Episode 437 – Is the Wrangler Destined for IFS?
This Week In Jeep:
Design Changes To the Wrangler! …Already?
Last week we reported on the crash test video released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. We posted up the link to the video, which showed the test vehicle (a 2019 Jeep Wrangler) rolling over onto its side during the small-overlap crash test. The video is pretty much going viral in the automotive world, mostly because it’s a pretty gnarly crash, and the Jeep’s crash test dummy occupant is otherwise unscathed. But also because this is apparently the first time a rollover has occurred in the history of this test, which the institute admits, is the hardest for automakers to pass. (Way to set the bar Jeep.) Although the 2018 thru 2020 model year Jeep Wrangler JL got the highest scores possible in all other test categories, the “marginal” score on this test is something FCA was quick to respond to. Jeep’s parent automaker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, had immediately got in front of this and claimed that through their own testing, and out of the half million some odd Wranglers it’s produced in this model run so far, they’ve never heard or seen of any such vehicle characteristics as what the IIHS video showed. This week, things have changed slightly, and through a press release by an IIHS representative, they say that ((QUOTE)) “FCA has indicated that they are working on making changes to address WHY the wrangler flopped over on its side during this particular test.” OK, so now FCA is willing to accept the IIHS results, having disputed them a week prior, and now claims that they are going to (quote-unquote) “make changes” to the Wrangler’s design. It is of course entirely unclear what “changes” will be made to the Wrangler to help it perform better in this specific crash test, …..and all we could do is freak ourselves out by speculating and buying into the rumors that an IFS Wrangler is just around the corner, and may come as soon as 2022. (hahaha no.) Whether or not there will be drastic changes that will piss the entire jeep world off to no end and whether or not they will be implemented in future models, or addressed now through recalls is all up in the air. Maybe this has something to do with the death wobble issue? OH! It’s the sway bar’s fault!
Build Jeeps or Protect From Covid – Can We Do Both?
Although you my fellow Jeeper who is listening to this might be furloughed, still laid off, or otherwise unemployed, many around the nation are preparing to get back to work. From FCA’s Belvidere Assembly plant, to, the Warren Stamping Plant in Michigan and even the Windsor Ontario Assembly plant. Pretty much every single North American production or assembly facility is going to have workers who will be returning to a very unfamiliar landscape. In the wake of all this economic suicide there are going to be workplaces that are vastly different from what many are used to or even expecting given the crrent state of things. And it has just come to our attention that for the employees who are assembling our Jeeps, they’re going to find a large number of implementations that have been put in place for (what the powers that be are calling) “their protection.” On the assembly lines, there will now be marked in broad yellow boxes, divided areas to help workers maintain distancing protocols. Thick plastic sheeting and weld curtains have been hung down the length of some assembly lines to divide the workers on one side from spreading germs to the other side. Daily health screenings, double checked by security through specific mobile applications will be required before entry is allowed into any of the plants. ALL employees at ALL FCA North American locations will be required to take their temperature and complete regular self screening questionnaires as well. They’ve even gone so far as to install lexan or plexiglass dividers in all break areas to prevent workers from sitting or eating next to each other. Chairs have been strategically blocked off and dividers installed on top of tables to force the separation employees. In areas where the work requires two employees inside of six feet from each other, plastic sheet barriers are to be clipped into place along various points of the vehicles chassis dividing the airspace between the workers. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure these and the other insane measures that companies like FCA are taking to contro, ii mean protect their workers isn’t going to affect morale or productivity in any way.
Go Topless Jeep Event THIS WEEKEND in Texas!
Thousands of Jeepers and partiers alike are expected to pack the sand of Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula this weekend for the annual Go Topless Jeep Weekend event. Galveston County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be working overtime and getting assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety for the event, according to Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset. Thirty state troopers will be sent to the Bolivar Peninsula to help with the event as well. According to the sheriff himself, he says that the event last year was overwhelming. There were more than 100 arrests at last year’s Go Topless event, and six individuals were flown off the peninsula to hospitals by Life Flight helicopters. Deputies responded to more than 400 911 calls in that one weekend alone. (C’mon Jeepers! We can do better than that!) Although officials believe they are better prepared this year, they also know that trying to enforce social distancing will be almost impossible. Over the last several weeks, more and more people have been showing up to the beach in what is likely a case of mass cabin fever. According to the sheriff’s office, most of them have been families and have been well behaved. But his office worries about the group of people that are due this weekend. Billboards, posters and a plea from the sheriff himself say that ((QUOTE)) “if you wouldn’t do it in front of your parents and your grandparents, don’t come down to the beach and do it.” Great advice and well put sheriff. I’m going to ask that if there ARE any Jeep Talk Show fans down there, that you help represent the show and the Jeep world as a whole in a positive light. Have fun going topless this weekend in Texas.
