Josh’s FIRST Episode Back Hits Different

In this special unscripted “Josh & Awe” episode, Tony welcomes back longtime co-host and fan-favorite Josh after a few years away. The guys catch up, banter about everything from tire tread depth and 4WD matching requirements to wild interview stories, soccer rivalries, past show drama, and why audio quality still matters. It’s a fun, laid-back conversation full of laughs, Jeep wisdom, and behind-the-scenes memories. Whether you’re new to the show or a longtime listener, this one gives you a real feel for the chemistry that built Jeep Talk Show over 13+ years. **Timestamps:** 00:00 Tire Depth Tool & Next Week’s 4WD Talk 01:20 Why Matching Tires Matters for 4WD Lockers 04:12 Recording Issues and Plans for Studio Return 05:47 Call for Listener Support and Show Dynamics 07:02 Sports Banter, Red Card, and Uber Interview Idea 11:09 Show History, Hiatus, and Remote Recording Challenges 13:22 Infotainment Focus, Technical Limits, and Trademark Note 14:14 Show Origins, Aspirations, and Non‑Monetary Motive 15:55 Money Motives and Industry Monetization Trends 16:55 Seeking High‑Profile Guests and Compensation Talks 18:27 Guest Compensation and the ‘Never Go Full’ Concept 19:22 Interview Ethics and the ‘Never Go Full’ Experience 23:47 Uncertainty Over Past Interviews and Representation Issues 24:57 Customer Blame Stories and Mechanical Anecdotes 25:59 Mechanics Liens and Fault Attribution Tales 27:00 Interview with Indicted Mechanic and Legal Fallout 29:07 Audio Snippets, Editing, and Conspiracy Jokes 29:42 Interesting Situations, Honesty, and Legal Concerns 30:44 Host Chemistry and Personal Background 33:00 Job Loss, COVID Impact, and Career Shift 35:36 Entertainment Focus and Josh’s Return 37:05 Upcoming Tire Size Talk and Tread Measurement 39:16 Closing Remarks and Farewell **Key Highlights:** – Why tire diameter/circumference matching is critical for lockers, limited slips, and AWD Jeeps (and how much difference you can actually get away with) – The cheap but essential tire tread depth gauge tool every Jeep owner should carry – Josh’s return logistics, shaky phone video, and plans for more content – Hilarious (and shady) stories from past interviews and guests – Reflections on 13+ years of the show, staying authentic, and what keeps them going What tire size difference do you run on your Jeep? Drop your setup and experiences in the comments! Have you used a tread depth gauge? Let us know. If you enjoy the raw, entertaining Jeep conversations, hit that **LIKE** button, **SUBSCRIBE**, and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Share this with your Jeep crew and leave a comment — we read them all! Support the Show & Shop Jeep Gear Thank you for watching and listening! If you enjoyed the conversation with Josh…, consider checking out some of the great products and upgrades we discussed. Tire Tread Depth Gauge [Amazon link] https://amzn.to/4fuzonF Thanks for being part of the Jeep Talk Show community. New episodes drop regularly — see you next week for the full tire tread and matching deep dive roundtable! **Follow & Connect:** Website: jeeptalkshow.com Voicemail/Video Voicemail: jeeptalkshow.com/voicemail Discord, Facebook, Instagram & more — links at jeeptalkshow.com/contact #JeepTalkShow #JoshAndAwe #JeepTires #4WD #TireTread #JeepLife Visit our website: https://jeeptalkshow.com/ Watch/Listen on Spotify https://jeeptalkshow.com/spotify Join our Discord Server: https://jeeptalkshow.com/discord Subscribe to our newsletter: https://jeeptalkshow.com/newsletter Help Support the show via Patreon: https://jeeptalkshow.com/patreon

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00:01 – 00:00:16:10]
So we normally have interviews every every Friday and this Friday We just didn’t have a guest actually we had a guest but they they rescheduled to later this this month So I thought I would get Josh on here and Josh and I would just as I told Josh and the message this

[00:00:16:10 – 00:00:17:05]
a little bit

[00:00:18:10 – 00:00:31:17]
But first what I’d like to do Josh is I saw a recent Tiktok video where this this lady Mechanic was going around measuring tire tread depth

[00:00:32:23 – 00:01:07:25]
And it’s a little tool I can’t believe I don’t have this little tread depth measuring tool and I thought to myself you know this question is always I’ve always had this question as far as tread depth and Four-wheel drives because you know, I think everybody knows how critical it is for the tires to be matched closely You know if you have a a locker or if you have a limited slip You don’t want those tires to be very the diameter to be or the the circumference to be very much different between them And it really depends on what you’re doing with with the rig and and you know four-wheel drive

[00:01:09:02 – 00:01:53:25]
Lockers so on so forth. So I thought we’d tease this a little bit for talking about this in depth next week I’ll both with you and on our roundtable What what’s your idea as far as having a four-wheel drive and buying tires? Oh You’re gonna give me a chance to speak Outstanding. I didn’t think I was gonna get a word in edge lies today Well, I’m glad you called on me Tony because I know the rest of the class had their hands up, too Oh real quick I wanted to share with you that you know the waiting mechanic that you were watching going around and measuring people’s tires I do this all the time. It’s a public service announcement I kind of consider it a you know, my good deed of the day, but nobody ever appreciates it I’m always getting heckled and and chased around and people yelling at me like, you know, what the

