jeepin.jason

This awesome Jeep pumpkin stencil kit was found by one of our forum members on the JeepGreatDeals.com website (which appears to be run by Chrysler LLC). It’s a free download in PDF format and features 3 Jeep stencils you can print out and use to carve your own Jeep-themed jackjeep-o-lantern for Halloween. One stencil is a WK Grand Cherokee grille, one is a 2-door JK Wrangler (shown above) and the last one is the official Jeep grille logo.

You can download the stencil kit here.

update: if you bother to read the instructions in the PDF download, it says not to cut all the way through the pumkin. LAME! Not cutting all the way through does not make a proper jack-o-lantern! So, if you use these stencils to make your own Jeep-o-lantern for Halloween, do it right, cut it through!

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Turns out those spy photos of the leaf-sprung JKs with Dana60 rear ends were indeed of test mules for Jeep’s new military hopeful. But of course we all already knew that. But, to quell any lingering doubt, the fine folks at Chrysler LLC decided to finally put out an official press release on the vehicle, dubbed the J8.

Unfortunately I don’t really expect to see these heavy-duty rigs state-side though, given that they’re RHD, use a non-emissions-compliant diesel motor, and are going to be built in Egypt. Too bad really, and somewhat ironic that the Jeep, one of the most iconic US military vehicles, is no longer used by the US military but is used by the military of other countries.

The J8 is based off the new Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited. Highlights include a beefed up frame for increased payload capacity, leaf-sprung rear suspension, 1-ton Dana 60 rear axle, D44 front axle, 2.8L CRD motor, and a short ‘snorkel’ intake protruding from the hood. It’ll be available in regular 4-door trim or as a long-wheelbase 2-door model (shown above), ala the popular JT concept that Jeep debuted in Moab at EJS 2007.

Peep the complete press release and photos here.

You can check out full high-res photos on my flickr account.

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While not quite a hundred years old just yet, the new owners of “The New Chrysler” are hoping to hit the ground running with their new ad campaign, “Get Ready for the Next Hundred Years”. The campaign will consist of print, internet, and radio ads of course, highlighting the company’s history of leadership and innovation in the automotive market, as well as give us an idea of what to expect from them in the future (as in, “the next hundred years”).

One of the two print ads, called “Babies”, features three toddlers in brand-themed car seats and outfits and features the caption, “Ready for the next generation”. The racing and camo-themed kiddos fit the Dodge and Jeep brands perfectly. The little girl in blue though… the Chrysler brand doesn’t have quite as defined of a personality as it’s two siblings so it was probably a bit harder to come up with a persona for the Chyrsler kiddo, but I think I agree with Autoblog in that she’s probably supposed to represent the style and refinement of the Chrysler brand.

Maybe it’s the soon-to-be-dad in me, but I love this new ad spot. I’m glad to see the Big C getting back to fun and light-hearted advertising style they had back in the mid and late 90’s. The Jeep toddler reminds me a lot of an old print ad Jeep had which featured an infant drinking from a canteen with a bottle nipple on it with the caption, “You can always spot a future Jeep 4×4 engineer”. Now, I wonder I can get bottle nipples to fit a canteen…

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That’s right! LIFETIME powertrain warranty! Chyrsler just announced that they’re tossing out their 3 yr/36,000 mile powertrain warrany and replacing it with a lifetime one. The new warranty will apply to any current 2007/2008 model dealer inventory starting today (July 26, 2007) and any new vehicles arriving at dealerships and applies to most Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler vehicles. The rest of the vehicle will still be under the regular 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty though. The powertrain warranty will cover the engine, transmission, and all other parts of the drive system (transfercase, axles, etc.).

So what’s the catch? Well, the lifetime deal only applies to the original owner (as in, it’s non-transferable). If/when the original owner sells the vehicle, it reverts back to a 3 yr/36,000 mile powertrain warranty. And in order to keep the lifetime deal valid, the vehicle must have a powertrain check-up performed at a dealership once every 5 years (at no charge though). And the new lifetime deal applies to “most” new Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler vehicles according to the press release, which means that not all vehicles will be covered. The press release doesn’t state which vehicles will be excluded, but comments on Autoblog point to the SRT models being excluded from the lifetime warranty deal.

Check out the complete press release after the break.

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I’ve got to say this is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I first read about the waterfall on another site, then found this link to a video about it. Using technology similar to an inkjet printer, the waterfall is able to ‘print’ designs int the falling water, like the Jeep logo, a flag, and other cool stuff. Check out the vid!

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Whew!  So much info is coming out about the new 2007 Jeep JK Wranglers that it’s almost hard to keep up!  Two great sites dedicated to the new Wranglers have sprung up providing a ton of information and news—Project-JK and JKBOARD.  JKBOARD is a fast-growing JK-specific forum (of which I’m a moderator) and Project-JK is a blog-style site by the same guy that does 4×4xplor.com.

To date, Full Traction, SkyJacker, and TeraFlex have all announced or released suspension lifts for the JK, and one company has already shown off a heavy-duty front bumper (many more are working them).  Poison Spyder Customs is working on JK tube-fenders of course, and should have them ready by SEMA.  I know that Superlift and Rubicon Express are also working on suspension kits, so it’s only a matter of time before we see them making announcements as well.

