#jeep4x4

Why all the EXCITEMENT over an Electric Jeep?!?!?

“Instant torque!”…”Sealed drivetrain for water crossings!”…”No more MPG worries!” and the list of silly comments goes on about the announcement from Jeep about the electrification of the complete Jeep line up.

With the Jeep brand experiencing record sales volumes, nearly year over year, they are faced with the conundrum that the rest of the automotive industry is, electrification. Jeep is simply electrifying their line up to meet the government’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards.

I have written about my take on an electric Jeep previously, and you can link to that post here.

Jeep is electrifying its entire line up simply to satisfy the CAFE standard as their sales numbers have made Jeep a greater player in the overall automotive market.

I find it laughable how many “sheeple” believe first in global warming, and secondly that electric vehicles could have any impact on the fallacy of global warming!!!

Prager University has produced the most succinct explanation of why electric vehicles are NOT “Green”.

IF electric vehicles were ultimately more efficient AND better for water crossings and instant torque, why didn’t Jeep electrify their line up years ago?!?!?

I am sure that I’ll get all kinds of hate for my take on electric Jeeps, and I say thank you!!! Thank you for buying an electric Jeep, so that Jeep can continue to produce an internal combustion engine-powered Jeep for me to buy!!!

Jeep (JL) Stubby Front Bumpers

A stubby front bumper installed on your JL Jeep Wrangler can greatly improve off-road capability, giving you a better approach to the front tires of your Jeep.

Stock

Jeep offers an OEM version of a stubby bumper with the Rubicon Steel Bumper option that has removable end caps.

As far as replacement Jeep (JL) stubby bumpers, the options are plentiful!!!

Motor City Aftermarket

Motor City Aftermarket offers a GREAT stubby bumper for the JL, “Built with Tank DNA” as they state on their website, as they are closely partnered with a defense partner that produces parts for the M1 Abrams tank, Stryker vehicle, EFV, and Humvee.

All of their products are designed for no-drill installation, welded by AWS Certified welders and finished with SaltShield Coating System.

The M1 JL Stubby Bumper from Motor City Aftermarket provides a maximum approach for the front tires.

The M1 JK Stubby Bumper from Motor City Aftermarket also provides an optimal mounting area for a winch, as well as heavy-duty D-ring mounts!!!

Warn

Speaking of winches, Warn offers several JL Stubby Bumpers that of course integrate their winch products.

EAG – E-Autogrilles

EAG is a popular brand online and offers a more economical replacement stubby bumper.

Install a stubby front bumper on your JL to improve your off-road capability, and have the optimal winch location!!!

Jeep (JK) Stubby Front Bumpers

A stubby front bumper installed on your JK Jeep Wrangler can greatly improve off-road capability, giving you a better approach to the front tires of your Jeep.

Stock

Jeep offered an OEM version of a stubby bumper with the Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition, that had removable end caps. This bumper was also available with the Rubicon Hard Rock Edition and can be installed on any JK.

And you don’t have the Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition Bumper, you can modify your stock bumper into a stubby!!!

Vertically Driven Products offers their VDP 31550 Stubby Bumper End Cap kit to make the stock plastic JK front bumper into a stubby.

As far as replacement Jeep (JK) stubby bumpers, the options are plentiful!!!

Motor City Aftermarket

Motor City Aftermarket offers a GREAT stubby bumper for the JK, “Built with Tank DNA” as they state on their website, as they are closely partnered with a defense partner that produces parts for the M1 Abrams tank, Stryker vehicle, EFV, and Humvee.

All of their products are designed for no-drill installation, welded by AWS Certified welders and finished with SaltShield Coating System.

The M1 JK Stubby Bumper from Motor City Aftermarket provides a maximum approach for the front tires.

The M1 JK Stubby Bumper from Motor City Aftermarket also provides an optimal mounting area for a winch, as well as heavy-duty D-ring mounts!!!

Warn

Speaking of winches, Warn offers several JK Stubby Bumpers that of course integrate their winch products.

EAG – E-Autogrilles

EAG is a popular brand online and offers a more economical replacement stubby bumper.

Install a stubby front bumper on your JK to improve your off-road capability, and have the optimal winch location!!!

Check out the Jeep Talk Show!!!

If you have not already, give the Jeep Talk Show podcast a listen!!!

I had the opportunity to contribute a small part to this weeks episode, and EVERY episode packed with Jeep news, entertainment and valuable technical in-sight!!!

I HIGHLY recommend adding the Jeep Talk Show to your weekly listening!!!

https://jeeptalkshow.com/

And Then There Were Seven!!!

Of the MANY topics Jeepers argue and debate, the origin of the sevenslat/seven opening grille that is now THE definitive symbol of the Jeep brand.

The origin of the sevenslat grille is VERY simple!!! It is is not a romantic and mysterious story, it was created out of simple manufacturing necessity.

After WWII, Willys-Overland re-engineered the Jeep for civilian use by upgrading the transmission with gears better suited for civilian use, as well as larger headlamps. To accommodate the larger headlamps, the stamping die was reworked, stations were removed and reworked to allow the original tooling to be utilized. The remaining seven openings provided sufficient airflow, just as the nine opening grille did.

Look at the photos below, it’s clear that the overall shape/size of the CJ grille is the same as the MB grille.

