Natalie and Tony are back together for a new weekly Thursday episode of the Jeep Talk Show! In this exciting edition, they dive into the Wrangler vs. Bronco debate, the end of V8 Jeeps, and Tony shares his experience with Steersmarts parts on the 2021 Jeep Talk Show Gladiator. It’s a fun, lively episode filled with Jeep knowledge, opinions, and humor that you won’t want to miss! Tune in and subscribe to catch all the latest episodes!

 

In this Jeep Talk Show flagship episode, hosts Wendy, Larry, and Tony discuss the importance of mentoring newcomers to the Jeep community. They also reflect on the sad news of Don Alexander’s passing, a well-known figure in the Jeep world. Additionally, the team dives into Stellantis’ recent cost-cutting measures as sales continue to decline. With five episodes a week, make sure to subscribe so you never miss an exciting discussion!

 

 

In this Jeep Talk Show Flagship episode, Tony, Wendy, and Janet dive into the exciting world of Jeep and the Rebelle Rally, discuss how dealerships are being overrun with Jeeps, and Wendy shares helpful Newbie Nuggets with Tread Lightly tips for responsible off-roading. Plus, in Must Have Stuff for Your Jeep, the team highlights the MagnaFlow Performance Exhaust System. Don’t miss this episode full of Jeep news, tips, and gear!

 

In this Jeep Talk Show flagship episode, the team discusses the 2025 Wrangler’s move to manual transmission only. Wendy covers off-roading tips in Newbie Nuggets, and Larry talks about getting hands-on in Dirty Hands, Clean Money. With five episodes a week, there’s always something exciting for Jeep enthusiasts. Subscribe now and never miss an episode!

In this episode of Cowboy and the Kilt, Chuck and Greg dive into a discussion about AEV Overland Springs, with Chuck sharing why he doesn’t think they’re the right fit for his 2023 Jeep Gladiator. As always, their conversation takes unexpected turns, making for a fun and insightful episode. Subscribe now so you never miss another great chat with these Jeep enthusiasts!

 

In fact most of the days that Iiolike that For a little but

 

bumper up at your place. So I was going to do a 14-day trip through South Dakota.

 

I actually went with a buddy of mine who is an engineer for Ford and has one of their newer Broncos.

 

He said, “Hey, take me Jeepin.” And I said, “Well, you can’t go Jeepin because you don’t have class. All you have is a Bronco, but we can go wheeling.” So I ran up to you knowing that I wanted to put the new 8274 Winch on, the new bumper. And the first thing you said was, “Geez, Chuck, you got a Carolina squat.” And I was like, “What the F are you talking about, man? It’s just a flat rig.” And then we took a tape measure out and sure as shit, I was damned running on my bump stops. Now this is a Mojave, right? So it’s got a smooth as silk ride. It is sexy right out of the factory. But I have a

 

racquet, large…

 

What the hell is the damn thing called in the bed of my thing? The big drawer system. It’s fully loaded. I was carrying 24 gallons extra of fuel, 20 gallons of water, and enough food for 14 days for three people.

 

And I went wheeling up there. We actually cut it short because the Bronco couldn’t just… It couldn’t make it, but it was just too much for a newer driver to go 14 days off-roading, not hitting asphalt at all. And I rode the bump stops on this thing the entire time. So I chatted with you while we were there. You said, “AEV.” And I had a huge decision to make. Do I go with just the AEV lift springs or do I go with the AEV heavy-duty overlanding springs?

 

And I had to gamble.

 

And I bought the overlanding springs.

 

I did not buy the kit. I just bought the springs themselves and then bought some bump stop stuff and realized that I had really nice bump stops in the front. And then realized that I had the guy that I bought it from had the AEV puck lift in it. And it took us a couple days. We threw up on the lift and just the three of us Cowboys got it, put all new stuff in, and I took her for a spin. And I don’t know that the gamble paid off, Greg.

 

The ride is so different.

 

And it now has a California rake so bad. I mean, my ass end is probably inch and a half to two inches taller than the back end.

 

And I don’t know that I carry enough overlanding gear to justify the HD spring to be honest with you.

Do you still have the the pucks in there or did you remove them?

No, I removed all the pucks because I had to go to the Jeep dealership. It’s about two hours away and we ordered the rubber parts that were for the stock springs. Remember I called you and I was like, “Dude, I don’t even have…” Because they were all gone, right? Because they had put the puck lift in so they threw away the stock ones. We had to order them. They were like 12 bucks or something. And that’s why it took us two days to do it. And it’s a flipping monster.

 

I did a three inch lift. I’m row three sevens. The tires look tiny. And because I don’t think I have enough weight in the back,

 

like I’m a big dude, right? I’m 265 pounds. I sit on the tailgate and it’s like sitting on the tailgate of one of my one tons. Like the Jeep doesn’t move. They get on it and it’s just like “TOOH!” And you’re like, “Good night!” So the handling down the road, it feels like…

 

it feels like I got into a one ton truck compared to the Mojave, dude. Like I don’t know if I need to call up AEV and say, “Hey, send me just the rear springs, the three inch rear springs that are not HD. You know, they’re not overlanding and put those in.” I don’t know. I’m thinking about doing that and getting rid of the the overland thing. Because the listener that that reached out to me a couple times, he’s got…

 

I think he’s got a Gladiator? I don’t know. But he was like, “Hey, you know, have you put these things in and what do you think? It’s his daily driver and I would strongly recommend do not put overland springs on your daily driver unless you have…

 

they have the…

 

like the… not the tunnel cover, but like a camper shell style camping setup on the back of these things. Like I think maybe that would do it. But I still have my tent on. I carry not 20 something gallons. I only carry six gallons of fuel, eight gallons of water, because we go back and forth to the cabin all the time and we ship the water that way.

 

And my drawer system is completely full of tools. I’ve got a… my shower system in there. I always have extra food. I have my ice chest that’s usually full of ice and beer because we we drink out of it every day and I’ve got my kitchen set up in it. So I’m not fully loaded, you know, like I would be on a 14 day trip or like the trip that we’re gonna take up north. So I might wait to see how that trip handles, but it…

 

and maybe Greg, I don’t know, you could probably chime in. I mean it going from the stock Mojave suspension to an HD suspension might have been just a giant jump. You know what I mean?

Well yeah, that’s… it’s a giant jump and I mean I’m not familiar with their overland springs, but I know their normal springs are already set up for more of a load and you had a two inch lift and you went to a three. Did you change the front?

 

Yeah, I changed everything. It was a whole new springs, all new springs. I did some sway bar disconnect. I did the extended sway bar disconnect stuff. Kept the shocks, just did the shock mount, you know, so that…

Yeah, the extension brackets.

The extension brackets and that’s it. I mean I did… one of the things that I did also at the same time is I did the fender split, right? So I took that… there was about two inches of plastic underneath the plastic, you know, color match bumper. Right. So that made it look taller, but I can tell you getting… well of course I was squatted before, right? So I was less than the two inch lift before to a more than a three inch lift back on the back now. I don’t know how tall I am, you know, six something and for me to get on to the tailgate I do a big jump, right? So I don’t know. It’s not…

Now did you do the geometry correction brackets or the steering correction or any of that?

Not yet.

Or did you just do the springs?

I just did the springs. I did the sway bar disconnect. I did the steer smarts that extend it,

 

but I can honestly say that I dislike California rakes, you know, where the back ends way jacked up and you’re kind of steering down into the road. Like I like a very level rig and I know that’s… unless I have like airbags or something I know that’s not gonna happen because if you’re loaded with the trailer or if you’re running stock you’re either gonna be one or the other, right?

Yeah but with all that weight you think you would assume and I would assume that it would sit level,

 

right?

But it’s not. It’s not. It’s fucking huge. So what I’m hoping is when you and I change the back end of this thing and put that spare tire out from underneath the bed to behind the tailgate and you know beef up that with some armor and stuff I can use the springs because we’re gonna add some weight to it, you know, and maybe level it out that way. I mean there’s all these things that are in the back of my head like…

 

I would suggest reaching out to AEV, talk to Mike Reckling or one of the guys there and maybe swap those out for non-overland springs and just go with their normal ones because if it’s jacking it up too much and if it’s stiffen the ride that much that’s an issue. I would also highly recommend because you are a three-inch lift going with their geometry correction brackets in the front that will aggressively change the ride. Really? Oh really?

 

Dude I can totally tell like the steering. You know like I feel like I’m steering into the ground. You know what I mean? Like a guy can totally tell like because I do a lot of towing you know and if I’ve got like I’m always overloaded you know with my gooseneks and if I don’t have my airbag set up and I’m pulling it up in the air yeah someone’s gonna say well that’s you know that’s fine. You get a little softie in your front end right where you’re steering and your tires are steering up. This Jeep I feel like I’m steering down into the asphalt and it’s harder to turn because I’m turning you know this way. It’s a trip dude it’s a total trip.

Yeah well the geometry correction brackets fix a lot and then they typically sell a high-steer kit with anything that’s three inches or above which changes the relationship where the drag link sits and changes the relationship where the track bar sits in the front and that will should lighten up the steering.

 

So you think a part of it is just I’m not done yet?

I think you’re not done yet. But if those springs are too right but if those springs are too stiff for you then they’re too stiff for you right if they make a normal duty spring you know that might be your avenue because from the factory you know and you can look at any Jeep you can go to the dealership and they’re supposed to be raked right so the rear end is supposed to be higher especially on a truck but that gives a weird feeling to the driver if that’s not what you like. So maybe just swapping to their normal springs because their normal springs you know not the overland ones but their normal AEV springs are already set up for more of a load than normal right so instead of the 800 pound load they’re set up for the 1200 pound load because of all the aftermarket goodies and maybe the overland ones are just too much.

Yeah all this aftermarket shit is just just need help. Absolutely love it I mean I grew up we always just called it camping you know and I didn’t actually get like corrected till I was hanging out with Chris at EJS was it this last year?

 

Yeah there was just this last year I had the 74 CJ5 he had you know Edla and we’re sitting there having a couple beers and I know that he’s the editor of the overland magazine and he’s a big overland guy and you know he’s actually four-wheeled across every continent which is pretty bitchin and I was like oh you know get fucked it’s just called camping and he’s like no it’s not called camping camping is you go in somewhere and you set up a camp and you don’t leave overlanding is you’re constantly moving every day and I was like well we used to do that through the Sierras he goes that’s different than camping I was like oh whatever well it’s

just because they called it a new name a few years ago right? Right. 15 years ago nobody knew what overlanding was right now that’s that’s the new rage for all of you skinny jean bun man bun having people which is what’s happening next so people don’t know but trucks growing his hair out and he’s gonna have a man bun next year

and I’ve got a huge ass I do I do yeah I mean I

are you gonna start drinking white claw too?

