Episode 654 – When Recoveries Go Bad

This Week In Jeep

Jeep Leaving China Is Causing Ripples

Back in Episode 646, released in the third week of July, I announced a long-time joint venture between the Chinese government-owned Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) and Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company. Jeep just shut down its only factory in China and is pulling out of the country together. The reasons for which have been made public and amount more or less to Stellantis wanting to take over operations of the venture with a higher stake than a 50% even split. It makes sense considering what Stellantis is bringing to the table, but the Chi-Com-owned auto group was having none of it and so Stellantis backed out of what would have been a bad business deal had they continued to move forward. China is all butt hurt now, and this week has singled out Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares over his recent comments about the failed joint venture, and the supposed “broken trust” between the two partners. Stellantis is a top-ten global automotive manufacturer, arguably now the fourth largest on the planet, and is the current iteration of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), following a merger (I say takeover) by French automaker PSA Group. All that was finalized in early 2021, but before that merger, FCA signed a joint venture with the GAC Group to produce its vehicles for their local markets overseas, including Jeeps. Although GAC Group is a top-five automaker in China, its joint venture with Stellantis has struggled in recent years, a fact neither party is denying. The finger-pointing over failed Chinese Jeep production continues, according to the most recent chapter reported by Automotive News Europe. The report pointed out that Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares cited a growing risk of politicians meddling in automotive businesses in China during an earnings presentation last week. While Tavares acknowledged a decreasing amount of Jeep sales in the Chinese market as reasoning for Stellantis’ JV termination, he expanded by stating the decision was also rooted in “broken trust” with GAC Group, simultaneously blaming an increase in Chinese policy that favors local auto brands. A fact we reported on in detail in Episode 646 and a policy that seems to be extending throughout the automotive market and beyond. Despite this, or maybe because of this, the jabs over the Chinese manufacturing of Jeeps have continued back and forth, but GAC Group is the latest to release a public statement about this, and this time they’ve singled out Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. GAC continues to blame Stellantis for the failed success of the Jeep brand in China, going so far as to say Jeep didn’t respect its customers in China and that was the reason the brand didn’t do well. Jeep’s parent company is blaming the politicians in China for meddling in the joint venture that was decades in the making, and the current policies the government is pushing don’t help anything.

Regardless of whose fault any of this is, this joint venture does not appear salvageable, and Chinese-made Jeeps will be discontinued. Boo-hoo. Moving forward, Stellantis has confirmed its plans I reported on in July as being just rumors, to import fully electrified versions of its Jeep models for sale in China. Maybe this new forced rarity of Jeeps in the Chinese auto market will make them more sought after or something. I don’t know how all this is going to play out, but on the surface, it seems like a solid move by Jeep.

Which side of the fence do you fall on with this topic?

What Is The Hardtop Hotel?

Driving around the Bay State of Massachusetts, it’s clear that Jeep Wranglers are quite popular. But the arrival of warmer weather brings about a dreaded task for some Wrangler owners: switching the hard top for the soft top. Ryan and Colin Henry, who both own Jeep Wranglers, understand the Jeep-specific struggle and decided to help others facing the same battle. After a couple of years of having to team up to remove their own HardTops, and then storing them in their parent’s barn (halfway across the state) until winter, they had enough. Their company, HardTop Hotel, will swap out the Wrangler hard- and soft-tops for any local Jeep owner, and even store the hard-top during the summer months for the Jeeper in their local warehouse. For most homeowners with ample driveway space, it may take as much as one to two hours to swap out a hard top for a soft top, especially if they only do it once a year. And forget doing it by yourself. HardTops weigh as much as 150 pounds, and they’re not exactly easy to pull off the Jeep without a hoist of some kind or at least one other person. As I say that I’m sure there are some of you out there going like “Pshhh, pfft, and furthermore phhhfft – I do it by myself all the time” ….. I’m sure you do. These two brothers have the process down to about 25 to 30 minutes depending on the year of the Jeep. Initially, their business was set up in the downtown area, as walking down the bay city of Boston, one will see plenty of Jeep Wranglers at every turn. That and city living and ample storage space, are not usually synonymous with one another. However, it became clear very quickly that the business was in the suburbs.