Ford did not patent the nine opening grill

Henry Ford did not want to have anything to do with the war build-up and only entered the war movement when his son Edsel began working with the Army Air Corp to mass-produce B-24 Liberator bombers. A.J. Baime chronicles Henry Ford’s ambivalence about getting involved in WWII in his book The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War.

The U.S. Government needed to ensure a reliable supply of Jeeps, and enlisted Ford to produce the Jeep under license. Henry Ford insisted that parts produced for the GPW were stamped with an F on them, so Ford could not be held responsible for Jeeps produced by Willys-Overland.

Why would Ford patent the nine opening grille? And if Ford did, why was this design never seen on a Ford product after the war?

The Jeep was not the first vehicle on all seven continents

The idea that the Jeep was the first vehicle to traverse all seven continents sounds good, however, I believe that the VW Beetle was the first vehicle to set a tire on all seven continents.

If the Jeep was the first vehicle on all seven continents, why didn’t Willys-Overland use that in their marketing of the CJ Universal after the war?

It was a simple tooling change to allow for larger headlamps!!!

As boring as it sounds, Willys-Overland needed to sell vehicles to the civilian population after the war. The CJ needed larger headlamps, and with limited funds, Willys-Overland reworked the existing tooling

It was just a simple necessity that gave the Jeep the sevenslat grille!!!

Jeep and AM General back together again!!!

Apparently, Jeep and AM General are getting back together!!!

Read all about it!!!

Jeep Gladiator XMT by AM General military concept truck.

What I’m Reading – The Road Chose Me – Volume 1

While attending the 3rd Toledo Jeep Fest this past Summer, I had the opportunity to meet Dan Grec – theroadchoseme.com and purchased Dan’s first book, The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two years and 40,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina.

I quickly finished Dan’s book and must say that it was a GREAT read!!! Even if someone reading it is not into Jeep’s, it’s a GREAT story and very well written!!!

Dan completed his 40,000 mile journey in a bone-stock 4-cylinder TJ without a winch or a Hi-Lift jack!!!

Dan’s story really is inspiring and informative as to what can be done with a stock Jeep!!!

In speaking with Dan at Jeep Fest, he mentioned that he was working on Volume 2 based on his nearly 3 year overlanding trip around Africa. I am looking very forward to reading that!!!

Dan has released a coffee table / photo book from his Africa trip, 999 Days Around Africa: The Road Chose Me that I am going to order next, even though it’s just photos.

Dan has written a few other books that I plan on checking out as well!!!

Project XJ

I stumbled across a 1999 XJ Classic that I could not pass up!!!

It’s a non-runner, Seller said it is just a radiator, so I am taking a chance that it’s not one of the more serious 4.0L issues that cause overheating.

However, it’s one of the cleanest XJ’s that I have seen in the Mid-West!!!

So, leave it unmolested and keep it “Classic”, or build a wild XJ???

FAKE NEWS!!!

FAKE NEWS gave us the Wrangler name!!!

Contrary to popular belief American Motors Corporation, AMC, the parent company of the Jeep brand from 1970 – 1987, and NOT Chrysler Corporation, created the Wrangler as the replacement for the CJ-7. I recall at the time when Chrysler Corporation purchased Jeep in 1987 that they were “blamed” for “ruining” the CJ-7 and giving us the Wrangler.

New vehicles are in development for several years, between 5 and 7, prior to launch, therefore Chrysler Corporation could never have pulled off a CJ-7 replacement in less than a year!

So, why did AMC drop the CJ naming? Because of FAKE NEWS!!! Yes, FAKE NEWS existed long before the Communist, or Clinton, I mean Cable News Network (CNN). Before CNN, we had good ole’ 60 Minutes, with that stupid stopwatch!!!

60 Minutes did a piece in December of 1980 based on rigged vehicle tests and miss-leading studies, helping to create the idea that the CJ was an unsafe vehicle.

The 60 Minutes segment was based on a report issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) on “the extremely hazardous tendency of the Jeep CJ utility vehicle in highway use.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found during a 1981 review of the testing that Dynamic Science Incorporated performed for IIHS, used “abnormal test conditions and unrealistic maneuvers…generated by an automatic control device which…which was programmed to provide input not entirely representative of driver input”.

Several lawsuits followed, some involving the tragic loss of life, alleging that the CJ was the cause of the incident and not simply the risks associated with motor vehicle travel?!

More than one insurance company either refused to issue policies to new Jeep CJ owners or sent warnings to existing policyholders.

The CJ may have also suffered from the bad press that the completely unrelated, however still military “jeep”, M151, did justly receive due to its propensity for rollovers due to a new and unproven front/rear independent suspension system. Because of the rollover issues, the US Military experienced with the M151, NHTSA did block the sales of the M151 for civilian use, which it had not done to the CJ-based military jeep so that certainly did not help the image of the CJ!!!

AMC began development of the Wrangler in the early 1980s making the vehicle more “user-friendly” with a lower center-of-gravity, softer ride, and added creature comforts, and the square headlights!!!

I am unsure of why the name Wrangler was chosen, however, the CJ name was killed due to FAKE NEWS, and after 30+ years, the Wrangler name has now morphed into us calling our Jeep’s TJ, JK, JL, and JT.

RESOURCES

The Liability Maze: The Impact of Liability Law on Safety and Innovation

edited by Peter W. Huber, Robert E. Litan