[00:01:53:25 – 00:02:06:02]
are you doing? And why are you in my garage at 3 a.m? Oh, no, no, no, the public bathroom is not where you go to say Mr. Gok can measure that for you You do not you do not solicit in the public bathrooms

[00:02:07:19 – 00:02:18:05]
Yeah, you raise against it. You get it raise a good point Tony about tires matching and stuff like that Especially if you’ve got a locker this would apply more so especially true if you’ve got like a

[00:02:20:05 – 00:04:23:27]
You’re like a full-time walker, you know that type of thing it becomes very very critical anybody who owns an all-wheel drive Jeep or an all-wheel drive vehicle knows how to critical it is and Kind of how necessary it is that all tires match and in fact anytime you go in to replace a tire They’re gonna say that we need to replace all four because it’s an all-wheel drive vehicle So this would apply to a lot of the Grand Cherokee’s out there and any other Jeep that has full-time all-wheel drive Now for those of us who have selectable lockers or have limited slip differentials or a lunchbox locker It doesn’t act as critical but you certainly want your tires to match and that’s for the for the sake of Ease on the gears and everything you wouldn’t want a 28 inch tire on one side and the 32 inch tire on the other side You know even in the case of an emergency That’s why your spare should match what you are running as well and probably why they don’t have space savers on the wranglers and gladiators Exactly exactly things can things can get very very ugly very quick both in the differentials or in the transfer case even the transmission too So yeah, whether it comes down to oh, well one side is is 730 seconds The other side is 1030 seconds, you know That’s not really going to be a big of a deal and yes tires are measured in 30 seconds of an inch And so they they kind of you know use the old Lincoln’s head on a penny trick to measure your tire width depth if you can see What is it? Lincoln’s crown and your tires are too Too low or something like that. I’ll have to add that to my research But I’ll tell you when we stop recording I was surprised the difference the circumference difference that you can get away with on a four-wheel drive and in four-wheel drive With lockers on but but I’ll share that with you when we get down here and I think it’ll surprise you Because there’s a next week serious tricks. Yeah, and next week our Viewers, I will find out what what I found out Of course, you can you can go ahead and Google search it yourself, but this wait it’ll be more fun here from us

[00:04:24:28 – 00:05:11:21]
Now it’s gonna be a great conversation this is gonna go down some rabbit trails. You’re not expecting Alright Josh, so I thought it’d be kind of cool. I bet you there’s there’s a large number of people that know about you being on the show and being here for many many years and Actually being in a situation where you were in more of a studio set up with a better an audio equipment and stuff and Well, I was like one day as it’s like hey Josh is there is there any way Do you have any time to come back on the show and? We got to spitball in it back and forth and it’s like hey, let’s let’s see if we can do it from the phone So that’s why you see shaky video from Josh and a headset that he’s talking into because we tried it without Initially and it was okay

[00:05:15:22 – 00:05:58:26]
Yeah, Tony and I have long since been sticklers about audio quality on the show and it’s one things that we have prided ourselves With over many other podcasts is being able to deliver high quality audio Large bandwidth free storage, you know all that kind of stuff bringing you the best Quality show that we possibly can and I know this isn’t ideal Shaky video and a headset and stuff like that and we’re gonna try and get me in the studio a little bit more I should say back in the studio But of course that’s gonna require your your help as a listener Spreading the word helping us get the exposure we need for the show and and subscribing so you don’t miss any content at all And of course with me being back on the show

[00:05:59:27 – 00:06:14:21]
There’s gonna be a little bit more content coming your way. Yeah and some some I don’t say fighting but let’s say disagreements because we Josh and I agree on many things but not everything and Sometimes it could be kind of funny

[00:06:18:02 – 00:06:23:00]
The base where we get like we get the you know, the boxing ringbell going Like that

[00:06:24:05 – 00:06:52:01]
So, I don’t know if you remember this we were having a discussion I think about antenna length on the on the the jeeps Those bullet antennas and stuff and then I kind of messaged you because I said let’s go for it, you know, they were let’s fight you know, yeah, and you like yeah, and then We got after it. We got after it and one of the Regulars sent me a note or sent Jeep talk show a note saying I don’t like it when you guys I

[00:06:54:15 – 00:06:59:17]
Like it with you fast fight I could I find it home. That’s not the reason why I listen to the Jeep talk show

[00:07:02:14 – 00:07:07:08]
Yeah, that was a valid response to like I don’t need

[00:07:09:22 – 00:07:50:12]
It’s Entertainment I was looking at it like a drama thing, but it wasn’t I mean you felt the way you felt but we’re We’re generally more respectful and polite than what we were in that conversation. Oh, yeah No, the guards were down a little bit on that one Get this I get to talk about what I want to talk about You know if we were in a studio We would probably have a lot of fun that we’d have to have a wide-angle camera So when we got up to fight push our shit pushes each other around We could have a wrap with a flag there so the flag in there We got a little shit

[00:07:50:12 – 00:07:57:27]
Oh speaking of red card, and this is the thing I told you about where we just the

[00:07:57:27 – 00:08:02:18]
About something did you follow any of the soccer stuff and

[00:08:02:18 – 00:08:04:29]
it shouldn’t it be called soccer and not football?