Now in Tewksbury, they are swapping out Jeep tops at a rate of about 20 to 25 a day. Tops are being stored either at their on-site warehouse or via any number of available solutions at the customer’s own house. Having both on-site and mobile services, the two brothers who created HardTop Hotel have a whole team of Jeep-savvy techs that can come to you or handle same-day swaps at their facility. Business is good for the HardTop Hotel too, with their 2022 season 97 percent booked out, and storage spots for the 2023 season quickly filling up too. Oh, and if all you have is a hard top for your Jeep, the HardTop Hotel even has a limited number of rental soft tops that you can lease for the summer season. And if you are in the market for a new soft top, they invite you to have it drop shipped to their location, where they will prep it for installation and set up a time that’s convenient for you to have it installed. It’s a fantastic business model if you ask me, and they provide a well-needed service to the Jeep community in Massachusetts. Who knows, maybe with continued success, you’ll see a HardTop Hotel in your area very soon. If you’d like to learn more about this company, what they do, what their pricing is like, and how to get ahold of them – https://hardtophotel.com/

From a Parts Jeep To Making Wishes Come True

At just 19 years old Jasper has a talent for vehicle restoration and a heart for the community. Jasper Halford recently completed the restoration of his own Jeep CJ7 and decided to dedicate the next restoration project to granting life-changing wishes to children with a critical illness. In comes, the Wish Jeep! At 16 years old, instead of using COVID-19 shutdowns as a break like other kids his age may have done, for the past two plus years, Jasper used the time to work on what is affectionately being called, the Wish Jeep. He restored his own CJ7 as a freshman in high school, and when the pandemic began, he still had the husk of a second Jeep that he’d bought for parts.

He thought he’d start the rebuild and eventually sell the car on Craigslist. But something about the Make-A-Wish foundation spoke to him. The Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfills “wishes” for children with critical illnesses. During the pandemic, the nonprofit put wishes on hold and asked donors to send in messages of hope instead. Videos and letters poured in from celebrities and wish kids, and Halford was one of the millions that saw the campaign. He reached out to the Make-A-Wish chapter in Northern California and Nevada, and with information on how to donate a car to the Foundation, Halford was sold. Cobbling together the Wish Jeep was no small task, with less to work with than the prior build, he knew that he couldn’t do it alone. The Wish Jeep quickly turned into a community effort. Jasper’s first sponsor was a small powder coating shop in West Sacramento, just outside his hometown of Pleasant Grove, California. Les Schwab put tires on the Jeep, and Kniesel’s Collision gave it a bright blue Make-A-Wish paint job. Other sponsors donated parts and labor. Every single part of this jeep has been touched and gone over by any number of people. Jasper himself even made a big sacrifice for the project, cannibalizing several parts of his own Jeep to make this Jeep come to life.

The Wish Jeep is a just pristine 1984 CJ7, painted in the Make-a-Wish Foundation’s trademark blue color, and has an original CJ7 white hard top. The interior is all brand new. ACC Luxury carpet kit, and black Bestop Trailmax Pro Seats. It sits on a 2.5″ Tuff Country EZ Ride lift kit and 31″ AT Open Range tires wrapped around original white CJ rims. Up front, it has a nice little Warn rock crawler winch bumper loaded with a 12k winch, KC auxiliary lights, and recovery points. The rear is equipped with a simple low-profile steel bumper and the OEM tire carrier with a spare is covered by a custom Wish Jeep tire cover. Both axles have been completely gone through, and have Eaton Truetrac lockers and Chromoly axle shafts. It has the 4.2L I-6 (completely rebuilt of course) and a high flow 4.0L head with fuel injection. The engine exhales through a custom 2.5” exhaust and a Dynomax muffler. 