Dude my wife ordered a freaking white claw Friday night we went to Omaha Nebraska for a stupid concert and you know I didn’t even know the people is called crowded house I’m not a big if it ain’t country I don’t know it so she’s a big crowded house fan right so we went and I’m drinking PBR you know tall boy PBR and she goes up and she goes I’d like a white claw and I’d look at her and I looked at the bartender and I was like I don’t fucking know this lady you’re not drinking a white claw next to me there yeah I I mean growing up I was a I was a babbitt backpacker right so when I got my license and got a Jeep and I just took all my backpack and shit threw it in the back seat and then that’s how we would go and we’d go explore all of the Sierras you know and you’d go wheeling and camping and and all of that crap and I didn’t know what the hell it overlanding thingy was and

no I mean really it’s it’s a term that’s popped up in the last few years and maybe some people used it back in the day but for the grand scheme of things it’s a term that’s popped up in the last decade or ten years and it’s kind of funny because even SEMA you know you go to the off-road Hall at SEMA which is it used to be the Upper South Hall now it’s the West Hall they even have an overland section that is just for overlanding because it’s it’s such a boom and explosion in the in the off-road market in the last ten years

they have so much frickin technology in them trailers and in the gizmo gadgets like when I when I got this and I bought a shower you know back in the early 2000s when I did a lot of heat and air conditioning stuff why we just made our own shower system right that ran you know a heat exchanger into the engine yeah we had it in the engine bay and your coolant from your engine would run through you know your pipes and then your fresh water would run inside that and then you just made a heat exchanger you’d go to any Creek you know you throw your hose into the creek turn your Jeep on wait for your Jeep to get you know up to temperature and you had a little 12 volt pump and you would just pump your creek water through your heat exchanger right and just make a shower well hell now I mean I bought one there it’s all techno buttons and lights and lets you know when you’re at the right temperature because sometimes you’d burn the shit out of yourself you know up in the woods and drinking too much or whatever and my wife just laughs at me because all the neat crap you can buy you know it’s like a hundred dollars and you have this shower like hell yes this is bitching man and I got plenty of room to haul it I love it I think it’s neater in hell but I used to well here I’m gonna take you can you see me Greg so you got you know this little CJ 5 right mom and dad used to take myself my brother my brother is bigger than me and those two up to the woods for a week in that a single ice chest for food and we absolutely loved it and then when I got of age my son my sons and I so this is about

well that was camping now you’re glamping

amen amen so my sons and I built this Jeep 20 years ago Nathan’s turning 21 here in a little bit and this is by what people would call a rock crawler there’s that so all handmade fenders we did what’s called a boat side right so I cut the tub gave myself a lot of clearance and then I got weeds and stuff back here but and then I dovetail the rear end right can you see that great yep and put a trunk back there and we used to rock crawl with that thing because it’s all armored plate you know I cut the tub up and through three three sixteenths plate in where you know the tub all the tub parts were I used to bounce off of rocks all the time and shit you can’t see it right and I would still go camping in that thing throw all the gear in the back ice chest in the back and we’d go all through the Rubicon and like Barrett Lake Trail I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that that’s a hell of a that’s a hell of a gnarly trail and you’re getting damage regardless of what you do or how good you are and yeah so

and because you did show and tell now I’ll do show and tell for fun just cuz I’m standing outside so so this 1975 Cherokee

 

one

 

Phen Staples

 

10

You know, and I had two kids, you know, in diapers. You know, I was still living back in California at the time. So I was getting taxed, you know, out of my ass on everything. They like taxed me because they took time to tax me, you know, and I think I bought those Springs for like a hundred bucks, you know? And I called a company down South that made all of the spring hangers and the axle perches and everything. And it was like another 150 to $200. They found out that like I was going into the military or whatever and they’re like, oh, here, you know, thank you. You know, blah, blah, blah. And they like sent it to me like almost for zero.

 

And you know, we had a little 110 welder.

 

I don’t even know if the damn axles are even like parallel to each other. You know, we just kind of did it in the garage. And that is a flexy little bastard. You know, after we fixed up, well, after we fixed the steering issues and we had, we had fixed the drive line angle and everything that little rock crawler is like, I’ve sent pictures to Tony and Josh where, you know, you’ve got one tire. I only run 33s on that because I can stuff one tire all the way up into the fender well. And the other tire is just dingle dangling down and it’s still on the ground, you know, at damn near six feet. You know, it’s just something retarded. You can’t drive it down the road at all. Like it’s 45 miles an hour max, you know, and you’re squirrely all over the damn road because it’s so soft, but it’s a neat ass rig. Like I love it.

 

Absolutely love it. We started trailer cleaning it when I did all that stuff. Like that was another thing that I didn’t, I was always in with stock Jeeps and shit, you know? And then when I started doing all this radical stuff, you know, my dad was, he almost disowned me, you know, when I bought my first 33 inch tire, you know, he was like, oh my God, I thought I taught you how to wheel better than that, you know? And when I started having to trailer, when I started having to trailer it, he was, it’s like the old Harley guys that, you know, that ride their shit to Sturgis versus the guys that trailer it. You know, my dad’s like the old guy that he’s like, I fucking drive my Jeep everywhere. You have to trailer it, you pussy. And I was like, dad, I’ll fucking kill myself. I can’t, I just think down the interstate.

You know, I went through the same thing. I started off with, you know, a basic Jeep on 29s and slowly worked my way up till I was at 37s and, you know, super long arm and super flexy, you know, I wanted to be a ramp champ and now

I’ve, Oh my God, yes.

Now I’ve reverted back and because I’ve learned that, you know, the driver skill way outweighs what the vehicle’s capable of. So.

I think that’s a natural gestation, right? I mean, I think that’s pretty common where the guy gets into it and then there’s like, dude, this is fucking cool. And then he starts doing all this ramp chance stuff, which I’ve never heard that before. That’s bitchin’. And then after a while, you know, he’s like, well, that’s stupid. I want to go back to just a pretty well-built Jeep that I don’t care if I’m, you know, clocking 100s or whatever it is on that stupid ramp thing. I just want to have a easy ride and make it fairly simple.

Yeah, and it’s, you know, like when I built that rock store, which was 2019,

 

you know, very simple, no lift, factory springs, factory shocks, and it flexes, right? I mean, it’ll flex three or four feet, but the same year, who was it, Jesse?

 

I forget his name. He’s a, you know, he’s a rock crawl champion, but he built a rock store and he competed at King of the Hammers in the Everyman Challenge, which is, you know, limited to 35-inch tires. And, you know, you can’t change the suspension too much and you can’t do certain things, but he brought a rock store on factory leaf springs with, you know, factory shocks and all this simple stuff. And he won Everyman Challenge against all these guys with their long arms and their craziness and their triple bypass this, you know, because sometimes it’s,

 

I don’t mind picking a tire when I’m off-road.

 

You know, I don’t have to always have all four tires touching the earth. That’s what lockers are for, right? Right. Yeah.

 

But yeah, so I’ve reverted back to the simple days. I don’t need a long arm. I won’t run a long arm on anything that I own.

 

I can get away with a mid arm.

 

You know, like a TJ or the older stuff had very short control arms. The JK and the JL have the perfect length. So I don’t need longer than that. Right. So I go a little simpler, but you know, it’s just, we learn, we learn over time. Like same thing. You go to Easter Jeep Safari and you look at all of these 150, $200,000 rigs, you know, gladiators and over limbs and these guys with their $20,000 suspension and all that. And then, you know, and they’re on 40s and 42s and 44s and giant tires. And then you watch a bone stock 1948 Willys drive around them.

And I just laugh.

I just laugh my ass off.

That’s what happened. Bill and I, Bill’s a listener. He’s a super cool guy, he’s a veteran. So like him and I, like, it’s like Forrest Gump and Jenny. Right? I mean, we get along extremely well. And he’s got like a 24 whatever the new two, there’s a single little two door Jeep. And I think he’s got like a puck lift on 35s or something. And that’s it, you know? And I think maybe he took like the back seat out so he can throw an ice chest in there or some lunch shit or whatever. And I had dad’s stock 74 CJ and him and I, I don’t know the name of the trail and I don’t really care, you know, but we had a damn blast.

 

And we come up behind these people that had like video cameras out and full width one tons and all this crazy shit. And you know, here am I in a damn clown car Jeep, just tearing up the trail, like didn’t skip a tire. Like everything was easy and fine, you know? And they were like, hey, you know, you guys could go around us. We’re like, oh, we’re good. And you just realize like we’re fucking up their shots because they’re making it all like extreme and hard. And here’s Bill and I like, doo doo doo doo doo.

 

We had a damn blast. I think like the cool factor of just going out there and doing it, like Bill’s an amazingly good driver. Like I’d go wheeling with Bill anywhere because he gets on the trail, he gets through it in a timely fashion. Yeah, we do have conversations from time to time, but you know, we’re just, we’re getting through the trail, right? And he does it totally fine. And I got to keep up with him with this thing and vice versa. Sometimes I would leave, I don’t even know where the hell I was going. And I was like, I’m just gonna follow the black mark, just go and there’s that cool factor where you don’t have to have all that shit. There’s nothing wrong with it. I mean, I think it’s me when you come up on these rigs and you’re like, God damn, that thing’s more than my damn house. But you don’t have to.

I own the old fat guy, you know, in a little bit. Yeah, my first really good experience with that was, and I was getting bigger and more involved and definitely more involved in the off-road industry. And I went wheeling. So the guys who mentored me when I first started off, are the Lunatic Fringe. And the Lunatic Fringe was a group within Chrysler that, you know, developed the Rubicon and developed, you know, a lot of the other cool stuff.

 

And we were in Moab and I wanna say it was like 2015 or 2016. And I was staying with them because I was sleeping on their couch. And, you know, I’ve got this, I was driving Frankenbrute, which is, you know, just everything thrown at a Jeep, you know, long wheelbase coilovers, blah, blah, blah. I had everything on it. And I went wheeling with them one day and we did a pretty hard trail. We actually went to Pritchett Canyon. And these guys, you know, they’re driving CJs and they’re driving YJs and, you know, a couple of them had JKs, but none of them were overly built. And Pritchett Canyon’s a pretty gnarly trail.

 

And we go there and the first thing in the morning, you know, everybody’s errant down, everybody’s getting ready to hit the trail.

 

And there’s always a quick driver’s meeting to make sure that everybody knows who’s the trail gunner and who’s, you know, in charge and blah, blah, blah. And these guys, they’re like, all right, you know, first person to squeak a tire buys lunch and first person to spin a tire does this.

 

And I’m like, what are you talking about? And they said, well, you know, they have a competition and their competition is to do harder and harder trails. And the person who makes it look effortless and never chirps a tire and never has to back up or never has to winch, the guy that just crawls over every obstacle at the end of the day, he gets free beer and free dinner and free food.