[00:08:06:05 – 00:08:38:04]
Well, yeah, I’ve long since I had a beef about that. Yeah really quick I’m almost running out of time, but I’ll share this one little anecdote with you about this this year’s World Cup So the guy who I work for he has a daughter who ended up marrying an Australian and They they she actually moved to Australia For the better part of a few years, and they just moved back Not quite a year ago This is his first time in the States at least living here now, so he’s he’s a dual citizen now

[00:08:39:05 – 00:09:39:08]
And is living here in the United States So when the United States and Australia Faced off and it was like us in USA ended up winning the second in a row and it was the the own goal Like in the first 20 minutes or something like that and and oh oh boy We did not let him live that down. You know how Australia is you know that given us the point No, I mean just endless endlessly just absolutely obnoxious so that was a lot of fun Of course he was giving it right back to us and stuff like that so others don’t cry But no it’s good times good time So I’m not following every game, and I’m not a huge soccer fan by any stretch of the imagination But you know when the US plays I’ll try and try and catch a little bit of the other match and and see how things go and of course Try and stay up on top of the points and all that and when we win try and rub it in Anybody’s face that we can yeah, I think they need to make the field twice the size that it currently is that would make it more interesting

[00:09:40:27 – 00:09:52:29]
I Think you know if we start including brass knuckles I think that he get really interesting well see just my two cents people if you’re listening I’m just saying what is it what is the one where you beat the

[00:09:52:29 – 00:10:03:05]
out of each other? Oh, it’s rugby. That’s hockey That’s how you Especially where the women these big ball burly women are beating the

[00:10:03:05 – 00:10:07:19]
out of each other now. We’re talking All

[00:10:07:19 – 00:10:10:14]
Josh, how much does an Uber driver make in a day?

[00:10:13:00 – 00:10:14:17]
Funny thing is, is I just can’t get a

[00:10:14:17 – 00:10:15:23]
passenger.

[00:10:18:24 – 00:10:21:20]
You need to put the Jeep Talk Show logo on the side.

[00:10:23:07 – 00:10:29:15]
What was it, the cash cab? What was that cash cab thing, you know? We should do interviews from,

[00:10:30:18 – 00:10:31:25]
Josh isn’t doing an Uber.

[00:10:33:23 – 00:10:44:26]
Delivering, I mean, getting stuff for the company, taking stuff away from the company they worked for. But it’d be pretty funny to actually do interviews, Jeep Talk Show interviews, you go pick them up and drive them around.

[00:10:46:07 – 00:10:47:02]
That would be funny.

[00:10:48:21 – 00:10:58:16]
I just a random person I see in a parking lot somewhere. Hey, can I take it for a ride? Yeah, I don’t think so here, pal. You wanna make $5 the easy way?

[00:10:59:18 – 00:11:01:29]
Oh, God. Shots fired, shots fired.

[00:11:03:12 – 00:11:06:14]
And then there’s always that one, he goes, sure. And then you drive away.

[00:11:08:22 – 00:11:23:03]
All right, so anyway, we were talking earlier about how you’ve been on the show for a long time. I think we got sidetracked talking about something else. You’ve been on the show for a long time. You left the show. We agreed like three years ago, right?

[00:11:24:16 – 00:12:10:17]
Yeah, it was May of 2023, I believe, that I had to step back. So it’s been, it was three years ago this May. And I’m sure people would understand why you wouldn’t want to record with me any longer, but that wasn’t the case. You– No, it was definitely nothing that was forced on me by Tony or by the show or by sponsors or any supporters of the show by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn’t anything that you, the listeners, wanted it, in fact, it was something that life forced on me. And so it was a number of factors that contributed to me just not having any spare time to do anything with the show. I thought that I could kind of still be somewhat

[00:12:11:18 – 00:12:14:27]
able to provide some content, you know, from the back end,

[00:12:15:29 – 00:12:52:22]
you know, a little bit of work in the studio and stuff, but that very quickly evaporated and I wasn’t able to continue to do that either. So three years ago, a little bit more, had to step away from the show and still active in the Discord server where I was able to chat with people here and there, drop some grenades every now and again, a little sniper hit and pop in and say, “What’s up?” But that was about the extent of it until what has it been, Tony, about a few weeks back, a month ago or so, and we figured out the logistics of trying to make this happen. And yeah, it seems to be working out, at least somewhat. Skype had beat the

[00:12:52:22 – 00:13:08:25]
out of us years ago, just trying to do when you’re sitting in a house with high speed internet. The technical difficulties that we went through from the beginning. So thinking about doing this from a moving vehicle was like, “No, that won’t work, but we tried it and here we are.”

