jeepin.jason

Whew! What a trip! The weather was great, and the wheelin’ was even better. We ran 3 and 4 diamond trails (5 being the hardest) all weekend and did some of the toughest terrain we’ve ever wheeled. My skids and rocker guards definitely got a good workout, and I did manage to snag a bit of body damage on the left rear quarter panel and rain gutter thanks to a tree and a little too much throttle. Oh well, nothing that can’t be fixed or covered up with plating. Man I really need a safari rack with roof sliders…

photos: http://jeepin.net/photos/hotsprings_0510

That’s right folks, The Mudds, Jeep’s goofy new marketing campaign for the Commander, have arrived. It is indeed live-action video, and it’s a bit cheesier than I’d expected—while their shiney new Commander is spotless (all the better to see the vehicle), the Mudds themselves are, well, apparently perpetually covered in… mud.

The somewhat ironic part is that Jeep makes such a big deal about the Commander being a 7-seat vehicle, but the Mudds are just a family of five, and as you can see all three kids are sitting in the 2nd row, at least in the first introductory video that’s now available on the website. Who knows, maybe the pick up a hitch-hiker along their travels? A very small, hitch-hiker?... Cheesy as it may be, I’m probably still going to watch every episode, just to see what they do.

So every year members of our local Jeep club get to show off their Jeeps for a day at the Texas State Fair and of course we always have both our Jeeps out there on display. We get in for free of course, the only catch is the Jeeps have to be there on display from 9am to 6pm that day.

One of the mains reasons we go is to check out all the new models and concepts at the car show. They never have any of the newest concepts on display (like the Jeep Patriot or Dodge Caliber) unfortunately, but there’s usually some cool ones none the less. One of the big concepts on display this year was one Jeep’s most popular concepts, the Jeep Rescue concept. I hadn’t gotten the chance to check out in person yet, so I was pretty excited to finally see it. Despite being built off the Ram 2500 platform and running 37” tires, it didn’t see quite as big as I’d imagined. Maybe the proportions of it just mess with you I guess. It was still very cool to see, and I still think Jeep REALLY needs to build it. They should really display it with the suspension aired up though.

On my way home from work this past friday I came across a car carrier with two Jeeps on it. One was a plain looking CJ7, the other was a bright blue 4-dr Wrangler Unlimited. That’s right, 4 doors. The flares were painted bright silver, the whole Jeep was coated in a bright blue bedliner of some type (that’s why it looks so shiney), and it had a full soft top. I wish I could’ve snapped a better photo, but that’s the best my aging camera-phone will do (yes, I know it looks like a bad photoshop job). I’m pretty sure it was built by these guys, since obviously it’s not a vehicle that Jeep builds. As long as it is it’s certainly not going to be a great trail rig, but it’s interesting none the less.

Well, I didn’t win the AEV Brute that the Franklin Township Fire Department of New Jersey recently raffled off as a fund raiser. Congrats to LB Kline from Mount Airy, Maryland. Very lucky guy. Ah well, better luck next time I guess!

Since it seems like a lot of folks still aren’t up to date with the latest info on the upcoming 2007 Jeep Wrangler, I thought I’d put together everything I know about the new models.

General
The ‘07 Wrangler will be available in two body styles—a 2-dr SWB vehicle and a 4-dr LWB vehicle. Rumor has it that the 4-dr will be called ‘Rescue’, not to be confused with the wildly popular Rescue Concept. Both vehicles will be known as the ‘JK’, and not TK and TKL (the 4-dr) as they’ve commonly been called ‘til now. ‘JK’ is a pretty goofy code name though, especially since it’s the acronym for ‘just kidding’, and given the already wide-spread use of TK and TKL, I wouldn’t be surprised if most people, including the aftermarket, continue to refer to them as the TK and TKL, and not as the JK.

The ‘07’s will be both longer and wider than the current TJ, though judging from spy photos most of the extra width is in the trackwidth and fenders, and not so much the body. The new longer SWB version will replace the current TJ and TJ Unlimited (commonly called the ‘LJ’). And yes, there should be Rubicon models of both body styles.

Due to federal crash-test regulations, the gas tank has been moved from the back to the passenger side, and the muffler now sits where the gas tank used to be.

New creatute-comfort options include power locks and windows, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a GPS navigation system and satellite radio as factory options either. All the test mules photographed have had full steel doors, but sources have said that half-doors will be still available.

Suspension, axles, and tires
Yes, the ‘07’s will still have a solid front axle, and it will have a Quadra-Coil suspension similar to the current TJ’s. Eye-witnesses have reported Dana44 axles front and rear, but it’s not known if the vehicles were Rubicon models or not. Considering all Unlimiteds come standard with a Dana44 rear end, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dana35 go away. The rear lower control arms on the test models are tubular, while the front arms have still been stamped steel, and both are noticeably longer than the current lower arms on the TJ.

One cool new feature will be a push-button swaybar disconnect system similar to the one on the Dodge Ram Power Wagon. I haven’t heard anything on whether this system will be optional for all new Wranglers, or just the Rubicon models.

Some of the test vehicles seen in the spy photos have been running BFG MT tires on what are probably 17” rims. The new Rubicon models will supposedly come with 33” tires, so does this mean they’ll be riding on BFG MT’s? Or stick with the Goodyear MT/R’s?

Powertrain
While export models will get an optional diesel motor, US residents will be stuck with a 3.8L V6 (not the 3.7L V6 currently used in the Liberty and GrandCherokee/Commander). That means no V8 option either, sorry guys, at least not for now. The transmissions should be similar if not the same as the current models (6-sp manual or 4-sp auto).