Oh, that’s my kind of story. Absolutely.

And I’m like, really? You know, cause I’m used to wheeling with all these influencers who they want to get a tire five feet in the air and they want to They want to make it look difficult. Right, they want to make it look difficult. And then I go out with all these guys who are in their seventies and driving this trail that I did the day before with influencers and everybody had problems and everybody struggled. And these guys, just like you said, they’re like, clown cars, they do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. And they drive up all these obstacles. They never chirp a tire. You know, if a guy hits us a little sand patch and slides a little bit, everybody’s like,

(Laughs)

you’re buying me a car. Right.

 

And I think that was the point for me when my driving style changed and my driving style got more progressive and cleaner because now I’m hyper focused on making everything look simple. It’s a chess game.

It’s a chess game, right? Yeah, so like when I’m wheeling, I’m wheeling like maybe 15 to 30 feet down the trail. And just what I’m going over is what I’ve memorized in my brain, right? So you’re just going and you’re like, my dad always told me your driver’s side front tire is the one you pay attention to. Everything else will just follow. So you always just guide yourself on your driver’s side front tire. Some of the people are going to say, oh, absolutely not. The Jeeps now are so much bigger and you have to do this, that and the other. Even with the Gladiator, everything for me as a front driver’s tire, that’s how I do it.

And– Yeah, and honestly, after 10 minutes, you know how wide it is. So you know what the passenger tire’s going to hit.

Right. It’s just spatial recognition, right? So, and it was like when I was– Other

than you’re driving a land yacht that’s like 92 feet long. So your turning radius.

It’s a school bus, right? So like I grew up with these guys– You should turn a yellow. I hate you right now.

 

(Laughing)

But these guys all had beautiful, beautiful Willy’s Jeeps. The other short Fender fives, one guy had, Rick Russell, he had a CJ six, you know, and they were just gorgeous. They weren’t scratched. They were spotless, man. And you go out and they made fun of people that hit rocks or they made fun of people that you’re off camber and maybe your roll cage, you know, scratched a tree. They were like, oh, you don’t know what you’re doing. And it was like, that’s who taught me how to wheel. And it was like at the end of the Rubicon, your rig should be just dusty and that’s it. Like it should be gorgeous. And when like when I built the Rock Crawler, you know, I had rolled the Jeep. I was up in Northern California somewhere and fell off a rock and kind of like, it was like a little cliff rock or whatever.

Yeah, and you took it from something that should go down a trail and be dusty at the end to something that you can use rocks to pivot on.

Right, right. And they disowned me, Greg. They fucking disowned me. They were like, you destroyed a beautiful Jeep. Cause it was Emerald green, you know, had nice chrome bumper, chrome wheels. And I was one of the guys that would show up with this gorgeous stock-ish, you know, CJ-5 to now I can do whatever the hell I want. And there’s videos of me driving over a car, you know. And they were like, oh no, you did that because you forgot how to drive. And I was like, well, no, I did this cause I rolled the bitch off of a three foot, four foot cliff and destroyed the tub. And I didn’t have the money to rebuild it. So I just cut it apart, used old scrap steel and armor plated it, you know. Right.

 

But it was what it was,

 

You’re my friend, you’re my new friend.

 

In this special flagship episode of the Jeep Talk Show, Tony is joined by Chuck, a fellow host from the show, and Greg, host and owner of Unofficial Use Only. Together, they dive into discussions about Jeeps, the Jeep industry, and the amazing products created by Unofficial Use Only. Don’t miss this episode packed with expert insights and Jeep enthusiasm!

Hi, boys and girls, it’s time for another Jeep talk show and we’re talking with Chuck and Greg. I probably should have started with Greg because you’re on the screen. If you’re not watching us on YouTube, you should, because it’s always fun to see what’s going on as well as hear what’s going on.

 

Greg, thanks for being here today. Man, so you sound like you’re right there by the road.

Yeah. So, and it’s hilarious because I’ve got 20, you know, 20 acres, which is nothing in Chuck’s world, but I got 20 acres and normally I’m in the shop or I’m way at the back of the property, but today Verizon was not fruitful and Verizon did not want to cooperate. So my internet signal was abysmal and I ended up driving all the way up and I’m sitting in the front yard about 50 feet from the road just to make sure that I have a good clean signal so that I can have a little bit of fun with the Jeep talk show today.

That’s great. And Chuck, you’re actually working today, but you’re out in your shop for lunchtime, right?

 

Yeah. I sent the guys to lunch. You and Greg reached out to me and said, let’s do a show right quick. So I said, hell yeah. I don’t, obviously I don’t miss too many meals. So missing a lunch is not going to be that big of a deal. So I come out here and had some learning experience. My hearing aid was not working right. And then the phone overheated and we’re having a blast today already. We’re halfway through lunch.

And just so people know, it’s not, you’re not, you don’t have the hearing aid because you’re old. You have a hearing aid because you were in the army defending us and our freedom and all the rifle shots and stuff took a toll.

 

Yeah. The joke is, is that I dropped my hearing and lost it overseas. So yeah.

Well, thank you for your service. I’ve told you that many times.

But it says important day for it.

Yeah. That’s right.

That’s right.

Yeah.

 

I’m looking in your background there, Chuck. And I got to tell you that I am envious of that Jeep you’re sitting on your hoist. I know your dad’s standing next to you, but the one on the hoist just gives me a warm and fuzzy. That’s the Jeep that not only won the war, but created the life that we all strive to live today.

 

A lot of new Jeepers don’t even understand what the hell that thing is. And that’s just beautiful.

I’m going to unplug my phone here. I know the YouTube thing is not going to like this, but I’ll actually show you. So that’s a that’s a 46 CJ two A and the Jeep that won the war. I don’t know if I can see it is that one that’s up there. That’s a that’s a 44. OK. So that’s called a nine slap. That’s a nine slap Jeep. And that is a Ford GPW. And they and that one that’s behind me on the horse.

That’s my son. They bought 336,000 of those Ford ones.

 

I don’t know how many they made.

I might be wrong. I might be wrong. But I think it was 336,000 that Ford was forced to make because Willys couldn’t make enough and the government told that you’re going to make them. And Ford was such an amazing dude. Like he decided he wasn’t taking parts from anybody. He made all his own parts even stamped his little ideal sized F on every nut and bolt. I mean, it’s a pretty cool thing.

 

If I if I may, Tony, I might walk off screen and I can show you what the grill of a 1941 looks like.

Go right ahead.

We love it because Ford because Ford Ford is the one that designed the Jeep grill because the Willy’s Overland grill was too hard to make. So let me let me come over here to the other side of the shop. I’ve got a 41 that we’re rebuilding over here. Let me let me snag the grill if I can. Boy, I hope I can find it.

Yeah, take your time. I’ll just mention it right real quick.

 

Chuck has recently embraced the plastic Jeeps as he called them and has a I think it’s a 2023 gladiator gladiator

Mojave.

Yeah. And it’s he’s been having a lot of time, a lot of good time modifying that. Hey, Greg, you’ve been helping him with that, right?

Yep, I helped a little bit. He’s got one of our prototype bumpers on it and we helped him with the winch and we’ve got some wheels on order. But for some reason, they’re not they’re not available to ship yet. But it’s a pretty cool wheel. It looks like an old CJ wheel. It’s made by Quadratec. So those are on order. But yeah, Chuck’s Chuck’s been having a blast. But honestly, those those original ones are so special. And a lot of people don’t realize how special they are.

 

I grew up in the same area as Mark Smith,

 

which is Mark Smith. Of course, the grandfather of jeeping was out of Georgetown,

 

which most of my dad’s friends were friends with Mark. And growing up, you kind of knew all of these guys, and I was privy to those jeeps back then, you know, and to be able to take dad’s jeep, you know, which is this black one. I don’t know if you guys can see it. To wheel with Chris at EJS was something special for an old farm kid like myself, right? Because those guys are really… they were my heroes, right? Mark Smith and those boys. It was absolutely amazing, tough as nails guys.

 

And I cannot find… Greg, I fucking lost that damn grill.

No, it’s there. You’ll find it. It’s probably under a jeep or it’s in the back of the one on the hoist or something. But yeah, so Edla, one of the cool parts and one thing that I love about it is the hoods absolutely caved in, right? I mean, it is just buckled.

Yeah, so I noticed that first thing when I saw that jeep.

 

And he debated when he first got it, should he replace it and should he straighten out the metal and bring it back to its former glory.

 

But that rollover happened on one of the expeditions, right? So it was on the expedition, it rolled over, it crushed it. I think it was when they were crossing the Darien Gap. But you just don’t fix that, right?

 

For anybody who’s watched the movie Cars, right? And Mater got little dents and dings and he was telling Lightning McQueen about how that made him who he is, right? That’s all Edla, right? It’s the whole front end’s caved in, but the thing still runs and drives and drives great.

 

Why would you change that? That’s like fixing one of these scars that I have. There’s no reason, every scar has a story and Edla definitely tells some stories.

I think I might switch this thing around.

 

So I mean, Greg, you’ve been in the driver’s seat of this jeep. This is a 1974 CJ5.

 

It’s a…

It looks like it hasn’t had a bath since it came home from Moab.

It hasn’t, it hasn’t. I parked it, I put new gas filler neck in it and we’re putting a new carburetor on it now.

So Chuck got famous with all the Jeep talk show listeners and I think the gone Jeep in people with the amount of fuel he was dumping while he was driving that thing around at the EJS.

He was just trying to wash the dust off the trail for the people behind him.

I was actually being considerate, it’s the same fossil different fuel and I heard that there was going to be dinosaur bones out there. Here it goes. I was just giving back their children.

 

But when I rebuilt this, this Jeep, it’s a fleet vehicle. There’s one upgrade in this Jeep. It’s a black on black CJ5. Everything is manual, but it came with a V8 from the factory. It was ordered that way.

 

It’s a single family Jeep. My dad’s been the original owner since 1974, but it’s been rolled a couple times, right? It did the Rubicon. It did the first one through 20 midnight Rubicons. Never missed a single one. It was there every single year.

 

And people don’t know what that is. It’s a Jeep event thrown by the Dirty Dozen Jeep Club. They’re out of Sacramento, California and they do the midnight or at night.

 

Excuse me, they do the Rubicon at night, which the Rubicon trail in the daytime is hard enough and these old bastards decided to leave the spillway at midnight Friday night and then get into the Rubicon Springs on Saturday, which is just a whole different thing of itself. But when I rebuilt it, I left the scars where he had rolled it and he actually got in an accident with it and rolled the whole windshield and everything down on the lap of the passenger.