[00:13:10:05 – 00:13:41:19]
Well, and the service area that I work in has a fair bit of mountainous terrain and rural area and stuff like that, where even cell phone service isn’t that great. So we ran into that a little bit, even trying this, even in today’s technology of 5G and all that. So a lot of people, they think they don’t see anything. I mean, this show isn’t about building Jeeps. This show isn’t about wheeling videos. I mean, there’s plenty of that on the internet, plenty of that on YouTube.

[00:13:42:26 – 00:13:49:28]
We’re here for entertainment and giving you guys information about Jeeps and stuff. Infotainment. Infotainment, exactly.

[00:13:51:18 – 00:13:56:00]
Jeep stole that from us and is using it for their infotainment system now,

[00:13:57:03 – 00:13:57:17]
allegedly.

[00:13:59:09 – 00:13:59:23]
Yeah, right.

[00:14:01:14 – 00:14:53:05]
We didn’t trademark that one, we should have. Yeah, yeah. So that’s what we do here. And if you’re looking for how to’s and all that stuff, there’s plenty of that out there. But we’re doing okay for entertaining people. I mean, I remember when we initially started the show, it was more about teaching people stuff, how to do things, but not initially in a garage setting. That would have been nice, but I was just thinking about this the other day. I was looking at a YouTube, it’s a podcast, but it’s a YouTube as well. And I was looking at Axels and it was a Toyota one about Axels, they were doing building this, that, the other welding on things. And I got to thinking to myself, how in the world do they afford this? Because that cost a lot of money. And could you imagine us doing this show and making nothing?

[00:14:56:25 – 00:15:03:13]
Well, I mean, for years, we didn’t monetize the show, I think for probably the first decade. Oh yeah.

[00:15:04:24 – 00:15:14:25]
But aside from that, yeah, there’s been high hopes that you and I have both had pipe dreams for this show for years, wishing that we could do one thing I mean,

[00:15:14:25 – 00:15:26:16]
we’ve always wanted to be in the same studio. That would, that would be cool, but we have to rely on technology for that until I can move to Texas, which may or may not happen, but anyways,

[00:15:27:22 – 00:16:13:23]
being able to go on road trips and stuff like that, it would be really cool to do, be able to have somebody be a videographer for us and actually be able to get into a garage and do something with a listener or something like that. I think that would be kind of neat too. It’s like, hey, I’m getting ready to switch the coilovers. It’s like, sweet, the Jeep talks will be there in three days and we’ll give you a hand. Oh, and could you imagine the coilovers are sent to us by somebody that wants the notoriety? And I just wanna mention really quick, neither of us do this for money. I mean, we would have tried monetizing, we would have given up a long time ago if it was about money. It’s just fun. And I think that you guys can sense that. So yeah, we talk a lot about money and monetizing things, but only because how cool would it be to be able to do this full time?

[00:16:14:24 – 00:16:52:03]
Well, not only that, that’s what the rest of the industry is doing. I mean, you can’t go and find any kind of a decent amount of content on YouTube or TikTok, even Facebook for that matter, about Jeeps or about somebody doing a build or technical things, tech tips and things like that, that don’t have a bunch of commercials on the front and the back end of it. So it’s one of those things to where everybody’s trying to monetize every little thing. Because everybody wants to be a YouTube star. Everybody wants to be the next TikTok viral sensation. And it’s just, I wish everybody the love and…

[00:16:54:24 – 00:17:00:28]
What Tony, we’ve been keeping one form or another for 13, 14 years. Yep.

[00:17:03:08 – 00:17:13:26]
Correct me if I’m wrong there, but and neither one of us are millionaires. Neither one of us have gone viral. I blame Joe Rogan for high expectations.

[00:17:15:28 – 00:18:43:10]
Oh, a hundred percent. You know how much we’ve been bugging him to get on the show? Yeah. Well, it wasn’t just us. Honestly, honestly, no, we’ve been trying for some big names to get on the show because there are people out there who are gear heads, who are enthusiasts, who are like us and own Jeeps and stuff. I’m John Cena, one of his favorite vehicles, one of his favorite rides is an old Jeep YJ. And he finally tracked it down and bought it back years later and of course he had the means and the money and all that to do it. But it would be awesome to get him on the show and have him talk about that story in detail. There’s been a number of people. I mean, Joe Rogan is a car collector. He’s got a bunch of stuff. There’s been a bunch of Jeep enthusiasts over the years who are celebrities who we would love to get on the program. Adam Carolla, huge Jeep guy. And just the notoriety and the exposure of those kind of people just having a conversation like you are now about vehicles that they own or have owned in the past or things that they do or have done in the past that relate to jeeping and off-roading and that sort of stuff. So it’s out there. There’s a lot of people to talk to about this stuff. We’re just such a small fish in a big pond. It’s like Jeep who? You know, and Joe, we’re not gonna talk to you. How much are you gonna pay me? Oh, you’re not? You know, we’ve actually had a couple of individuals out there and we’re not talking about John Cena or anything like that.

[00:18:44:10 – 00:19:04:15]
People that are probably, you could consider them YouTube famous that said how much can you pay? Or I don’t think they said that blatantly. I think it was what’s in your budget or what do you budget for? Yeah, what’s your compensation schedule look like? And then another one,

[00:19:05:21 – 00:19:09:09]
this is one from way back when, said what’s in it for me?

