Episode 791 – All-Electric Jeep Recon
Large Wrangler Recall
57,000 Jeep Wranglers recalled over ‘unnecessary’ part that could cause a fuel leak, fire
The recall affects 57,885 vehicles,
58% are expected to have the “unnecessary and unused frame stud.”
2020-2023 Wranglers Manufactured BEFORE May 2022
The extra stud could pierce the fuel tank during a crash, causing a fuel leak.
Notifications go out May 12th – Dealers will remove stud free of charge
All-Electric Jeep Recon and Wagoneer S EV leaked
Stellantis dealer preview event
Nobody outside of Stellantis has seen these in person.
Both vehicles share the same platform (STLA BEV)
Wagoneer S – supposedly smaller than Wagonner or Grand
Larger than Grand Cherokee
Low floor design / Street performance oriented (low profile tires w/ larger rims)
No Chrome brushed aluminum, or color-matched trim
All new grille design w/ incorporated light bar
The Recon, – has a styling mix of Wrangler and early 1990s Grand Cherokee.
It has the squarishness, taillights, and removable doors of the Wrangler,
But the integrated fenders, front bumper, two-tone body, and grille design all scream early “Big Cherokee.” It also has a much taller floor height than the Wagoneer S.
Has what looks like extendable step rails, and more off-road-ready BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K02 tires.
Jeep CJ outlines in blue on the center caps of the wheels, blue “Trail Rated” and “4XE” badges, blue front and rear tow hooks, a fully illuminated and segmented grille, tailgate-mounted spare tire, and a blue “Moab” graphic on the hood. The hood also has an interesting louver design near the cowl area and only on the driver’s side. (snorkel?)
Jeep Talk Show Gladiator Update
Wiring My Gladiator
In the past few months, I have been running a lot of wires on my Gladiator. I think I’m done, or nearly so, with the 8 gauge wire running to the bed of the gladiator. It is connected to a 12-volt “lighter style” plug and to a switch that controls the power to a Viair 450c 100% duty cycle air compressor.
There are a few tricks to wiring. You must know what the max current of the device (or devices) you are powering.
You need to look up what size wire to use, gauge, for the length of wire you will be using.
Fusing the line is a must and the fuse should be close to the battery. You can use a breaker made for automotive or marine use. It works just like a breaker on your house. If you trip the breaker you can reset it.
Running your wire you need to stay away from very hot sources, like catalytic converters, and mufflers.
Make sure you keep wiring out of harm’s way, remember it’s a Jeep and Jeeps can scrap rocks and things when you’re off-road!
Make sure all connections are solid and black tape can be used, but consider shrink tubing. It looks professional and it is a better long-term barrier to mud, water, etc…
That driveshaft may look tempting but don’t use it to run your wiring!
Tech Talk with Jeep Talk
TOPIC/QUESTION: Metal Work Clean Up
If you do any metal fabrication or modification at all, you know there is a lot of metal debris that can pile up in a short amount of time for even the simplest of projects.
If you find yourself with a metal mess after making some brackets or doing a welding job where you pulled out the grinder… save yourself from having to pull a metal sliver out of your flesh by using this trick to clean up.
Simply put a strong magnet in a plastic bowl or container, a gallon milk jug with a flat bottom would work great for this. With the magnet sitting in the bottom of the container, skim it along the floor to pick up the shavings. Once you’ve picked up all you can, move it over the trash can and pull up on the magnet, letting the shavings drop into the trash.
You’d be surprised to see how much metal your broom or vacuum will miss. And the last thing you want to be doing is scooting along under the Jeep and picking up a metal sliver or three. Look, if you’ve never had a sliver made of steel embed itself into your flesh, you haven’t really lived. They’re nearly impossible to see until they rust and turn darker in color unless you are in the perfect angle of light, and by then the tweezers are in the way, and DAMMIT where’d it go?! It’s loads of fun if you heal fast and you get a layer of skin to form OVER the sliver before it can be extracted, and continuously push it further into your body. Good times. So where do you get a nice big strong magnet? Pry one off the back of a blown speaker. Don’t have one laying around? Make a trip to the thrift store and buy a crappy old speaker to sacrifice. Or try going down to a couple of local stereo shops and asking the techs if they have any blown speakers laying around they pulled out of a vehicle recently. Don’t talk to the sales guys, they’ll just try and sell you one, but the techs will be more likely to dig one up or have one already laying around.
Another option would be to go to the junkyard and pull a junk speaker out of a car. Speaker magnets are strong and large and have the kind of magnetic force that will pull multiple layers of shavings from off the ground. Don’t try to use refrigerator magnets, they’re not strong enough, no matter how many you cram into that gallon jug. And if you want to repurpose that magnet, they work great, stuck on the side of your toolbox to hold various screws, bolts, or other hardware.