 

And when I took it to the body guy, I said,

 

“Don’t get rid of the memories. Just smooth them out a little bit, right? Make it not so harsh.” And when I drove to surprise mom and dad, they were actually up on Loon Lake, which is the spillway of the Rubicon. I drove their Jeep all painted, new motor, everything’s pretty and they started crying as they went through and they were holding their hands on, “Do you remember when we rolled this? Do you remember when Willie Meyers hit us with this thing?”

 

The scars meant more to them than the fresh paint and the new tires and the new motor. It blew their mind that I didn’t erase 45 years of wheeling. And I firmly believe in, “Yeah, you want your Jeeps to be nice and pretty and pristine, but you can’t get rid of Edla’s hood.” Because that’s her, that’s her soul. And the same with this thing, it’s the Jeep soul to have all those trail remembrances.

 

Well, I think this is one of the things that people, maybe people don’t get about the Jeep thing. It’s the memories. It’s not necessarily the Jeep itself. The Jeep is integral into making those memories, but it’s the riding off road with people and having these experiences. We sat around a campfire there at EJS that was wonderful. That I guess really the only person we were missing was Greg.

 

And but it was a great time. We had about 10 or 15, maybe 20 people all sitting around the campfire. And I’ll remember that for a good long time. That was just a wonderful situation of actually being around an open fire and this bullshit with people about Jeep stuff that we’ve been doing at Eastern Jeep Safari.

 

Right. Yep.

 

Yep.

 

So Greg, you started you started with CJ’s. You said your first Jeep experience as a child was a CJ. What was this now?

Yeah. First Jeep experience as a child was in a CJ.

 

I don’t remember exactly who it was. I’m fairly certain it was one of my uncles had a CJ and we lived way up north in Michigan. So we lived right on Lake Michigan in the northern part of Michigan. And my uncle would come over and pick me and my dad up and we’d go to the beach and it was always a twofer. So we’d go to the beach because my dad needed to fill 55 gallon drums with sand so that he could sandblast on the cars he was working on. And my my uncle would have me swim out into the water and find the big Petoskey stones, the ones that you couldn’t carry out. And what’s up?

What’s up? What’s that? What is that?

A Petoskey stone is Michigan State Rock and it’s it’s basically, you know, medieval coral. Right. So it’s it’s coral from dinosaur period and it’s our state rock and they have some value to them. So we know some beaches up there where you can go out and you can find pieces that are the same size as the Jeep. Oh, shit. But but I’d swim out there, you know, like a lot of people pick up ones that you can fit in your hand and that’s what they find on the edge of the beach. But if you swim out to the water where the water is a little too deep for the average person, you’d swim down and I’d find the big ones and I’d wrap a rope around him and he’d use his 82 74 to winch him up the shore. And then he takes then we’d all gather together and put him on a car, hard jacket or whatever we had and load him into the back of the Jeep and then drive back to his place and he’d unload him and he’d polish him and sell him. But that was that was one of my first Jeep memories. And then we did the sand dunes, you know, back then when I was a kid, we’d go to Silver Lake sand dunes or we’d go to the oh, geez, what do they call it? Sleeping bear sand dunes before they stopped allowing cars on it.

 

You know, now everybody’s so particular, you don’t want to hurt the sand so you can’t drive on the sand.

You can’t bruise the sand.

But but yeah, it’s you know, so that was my first Jeep memories. And then as a as a teen, you know, my dad was always bringing it home. Cool Jeeps, you know, one of ones and one of twos and, you know, prototype things. And because he worked in those departments and but it wasn’t until I was in my early 20s, my wife and I got married and I was driving a 77 Ford F 350 with a big block. And 40 inch tires that it got three miles to the gallon. And the wife told me I needed to get a daily driver. They got, you know, good gas mileage. But I was in construction. And so I wanted a four wheel drive and I wanted something small and nimble. So at that time, I bought my first TJ, which it was a 1998 flame red TJ sport with the four liter and an auto tragic. And that was my new daily driver.

 

I fell in love with Jeep so fast. It wasn’t funny.

 

You know, constant, I don’t know, four or five suspensions in the first year and a half and different tire sizes. And like I still remember the very first aftermarket purchase we made and we bought it from Quadratec, which was kind of funny now that, you know, I’ve built Quadratec show cars. But the very first thing we ever bought, my wife purchased it for my birthday and it was a super winch, 9.5 Talon. And I still have that winch. That winch still functions, still works.

 

And I love it. But and then we bought a poison spider trail cage, which this is definitely weak to talk about poison spider because, you know, Hoot again, just filed Chapter 11 and Hoot again and Neil Perros and all them are all one conglomerate and they own poison spider. And we just found out yesterday that poison spider was just sold for one million dollars to a man who was best friends with Larry McCray, who used to own poison spider.

 

It sounds awful cheap.

 

Oh yeah, very cheap.

 

So, so Clifton Slay is who started Poison Spider and he’s also friends with that group. But and he’s he’s kind of a member of 1941 media with Chris and me and Payway and them. But yeah, so there’s a lot of history there. But but yeah, so my first two mods were Poison Spider Trail cage and the super winch Talon and then multiple suspensions and multiple iterations later.

 

I probably rebuilt that Jeep almost twice a year for the first six years of ownership.

 

Yeah.

 

And then I cut it in half when I started AEV. So professionally, I started working on Jeeps in 2007.

 

2008, I cut that Jeep in half. I stretched it. I did a bunch of stuff, changed everything. And it’s still in that configuration today. It’s still in Michigan, but I don’t own it.

 

I know who has it, but he wants way too much money for it. So it’s very hard for me to buy it back.

 

I wish I could buy my first Jeep back. I had a 59 Willy CJ 5, which is the short fender Willys that the short fender Willys ran all the way up to 1971 or 1970, depending on who you talk to. But God, I wish my first wife, she asked me to get rid of it because I had put a big V8 and a little, it’s like putting a V8 in that thing. You know, it’s like, wow, that’s a lot of horsepower, you know, and had a four speed and 538 gears and really done a lot of neat stuff with that thing. And I think the coolest thing with that Jeep is it had an offset Dana 44, which is a very old school tapered axle thing. But you remember these, Greg, where Willys actually made flanged axle setup for the old tapered 44s? Were you privy to any of that? Nope. Huh? So the old, the old Jeep’s like this one, everything runs right down the passenger’s throat. So your front end and your back diffs are right in line with each other.

 

And the big deal with these things is it has a two piece axle in the back. It’s a tapered axle with a little totter key, you know, that holds your wheel hub onto the axle, which is fine with a four cylinder and it’s fine with a six cylinder. But when you put a V8 in it and you get on the gas, the tires would stay, but your axles would spin inside of them.

 

And that’s a bad thing. So I didn’t really want to change, I didn’t have the money to change axles and stuff. So I started doing some research and there was not that much internet stuff, you know, where I didn’t have a lot of access to it. So you called and talked to people.

 

And Willys, or not Willys, but Warren made a rear hub assembly that turned it into a full floating Dana 44 and you can put locking hubs on the back end of your Jeep as well.

 

So that Jeep, because it had 538 gears and a four speed, I did have an overdrive in it. So it was eight forward gears and two rear reverse gears. But I can unlock the hubs front and rear and flat tow it because they were free floating tires, free floating wheels.

 

And it was just a neat as shit Jeep. And my first wife thought that I loved it more than her. So she had to sell it. She did. She did. And that, God, I’ve got pictures of it in my office, of course, but if I could ever find that Jeep again, just the neat shit that we did do it.

 

I mean, just having that overdrive, you know, a four speed and an overdrive was just phenomenal, you know, in a 59 short fender five, you know, and it had enough power, it could get the front driver side tire off the ground, you know, and it had 538 gears where it would crawl nice and slow.

So, so let me ask you guys a quick question and you can, you can pass on this. It’s probably a Greg question. So you mentioned poison spider and I feel that are, there are several big Jeep providers that are having issues right now. And I think it has to do with several things, not necessarily just the Jeep market, but Jeep itself is having, having problems. You’ve reported on the show that there’s somewhat of like a 21% drop in sales over this time last year. Do you Greg, do you think that the drop in sales for Jeep is affecting these, these third party manufacturers or is it just the economy as a whole?

 

I mean, honestly, and I’m no economist, but I think it’s the economy as a whole, you know, and we’re spending thousands of dollars more per household a year just for groceries.

Oh, good point.

Than we normally would, right? And everything, right? I have a small shop.

 

Everything I buy is more than it was a year ago and a year before that and a year before that, you know, all the way down to the steel.

 

You know, some people say that there’s, you know, we’re, what you see down the news that we only have, you know, five and six and 7% inflation. But you know, my raw steel prices are 200% higher than they were three years ago. So so all of that, you know, in nickels and times to death. And if you’re buying, you know, if your normal monthly expenses cost this much more, it’s a lot harder, even if you’ve got a good job that you’ve been at for a long time. And even if you’re responsible, it’s a lot harder to throw extra money at your stuff. So it’s it’s harder to decide that you need aftermarket wheels and tires when, you know, you need food on the table for you and your kids or your kids need back to school clothes. So I think in general, the because everything is more expensive right now, and you know,

 

we’re not all getting 40 and 50% raises at work where, you know, most people get their standard one to 3%.

 

So it takes its toll. And I think that’s taking its toll on a lot of businesses that manufacture stuff.

 

I mean, I have friends in the in the industry who they’re still making their bumpers and they’re still making other stuff. And even though the cost to manufacture has gone up so much in the last four years,

 

they’ve only raised their price, you know, 10, 15%.

 

And and even that is hard to do, right? It’s hard to charge the consumer more when they can they can look at an ad from two years ago and go, well, why was it $300 last two years ago? Well, because I’m spending $600 and more in steel.

Right.

 

You know, so so I think it’s a trickle down and it all affects. But I know some companies are having a hard time. And and I got to say it this way, too, because Poison Spider, right, it, Clifton Slay started it and he was a mastermind. He he designed and developed just some amazing products.

 

He wasn’t a great businessman.

 

He had too many skews. He had too many other things. And he ended up selling the company to Larry McCray, who turned it into an amazing powerhouse in a very short time. Right. In in four years, it went from high quality stuff to high quality stuff that you could get everywhere and everybody wanted.

 

And then he was going and I don’t know exactly why, but he, you know, he had some medical things and some other stuff and he sold it to four wheel parts and four wheel parts immediately changed. All the people got rid of 90 percent of the workforce,

 

90 percent of the American employees and started having everything manufactured overseas. And the level of quality went downhill really fast. So people stopped buying it. Right.

 

You know, so some of these big companies.

 

That most people don’t even know are owned by corporate corporate conglomerates.

 

You know, they shot themselves in the foot by taking good quality American made stuff and shooting it overseas to save a few bucks. The problem is, is the consumer realizes that the consumer picks up pretty fast that the part they bought four months ago is now completely different when their friend buys it. And now it’s a piece of shit because it was made overseas and it doesn’t have good quality control.