[00:19:10:20 – 00:19:14:01]
Which isn’t mentioning dollars, but.

[00:19:15:28 – 00:19:21:09]
Well, what was the saying that we would use? I think it might be who you were talking about. Never go full

[00:19:21:09 – 00:19:23:04]
Was that what it was? Oh no,

[00:19:23:04 – 00:19:31:02]
that was an interesting one. That was a whole nother one. Do you know that I was looking at

[00:19:31:02 – 00:19:42:08]
Off-Road, which we love Tyree Off-Road right here on this show. I saw a TJ that was on the

[00:19:42:08 – 00:19:51:23]
site and they were talking about the owner of the TJ and they were, apparently Tyree does work with this guy. It was

[00:19:51:23 – 00:19:54:21]
I had to go look up the information. You’re

[00:19:54:21 – 00:19:55:25]
kidding

[00:19:55:25 – 00:20:00:05]
Oh my gosh. Yeah, so the big deal about Never Go Full

[00:20:00:05 – 00:20:01:17]
was

[00:20:01:17 – 00:21:04:21]
actually went out and was talking to some man, because he was, how is he on the show? This is way back early on. So, yeah, so we brought him on sort of as a segment producer and he was willing and able to do a little bit of traveling to go around and talk with companies or people that were near him. And the thing was is that these companies or people would then contact back to the show saying, does this person work for you? Does this person representing you just wanted to make sure because they’re asking for this, that and the other thing. And he was wanting freebies and compensation and free stuff given to him for the sake of– Under the name of the show. I mean, and we weren’t even as big back then. And I’m just gonna say for clarity, we heard from somebody that like you said, they contacted us verifying that

[00:21:04:21 – 00:21:16:13]
was with the show and that he had wanted compensation for coming out to do an interview and so on and so forth, which that was not something that we had discussed. Now, I don’t know that

[00:21:16:13 – 00:21:22:11]
did that. This is all allegedly. This is because we never talked to

[00:21:22:11 – 00:21:23:01]
about it.

[00:21:23:01 – 00:21:40:21]
never said, yeah, that’s what I did. As far as I remember, it was what we heard from somebody that contacted us. It was actually somebody that contacted you directly, Josh. And– I believe so. And I can’t remember the company. Well, you actually went out there and talked to them because they had for the TJ, they had a clear top.

[00:21:42:00 – 00:21:59:22]
Which I thought was a really cool idea. It was Jeep lids or something like that. And yeah, there was a whole nother thing with that. Yeah, I mean, that could have been a scam that the guy was running. So I don’t wanna, I just thought it was funny, but the term never go full

[00:21:59:22 – 00:22:33:29]
that you may hear comes from that issue that we had with anybody selling, trying to make money off the Jeep name that we weren’t even a part of. We interviewed the guy. He showed me his manufacturing process and– It was up there close to you. Prototypes and stuff. It was about a three hour drive for me. It was a good couple hour drive, two to three hour drive, I believe, if memory serves me right. Not huge, it wasn’t out of the state, a little bit of a trek, not out of the realm of expectation, but to get one on one content like that,

[00:22:35:02 – 00:23:57:07]
I was willing to do a little bit of footwork for it. Well, it was really cool. And I thought it was neat, a great idea. Of course, I do a G-tops now in the gladiator. So I have clear panels on the freedom panels, which I really, really like. But back then, because this would have been, gosh, like 2012 or 2011. Yeah, I was gonna say right around 2012, yeah, right around there. So this was something brand new. And I think it was, if I remember right, it was the same type of, it wasn’t like this glass, it was the same type of stuff that’s on F-16 Canopies. Yeah, that was literally, it was literally the same composite material that they used on fighter jet Canopies. So it was essentially bulletproof. And it was like super UV resistant and it blocked all of, it blocked every UV ray, I think there was or something like that. And it made your Jeep like 20 degrees cooler. The temperature outside was like 107 and the temperature in the Jeep was like 80. Yeah, yeah, it was so good. And it was like, whoa. Yeah. (Laughs) But anyway, I just wanna reiterate, we haven’t talked about this before, but I wanna make sure that it’s not, we don’t know what happened for sure. We just have these two things. Anyway, we parted ways with

[00:23:57:07 – 00:24:10:03]
This wasn’t worth going down that trail, no pun intended. And now he’s working with Tyree Lights, which is great, which may mean that

[00:24:10:03 – 00:24:33:00]
wasn’t doing anything he wasn’t supposed to do. Maybe it was this other person that was scamming or something. Oh, one other thing. So we pretty trusting here on the Jeep Talk Show. We’re Jeepers, we wanna help other Jeepers out. I mean, you see somebody on the trail broke her down, you stop, no Jeeper left behind that type of thing. And fortunately, we really haven’t gotten burned that often. I mean, the thing with

[00:24:33:00 – 00:24:43:22]
really wasn’t a burn, but it was a little shady. That was just something that didn’t work out. And it was maybe a conflict of ethics in that worst case scenario, but yeah.

