Episode 638 – Jeeper… Meet Chuck

Say Hello To The Freedom Edition

The official holiday may be over, but the freedom celebration lasts year-round with the Freedom Package for the 2023 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, a military-themed limited edition that’s available for order in late July for a limited time and appropriately arriving at dealerships in time for Veterans Day. Unfortunately, this latest Freedom Edition package doesn’t now, (and never has) come draped in stars and stripes, but it does have a handful of subtle interior and exterior additions to set these Jeeps apart from the others. Plus, Jeep makes a small donation with each purchase to honor servicemen and servicewomen. Available only for the Wrangler and Gladiator Sport S trim (two notches up from the base Sport), the Freedom edition packs some patriotic-like capability and style cues. For instance, the Freedom Editions come equipped with a winch-capable steel front bumper, (winch sold separately) steel rock rails, an LED lighting package, body-color fender flares, black wheels, and black accents, leather-trimmed cloth seats, and black accent stitching. And as far as I can tell, it comes in the standard Freedom Edition silver/gray color like all the other Freedom Editions before it. So where’s the salute to the military one may ask? It’s subtle, to say the least.

An Oscar Mike badge on the rear tailgate/swing gate and an American flag decal on the side just above the Jeep logo is all the distinguishing features you will see. That’s it. Two stickers basically. That’s all Jeep thought was worthy of doing to pay homage to Old Glory and those who serve. If you ask me, it’s disappointing, but what should you expect from a company that’s owned by the French? As a bonus, (or to save face), I’ll let you be the judge… Jeep commits to donating $250 to military charities with every Freedom Edition Jeep sold. Yea, not what I call going out of the way either, and at least someone at Jeep thought so too. So for any and all active and recently retired service members, you will qualify for $500 military bonus cash. Freedom ain’t free, and that’s never been more true, for just about everything, in today’s world. The Freedom treatment for the 2023 Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler ain’t free either, so expect to pay an additional $3,295 premium if you want to park one of these Jeeps in your driveway.

Get Your Hands On The 2020 SEMA Gladiator – NOW FOR SALE!

Each year, the vast majority of major manufacturers and aftermarket outfits use the annual SEMA Show to debut their latest and greatest custom builds. One such project is a heavily-kitted, spare-no-expense, money was no object, Jeep Gladiator overland build that, after being featured at SEMA, has now been listed on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284871069028?hash=item4253a38d64:g:JgAAAOSwtpNit4SA

This insanely well-equipped Gladiator is well hooked up with a gigantic amount of upgrades both inside and out. This includes KMC Hex Beadlock forged and machined wheels wrapped in massive 40-inch Toyo AT tires, pushed by custom two-piece drive-shafts. This is all hooked up to a 5″ Metal Cloak lift kit with their patented 6-pack shocks, giving the Jeep the articulation to make it all work. The body has a Rebel Off-Road roof rack up top, a bed rack in the back with a tent, and bed rails all locking down a pair of Pelican cargo boxes, Pelican gun, and camera cases, mounted Rotopax gas and water packs, two CO2 tanks, and a pair of Maxxtraxx recovery boards just because. Up front the Gladiator sports a 15,000-lb winch, Baja designs LED auxiliary lights and custom limb risers.

The aft-end of the truck has also been bestowed with a motorcycle carrier that now houses a Rokon Trail Breaker. If you don’t know what those are, picture those awesome little 2-stroke mini bikes from the ’60s and ’70s with the fat tires, but give it a modern-day suspension and a full-time front and rear wheel drivetrain with 14″ of ground clearance and capable of climbing 60% grades while traversing the rocky mountains. If Jeep built motorcycles, they’d be something like these Rokon Trail-Breakers. https://www.rokon.com/product/trail-breaker/

The interior of the Jeep has received an equally involved transformation, with a Midland CB radio, PRP Comp leather and suede off-road race seats, and another slew of Pelican items. Not to mention a whole host of gear-mounting racks and boards throughout the cabin. In total, nearly $160,000 has been invested into the build, with $56,000 allotted for the price of the truck itself, over $85,000 in parts, and around $18,000 in labor, installation, and paintwork — and that’s before considering any of the project management, legwork, and research that went into bringing this ambitious overlander to life. After being displayed at SEMA, the rig also spent another six months being further tuned and dialed in, now standing as a bonafide professional-grade overlander and off-roader. This SEMA-shown 2020 Jeep Gladiator overland rig is available now on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $137,500. The sale also includes an optional fully-restored matching Rokon 2×2 Trail Breaker motorcycle for an additional $8,500.

Newbie Nuggets with Wendy

Using a Spotter – 3 part series

When you first drive your jeep, it’s pretty similar to your regular daily driver on a highway, until you decide to go off-road and you come to an obstacle. Now here in Big Bear, we don’t have simple rocks to climb or basic obstacles. Rocks tend to be spread out into one long continuous obstacle. Being new it was hard for me to comprehend the line I needed to pick and the way the jeep would handle the terrain. This is where a good spotter comes in.

I’m breaking this using a spotter topic into a 3-part series including talking about picking your line so you can put these three episodes together to help you when wheel. You can also review past episodes #428, 433 & 466 if you can’t wait for the next show.