 

You know, and I mean, I use poison spiders as an example because I absolutely loved poison spider stuff. I loved it.

They were the crammed out of a friend. They were shit.

Yeah. When Clifton had it and when Larry had it, it was it was some of the best of the best armor and simple to bolt on and good quality.

 

And then the corporate conglomerate bought it and four wheel parts bought it.

 

Within six within six months,

 

it was garbage, right? It was it was low quality steel. It was shitty welds. It didn’t fit right.

 

And and that killed that company. Right. So but it’s still such a powerhouse name. And I really hope that the gentleman who just bought it for next to nothing gets Larry and maybe even Clifton involved in because it would immediately turn back into a powerhouse.

 

So and there’s other companies right in this market that,

 

you know, they stop going to the wholesale. They stop selling it to wholesale. They only sell by themselves. And and they’re still doing pretty damn good.

 

You know, there’s still companies that have growth.

 

JCR, which is a lot of people don’t even know, but JCR stands for Jesus Christ Rocks. And it’s a group of boys in Southern Michigan, boys and girls who started in their mom’s garage. And, you know, now they employ a bevy of people and they have their own lasers and their own machines and they’re building new buildings. And now they’re even starting to build some really nice workbenches. But that’s a group of boys, you know, a group of people who started in their mom’s garage, you know, 10, 15 years ago and now make amazing stuff. And they don’t sell to any of the wholesale distributors. They just sell direct.

 

They basically cut out all the middlemen.

 

But they’re still making it right here. Right. And there’s there’s a lot of stories like that. You know, they’re not the only ones, but you got to give credit to those guys. You know, yeah, they made mistakes in the beginning. They made mistakes in the middle. They’re going to make mistakes at the end, but they just keep moving forward and they keep doing good stuff.

They have good product, good solid products. And they were they were XJ fans as well. That’s how I got to know JCR is because of their XJ products.

And they still make great. They still make great XJ products.

Yep. And then then later for the TJ, I mean, I’ve got two things on my wife’s TJ that is from JCR.

Yep. And now, you know, like me, I’ve been building custom show cars and people know my name because of the builds that I do. But now we’re getting into manufacturing.

 

You’re my friend, you’re my new friend.

 

 

 

In this flagship episode of the Jeep Talk Show, Tony and Janet discuss the arrival of a new bob after nine months, the exciting Myrtle Beach Jeep event, and the recent halt in Wrangler and Grand Cherokee production. It’s just one of five weekly episodes packed with Jeep news, events, and insights. Don’t miss this engaging episode and make sure to catch all the others!

 

Rerun of Episode 300!

This Week In Jeep: More Spy Pictures of the JL
Jeep Tip: Airing Down Part 1 – Steve 4.3lxj
Wrangler Talk: Winter Survival Kit
Tech Talk With Jeep Talk: Wrangler Soft Top in the Car Wash
Wheeling Where:
Off Road Expo THIS WEEKEND Sept 30 – Oct 01

In this Jeep Talk Show Flagship II episode, Natalie from Highlift Offroad teams up with Tony to dive into the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, discuss the pros and cons of bobbed beds, and explore a new GoPro competitor. Don’t miss this action-packed episode filled with Jeep insights and off-road gear reviews!

I always want to stay approachable. So, and this is the approachable build. It is something that everyone can relate to. I went to 37 Maxxis Razors on the KMC tank beadlocks. So it’s very, you know, there’s a three and a half lift from RockCrawler. It is the classic next step after you do your, you know, lift wheels and tires, or if you want to go straight to that, if you have the budget for that. So, you know, it was a year and a half of planning and all of a sudden here it is. So I’m alive again.

 

Yeah, you haven’t had your vehicle for a year, I believe you said.

I mean, you knew where it was. It was a year this weekend.

Yeah, you knew where it was and all, but. I did. It’s gotta be difficult not having your baby.

It was. And I am lucky to have been fortunate to drive the twins around. As you guys have heard me talk about the twins that we have, it’s, you know, two JLs and two separate builds.

It’s fun, but it’s not the same as your own vehicle.

It isn’t. And so I got to actually get in it when they debuted it to me on Tuesday morning, right before I left to haul it down to Smokey. And I got to drive it out of the shop and onto the trailer. And that was the most I got to drive it until Saturday night. It was essentially 0.5 miles. I got to drive it and it felt like coming home. I was back in the tank. There was just something about it.

Well, you’re really geared too. So you have the proper gearing for those 37s.

Yes.

So I would imagine that even though the motor didn’t change, the feel must be different.

The feel changed and my exhaust, I had a very, the OEM exhaust, but I pinched it shut from wheeling. So it needed some love. So MBRP, I’m very excited to run a new exhaust from them. And already I cannot believe it growls. It growls at me. I’m like, do I have a 392 in here?

So definitely don’t guys. Do you have a skid system on the bottom of your Jeep?

I will. So Clayton off road, that’s where I got my skid system from. Unfortunately we did not have time to install it before Smokey was being installed literally today. So it will be on there, but it was actually kind of fun showing because the way I had it flexed with the passenger side going up, I was able to show when OEM skid system can handle with a driver like myself that does not have all the finesse in the world, especially learning and starting out. So it was kind of fun to be able to talk about that with the patrons that were there. So I actually kind of was kind of glad that I was able to show both.

No, it’s perfectly fine. I’m just thinking about that. I don’t know that the skid system will help protect that part of your exhaust where you crimped it off, but it will probably protect some of it, right?

A little bit, but from what I could see, since I had it lifted,

 

it’s tucked up underneath now. So where the OEM really hung down.

 

So now it’s completely flush.

That’s wonderful. So you got the off-road treatment. That’s good. I did.

So I’m very excited.

So I think it’s wonderful talking about your Jeep and high lift and all, but I don’t care about that shit. Let’s talk about the Jeep talk show and the conversation you had out there at Great Smoky about Jeep Invasion. Tell me about the order, the order that you were taking.

Right. So I was fortunate, like I said, to be selling Bill Stein Shocks through our shop. And while I was completing an order for a new set of the 5,100 Bill Steins, which is such a great get you in the game shock. I can’t speak enough great about it, but we’ll talk about that.

I told you, I have mine. I have some on the XJ.

Yes. And I sold several for XJs. There was a lot of CJs I was selling for XJs.

 

The 90s were running rampant at one point. I was loving it. So it was kind of fun to see all these great families doing all these builds on these, especially like a classic.

Oh, real quick. So I’ll just mention, I was getting a lot of wheel hop with my 33 mud terrains and getting cupping. And I did some research and they were talking about the best on Bill Stein 5,100s. And I put that on there and I don’t have any more cupping anymore.

Look at that.

Okay. And then I bought the front first and then later I got the rear. I didn’t have any problem really with the rear, but the shocks that were on there were like 12 years old. So if anybody out there with a TJ or an XJ, and you’re having the wild problem with your mud terrains cupping, I mean, well, we all like that sound or whatever. It’s coming down the road. People know you’re coming. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. That’s the cupping. But anyway, the Bill Stein 5,100s cured that for me. So, Oh, that’s good to know. Head over to high lift and get you some.

Please do. We ship nationwide guys. We’re literally fulfilling orders right now from Smokey. So hold on tight if you did place an order with me. But it was great when I was placing this order with this gentleman. He looked down and saw my card on the table and saw my name and he’s like, “Wait a minute, as in Natalie, like Chick Chat Jeep talk show Natalie?” And well, now he’s, I’m holding him hostage at this point.

There we go.

Oh, so yeah. So I was very excited to be able to talk to a listener and he said, how much he enjoys the show. And of course it was flattering.

I just want to point this out. This is, I mean, maybe he recognized your face since we’re doing video. And if you guys aren’t aware, this is available on YouTube. You should go to YouTube, search for a cheap talk show, subscribe, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I think it’s cool that he recognized your name.

Yes, yes. I just got this business card. So that really helped. Thank you, Mike.

 

But yeah, I mean, he really felt my name inside.

But it doesn’t say cheap talk show on it. There’s no reference to the show on there. There wasn’t. So that’s a big deal. I mean, that is a really big deal. And that goes along with what I was telling you about us really enjoying you here on the show. Not only Chick Chat, but also to the main show.

Thank you so much. And it was just so neat to be able to talk to customer, this customer especially,

 

and his joy of the show. And we just really appreciate our listeners because we love what we do on here. And Tony and I have actually never met in person, but I feel like I’ve known Tony my whole life. So I hope you guys, it seems like you guys really feel the joy that we feel too. So thank you so much for listening.

It’s a fun show, yeah.

 

And also I got to see some of our sponsors, Tony. So that was even better. Real Truck. Oh my goodness. I have never, I had never heard of Real Truck until I started listening to the show. So Real Truck, thank you for everything you’ve done and the episodes that you’ve been a part of. And I got to meet some of your representatives and it was great to be able to talk about it. And I got to do the voice with them about realtruck.com. So it was fantastic.

So now you have to tell the story properly, the way you told it to me, which was, there was a guy cutting through the Bilstein booth area. He was cutting through. And you grabbed him. Hey, wait a minute there.

I did. Like I literally grabbed his wrist. I was like, wait, realtruck.com is on your polo. I have to talk to you.

 

Did he?

I made him talk to me.

Did he look like some of us do, whenever says the girl grabs you and says, I got to tell you, I’m pregnant.

And like, oh, I got to get out of here. Oh gosh. I mean, he was a little nervous at first because who’s this girl grabbing me? Like what is going on? But then once I, immediately he was so very excited to hear about it.

He forgot he was working.

Yes, he did. Then I was like, oh, I got to get back to work. So get out of here. I’m selling these parts, not you. So it was a great little way to interact. I was really proud.

Very, very proud. So did realtruck have another Panarosa area?

 

They did.

I mean, their area.

 

It was very large and very, and actually we had another, we had three Jeeps in the show, everybody. So one of them was big twin of her with Teraflex and Teraflex was caddy cornered to them. So I got to go visit her a few times. Was Dennis out there?

I’m sorry. Was Dennis there?

He was there, yes. He was. And he actually informed me that I left a hair clip in his Jeep from our San Hollow moment. And I’ve been looking for that one because it’s Hilah Blue. So he forgot to bring it. So hopefully I’ll get to see him again in the spring when we go to Moab and he’ll have my hair clip for me.

Tell people that don’t know what was the event at San Hollow, just to give them a brief, because you mentioned it and we don’t know exactly what that is.

The very true, sorry guys. So yeah, so Hilah does put on what’s called Hilah Expeditions and we will take you to the hotspots out West. We will transport your vehicle via train. It’s all inclusive.