The 4-dr Unlimiteds, which went into production before the 2-dr model, have already started showing up at dealerships and a few lucky people already own one!  Unfortunately we’re not one of them, we’re still trying to figure out how to afford a 4th vehicles, and what we’d do with three Jeeps…

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Despite a media embargo on publishing driving impressions and pricing, photos from DCX’s recent JK press event on the Rubicon Trail have started popping up on the web.  4×4review.com even has a mini-write-up with photos from the event along with basic info on the new 2007 Wranglers.  There’s no new info in the article, but the photos are good.  You can check out the article here.

In addition, multiple photo albums featuring pics from the event can be found.  Auto Exposure out of Canada has a bunch of photos up on their flickr account, and fellow XJer from NAXJA also has a photo album online with pictures from the event.  You can see those here.

The media embargo officially lifts 12:01am on September 1st, so you can expect for there to be lots of commotion on the web on friday.  I know that Mike over at Rockcrawler.com is poised and ready to post his write-up from the trip come 12:01am friday morning, so if you feel like staying up late on thursday night, be sure to check it out.

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mike’s totally free JeepNewsNow is reporting that Jeep’s marketing department is considering putting an end to CampJeep. Check out the scoop here and find out how you can help try to keep CampJeep going!

I’ve only had the opportunity to attend CampJeep twice in the past, first for CampJeep1998 which was the last year it was held in Colorado, and then again for CampJeep2002 in Branson, MO. If you’re into Jeeps and the Jeep lifestyle, you’ve got to try to attend CampJeep at least once.

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Two of them actually! Technically one right now, and one next month. And we’re going to be in an upcoming episode of Superlift TV’s Off-Road Adventures show! No, it’s not like a feature article or anything, just a “right place, right time” kind of thing.

Back in May when we went to the Superlift 4xAdventure in Hot Springs, AR, there were photographers there from most of the major 4×4/offroad magazines, along with the crew from Superlift’s OffRoad Adventures show. As luck would have it they were all in the same trail group as us on saturday. The current issue of 4Whee Drive & Sport Utility magazine has a quick write-up on the event with a few pages of photos, and there at the top-right of page 46 is our TJ!

From what we’ve been told, we’ll also be in next month’s issue of Peterson’s. The episode of Superlift TV with footage from the 4xAdventure hasn’t aired yet, but we’ve got a season pass setup on our Tivo so we don’t miss it!

If you don’t already have a subscription to 4WD&SU magazine, and don’t feel like running out and buying a copy just to see us, check out my flickr pics, I’ve got a fullsize pic there.

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According to a Toledo Blade article, today (Friday, June 30, 2006) marks the day that the last Jeep TJ Wrangler rolls off the production line. Built in the Jeep Parkway plant yesterday, and finished in Jeep’s Stickney Ave plant today (it’s being painted red), it’s the last TJ to be built, and the last Jeep to be built in the Parkway plant.

Jeep’s Parkway plant is the nation’s longest-running automotive plant, putting out roughly 11 million vehicles in its 96 years of operation. Started in 1910, the Parkway plant was built for Willys-Overland Motor Co., and two of the three smokestacks for the plant’s powerhouse still bear the ‘Overland’ name.

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Apparently DCX lent a brand new 2007 Unlimited in that cool green color to a company to do some promo photos up in beautiful Ouray, CO, and of course some folks snapped some pics of it and posted them online. Here are some photos of it parked outside a local food establishment:

http://forum.jkboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=33

And here are some photos in a hotel parking lot that were taken by another person:

yahoo photo album

The second set of photos shows the camera crew swapping the wheels/tires as well as swapping out the FLARES! In the first set of photos the JK is wearing some body-color flares, but in the second set they’re swapping out the body-color flares for some black ones. What’s really interesting is one of the pics shows the front of the JK with only one flare! So we finally get to see what a JK looks like with no front fenders/flares.

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In search of a lower payment, better fuel economy, better towing capacity, and more overall utility, we traded in our 2003 GMC Denali XL on 22’s for a 2006 Dodge Ram Megacab 3500 SLT with the Cummins Turbo Diesel motor over Memorial Day Weekend. And YES, the new truck cost less than our Denali and gets better fuel mileage, especially while towing. It should anyway—we haven’t had a chance to tow with it yet but even the worst mileage we’ve heard of while towing with the Cummins is still about TWICE the 6-7mpg we got towing with the Denali. Even with barely 400 miles on the ticker, the new Ram is already getting better mileage in mixed driving than the Denali did.

The Denali’s 6.0L is a great motor, but when you combine it with AWD and the wide 305 series tires we had on there, you end up with some pretty poor mileage. My XJ on 35’s got better around town and on the highway than the Denali did. That’s just sad.

Other than that we absolutely loved the Denali, and it was a tough decision to let it go, but I think in the long-run we’ll be better served by a big ol’ honkin’ diesel pickup truck. And let me tell ya, this is one big ol’ honkin’ diesel truck!

So enough talk, here are the deets: 2006 Dodge Ram Megacab 3500 SLT, 5.9L Cummins turbo Diesel, 48RE 4-sp auto trans, light khaki metallic paint, tan cloth interior, “premium” front bench, 17” alloy wheels, CARR side steps, Mopar drop-in bedliner and soft tonneau cover, Sirius satellite radio (wish it was XM!), power sliding rear glass, and the all-important roof lights.

More photos are on flickr.

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