The goal, at a minimum, is to get the Jeep to sell for $30,000 with all proceeds going to granting wishes to children with critical illnesses through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. But Jasper thinks others will see the great impact it could have on the lives of children in need, and that will help it go for a lot more. The Jeep is currently being displayed at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno Nevada and is scheduled to be auctioned off at 3:15 on the afternoon of Friday, August 5th for the annual “Hot August Nights” Collector Car Auction. 

Yea I know, news like this and stories like this generally don’t get a lot of notice outside of the circles they’re created in, but I enjoy sharing this stuff with you nonetheless. 

https://www.motorsportauctiongroup.com/article/14496/1984-Jeep-CJ7

Newbie Nuggets with Wendy

Know how to use the right recovery gear

 This is not a story for the faint at heart – but the lesson is invaluable. I saw a FB post about a family that was out enjoying all the mud and rain with their Ford Super Duty truck in Kingman, Arizona. The story went on to share how the driver got stuck in the mud and reached out to his friend for help. The friend has lots of off-roading experience and thought this would be a simple tug out of the mud. He used what he had on board at the time, a chain stretched across both factory recovery points and a 3” static heavy duty tow strap and a drop-down hitch, and a 2” ball on the back of his 4×4 truck. The first attempt failed to move the stuck truck and the second attempt actually broke the chain. The strap was then connected to one of the front tow points – Again, nothing was moving so the friend backed his truck up a few feet to get a better start and it was too much for the ball drop-hitch and it ripped a portion of the hitch off and it flew straight through the windshield into the driver’s seat, where the driver was sitting ending his life instantly – In front of his wife and kids. This is such a tragic story. I feel for the family, just out having fun and I feel for the friend who had the correct equipment, just not on board at the time.

I share this story because you may have acquired “recovery” gear as you wheel and get more experience, but if you are not sure how to use them or which item to use for the recovery, then don’t offer to help. You may be the one trying to help someone else, like this friend. Just know that tow balls and/or hitches are NOT recovery points. Jeeps have recovery points – they usually have D-Rings attached to them and are attached to the frame. This makes them strong and is designed to help pull or tug someone out if needed.

I realize this story is about a truck that got stuck but it’s a reminder to all of us experienced or new, that some recovery situations need different equipment. And knowing how to use them is the crucial link. Lucky for our listeners, we have covered all kinds of topics on recovery and recovery gear. In my Newbie Nuggets episode 434, I list safety tips when winching, in ep. 462 I talk about using a Hi-Lift Jack and in ep. 473 I cover snatch blocks for recoveries. Josh has covered all sorts of recovery gear and suggestions over the years. JTS is huge on promoting safety when operating the gear too. The bottom line is you need to understand how to use the gear you have. Hopefully, you have bought the most trail-rated possible gear and someone has shown you how to properly use it. As a newbie, I learned from experienced mentors how to use the gear, and even got certified in winch operations and safety. There are courses/people in your area who can teach you the proper way to use the gear. At Trails 411 we offer a recovery class specifically to learn when and how to use recovery gear. If you are not in So Calif., I’m sure you can find a course to take. It’s great you have “the gear” but please don’t use it if you aren’t sure.

I am sad for both of these families and how their lives have been changed forever. Many different FB sites and pages have used this story and photos as a reminder and teaching point to help others. I wanted to share this with the newbies and remind you that just because you saw a recovery on YouTube or FB it’s not as simple as it may look. I have some pictures of the stuck truck and where the tow hitch broke in the show notes (jeeptalkshow.com) look for episode 654. It’s a really good visual to NEVER use a TOW HITCH as a recovery point. For us Jeepers who always want to help, we need to make sure we have the right gear and know how to use it. Coming up next week I will review the different types of recovery gear and how and when it would be used.  

 Mohave County 4X4 Recovery (MC4X4R)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2310305859069599/permalink/5200181790081977/

Jeep Talk Show Gladiator Update

Many of us work on our Jeeps in our garage or driveway.  We don’t have a lift, so jacks, jack stands, etc… are used.  I’ve seen people on social media with all four wheels and tires off.  The Jeep floating in the air under four jack stands.

What happens if your Jeeps come down, will you have time to get out of the way?

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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