Using a spotter is essential for Newbies for getting through the more difficult obstacles. You are gaining all kinds of nuggets on how your jeep navigates through the obstacles and you are learning how to feel and understand what your jeep is doing while climbing over an obstacle. Hopefully, you have spatial awareness of your Jeep’s width and length (episodes 468 & 471 can help with this).  A good spotter has some great qualities and I’ve discovered not all are created equal. I was fortunate to have my husband, Bill, as my first spotter. His entire life of off-roading and Jeeping gave me confidence that he would keep me on the right line and get me through the obstacle, giving me a solid foundation of what to do and how to do it.

One of the most valuable qualities of a good spotter is being patient and calm. This allows you, the driver, to also remain calm and get through the obstacle with ease. A good spotter gives good and clear commands. This may seem obvious but I’ve seen all kinds of weirdness out there from double commands to yelling (especially husbands to wives) to giving the wrong commands, to you name it. As the driver, you decide who will spot you. It’s your choice to use a spotter, or not, AND to choose who will spot you through. If you feel more comfortable with your significant other, as I did, then that’s your choice. If you want to use someone else in the group, then do it. And narrow it down to one, not three spotters. That gets very confusing.

There are some things you should be aware of that will help you when using a spotter;

1)   A spotter is essentially an extra set of eyes to guide you over an obstacle that you won’t be able to see once you start your movement and you’re on top of the rocks.

2)   The spotter’s job is to help you “line up” for that obstacle. This may include you having to back up several times so that the rear tires align in the way they want you to proceed. Follow their directions, it may seem strange to you at the time, but they can see things that you cannot.

3)   Once spotting begins, PAY ATTENTION. So many times I see this; We get someone lined up, only to have them stop paying attention, stick their head out the window, and do their own thing. As hard as it may be, don’t take your eyes off the spotter. They are there to help you!

4)   Stick with the spotter till you are through the obstacle.  Their job is to guide you over that obstacle and help you navigate through it.  I see this all the time, a jeep gets part way through and the driver thinks they are clear and stops watching the spotter, and guess what – usually their rear tires slip off the rock because they turned too early and they are now balancing on their drive shaft or something else. And then it’s just fun for the spotter to try to figure out how to get them back on track. Or worse, pulling a winch line or getting a strap.

5)   There should only be one spotter! You may experience multiple people trying to help you through an obstacle at the same time. We all LOVE to help… however you need to listen or watch one spotter at a time. It’s OK for you to ask for just one person to help. I have seen experienced drivers getting through a tough spot and everyone is “helping” by giving commands and the driver finally says, “I need one spotter”. There is nothing wrong with asking for just one person to guide you. And those of you helping to spot a newbie make sure you are the only one giving the direction.

In spotting, there are some commands that you should be aware of. Some spotters use verbal commands and others use non-verbal commands. Both have pros and cons, I tend to prefer the non-verbal that I will explain in next week’s episode.

Let’s start with verbal commands. These are probably the most commonly used. You can look up any YouTube video and find all kinds of verbal commands given at almost any obstacle in the country. It seems that most people are good at speaking their directions and most of the time, drivers listen. But sometimes the verbal commands can get “lost in translation” especially if a newbie isn’t familiar with what the spotter actually wants them to do. The tone of their voice and patience is important here for the newbie. Verbal commands can be misinterpreted, not heard, and/or confusing. Verbal commands can also lend themselves to allowing the driver to look away from the spotter while they “wait” for the next verbal command.

I have a few examples of verbal commands most often used;

Driver, or turn driver: turn your wheels toward the driver’s side.

Passenger, or turn passenger: turn your wheels toward the passenger side.

Easy: easy on the throttle or brake

Control your rear: when coming off an obstacle, slow down and ease the back end off the rocks so you don’t bounce your bumper off the rocks.

STOP: Very important for you to STOP & FREEZE if you hear this command. You may have no idea what is about to happen if you don’t STOP.

The issue I have with verbal commands is that you, the Newbie, and frankly any driver, may not understand exactly how much “driver” to turn. Or exactly what does “easy” mean? Once you wheel for a bit and have several obstacles under your belt, you will get a feel for what these verbal commands mean. But as a spotter, being able to communicate to the driver exactly what I need them to do is important to the newbie’s success. So for all of you listeners that help spot, think about your verbal commands and try to limit the words and comments so that the Newbie driver can get the most out of the experience. This is especially true if husbands are helping their wives/significant others. Sometimes “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” shows up and all kinds of “verbal” communication start to happen. I know, I’ve been at major obstacles and watched the frustration from a driver when the spotter loses patience and starts over correcting or yelling the commands. That is clearly not the way to help a newbie through. Patience is key.

Next week I will continue the series on using a spotter with Non-verbal commands and sharing my favorite method of spotting.

Jeep Talk Show Gladiator Update

KSaAuto 16 Inch Antenna for Jeep Wrangler JK JL JKU JLU Gladiator JT 2007-2022

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/

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

Rat Bastards Webpage https://ratbastard.lol

Looking for Amazon products we’ve talked about on the show? https://jeeptalkshow.com/amazon

You are invited to our Discord Server!  https://discord.gg/txeYMs45sm

Black Magic Brakes: https://shop.blackmagicbrakes.com/

Teraflex Big Rotor Kit (fr4ont) For JK’s: https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/brake-kits/4303490-teraflex-performance-big-rotor-kit-slotted-front

TJ Power Stop Front and Rear Upgraded Brake Kit: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=11139029&a=PowerStopPK

EBC Yellow Stuff Pads For Jeeps: https://www.shopebcbrakes.com/jeep-ebc-yellow-stuff/cm7535-42

Show notes powered by sevenslats.com