[00:24:44:26 – 00:25:00:23]
And gears don’t always mesh. And so you can’t always force an issue or force an employee to work the right way. Or in this case, a interviewer representing the podcast, whatever it may be. So this is kind of cool.

[00:25:02:13 – 00:25:44:14]
I think this was going on while you were still with the show. I did an interview with a very nice gentleman. He had a shop and he would work on Jeeps and other vehicles. And then I found out after the interview was recorded, I found out from a few people, this is before, oh no, I think it actually was published. That’s how I found out about it. People were contacting me. He was under indictment for working on vehicles and accepting money and then not providing the vehicle back to the owner. So we were talking about like 30, $40,000. You can’t do that. Yeah, that’s enough. Yeah, you can’t do that.

[00:25:45:17 – 00:25:58:04]
I mean, I understand mechanics, liens and things like that, how all that stuff sort of works. And I get it. You came in for what you thought was gonna be an oil change and hey, you’ve got a blown head gasket. And now your cat’s broken.

[00:26:01:09 – 00:27:14:28]
Oh man, when I used to work in car audio, and for those who don’t know, I spent about 10 years in mobile electronics. And it was one of those things, the customer states, those things are awesome. Those videos, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, do yourself a favor, go to YouTube and just type in customer states and you will be entertained to no end. But all these, there’s countless times, somebody would come in and it was like, I was in here just three days ago, you guys put a stereo in and now my transmission is making funny noises. It’s like, I’m sure the two are related, lady. Okay, let me get right on that. All kinds of stuff like that. It’s like, you guys replaced my speakers and now my rear defrost doesn’t work anymore. And it’s like, the two aren’t related and we weren’t even in that area. So it was just all these sorts of things that people will blame on just because you were adjacent. Guild by association, you were the last one that touched it. It must be your fault. Yeah. And then there was one more where I did an interview with a gentleman and after the interview, not right after, not during, but within about a week or so, he requested that the interview not be aired.

[00:27:16:07 – 00:27:20:11]
Oh, I remember that. Yeah, that was during my hiatus.

[00:27:21:14 – 00:27:35:10]
But it was really, really weird course of events that after this interview, somebody decided that they didn’t want that aired. And that was just the oddest thing because of the potential exposure

[00:27:36:11 – 00:27:39:29]
and just the cross promotion and everything else.

[00:27:41:12 – 00:28:04:26]
There’s nothing wrong with it. And I think I remember hearing behind the scenes, a brief snippet of it, the audio quality was fine, the person was articulate. Well, I mean, I found out, I think I found out through one of the other members of the Jeep Talk Show team, because he had called that person and I didn’t ask him the questions that would help him promote his channel.

[00:28:05:28 – 00:28:52:25]
I was supposed to, it was supposed to be a promotion interview for him, which he never articulated. He never articulated that. And he didn’t say anything in the interview. I know a lot of people and keep in mind, none of these interviews are in person, but I understand that there’s lots of people out there that don’t like conflict. So I can understand where he may have been nervous about telling me, no, this is what I wanna talk about or so on and so forth. In fact, we’ve made changes in the interview process where people read through this understanding and they have to click the sign to understand that this is our property. Oh yeah, no, yeah, you know what? You think the White House was the first to have a memorandum of understanding? The Jeep talk show had that first.

[00:28:53:28 – 00:29:06:25]
Just saying. Yeah, so I mean– Not a thing we should have. I mean, but anybody that doesn’t want it aired, that’s fine. I mean, I can’t see us putting something out unless they confess to killing John F. Kennedy or something and that’s going out. Wow.

[00:29:08:07 – 00:29:09:15]
That’s as good podcasting.

[00:29:10:18 – 00:29:13:05]
Well, you say you know where the bodies are. Okay.

[00:29:14:11 – 00:29:26:14]
I don’t know, can you hear the Corso? I don’t know what she’s barking at. There’s nothing out there. I’ve got security cameras set up here. I just like being able to see outside, especially when the dogs bark. And she’s just going nuts. I think she wants her owner to come home.

[00:29:27:16 – 00:29:28:06]
I’m in a big

[00:29:28:06 – 00:29:36:22]
rattle trap right now. So there’s all sorts of things that make noise in this truck and I can’t believe that it hasn’t, hasn’t come over the mic yet. I don’t hear it.

[00:29:38:01 – 00:29:56:15]
That’s great. Maybe I’ll hear it during edit. Yeah, and I’m trying to think, I think that’s it. We’ve had some interesting situations, but given that we, the number of people that we’ve interacted with through the Jeep talk show and before that, the XJ talk show, I’m really surprised things have gone as well as they’ve gone.

[00:29:58:00 – 00:30:19:20]
I mean, most people are honest. Most people are forthcoming. And I don’t know of any situations where people just lied, except for the one that was wearing an ankle monitor while I was interviewing him. Oh, God. Seriously. Honestly, I can’t believe that we didn’t get a cease and desist or get canceled or something. I’m talking about when we were doing the Tony and Josh show. Oh, right.