 

It’s so amazing. We fly you out. It’s all included and all inclusive price and we cook for you. I cook for you. Michael Bailey cooks for you. And it’s definitely a dinner show every night. So it’s great. And we take all the stress away for you. So we get to take you with industry led rides. We have different guides that come out from different industry leaders that participate and like Dennis would. So, and that was our San Hollow trip this year in San Hollow, Utah. It sounds a little– Or Hurricane, Utah.

Yeah, it sounds a little bit like Jeep Jamboree where they do that similar type thing and it’s a big deal. They do. I mean, especially when they fly in a grand piano for one of the nights.

Right, exactly.

I mean, I don’t know if they still do that. I, oh God, I’m forgetting the gentleman’s name. He’s now president, Jeep Jamboree. It’s an unusual name.

Anyway, you know what I’m saying?

That gentleman. Thank you, sir. But I remember talking to him. This was before he was actually the president. Yeah. Zulof.

 

Pierce, is it Pierce Zulof, I think.

I think it might be. I’m gonna go with it. I’m gonna say smiling not on this one. I’m not sure.

Yeah, no problem. So, but anyway, did the interview with him and this is something good to mention to you guys. We have over a thousand, over 1100 episodes in the Jeep Talk Show. And there’s no telling who you haven’t heard as far as interviews go. Isn’t that the truth? Yeah, Pierce Zulof, that’s right. So anyway, you can go back and listen to that interview.

Yeah.

 

All right, so what other shenanigans did you get up to there at Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion or what something interesting that happened out there? Cause I know there’s stuff that we hadn’t talked about.

You know, it was my first time doing such a large show and being a part of it. Cause it is technically a show as well.

 

And, you know, being able to do the load in and the load out from essentially start to finish the way the organizers have everything, it is, they make it so easy on us as industry vendors and, you know, being able to pull in to the Leconte Center for the first time. And I was a little starstruck. I think it’s okay to say that. I think man or woman you would be, especially, you know, debuting your own personal rig. And there was only two JKs in the whole show. So I was really excited to be one of those. And especially in red. So red is not real common right now. It’s a lot of grays. And, you know, Tony, we have that connection. You have the Jeep Talk Show Red Gladiator.

 

Red JK with a little bit of Jeep Talk Show going on it too. So it’s, you know, it’s really fascinating to see that process. And then all of a sudden on Saturday at five o’clock when the show’s over, essentially it’s like an air horn moment and all of a sudden it’s like the circus. Yes, the circus is leaving town. And, you know, it was a neat experience for me cause I got to actually do a lot of the merchandising and inventory. Cause we did partner with Rigid with our gladiator, our Bobbed Gladiator, which we’re going to talk about in a little bit. And to be able to be a part of that firsthand.

So you had a Bobbed Gladiator out there?

We did. It’s the High Look Off Road Bobbed that we just completed right before we left. We did three builds in 15 days for the show. And, you know, there’s, and we’re not the only ones doing stuff like that. You know, all the industry, we try to bring everything to the table for you as, you know, our listeners and the customer and just the Jeep enthusiasts. We want you to see the latest and greatest.

 

And also the history of it too.

How was the reception? I mean, I’m not trying to talk bad about Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, but I’ll just ask this question. How was it for a high lift, your time being out there and going through the process of getting all those rigs out there and set up, was it worth your time as a vendor to go to Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion?

You know, that’s a great question because I think sometimes it can be a yes and a no. Of course. Right? So for us this year, it was a yes. Good. I think because the way we were able to partner with our industry partners, and we’re very lucky to have these relationships that Michael has developed and the trust that they put in us as, you know, a shop and for us to be able to carry their product and be direct with them. Now we’ve done it a different way where we brought our whole setup with our tents and everything and box trucks who a product and, you know, close the shop down for almost two weeks. That I don’t think was as beneficial as what we just did. We were very fresh. We got to actually engage and talk with everyone, answer questions and, you know, really enjoy the time with these three special rigs that we had there and be able to really see you as the enthusiast and take that time with you.

Do you get the feeling it’s because of what you brought out there? I mean, including your rig and the bobbed bed. Was that, did you get a feeling that that was a little more exciting for people that maybe they- I do.

Yeah. That’s a great way to put it because we were, the way we were positioned, we got very lucky. So when you first entered the Lecontte Center, right there was the bobbed gladiator from high lift and the rigid booth. And then you went around the corner and then there’s the 2017 JK, you know, fully rebuilt as a off-road and street rig. It could be both.

Right.

That’s important. And you go around the other.

Yeah. Not a lot of people have the income to have, you know, a dedicated rig for off-road.

Absolutely. And then also around the other corner, then is the JL, our big twin four door JL. So on forties and tons.

Why is it called big twin?

 

So big twin, her VIN number. So the VIN numbers for the twins are one digit off and big twins on tons and forties. And then little twin who’s, she’s, she’s our workhorse of the fleet. She is on 38s and the Rubicon axles. So they kept her as more, that’s the other approachable build for the JL. We really want people to be able to relate to our vehicles because it’s important. And I, you know, we have them out in the community and doing events. Like there was an event last night locally for us that we get to be a part of. And it’s just, you know, meeting up at a barbecue place and hanging out.

It’s all about name recognition. If you can get that name out there on the vehicles and when the people see it and they may, like you did with real truck, they may initially say, hi, Lyft, what’s that? You know, and they see it and then they, maybe they see something else about it. Oh yeah. I remember seeing that.

Exactly.

 

Yes. It’s, and that’s how we do advertising here. It’s all about name recognition, getting your name out in front of people.

You know, Javier, he’s our, you know, head of marketing and design. He did, my rap is the same as the twins. And I’m, I feel so lucky to even have that. And it’s great because now like when we were all going down the road.

It ties it together. That’s a good idea.

It does. And even though I’m not blue, I’m red. Even when we were going down the road, coming home, I mean, I was getting messages from people seeing us and they were like, wow, you guys going down the road look incredible. And you know, we, and it was, and it was nice to hear. It’s very nice to hear. We do try very hard for the customer and the Jeep enthusiasts altogether. So.

So I want you guys to understand something. I’m not just being nice when I go, Oh, that’s nice. That, that recognition that, and people taking the time to post about it or whatever they’re doing.

 

For somebody that’s done a podcast for 14 years, it’s an amazing thing. And this is one of the reasons why I was so excited about people recognizing you at the show as being on the Jeep show, getting people involved in what you’re doing with the show. I mean, yeah. I mean, if they take the time to mention it, I mean, even if it’s a negative thing, it’s a big deal for them to take their personal time and say something or do something. So yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s wonderful that you’re getting that kind of reaction. Thank you.

But I get it because we’re all a team, right? So they’re listening to all of us and we just, like I said, I thank you guys so much for listening because we really appreciate it.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, we’re having fun here. And we hope that you’re having the fun with us. All right. So Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, we’re going to get to the Bob bed here in a second. And it’s not, I want to tell you guys, it’s not the motor built Bob bed that we’re going to be talking about. It is not. That’s probably, would you think that’s probably the most recognized or known to Bob bed solution for the Gladiator?

I would think just, I mean, you know, there’s such a national brand too. So, you know, they, they rolled that out and you know, it’s, it’s, it’s still, it’s a great bed. It’s a great bed, but I mean, I’m going to say what we do is better.

I have to say that. And I think the only other Bob bed I know about is America’s most wanted four by four.

 

So, I mean, if you’re in the company of Moto built and America’s most wanted four by four, you’re in pretty good company there at high lift off road. I want to mention high lift off road.com. I like to try to do that. Even though we’re not actually doing an interview here, we’d like to plug our friends over friends of the show over there at high lift off road.

And we’re available to you guys every day. So whatever you need, we’re here. So actually America’s most wanted with across from me and the Brent Hensley who has their demon gladiator, the Bill Stein demon, as we’ve talked about when I’ve been possessed by that demon a few times. So it was a lot of fun. I got to actually share the booth with him and our two vehicles were together and never in my wildest dreams ever would have thought my vehicle would be next to his and you know, playing in the sandbox and here we are. So AMW was right across the way.

This is a wonderful perk of being associated with high lift off road and having no free time at all, because you have to dedicate it to all this other stuff that you do for high lift.

Very true. I have worked very hard guys. It’s been a labor of love.

Just because you do the work doesn’t mean that the company you’re working for, and this is a sad truth for many companies and people, doesn’t mean you’re going to be recognized or appreciated. And I think this bill recognizes and appreciates you. And I want to be clear too, and you correct me if I’m wrong on this, this isn’t something that you, it’s just a freebie for you. You agreed to it and you’re having to, you’re getting discounts of course, but this is something that you’re paying for.

Yes, I mean there’s relationships, correct. I’ve built some very amazing relationships, like especially right now, like CrawlTech and, CrawlTech was kind enough to share the build yesterday. And that was so, I was amazed by that, like being able to promote them. And now I’m with being the company of Mischief Maker and Holly and she’s something I, someone I’ve idolized since I even knew you could take your Jeep off the pavement.

 

So to be able to even be in the same name with her, I was just, wow, like it just means the world. And, and you know, yes, I have worked very hard. Mike is, he brings out the best in his people, even when you want to cry sometimes, but he knows how to, he knows what you’re capable of. And he really, really wants to see us succeed. So it’s been a great year and a half of working really hard. And now it’s even more. So, cause I’m going to be heading to Detroit for fast next week guys, cause I got to go up there. So come see me.

I’m glad you mentioned that. So Chris from the Jeep talk show is going to be there. And Tom Zielinski offered up a booth in Tom probably doesn’t want me talking about this. So too bad.

Sorry, Tom. I saw you at Smokey two Tom, having a great hug.

Tom of four Fest events, a friend of the show, absolutely a friend of the show. He offered up a booth for G-tops. So you’ve heard us talking about G-tops. It’s so cool. And this is one of the reasons why I was hoping you were going Natalie is because I want you to see those G-tops firsthand. So you can be as impressed with them as I am, but I’m telling you, if you think they suck, we want to hear about it.

I mean, honestly, I’d rather have the positive and negative feedback. So we know what we’re doing.

Yeah, absolutely. Cause I don’t, when I get really excited about something, I’m very positive about it. And I keep talking about the G-tops cause I love mine. I mean, they’re just fantastic.

 

And I didn’t think I was going to be able to get a set anytime soon, but Chris at G-tops sent me a set. They’re completely free to me. I mean, he took care of the whole thing. So, and it’s beyond that, it’s just, I wanted a set, but I wasn’t going to ask Chris for any. I’m not here to get products from the show. And he said, hey, I’m going to send you, he goes, you have the loaners I gave you for the EJS trip. Instead of sending those back, send me your freedom panels. It’s so awesome. And what is it like? You go, no, no, no, yes, no, no, no.

Yes, but no, yes.

