thank you for listening to this week’s wrangler talk and if you are interested in either of these products that I talked about in the wrangler talk just look in the show notes for a link to check out these great simple products. Also, just remember do you have any questions or comments about the show head over to jeeptalkshow.com/contact and send us an email or leave us a voice message and we would be glad to help you out in any way we can. Talk to you next week on the Wrangler Talk.

Grab Handles Link:
https://amzn.to/2vvKmpw

FlashLight Holder Link:
https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadratec/flashlight-holder-jeep-wrangler-jk

Top 5 Ways You Know You Have a REAL Jeep:

5. Your Jeep was built in 1941!
6. Your Jeep has a SOLID Front Axle, not IFS
7. Your Jeep has a HUGE aftermarket support!
8. Your Jeep rides rough even on the smoothest of paved surfaces.
9. And the number one way you know you have a real Jeep…

No one ever says to you “Hey that’s a nice Hyundai”

That’s how I know what a real Jeep is!  I bet you have some that are different. Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.  Be sure and include the hashtag jeeptalkshow. (#jeeptalkshow)

Jeep Life:

Jeep Life Hack Jobs

Neil and I are working on an XJ a girl brought in. She felt something just wasn’t right. Neil got under the jeep and WOW what a hack job. The wrong size control arms, shocks meant for stock and this had a 4in lift. The shocks were barely holding on.  Really worn bald tires and a messed up crossmember. This girl also had no clue about regular maintenance. Jeepers before you get someone to work on your jeep make sure you get references The other issues I had The first one was NAPA I went in to ask for 4 Carriage Bolts 3/8 by 4 and nuts and washers. He asked me “What’s the make and model?” I stood there in shock. He had no idea where to find them. HELLOOOO The bolt bin right behind you. The second store I asked where the .030 Mig Wire was and wanted the Flux. I ended up being the one to find it. The only one I found was out of the box and the box not found. I didn’t know the price. So the clerk grabbed the sticker that was on the shelf the spool of wire was on. Not even thinking hey someone might of randomly put this here since the shelf was a mess. When I went to the checker I told her the story and said I know this isn’t the right price. It was $20 more than it should of been. So she proceeded to look the price up on the online website. She typed in wire and started scrolling. OMG!!! So I had to help her find the right price. LOOK AT THE STICKER DESCRIPTION on the spool of WIRE! Oh Hey TONY Guess what I found here in Colorado? A henway!!! And I bought one.

Newbie Nuggets:

I’ve heard from callers to the show that some of you are “getting a new jeep” soon and I thought  “how about a segment that we could share on what it’s like to start out brand new” – take the mystery out of it and maybe help avoid some of the pitfalls that may occur. This would be “geared” toward the person who is new to driving a jeep off-road.  Did you just buy a new jeep (or as we did – a pre-dented, used Jeep). Do you have experience off-roading, but are new to driving a jeep off-road. OR have you been a passenger and been thinking “hey it’s my turn to drive some of these trails”, but aren’t sure how to begin?  Well this would be just for you. This segment would also include stories from listener’s first time experiences driving off-road and of course include my, Tony’s and Josh’s first time driving escapades. We also want to include things like – a list of basics you need in your jeep when you start off-roading – and we will add to this basic list as time goes on. We will have  suggestions on joining a group, or club, so you can do more exploring with your jeep and some other fun things like picking your line, spotting tips, winching and who knows what else we might throw in there. We are hoping to draw more people to our podcast, and help some of you that want to drive, but might need a little encouragement (and I don’t mean the liquid kind). And don’t worry for all the experienced drivers that listen, we promise to make it fun and enjoyable for you too. AND speaking of all the experienced drivers,  let us know what some of your first time off-road experiences were and we’ll share them in a future segment. We can keep it anonymous, if you want (wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone). Next week I will share my very first off-road experience in our jeep. You don’t want to miss this story!!! You know the drill, contact us at Jeeptalkshow.com/contact and share your story.

Tech Talk With Jeep Talk:

New Jeep Gas Cap / Filler Door Modification

Jeep’s engineers and designers in all their wisdom have given the new generation of Jeeps some amazing technology, creature comforts, and a level of aesthetic appeal we didn’t know we were missing in Jeeps until they figured out a way to make it rugged too. But with everything an automaker gets right, there is inevitably something they get wrong, and as much of a fanboy of Jeep that I am, the engineers screwed this one up. What I’m referring to is a creature comfort many of us would never think twice about, something that you may even take for granted on another vehicle, and unless you are one of those few in the US that don’t have to pump their own gas, then you know I’m talking about a lack of something to do with the gas cap while you refuel. Especially In the new 2019, and 2020 model year wranglers and gladiators. Imagine this, you just spent 52 thousand dollars on a new truck, and you’re at the pump for the first time. You open the door, release the cap and …..what? …just let it rest on your fender, the one already covered in silt and slush from this winter’s roads, dripping gas all down that brand new paint….? … yea i don’t think so. So you know what they say…necessity is the mother of invention. Now I’ve seen a couple different takes on this, but here’s how you can solve this issue once and for all, giving you a place to rest that gas cap, without transferring dirt or snow to your tank, or gas to your paint. Although you’re only going to need one, you can get a 25 pack of these self adhesive adjustable nylon cable clamps. These have a small strip of strong adhesive on one side, and an adjustable latch loop on the other. All you need this thing for is part of the radius of the loop, so you’re going to cut the adjustable part off, leaving just the adhesive back, and a small hook of the nylon plastic loop. Now you’re going to need to go out to the Jeep with your new invention, and using a bit of rubbing alcohol, you are going to clean the living daylights out of the backside of that fuel door. You want it clean enough to eat off of, so don’t cut corners here. DO NOT peel the protective cover off the adhesive yet. You will need to do a couple test fittings first to make sure the hook you’re about to install isn’t going to interfere with the body of the jeep, the operation of the door, or the gas cap itself. Once you’ve determined a good place for the hook, simply peel the covering off the adhesive and stick it firmly to the cleaned area you picked out on the back of the fuel door with the hook part facing upwards. Now anytime it’s time to top off, you can simply drape the lanyard of the gas cap over the hook, keeping the cap off your paint, and whatever is on your paint from getting onto your cap and into your tank. And of course if you screw things up, knock the hook off, or it just falls off over time, you’ve got 24 more of these and 2 minutes of time to clean things up again, and install a new one. Heck, make a few of these and start handing them out to other Jeepers at the gas station. You’ll be a hero in no time, a local celebrity, they’ll probably throw you a parade and make a holiday out of you. And it’s all because of the world famous Jeep Talk Show… it’s ok, we’ll let you take credit this time.   