[00:30:21:14 – 00:31:08:22]
(Laughing) That was a little bit of a vlogging. You guys can still find Tony and Josh. Yeah, those gems are still out there. Oh, good God. But no, you’re right. I mean, the fact that we’ve been able to be doing this for so long and there’s been so many that have also attempted to do something similar to what we’re doing and they’ve come and they’ve gone and we’re still here. So, and I think that we’ve talked about this before, I’m really surprised at the chemistry that you and I have. Because it was like I was doing the show and I said, I need somebody on this show to help me. And I said, somebody want to be on the show on the XJ talk forum, you chimed in. And then you had some background doing DJs and stuff. And also too, I think you’re aware of this. You just like to

[00:31:08:22 – 00:31:26:23]
talk, which is perfect. Because you don’t like having somebody just kind of looking at you and going, yep. So, but the chemistry. Well, so it wasn’t– And I’ve had the photos and they’re very good, but it’s not the same as the chemistry between you and I. There we go, go ahead.

[00:31:27:27 – 00:31:58:17]
Well, I was gonna say it wasn’t just, I threw my hat in the ring and you picked a name out and it was me. It was one of these where, yeah, I had the gift of gab. I think I was only a few years out from my retirement of being a strip club DJ. And so I had, you know, years and years on the mic experience. There’s people that just did that dog thing hearing a noise, strip club? Ah! I know, it’s right. That was surprising to me. I think you were doing the show for two or three years before I found out that little tidbit.

[00:31:59:26 – 00:32:00:07]
(Laughing)

[00:32:01:07 – 00:32:05:26]
It’s like, no Tony, I’ve got all kinds of mic, on the mic experience, such as, well, let me tell you.

[00:32:07:03 – 00:32:29:22]
(Laughing) We’ve oftentimes joked about how I should write a book or something like that from, you know, tales of a strip club DJ and things like that. I’ve shared a few campfire stories over the years of some incidents that have been noteworthy and whatnot, but there’s so many that have come and gone. That was, there’s a lot of water that’s been under the bridge since those days. That ain’t water, yeah.

[00:32:32:21 – 00:32:36:15]
Alcohol tears and the stuff that squirts.

[00:32:38:05 – 00:32:46:03]
So, yeah, it’s actually really, really interesting. Oh, and by the way, Josh is up in Oregon. I think you’ve been in Oregon all your entire life, right?

[00:32:47:12 – 00:33:03:29]
In the Northwest my entire life. I moved around a bunch. By the time I was 21, I had moved more times than I had birthdays, but I’ve lived in Oregon and Washington my entire life. Oh, and this may be too personal. The company that you did CAD design for,

[00:33:05:07 – 00:33:38:10]
they let you go, and then what was it? Six months? Yeah, I’ve read it around COVID. Six months to a year? They wanted you back? Is that right, or was it? Oh, no, it was like six days. I got the phone call. And you left and you found a job. You found another job immediately. Oh, no, I had three job offers before I got home that day. I mean, it was a Friday afternoon. It was June or July of 2020, and right in the middle of COVID, everybody’s freaking out. I had been working from home

[00:33:39:18 – 00:35:23:14]
doing the telecommuting thing. Oh, that’s right. Because I had a computer in my studio. I had a computer set up that was capable enough of doing the CAD work that I was doing. And so they set me up with the secure connection so I could do the DOD work and stuff like that, and be able to securely transmit the data and the jobs and the designs and all that sort of stuff. And it was great because my commute, it was two days in the office and three days at home or something like that, and then it would switch. But the commute that I normally had was a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour in the morning. When COVID came around, that dropped down to like 25 minutes. Oh, my God. Because there was nobody on the freeway. And so I’m like, you know, I’m normally doing 17 miles an hour. I’m doing 85 and like, this is just fricking great. But I’m sure everybody experienced that to some degree or another. And I had that note that said I was an essential employee and all that sort of stuff. We started making, because the company I worked for had a machine shop attached to it. And we started making ventilator parts and stuff like that. That was a fricking joke. But yeah, it got to the point where the industry was really getting hit hard. And I was too high up on the totem pole. I was making too much money. And so it was, here’s your severance package and we’re letting you go. So. Six days. Well, I was real happy that they were calling you back, but I certainly understand not wanting to go back to that drive back. No. And I just want to correct something. That was just it is. Yeah, I just want to correct something. You were doing 85 on the highway, but you were not driving your XJ. You had a commuter.

[00:35:24:15 – 00:35:33:16]
That’s the only reason why you were able to do 85 on the highway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. People that know you go, an XJ, 85. They went. And he’s still alive.

[00:35:35:28 – 00:36:03:16]
(Laughing) Yeah, so anyway, circling back to the first part of this conversation, we like to entertain. We like to tell you guys stories and experiences and stuff here. And hopefully you’re enjoying that and like enjoying this conversation. You’re listening to us today. Again, this is in lieu of a interview that was supposed to be recorded, but we were, they rescheduled. I think that this is kind of interesting conversation and it kind of gives you and I a chance to catch up.