Jeep Life:
Tammy had a pretty good Mothers Day. She was off roading in Colorado on Chinamans Gulch Loop. It wasn’t just an everyday off road trip. This was a special one. She went wheeling with a JTS listener. {audio clip} Ron has a little addiction. He has 7 Jeeps. A stock 1949 willys cj3a, 1952 Willys m38 (which is the one he wheeled on Sunday), a 1952 cj3a, 1975 cj5 – snow plow Jeep, 1980 CJ7 (had since high school) Plus 2 Scramblers which are his absolute favorite Jeep of all time. He’s starting the rebuild of one this winter to be his over-landing Jeep. He’s collecting parts and will soon start that project. Ron specifically picked the trail Chinaman’s Gulch Loop knowing Tammy’s fear of heights/ledges and shelf roads. Despite that, they plan on wheeling again soon. If your interested in wheeling with Tammy or want to share with her your own Jeep life story, send an email to info@jeeptalkshow.com
Tech Talk With Jeep Talk:
Robbing The Fan To Pay The Lights
If you blow a fuse on the road or out on the trail and you find yourself unprepared, you DO have options. Not all of us carry around a full electrical repair kit, although it may be a good idea to put one together if your off road kit doesn’t have one already. So it may come as no surprise that I’ve heard stories of Jeepers who have had to call for a tow because they didn’t have a spare fuse. Shocking – I know. 😉 So if you find yourself in a situation where you popped a fuse and don’t have a spare, I’m here to help. Although not all fuses are created equal, your fuse box, whether it’s the one under the hood, or the one under the dash, will likely have most of the same type of fuse. Chances are you’ll be looking at one of three types of fuses. Although there are technically over 12 different types of automotive fuses, the three main fuses found in Jeeps are the standard blade fuse known as ATC fuses, or the mini version of it, the MTC, which are very common for inside fuse panels. More popular under the hood will be the cartridge style fuses, which are more boxy than than the blade style fuses. You may even see giant versions of those blade fuses, and those are called Maxi-Fuses. Don’t worry, you can’t take one type and put it in place of another type, so it’s going to be completely safe, and easy, to rob a fuse from another circuit to power the one that’s blown. But there are a few rules to this roadside hack, so listen up. Although a lot of this is dummy proof, you DO however, want to use as close to the same rating fuse as what was in there previously. In other words, if you blew the fuse on your radiator fan and its a 20 amp fuse, you wouldn’t want to put in its place a 10 amp fuse from the dome light. The load will be too much and the fuse will likely pop right away, and now you have TWO non functioning circuits. Here is what is likely the most important rule, make sure you have identified WHY the fuse popped first and foremost, and do what you can with what you have to fix it or prevent another short. Fuses blow for any number of reasons, so before you take another fuse, make sure it’s not going to pop. Next up is finding a donor circuit. This is going to be pretty important, because if you have a high amp fuse blow, like say for your headlights, you can’t rob the fuse from your radio and expect it to work. The amp rating, (or even color if you want to simplify it) needs to match. So what kind of circuits can you take fuses from and keep the Jeep able to still get you home? For high amp circuits your options may be limited, but for instance you could likely live without your high beams, and there may be a seperate fuse for those. If the weather conditions permit, you could rob the fuse from your blower motor (the heater fan) to get your headlights back. Remember, all you need to do is get to the next place you can buy more fuses from and/or make better repairs, and you can return things back to normal. For low amperage circuits it’s a lot easier. If your radio fuse blows, and you just can’t live without tunes for the ride, you may be able to pull the fuse for your horn, or power windows, or seat heater to get the groove back. You should be catching on by now. Obviously you don’t want to take any power away from things like your fuel pump, or computer, or windshield wipers (unless there’s no chance of rain)… but you get the idea. The things that keep your jeep running or cooled off are to be stayed away from. So the next time you have a Jeeper in need of a fuse out on the trail, or your road trip is suddenly hit with an electrical short, just remember to find the problem first, fix what you can, and if you have to, you can pull the fuse from one circuit to power another.