The transfercases should also be the same as are currently offered, but I did hear an early rumor that Selec-Trac full-time 4wd may be offered on the 4-dr models. This would help the Wrangler better compete against the likes of the Hummer H3 and similar vehicles, most all of which come with full-time 4wd, and it would probably be a welcome option for folks living up north.

The top
Have no fear folks, the soft top lives on! On both models! Yep, that’s right, the 4-dr will also be available with a soft top. The hard tops for both models will feature removeable panels over the front seats that come off like T-tops, but opens up the whole space like a targa top. I haven’t heard anything on the possibility of removeable panels anywhere else though.

Looks
Round headlights and a 7-slot grille are both there of course, and the front turn signals should move from the fenders back to the grille. The overall look of the new Wranglers, both inside and out, should be very close to the recent Gladiator Concept, and the body of the 4-dr will look nearly identical to that of the Rescue Concept, just smaller of course. All of the uncamoflaged “photos” of the new ‘07’s that are floating around the web are really just photoshopped images of either the Rescue or the Gladiator.

The doors still have external hinges so they should still removeable, but I haven’t heard for sure one way or the other if the windshield still folds down or not. The awkward reverse door paddles have been revised too, hopefully they’ve turned them the right way this time.

Spy pics

• Rockcrawler.com 2-dr spy shots


• Rockcrawler.com 4-dr spy shots


• http://www.colorado4wheel.com/Right.html

You’re probably wondering why I’m blogging about GM vehicles on a Jeep site… well, it’s because our last two tow rigs have been GM SUV’s (first a Tahoe LS and currently a 2003 GMC Yukon Denali XL), and based on what I’ve seen on the new 2007 models recently, when the time comes to trade in our Denali, we’ll most likely continue the trend with another GM SUV.

So far we’ve been really happy with our Denali. It’s extremely comfortable for long-hauls, has lots of power for towing, and the load-leveling rear suspension keeps everything nice and flat whether we’re driving around empty, towing a Jeep for a wheeling trip, or hauling 1,000 pounds of brick home (yes, we did that once). But as much as we like it, it’s missing out on some features we’d really like to have on our next tow rig. Features that have been available for a while now from other manufacturers (like Nissan), such as a power lift gate, large in-dash GPS navigation (in-dash navigation did become an option on the Denali in ‘04), and rear-view camera system.

However, GM has stepped up to the plate with their new completely redesigned 2007 SUV’s. If you haven’t seen them yet, AutoWeek has a great photo gallery of the new 2007 GMC Yukon/Denali and the 2007 Chevy Tahoe. Personally I like the looks of the new Tahoe better than the Yukon—the Yukon looks too much like the Envoy now, and gone are the projector-beam headlights that helped give the current Denali a real luxury vehicle look.

GM hasn’t released many details on the Tahoe’s features yet, but the Yukon/Denali options will include a power liftgate, power running boards, power fold-and-tumble second row seats (I wonder if they meant third row?), in-dash navigation system, and a DVD entertainment system. The 3rd row seats still don’t fold flat into the floor though, and the in-dash screen is still relatively small [compared to the one in the Nissan Armada]. One of the photos show sensors on the rear bumper to indicate a reverse-sonar system (the Cadillac SUV’s already have such a system) and a recent video clip we saw on tv made it look like they will also offer a rear-view camera system. The front suspension will go from torsion-bar to coil-over-spring, and the redesigned interior looks more like a luxury car than a big ‘ute, very nice.

There’s a new 5.3L V8 that will feature cylinder-deactivation/displacement-on-demand technology for improved fuel economy (GM is claiming they will hit 20mpg in combined driving), and the standard engine on the Denali models gets an increase from 6.0L to 6.2L.

I’m kind of disappointed they didn’t do more to improve the 3rd row (ie: make it fold flat into the floor), but otherwise it’s almost as if they knew exactly what features we wanted in our next vehicle, and built them all (and then some) into the new 2007 models. Good job GM, looks like you may have just kept another customer.

One thing I’ve found myself being guilty of lately is getting over-confident in my mechanical abilities and just skimming through the instructions when I do an install on one of our Jeeps. On something like a set of swaybar quick disconnects, it’s not that big of a deal, but when you’re installing something like an ARB air locker, and you’ve never installed an ARB before, and you don’t have anyone helping who’s installed an ARB before, you should really follow every step on every page.

It sounds like it should be common sense, and well, it should be, but apparently I glossed over the part of the ARB install instructions that talks about insuring your axle housing has adequate oil drainage. Consequently, after only a few miles the rear axle in our TJ would start spewing copious amounts of differential fluid out the breather hose on the axle tube, which of course would create a huge mess as the fluid sprayed all over the underside of the Jeep.

My first thought fear, was that I’d messed up something during the gear install and the fluid was overheating and foaming, causing it to purge out the breather hose. The differential housing never felt all that hot to the touch though… So, I called up a friend of ours who’s a very skilled install tech for 4WheelParts (he’s now in sales actually) here in Dallas and picked his brain about my fluid problems. He said it sounded like a drainage issue that they’d run into in the past on ARB installs. Basically what was happening he said, was fluid would built up in the driver’s side axle tube, but because the redesigned air seal housing was on that side the fluid couldn’t drain back into the main housing fast enough and would eventually get forced out the breather tube.

Looking back through the install instructions, sure enough, it talks specifically about how to check if the housing is clearanced for adequate drainage and what to do if it’s not. The fix—drilling a drainage hole from the main housing into the axle tube—is pretty simple, and took me all of about 10 minutes (I drilled two holes, just for good measure). Now I just need to go buy some more diff fluid, fill ‘er up, take ‘er for a spin to make sure it’s not spewing fluid anymore, and remember to always thoroughly read through all the directions, regardless of whether I think I know how it’s supposed to go together or not.