[00:36:05:01 – 00:36:35:11]
A little bit. I think this is probably some of the most that people have heard of me if they’re new to the show in the last couple few years and getting to know a little bit more about me and what’s going on behind the scenes and that sort of stuff. So yeah, I hope you guys enjoy. We had several, and I told you this, just letting everybody else know, we had several people go, is Josh back? Is Josh really back? And I think you are. I mean, this is like the John Wick thing. Like, yeah, I’m back. (Laughs)

[00:36:36:23 – 00:37:01:04]
Yeah, I’m back. Because we found a way to get you back on the show. It’s not as great a studio thing that you had going there. There’s no green screens. There’s no people coming in catering with the cart with food and all of this stuff that people can have in the business. But you’re here and they’re getting the good interaction between the two of us.

[00:37:03:29 – 00:37:09:01]
So what’s next? That’s all that matters. So what’s next, Josh? I know that next week we’re gonna be talking about

[00:37:10:04 – 00:39:14:28]
the tire size differences and measuring your tread depth. I have not got to it yet, but I want to find out if the tread depth measurer, whatever it’s called, that if you have to have a different one for mud terrains, maximum tractions, because the lugs are so big, I get the feeling that they have it set up where you use the same one for street tires or mud terrain tires. That is correct. All tires are measured. Tread depth is measured in 30 seconds of an inch. So yeah, it’s whether you have a metric or a standard rim or mud terrain or a street tire, it doesn’t matter. The tread depth is measured the same way with a tread depth indicator tool. It looks like a little, almost like a very, very small tire gauge that has a flat tip on it, or a flat flange on it, and a little tip that comes out and a little spring-loaded thing that goes down into the tread measures the, it sits on top of the tread and measures the depth of it, so. You know, they’re like five or six bucks on Amazon. Super cheap, yeah, 100%. And a really good thing to have too, especially if you have inspections in your state, your county, it’s a good thing to know before you go there. I mean– Well, not only that, let’s look at it this way. You’re maybe around 50, 60, 75% tread, or maybe you’re at a position where you’re ready to upgrade size, or maybe you’re ready to go from all terrain to mud terrain, or something like that. And so you’re getting ready to maybe perhaps sell those tires, getting ready to help move those on to somebody else. You can actually give them an accurate measurement of how much tread is left. You can translate that into a percentage if you want, a little bit of math, and it’s just worthwhile information. And it’s gonna cost you three to eight dollars, so why not? Yeah, and also too, you can make plans. Also too, you can use it to lie to the wife and say, but honey, I gotta get new tires. Look, look, it’s– See? I got it right here. See, the tool tells me so, yeah. (Laughing)

[00:39:14:28 – 00:39:43:02]
All right, Josh, well, I think you are designated. I remember on the ham radio, one of it was big and popular in the 80s, before cell phones and stuff, people would say they had reached their destination, but they would shortcut it and say, I’ve designated, or some of them would say I’ve detonated, which was, yeah, which I thought was pretty funny. That was after a trip to Taco Bell. Hams are hilarious, I just gotta tell you.

[00:39:45:19 – 00:41:34:17]
(Laughing) So anyway, you– 73s to all my ham buddies out there. Yeah, oh, and also too, I think it’s 73 because it’s best wishes. So if you say 73s, you’re saying best wishes is. (Laughing) Yeah, kinda like the boys did in “Living Color” when they were talking about the anatomy of a female. Oh, nice. All right, well, anyway– Timely reference, timely reference, yes, I know. You guys know the ordeal here, the thing that people always say on YouTube, if you’re watching us on YouTube or Spotify, make sure you like, share, and subscribe, and give us a comment. Do you already know about the tire size thing and what tire size difference you can get away with? Give us your information. How do you like this episode? This is just kind of a general chat that we had, and Josh and I can always come up with something to talk about, so– Oh yeah, oh no. Yeah, we can do more of these if you like it. Not all the time, because we do a show, we don’t just do some what’s going on with Josh and Tony. We did that when we first started doing it. It was just, hey, what’s been going on? Josh, tell me about that peanut butter and jelly sandwich that you had a little while ago. Is it crunchier when it’s– I was thinking that, yeah, it was a crunchier smooth. Was it gif or gif, yeah. So, and nothing wrong with those podcasts that do that. I just think that’s not why you come here. Anyway, go over to jeeptalkshow.com, slash contact, reach out to us. There’s all different ways. Josh mentioned the voicemail. You can actually send us video voicemail, and we can have fun with that. We could play your voicemail, your video voicemail here, and then have me and Josh respond to it. Well, I’m waiting for one corny-ass

[00:41:34:17 – 00:41:45:13]
out there to really go above and beyond some Nicky G, and do some costume stuff, or get really weird. I mean, I know there’s some weirdos out there.

[00:41:45:13 – 00:42:03:06]
I live in Oregon. You think I know about weird, all right? So, don’t make me do it. I wanna see you guys do it. Use that jeeptalkshow.com, slash voicemail link, and let’s have some fun. We could do the jeeptalkshow weirdo-meter, where I rate it and you rate it.

[00:42:04:18 – 00:42:14:27]
(Laughs) All right, you guys, thanks for watching, and make sure you give us comments, and do all the stuff you’re supposed to do, that all the listeners out there and viewers are supposed to do. We’ll see you later. Thanks, Josh.

[00:42:17:08 – 00:42:19:05]
You’re my friend, you’re my new friend.