Episode 489 – Fast Jeeps, Slow Jeeps, Safe Jeeps
Visit Our Advertisers
Turn it up and Drive during the Jeep Celebration Event at Southfork Jeep…Call 1-800-Low-Price to get a lifetime warranty and 0% financing for 72 Months on New Jeep Grand Cherokees! Shop the fastest growing dealer in Texas at southforkdodge.com that’s southforkdodge.com
This Week In Jeep
Jeep recalls over 18K 2021 Cherokees over leaking transmission hoses
The owners of some nearly 19 thousand 2021 Jeep Cherokee models can expect a recall notice in their mailboxes in the coming weeks. There are serious concerns that a leaking transmission line could cause a fire according to a recent announcement by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall specifically applies to a transmission oil cooler hose that was improperly cured, greatly increasing the probability of a fluid leak. The leaking fluid could come in contact with the vehicle’s hot exhaust system and cause a fire. Obviously, I don’t have to explain to you how bad this could be. (ask me someday about my own experience driving a vehicle down the road that was on fire.) Luckily, the fix for this issue is as simple as replacing the hose and refilling the transmission. Like all recalls, this work will be performed free of charge by your Jeep dealer once notifications start going out. If you own a 2021 Jeep Cherokee and are concerned that this recall might affect your vehicle and you don’t want to wait for official notification, or if you just have questions, you can contact the Jeep Customer Service Department at 1-800-853-1403 and reference recall Y18. If you own one of these Jeeps and have not received your notice by the end of June, I would strongly urge that you make that call. We will of course have that phone number posted on our website in the show notes for this episode.
Don’t Get Ran Over By Your Own Jeep!
Well, it doesn’t get much closer than this. The Jeepers in Alaska are a whole different breed of Jeeper, let me tell ya. I’ve seen the TV shows, I know what you all are made of up there! But the guy from this story… is one lucky individual. What I’m referring to is a video that is making its rounds on the interwebs, and it shows a man working in his driveway under his Jeep. The Jeep looks to be a well-modified WJ Grand Cherokee. The video is only a little over a minute long, and it’s only in the last 10 seconds that things go from boring to puckering in nothing flat. As he grabs what appears to be a breaker bar or pry bar maybe, and turns to face back under the Jeep, something must have let go, or he knocked it loose, and the Jeep starts immediately rolling down the driveway. The man working starts rapidly scooting along the ground in a desperate attempt to not get run over by the very Jeep he was just working on. At any second you’re thinking, by this point, this guy is going to be like a watermelon at a Gallagher show aaa any moment now. (… I know, timely reference.) But at the last second, he manages to get turned around and gets his torso out from under the jeep just as the front passenger tire rolls over his ankle and foot. The man jumps up like he just WASN’T run over by 2 tons of off-road machine, and chases the Jeep down before it collides with a parked vehicle across the street. The man is extremely lucky things didn’t go differently. And he claims that the fact he was wearing work boots with steel toes is the only reason he’s still walking today. Just goes to show, it’s well worth the pennies it costs for a wheel chock at the discount tool stores. It always pays to be a little safer. If all you’re relying on is the e-brake when you’re working on your Jeep, you may be in need of something to add to your garage.
Jeep Kills All Contenders At Race Track – Even a Vette!
So I bet some of you have a friend out there that doesn’t want or like Jeeps because he doesn’t really go off-road. Well, then I bet he’s the perfect candidate for the Jeep in this next story. Another video that is getting blown up right now is this one of a Jeep Grand Cherokee TrackHawk That beats both a Camaro and a Corvette on the drag strip.
One would probably think that a Jeep has no business in a drag race, but the Trackhawk trim is designed for this as much as the Rubicon trim is designed for the trail.
Powering the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is the same 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 one would find in a Dodge Hellcat, with 707 hp and 645 lb-ft of torque on demand.
All that grunt is being channeled to all four wheels in the Jeep, thanks to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. On paper, you’ll hit 60 mph (96 kph) in 3.5 seconds, while covering a quarter-mile in a claimed 11.7 seconds. This Jeep however is a “tuned” Trackhawk, and it needed just 10.5 seconds to get there. This was more than enough to demolish the Camaro, which lagged off the line and was several seconds behind.
The ZR1 Corvette gave the Jeep a run for its money and put down a respectable 10.6 seconds. A full tenth of a second slower. But hey, as a great man once said,
“It doesn’t matter whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.”
Tech Talk with Jeep Talk
If you ever find yourself in need of sharpening your pocket knife, scissors, or even a utility blade, and don’t have access to a sharpening stone, you can simply use a coffee cup! No not that plastic travel mug you’ve been using since 97. Grab a real coffee mug, one made from ceramic or that porcelain type of material. Flip it over, and use the outer edge of the bottom of the cup (the non-glazed part of the mug) as an emergency sharpening stone. You won’t win any sharpness awards or win a medal for the fastest knife sharpener, but it beats using a rock and is far easier on your blade metal and it actually puts a decent edge on an otherwise dull cutter. So the next time you find yourself sawing away at a zip tie with that butter knife you call a pocket blade, consider having that knife and the bottom of a coffee mug spend some quality time together. Oh, and if you don’t have a knife sharpener in the kitchen, try this trick out on your chef’s knife and thank me later.
Jeep Life – With Jeep Momma
If you primitive camp bring a bucket and shovel. Get the apps I-overlander or Free Roam. Gaia GPS helps keep you on the trails. BLM Public Lands and Map Guide for $1.99 is a good app to have. A great tool in Moab is the Guide book to Moab backroads and 4 wheel drive trails.
3 Must do trails Gemini Bridges, Lone Canyon road, and Willow Springs road the back road into Arches National Park. We took my Jeep and the school bus on Kane Creek. An amazing trail that winds through Kane Creek along the bottom of a Canyon. It was tough being a passenger in my own Jeep while Neil wheeled the school bus. Watching my Jeep on the obstacle Hamburger Hill was hard. I had to get out and walk.
Must-Have Stuff Pick-of-the-Week for your Jeep!
Solid Rubber Heavy Duty Black Wheel Chock 2-Pack – $17.22 !!!
Features all-weather solid rubber construction with a traction pad that makes them the perfect choice to keep your Jeep in place in any climate or surface condition.
The design includes a built-in handle for easy placement or positioning too. Designed to perform better than plastic or resin-made wheel chocks. Lightweight yet very durable material resists most oils and fuels.
Campfire Side Chat
Would you rather have more torque or more horsepower?
You can join us around the virtual campfire every Thursday night at 9:45 pm when we record the latest episode. Subscribe to our newsletter to get weekly reminders and how to join via Zoom, or follow us on Facebook (https://facebook.com/jeeptalkshow) for notifications.
Links Mentioned in this Episode
NEXEN Tires USA
Jeep 4-1-1
https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver
The 4×4 Radio Network
Interact With The Show!
https://jeeptalkshow.com/contact
Jeep Talk Show on Facebook
https://facebook.com/jeeptalkshow
Rat Bastards Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ratbastard
Jeep Trackhawk Drag Race Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvKbyZqN9o
Must Have Stuff Pick-of-the-Week for your Jeep!
Solid Rubber Heavy Duty Black Wheel Chock 2-Pack – $17.22 !!!
Black Fork Tool – Jeep Frame Plugs