25pk Nylon Adjustable Cable Clamps – $5.99 https://amzn.to/3bFHxTE

Interview with:

Merideth Evasew – Extreme Terrain

Merideth is a Writer and Host for ExtremeTerrain.com, and has been in the video department for 3 years now and has been in the Jeep community for over 7 years. By day she reviews and installs all the products Extreme Terrain has to offer, and after work she enjoys working on her Jeep and her other cars. She bought her 2007 JKU when she was 18 and hasn’t looked back since. You can find her on instagram at Offroad_Merideth or on youtube at youtube.com/extremeterrainvideos

Must Have Stuff for your Jeep:

Rugged Ridge Jeep JK/JKU Black Aluminum Hood Catch Set

Speaking of fast JEeps, maybe you’re like me, and have a heavy foot when you’re behind the wheel and on the road. …and sometimes even offroad too. And if you’ve owned your Jeep Wrangler for a number of years and like to go fast, then chances are you’ve experienced hood flutter. It’s not as frightening as death wobble, but the first time your hood starts dancing over your Jeep at 75 miles per hour or as a semi-truck passes you a little too close, it’s a moment you’ll never forget.  So keep that bonnet where it’s supposed to be with a set of upgraded hood latches. Now there are a bunch of different styles out on the market, and I’ve even seen ones made from titanium and no you can’t afford them. Nor would you want to with so many other viable and more practical options out there. Which brings me to one of the most reviewed and positively spoken about upgraded hood latch products, and that’s the aluminum set from Rugged Ridge. Don’t settle for the cheap crap you see on ebay and amazon. Spend a little more and get the very best. Quick and easy installation allows you to simply bolt the replacement hood latches to the exact same mounting points as the factory hardware. That means no drilling, and no adhesive pads to cover the old holes like some of those other brands. These premium quality hood latches are durable, fully adjustable, and definitely aesthetically pleasing with the perfect proportions to the rest of the vehicle, unlike some of those more flimsy options out there. They come in black, textured black or silver finish. Available for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler (JK/JKU’s) and now for 97-06 TJ’s About the only downside to these is they’re not free.

Rugged Ridge Jeep JK/JKU Black Aluminum Hood Catch Set: $109.99 & FREE Shipping. https://amzn.to/2HluhW7

Camp Fireside Chat:

Automatic vs. Manual transmission – Which is the best transmission for a Jeep?

Chart from this great post at Extreme Terrain!  See more here.

Jeep Weather:

Hey Jeeper, Mitch here, today is the 14th of February 2020, and it’s time for your weekend Going Topless-Jeep Weather Report. Surprisingly Listener, I am married. So, for this Valentine’s Day Topless Jeeping Weather Report  I have invited my wife to come out and help me. Hi Jeeper, I’m Allison and let’s start the your topless Jeeping weather where Mitch proposed to me. Jam packed full of wineries and beautiful scenery is Calistoga, California. Here it will be  cloudy all weekend. Friday is supposed to be 68, Saturday 69, and Sunday 68 degrees. Next, we run over to an area that we find romantic. Snow, mountains, forests, and a sparse  density of people. Telluride, Colorado has a nice lodge-style ski resort and lots of history from westward expansion and coal mining. Here it will be sunny Friday at 35 degrees, Saturday partially cloudy at 32, and Sunday snowing at 31 degrees. Ok, so snow isn’t your thing and Jeeping topless without the threat of losing appendages sounds like a win to you. Then head out to one of the most romantic Hawaiian Islands, that of Lanai. This weekend Lanai City will be sunny! Friday 75, Saturday and Sunday 74 degrees. Lastly, if you can’t make it off the mainland. Then head out to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Still warm all weekend but with clouds, so you can take top notch Jeeping Topless pictures. 83 Friday, 77 Saturday, and 79 on Sunday. But, to give you a fair warning, you might get evening showers. That’s a good way to end a Topless Valentines date and give excuses to head inside to “dry off”. Don’t forget to use the #JeepTalkShow on social media for us to see those pictures. If you have any suggestions or want to know YOUR local weather in an upcoming episode. Go to JeepTalkShow.com/contact in order to find all the ways to get a message to me. I’m Mitch, I’m Allison, and its always great weekend to Go Topless if you’re brave enough! Just Go Topless responsibly.

Wheeling Where:

Lone Star Jeep Invasion:
March 20th – 21st
Lone Star Convention Center – Conroe, Texas
More Info: https://www.facebook.com/LSjeepinvasion/  https://lonestarjeepinvasion.com/

Titan Offroad – Shamrock Shakedown:
March 12th – 15th
WindRock Offroad Park – Oliver Springs, TN.
More Info: https://www.facebook.com/TORShamrockShakedown/  https://windrockpark.com/