Episode 635 – STOP! …In The Name Of Jeep

This Week In Jeep

What Does The Future Hold For The Cherokee?

Jeep is now an international brand that continues to grow and expand, adding new three-row SUVs with the well-received Jeep Grand Cherokee L and the addition of the full-size 2022 Jeep Wagoneer and the more premium 2022 Grand Wagoneer. 

At the small end of the spectrum, we’ve recently talked about the small electric crossover that’s in the works. But what about one of the originals, the Jeep Cherokee from 1974 with brochures that introduced a new term to US car buyers: the sport-utility vehicle? Today, despite its Jeep badge and inclusion in the popular compact SUV segment, the storied Cherokee has largely fallen off buyers’ radar, selling about 3,500 a month these days. Production keeps dropping and the Belvidere, Illinois, plant has been dropping shifts and shedding workers. You can’t blame consumers for overlooking the Cherokee now. It is nothing at all like the full-size Cherokee Chief the original, or even the XJ, the most popular SUV ever made.

The current generation dates back to the 2014 model year, making it one of the oldest compact SUVs on the market in the sense of redesigns, or the lack-there-of in this case. While the Cherokee has quietly soldiered on, media and marketing hype are centered on just about every other model in the Jeep universe. Even the 2022 Jeep Compass got a mid-cycle refresh with baby Wagoneer looks and fresh tech. So, where’s the love for the Cherokee? Or is Jeep putting the Cherokee out to pasture? Well, don’t hold your breath. We likely won’t see the sixth-gen Cherokee this year, according to the higher-ups. When it does get a much-needed update, it will purportedly have a lot of electrification. The execs haven’t released whether or not the next Cherokee will continue to be offered an internal combustion engine. Jeep’s electrification plan calls for the new small urban Jeepster in the first half of 2023, followed by a pure off-road SUV (think Wrangler) and a family SUV to follow in 2024. There are rumors of a newer, bigger, better Cherokee, but no one knows what that means. What I personally would like to see is a return of the original Cherokee. Let’s go back to the original design intent of the full-size Jeep Cherokee of yesteryear. I want to see a two-door version of the Wagoneer, like the original Cherokee, to begin with.

What Would You Say To An 800+ HP Jeep Wagoneer?

I would say pinch me I must be dreaming, and yes. Not only yes, but hell yes, gimme and pretty please with sugar on top. Well, this dream has a name and it is Tomahawk, and it’s not something foreign to fans of past FCA products. Thanks to a new trademark application discovered by CarBuzz, this could mean a new Jeep with the word “hawk” in its name. Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this new name points to something that could mean a new and very exciting Jeep. Both Dodge and SRT have used the name, which leaves many possible theories. One possibility is that the name will be given to one of Dodge’s upcoming electrified products, perhaps as a high-horsepower hybrid or fully-electric SUV. But I have another idea. My first theory is that the name could signify a limited-edition, Demon-powered Grand Cherokee that would sit above the revered Trackhawk. You know how Jeep likes its special editions. But there’s another possibility, and it’s one that I’m sure many would be very excited to see become a reality. And that’s a high-performance Jeep Grand Wagoneer. With the recent arrival of the Cadillac Escalade-V grabbing headlines around the world for being the most powerful full-size SUV on the planet, Stellantis may want to steal the crown from General Motors. A Jeep Wagoneer with up to 840 horsepower would bury the Escalade-V, and since electrification is the way forward for even the awesome enthusiasts at Dodge, a Wagoneer Tomahawk may be the ideal way to say goodbye to internal combustion. Of course, this is all conjecture for now and the name may never be used. It could also be applied to something completely different from what I’ve theorized here, but as always, The Jeep Talk Show will be sure to update you as new information becomes available.

A Jeep Wrecks, But How Did It Get THERE?!?

The wreck happened shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday morning, just off the Sunland Park exit ramp, directly below the Sunland Park Mall sign in El Paso Texas. Emergency crews were forced to extract the driver from the structurally-damaged Jeep. The driver was transported to a local hospital, however, there was no word if there were any passengers in the vehicle.

It is unclear how the 4-door-Jeep Wrangler came to rest some 10 feet above the roadway, with guardrail and kbar and jersey barriers along the outside shoulder of the exit ramp, all seemingly untouched and completely undamaged. The Jeep, however, is a total loss. It looks like a Jeep that rolled down the side of a mountain. Police continue to investigate the wreck because more than a few people are curious as to how the Jeep got to where it was, and how it became so damaged.

Tech Talk with Jeep Talk

TOPIC/QUESTION: Brake Talk – Multi-Part Series on Jeep Brakes

Last week in Episode 631 we started a new multi-part series on the braking systems found on Jeeps. This isn’t going to be focused just on Wranglers, in fact, we started off by looking at all the different kinds of problems any Jeep’s braking system could present and how to identify what these symptoms mean, and what to do about them. We even took a deep dive into the brake fluid, something I highly encourage you to listen to if this is your first time hearing a Tech Talk or are currently unhappy with your Jeep’s brakes.

In this episode, I plan to go over just exactly what happens when you push on that brake pedal, and we’ll identify the major components of a Jeep’s braking system. Later we’ll get into upgrades, and the “while you’re in there’s” too. Most present-day Jeep braking systems run off a hydraulic fluid system. In basic terms, when you push the brake pedal an arm pushes a piston into the master cylinder. The master cylinder is that big round thing attached to the firewall just in front of the driver’s position in the engine compartment. The piston’s function is to compress the hydraulic braking fluid and create pressure that is sent through a proportioning block and into the brake lines, which are connected to the brake calipers. The calipers themselves have a piston that pushes on a brake pad. The brake pad then creates friction along the face of the brake rotor, slowing it down to an eventual stop.  It works similarly to the brakes on your bike, but those use mechanical force with a cable instead of hydraulic force. But the pads clamping down on the edge of the wheel is just like the pads clamping down on the brake rotor.

Older Jeeps, including older Wranglers, generally have rear drum brakes that utilize the same hydraulic fluid and compression method as disc brakes, but instead of brake calipers and rotors, the drum itself is connected to the rear axle/hub. The wheel is then bolted onto the drum. When the brake pedal is pressed and the fluid is compressed, the pistons in the drum’s “wheel cylinder” move outward in opposing directions, pushing the outer brake shoes. This push allows the curved brake shoe to contact the inner wall of the drum. The contact then creates friction, similar to a disc brake, and results in the same reduction in speed and eventual stopping of the Jeep. Drum brakes however are inefficient and problematic. Return springs designed to bring the brake shoe back into position when not in use are often rusted and fail to bring the brake shoe back, resulting in continued friction (otherwise known as brake drag) or in severe cases, a locking/seizing of the rear brakes. In addition, the design of a drum brake isn’t as powerful as disc brakes and has very limited upgrade options. Those upgrades are what we’ll be talking about in the next Tech Talk.

 

Until then, if a detailed brake inspection hasn’t ever been done on your Jeep, or you haven’t done one in a year or more, then it’s time to head out to the driveway with a jack and some tools. Get that Jeep in the air, get the wheels and tires off, and start digging into your brakes for a good visual inspection. Trust me, the next time you’re faced with having to make an emergency braking maneuver, you’ll be glad you did this. 

 

Links Mentioned in this Episode

NEXEN Tires USA https://www.nexentireusa.com/

Trails 411- POWERING Your Adventure https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver

The 4×4 Radio Network http://4x4radionetwork.com/

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