(Both Laughing)

It’s so funny. I was literally under the gladiator working on something. I think I was putting on the skid system and our testing or shaking it or something. And whenever he called me, I’m having a phone under the gladiator lay in there. And he’s telling me about this stuff. So anyway, I really love them. And my wife is ecstatic about them. Oh, I love that. How many times can you get something, do something to your Jeep that your wife really enjoys? And does it go,

oh, that’s nice.

Oh, that’s nice. Well, just to have your spouse in general enjoy it because it could be the husband too. Absolutely.

 

And yeah, I mean, just that they agreed for the first time, like that’s really nice.

You don’t have to flip anything back. You just get in. You don’t have to take anything off. You just get in and look up. I mean, it’s fantastic.

It really is cool. You have a great video that you’ve been able to show on the Instagram page, guys, check out the reel. And it’s amazing to see, that was the winner actually of the contest. He and his wife debuted them.

Oh, what a wonderful video.

And that video, it made me excited. Like I felt like I really understood the concept behind G-tops.

Well, the emotion she had was genuine and she was just awestruck. And it’s very much like that. I will tell you this and it pisses me off because I confirmed this with Chris at G-tops. The JK panels are a little bit bigger than the ones with the JL and the JT.

Oh boy. Oh my gosh, and I have a JK?

 

And it all has to do with the way the Freedom Top is designed for the JKs.

Oh my gosh. Why you need to get a top again? So that would be helpful because I really, really, really like it.

Just the idea. It doesn’t matter if it’s snow, ice or anything. I’m sorry, I’m doing a G-tops commercial only because I’m so excited about it. It’s all good. All right. So exploring the Rocky Mountains must visit spots for off-road. So you’re gonna tell me no, but I’m gonna ask anyway, have you been to the Rocky Mountains?

I have. I have, but not with my G.

But not with my G. Well, but you’ve been.

I’ve been to ski.

So 14,000 foot mountain peaks, shimmering untouched alpine lakes. Oh my God, I’m getting excited. Elm, moose, gear,

 

bears, eagles, wolves, rushing rivers. And don’t try to forge those rushing rivers, by the way. No. Steep waterfalls. No one but you and your off-road rig around for miles and miles. That sounds amazing. I’m thinking a special kind of food, especially breakfast food. You know where you’re cooking the bacon and the eggs first thing in the morning and the skillet. Why does it taste different?

It always does. I just try a new bacon. Here’s a plug that everybody knows, but there’s a Kentucky bourbon bacon at your local Kroger’s right now that is amazing. So check it out.

Yeah, advertised with this Kroger’s.

Yes.

 

When it comes to exploring the wilds of America, it doesn’t get any better than the Rocky Mountains, along with stunning views and easily accessible nature. Colorado is packed full of plenty of things to do off the beaten path, including great food, legendary craft beer, and historic frontier towns brimming with attitude. I was gonna say altitude, which would be correct as well. It is correct. Altitude and attitude, I’m into it. Whether you’re a seasoned off-roader or a newbie looking for some fun, these must visit spots are guaranteed to get your adventure pumping. So buckle up, grab your GPS, and let’s hit the trails. Now this is a blog entry at realtruck.com. So if you go to realtruck.com slash blog and just search for exploring Rocky Mountain must visit spots off-road enthusiast. Man, there’s some SEO going on. That title, I can tell.

(Laughing)

Just a little bit. Cause that’s long.

 

(Laughing)

Or you can just go to the show notes for this episode of the Jeep Talk Show, jeeptalktok.com. And just check out the link that we’ll have there in our show notes. So I think that I’ve been to Colorado. I’ve been to Colorado in the gladiator twice now.

Oh, beautiful.

But it was only going through the little tidbit at the end to get to UGS.

Oh yeah, that’s true, yeah.

But I mean, seeing the mountains. And I mean, there’s a lot of stuff to see. Once you, I think, I guess I’ve stopped this use to Texas. So driving through Texas is boring.

 

Getting you to New Mexico gets a little more interesting. And as you get further through New Mexico, going up to Moab, Utah, it starts getting a lot more interesting.

Oh yeah, oh my gosh.

And it is just absolutely gorgeous. I’m so glad, I’ve mentioned this before, I’m so glad I forced my wife to go with me this year because I knew.

Me too.

I knew she was going to be just awestruck with all the rocks and that. It’s just like a different planet. It is, it really is. So it was amazing thing. So if you guys are thinking about going to EJS or just going to Moab, Utah, I think you have to go. I think it’s a must have. Absolutely, yeah, I agree. And I’ve had people ask me what my build is on my gladiator because they don’t know, they don’t know what they need to get out there. But that’s one of the things High Lift Off Road could help them with as well, right?

It is, and also if you guys can’t make EJS, we are, I mean, I’m just gonna go ahead and say it, but we are gonna be doing our own Moab High Lift Expedition

 

starting on May 4th of 2025. Departure Day is May 4th, 2025. And it is gonna be geared towards the 37s, 38s, 40s, but we really wanted to make it to where you’ve never, if you’ve never been out there before, we wanna get you there, so.

Very cool, and this would be something similar to what you were talking about, the San Hollow trip.

Yes, yes, yes. And this is what made me fall in love actually with wheeling and honestly with high lift. I went on one of their trips, I invited myself actually. So, and Mike said, “Well, if you fly out,” he goes, “I’m gonna put you to work, but you gotta get yourself out here.” And I was like, “You know what? You only live once.” And my cats were fine at home alone. So I was like, “I’m going,” and now here we are. And I’m in the polo now, so something worked out.

Sadly those cats passed, but you got new cats now, right?

I do, yes.

(Laughs)

People are going, “Oh!”

My dumpster angels.

 

(Both Laugh)

The cats are fine. The cats are good guys. Probably the cats weren’t just fine.

 

(Both Laugh)

 

Gladiator.

 

My name is Gladiator.

 

Gladiators. Are you not entertained?

 

Are you not entertained? I can’t believe you’re here. Is this not why you were here?

 

It’s funny. Anyway, I just mentioned really quick, I’ve gone through a lot of stuff here over the last 24 hours getting all this stuff running again because we were getting popping noises in the audio.

 

And so I think I’ve fixed all that now, but some of the, there’s a few loose ends I’ve got to tidy up. And one of the things is getting it where the host can hear these intros. All right, so this week, we are not gonna be talking about the 2021 Jeep Talk Show Gladiator, but we are gonna be talking about gladiators. And we’ve teased it about the bobbed bed. We have? No, the Jeep Talk Show Gladiator is not getting a bobbed bed, but it would be– You never know, Tony. It’d be really cool. Although my wife, I told you, Natalie, my wife said when I could put the Jeep Talk Show stickers on the side of the Gladiator shortly after getting it, she says, because I was telling her I was gonna go over to Underground Graphics and get those things put on, and she goes, oh, and I went, what’s the matter? She goes, I was just hoping we could keep it nice for a little while longer.

Oh, gosh, I mean, I get it.

 

So the bobbed bed, it would be like, why? You can’t carry anything in that trunk, I mean, in that bed now. I was like, well, it never was gonna happen anyway.

 

Anyway, tell us about, I just found out about this today. So Hi-Lift Off-Road has a bobbed bed solution that you guys actually premiered out at Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, is that true?

We did, yeah. Like I said, we did have our Gladiator, the Hi-Lift Off-Road Gladiator in the rigid booth, and we were able to debut the new, our solution, and which is, I think, revolutionizing the bobbed game, because we do everything in-house. And Matt Moss, our lead mechanic, and also, he’s my trail buddy, jeeping with Matt and Matt, as we call it. He has been working on this for quite some time, and now we have perfected it. And we actually, we take your bed, it is not replaced, it is your bed that we cut 10 inches off of, and then reapply everything. And also, with our price, it’s actually $8,500, so $8,500 is the starting, and we do actually keep it right at that pretty much, and barring any other things that might need to be done. But that also includes the bed liner, the paint, everything. So– So it’s a turnaround thing.

You take it in there, it gets bobbed, painted, it’s ready to go, there shouldn’t be anything you have to do, other than appreciate all the comments and the looks that you get.

Yeah, exactly. And the best part is, we keep it as OEM as possible, because that’s always the goal, right? Is to keep things as OEM as possible, so it looks still like, because it’s still the factory bed, we just take 10 inches off it, and then reapply.

That’s one of the reasons why I like the G-tops that we were talking about earlier, because it looks like factory plus, and that’s one of the

reasons why– Factory plus, that’s a good way to put it, yes.

And that’s one of the reasons why I love Greg Henderson’s stuff so build. I mean, his build so much, is because it’s like factory plus, it’s OEM plus. And it’s just like, you look at it, it looks like factory, and you wonder why the hell you’ve never seen it before, and then you do a little research, and you find out the factory didn’t make it.

Right, exactly.

I love those kind of builds.

Yes, and so, and also the way Matt, with how he does it, it is considered more of a frame chop, so you’re not, other companies are doing where they will re-weld, there’s more welding going on, where we don’t have to do that. So you stay intact, you keep the strength, the OEM strength, which is still extremely strong, and so you really do keep it as factory as possible, and you still get that epic look that it creates. I did send Tony, I sent you some photos, so you might put them on the screen as we’re talking here, but you guys will see the bobbed that we created, and there goes Action Sports, who I’ve talked about before, they have the Hellcat from America’s Most Wanted, and now they bobbed their bed, they bobbed it last year, we were one of the first for us to do, and it’s been incredible to watch them wheel this, I’ve watched them wheel it in Moab and in San Hollow, and locally here in Kentucky and Cincinnati, and the approach angle totally changed for the better, for the better, so it really does help you.

Well, it has to, because it sucks.

Yes, and I mean, cutting 10 inches off, that’s kind of a lot, but you still have so much bed space,

 

and you are still able to utilize that bed if you need it, so not just as an off-road vehicle, but as your everyday, as your everyday.

 

And who was it that you said’s doing the bobbed beds?

 

It’s Matt Moss, Matt Moss with Highland Off-Road.

Yeah, so is Matt, did he have a current or a prior business doing circumcisions? Because this seems to be

a– He might, he might if he doesn’t told me about it,

so– And do me a favor, I’ve always wondered about this, ask him if he works your tips.

 

I will, I will Tony, oh, you’re so bad. You know, I’ve watched Matt, his precision, his hand is so steady, and I watched him, just installing the bumpers on my Jeep, I watched him cut that with the horns and everything. His lines are just so perfect, and he just has, it takes a special person to have, first of all, the confidence to plasma cut into something,

 

but do it right, and it’s just, and he’s an artist, I really do believe that. Doing this line of work, you are an engineer,

 

and it is fascinating to watch, and this is, once again, Mike Bailey empowering his people, so here we are, and I can’t wait for you guys to see the bobbeds that are gonna be coming out.