Newbie Nuggets:
I wanted to share a glimpse into what “owning a jeep” really means. We bought our 2008 pre-dented JKU Rubicon jeep about 4 years ago. I was new to jeeping and after discussing all the things we can do and the places we can go in a jeep I thought this sounds like fun, why not? Our jeep came with 35” BF Goodrich ATs, and had been re-geared with 4.88s – the previous owner had added a couple other things but really only drove the jeep on fire roads. It appeared to me to be perfectly “set-up” as it had big tires, a lift and looked like it could go off-road. Well this is where being “owned” by a jeep starts to take shape and I learned to say “Uh Huh” a lot. The first “add” was when my husband says, ”You know, we need a winch and this jeep doesn’t have one and if we start to get into some harder trails it would be nice to pull ourselves out”. He selected a bumper and winch package “deal”. Seemed reasonable to me and I said “Uh Huh”. As we started venturing out more on trails, Bill noticed that the stock ball joints were shot, so he said, “We need new ball joints and rather than just replacing with stock which won’t last long with these 35” tires, I can pay a little extra and get better quality that will last longer and I can install them myself”. I said, “Uh Huh” Next was the front lower control arms. The jeep was wandering and the bushings were shot too. “The new version will make it so we can adjust the “castor”, he says. I say “Uh Huh”. Of course then we needed to upgrade the steering stabilizer because it was still wandering. “This should fix it”, he says. I said “Uh Huh” Since we were now rock crawling on black diamond trails it was time to consider trussing the front axle – he said “rock crawling with 35” tires on this stock Dana 44 we’re bound to bend the axle housing and this will fix it”. I said “Uh Huh”. Then came the tire upgrade. First to a 37” Falken MT which was much better than the 35” BFGs the jeep came with. The Falken tire was more flexible with a more aggressive tread. He says, “This will help us through the rocks and offer more grip”. I said “Uh Huh”. Well, shortly after the tire upgrade to the 37”s, the larger tires take out the liner in the back rear fender and guess what – time for a fender modification. Lucky for us, he’s handy and he removes the liners, and then trims the stock fenders and it works perfectly. Finally we didn’t need to buy anything. I said, “Yahoo” Next I hear, “We keep hitting the stock Rubicon rock sliders and I’m afraid we’re going to do body damage. If we had better rock sliders from GenRight we would slide off the rocks easier and not get stuck and not bend the body”. I said “Uh Huh” As we continued to explore new trails the concern now was the undercarriage. He says, “You know, if we add a skid plate system underneath, we won’t have to worry about taking out the gas tank or oil pans.” I think WOW that sounds reasonable and a good safety upgrade so I said “Uh Huh”. We added a Rock Hard 3 piece skid plate system and it really was worth it. Then we started venturing to off road shows. And low and behold we find new/upgraded LED headlights. I say, “what’s wrong with our headlights?” He says, ”they are dim, original and these new headlights are brighter and will make it easier to see on the mountain roads”. I said “Uh Huh” When we attended a huge jeep event we won a 3½” Fabtech lift kit. Now we have to upgrade our suspension with new parts – Well at least we didn’t have to buy them After we got to drive a jeep on Nexen tires we were sold. We upgraded to the 37” Roadian MTX tires. Tires turned out to have more grip and sidewall stickiness that has been the perfect upgrade. Nothing else needed for that upgrade – Yahoo! One day he says, “You know, if we want to crawl at night, we will need more lights on the jeep. So side lights were added and I said, “Uh Huh” Driving up the mountain roads can be tough for this year of jeep. The 3.8 liter engine really struggles to maintain power and the transmission isn’t great for mountain roads. Well one day we fried the transmission – and guess what, we needed a new one. I said, “You have to fix it if we want to continue to drive the jeep”. Last week we finished a trail run on a fire road – easy trail. After we got home, I saw Bill under the jeep checking things out like he always does and when he came in I said, “Everything OK with the jeep? He says, “Nope, the upper control arms in the front need replacing” ….. I said “Uh Huh” So the moral of the story is we love our jeep and love off-roading. If you jeep a lot, one day you will need to upgrade and add on. If you only drive on the highway, there will be less “things” to add, but if you do any kind of off-roading you will eventually see something on someone’s jeep, test-drive someone else’s jeep or just need to fix something you broke on the trail. Now intentionally breaking something on the trail doesn’t count. Bottom line is you will want or “need” something to add to the jeep and your comfort. Even if it’s your husband’s lame excuse to get awesome upgrades for the jeep, if you hear the words, “You know… we need a new …… get used to saying “Uh Huh”. Josh, Tammy & Tony, what are some funnies you can share related to the never ending upgrades on your jeep? If you have a topic or suggestion for Newbie Nuggets please let us know and if you want more info check out our YouTube channel Jeep 4-1-1, with more tips, tricks & techniques. (https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver)
Wheeling Where:
Overland Expo West
July 24-26
FT. TUTHILL COUNTY PARK – Flagstaff, Arizona
More Info: https://www.overlandexpo.com/west
Overland Expo® is the premier overlanding event in the world—no other event offers the scope of classes taught by the world’s leading experts alongside a professional-level trade show that brings together all the camping and vehicle and motorcycle equipment and services you need to get outfitted and get going.
4WP Truck and Jeep Fest
June 13th – 14th
Ontario Convention Center – Ontario California
More Info: https://www.4wheelparts.com/e/ontario-truck-jeep-fest
At the 4 Wheel Parts Truck & Jeep Fest you will find custom trucks and Jeeps, product demonstrations, factory direct pricing and hourly truck and Jeep accessories giveaways. Free admission.
Links Mentioned in Episode 437:
The Dirt Lifestyle: www.thedirtlifestyle.com
https://www.facebook.com/dirtlifestylenate/
Jeep 4-1-1:
https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver
Field and Forest Offroad