I forgot, you’re not at your regular place today, so you’re not seeing the show notes, I just pasted the images that you sent me in our show notes.

Oh, great.

JeepTalkShow.com to see the show notes, but I have a question for you. This is a really cool looking build, I only see, the only real big problem I see with it, it’s blue and not red.

It is blue.

(Laughs)

But, so is it mandatory to have the tailgate on the bobbed, say high lift, or is that?

I mean, we would love it if you guys would. I mean, our logo’s pretty amazing.

What kind of discount are we talking about for free advertising?

I mean, maybe just like 500, Mike, don’t kill me on that.

Oh, wow, you heard it right here.

I don’t know, I’m just assuming. I mean, if someone really wanted to do it, I’m all for it and I will help. I will help you with that.

I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, but you’ll have Natalie’s support, not financial support.

No, definitely not.

I’m wrapped up right now, guys. So let me ask you, what size tires is this on the, this bobbed that we have in our show notes?

Yeah, so it is running the 42 Maxxis Trepidors.

Dammit, no wonder it looks so damn good.

I know, and it really is beautiful, but it is running also the Nemesis Highline Fender,

 

and Interfenders as well. That’s something new. We redid them for Smoky Mountain to debut that with the black Interfender, and the clearance you get. So if you guys check out the Hi-Lo page, also my pages as well, you’ll see the clearance I’m getting with the same fenders.

 

And I still had more room to go, and that was our first flex on it. We used our biggest flex ramp that we had for me, and we just thought, well, we’ll just give this a run. And those fenders, I’m able, I mean, I cannot believe what I was doing,

 

just with my three and a half kit. So fenders really do change the game, and Nemesis, I can’t, they are just incredible.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we may have to talk about those. I wanna see what the tire coverage availability is on it, because I mean, this isn’t, obviously these 42s, it’s not gonna cover the tires, but, and I like the look. It’s just a pain in the ass whenever you’re shooting rooster tails out the front of your Jeep.

It is, you know, it is.

 

But man, like you said, the look, I can’t wait till you guys see it, the look really, and they wheel so well, and those things heat up.

More than just a look, this means you’re not rubbing things, you’re getting the tires on things, and that’s what you want on things when you’re off-road, not the Jeep. So, yeah, so this is really, really, really cool.

Tony, I’ll make sure to send you a side-by-side comparison. I’ll get a photo like that so we can show everybody, because it really is a massive difference when you do, that 10 inches really does make a difference. So it always does, right? That’s what I’m asking, Tony. Yeah, so I’m really excited about it, and I’m so proud of Matt and everything that he’s worked on with Mike to develop this program.

 

We look forward to keeping it affordable, that’s always our goal too. For all the work and the labor and everything to be 8,500, I think starting out, and it really doesn’t go more than that. There’s a couple of stipulations there.

Yeah, I think motor belts is like five grand somewhere around there, but it’s not painted.

It’s not painted, and it’s not your tailgate. Yeah, it’s not your OEM bed. So to keep it like that is just, I’m just so impressed. Very proud.

It really just depends on which way you wanna go. I mean, I think the motor belt stuff is wonderful. I love motor belt, and I like the Bob bed. Am I gonna buy one? No, because where am I gonna get it painted? It’s probably gonna cost me a couple of thousand dollars just to get it painted properly. I mean, painted well to match the color.

Right, and we do have a great paint team that we’ve partnered with locally in Cincinnati.

Well, this is a thing that I was really surprised about with HiLift. You guys are really, I mean, I didn’t know that you guys actually ship people’s vehicles to your facility, modify them, and then ship them back. Or probably they’re standing there with their hands on the glass, open, open, open, because they wanna take the baby home.

Yes, exactly. You know, like we have customers in New Hampshire, we have customers out in Colorado, Texas. I mean, we are very, we love being able to help everyone. So people on some of us.

You guys do motor swaps too, don’t you?

Oh yeah, we definitely do the engine swaps. We are America’s most wanted, certified and trained, and another Mat Moth special. So he’s a big nada, you’re keeping me way too busy at this point.

Okay, so let me ask you this. You had a TJ before you got involved with HiLift. I think you were like 16, so this is five years ago. And you sold the TJ, but being around an environment like at HiLift off-road, all these modifications that you see are not necessarily easy, but it’s made to look easy. Does that, did that all strike you with awe as being, wow, I had a TJ, and look at what they’re doing with these. I mean, this is big deal stuff. This is big.

It really is. And you know, the stuff we do with TJs, I mean, the frame restorations, and you know, if I would have known what I know now, I would not have traded it in. But I do love my Fortor JKU, I’m very proud of it.

Well, there’s nothing to keep you from having two Jeeps, right?

I know, right? I didn’t know what I know now.

But you have to be awestruck. It’s seeing what’s accomplished at HiLift.

Well, and that’s why I work so hard too, because honestly, I’m so excited about it.

Well, you won’t let everybody else know, because you want them to know what you do.

I do, you know, I do. And I appreciate you guys letting me be so excited. That’s what we call my, I’m the bucket of joy overflowing, but I really am excited about what we do. And I just want to share it with everybody because it really is so innovative. And, you know, why not us? So why not be, you know, I love the big industry names too, like Moda Build’s fantastic, but you know who’s working on your vehicle when it’s with us and you become part of the family. And that’s something I’ve always, I’m Italian, we’re all about the family, right? So I just, that’s what’s really drawn me in as well. We’re all a family.

 

From the mind of Nicky G.

 

(Crowd Cheering)

 

Hey, this is Nicky G. And last week, Tony, you talked about the exhaust manifold on the XJ. And as you know, I have two XJs. So I always have one on stock. Whenever I take off the manifold or ever near that, I would just go ahead and replace it. Cause if it’s not leaking today, it will tomorrow. Yes. This is the baffle you were talking about. Yes, recording. I didn’t think it was for expansion. I always thought it was for heat dissipation.

 

So who knows? Maybe the professor will know.

 

Well, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling to ask, do you know why bears have such hairy coats?

 

Fur protection. That was horrible. See if we can do another one. You know why cannibals like to eat tightrope walkers? Yeah, they prefer a well-balanced meal.

 

All right, boys and girls, I’ll catch you later. You have a good one. Bye.

(Upbeat Music)

Oh, I’m just sorry.

Oh, Nicky, I love it.

 

You know, if they were really, really good jokes, we wouldn’t be able to afford him. So this is, it works out for everybody.

They’re my favorite. It’s my favorite time of the day. So thank you, Nicky G.

It’s so

funny. I often, and I don’t know if Nicky G knows this or not, but I’ll comment about, did you know about Nicky G?

 

Especially like if I’ve got a new guest host. It’s like, do you know about Nicky G? Well, you’re getting ready to, because I think it’s great. I think he’s been calling in for 11 or 12 years.

Oh my gosh, really?

Weekly. Yeah, and then just recently we started doing the video stuff that you can, so you guys can actually see his jokes on the screen there if you’re watching us on YouTube. All right, let’s talk about our next interview in our Friday interview episode, which is tomorrow, by tomorrow, is tomorrow, Robbie Bryant of OverlandOfAmerica.com. I don’t know if you guys get involved with expos and stuff. I mean, obviously you went to Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, but you guys,

 

I don’t, you know, check it out. This is his first one, but he’s been involved in the off-road industry for a number of years. It was a really interesting interview for me, and I think that means it’s gonna be an interesting interview for you guys. And OverlandOfAmerica is just the latest thing that he’s being involved in. And High Lift Off-Road might, I mean, you know, you guys are always reaching out to folks, and this might be a good group to be with. Perfect, thank you. Can’t wait to listen. All right, and our must-have stuff for your Jeep. This is something I was not aware of. I mean, I know that DJI makes cameras. I’ve got a camera on my DJI drone that is just frickin’ amazing. I know that some of the other cameras, I’ve seen YouTube videos and stuff with the quality of the images and stuff.

Well, they make– I use their gimbal. That’s what we use at High Lift Off-Road.

Yeah, it makes a big difference in making those– It’s amazing. Stabilizing those images, yeah.

It is, and I mean, the app that’s on the iPhone that I have for the iPhone that I use, I mean, the quality of those pictures.

It’s just incredible, it’s incredible. It’s like your cell phone. The quality of the images are like cell phone images, and that always kinda sucks when you spend three, five, $600 or something, and your cell phone takes better pictures.

 

Yes.

(Laughs)

I mean, it’s great, but I mean, it’s a sad. You know that level of technology exists. Anyway, the DJI Osmo Action 4 standard combo, and this might be an older one, I don’t know. I just found out about these things. Waterproof Action Camera, 4K, 120 frames per second, and I would say that this is quite easily a GoPro replacement.

 

It could be. Yeah, and it’s in the similar shape of a GoPro, and I’m sure they have mounts and stuff that you can put on your Jeep, or mount to your dash, and so on and so forth. So if you are a Jeep influencer, or maybe you need something for your Action Only fans account.

Oh boy.

(Laughs)

Well, wrap this thing in a nice condom first though. Tony. Keep it nice and clean that way. Well, you don’t wanna spend time cleaning the thing up, right?

Tony!

 

(Laughs)

 

Wow.

 

So anyway, this is a really cool, and actually a lot less than what you’ll probably spend on Only fans, dual touch screens for travel sports, $269,

 

and we have a link to Amazon for this. This might be a great thing for you to do, and actually it’s pretty damn cheap compared to some of the GoPros.

It gets you in the game. I’m all about getting in the game, and then you can figure out what works for you, and this seems to be something that can get you in the game of recording, and being able to do all that for yourself. So it looks amazing.

Yeah, I don’t have a picture of the touchscreen here, when I was watching a video about it the other day. And the touchscreen looks amazing too. So you need to be able to see what you’re doing, and that’s one of the problems I have with the older GoPros.

 

So you were waiting for another joke about the Only fans, weren’t you?

I wasn’t sure, but in the trains going by right now, so either I have cats interrupting, and now it’s a train today, because I’m in the city, so sorry everybody.

All part of the show, as long as there’s no– It is, we’re here. As long as there’s no crying, because there’s no crying in podcasting.

There is no crying in podcasts.

All right, so it’s always a little sad when we hit the end of the trail, just like the end of the show, but there’s always another trail show just down the road. Can I say a show ride? No, I’m sorry, that would go back to Only fans.

 

Jeep Talk Show has five episodes a week, Monday through Friday, and a big thank you to Natalie for making that Monday show, the Chick Chat episode, if you guys aren’t aware, that’s our Monday episodes.

 

And if you subscribe, you’ll never miss an episode. And speaking of subscribing, consider keeping the Jeep Talk Show on the air, or in the air, or how I don’t know how it works, by subscribing to us via Patreon, the place to go for all the information on how to subscribe and how to contact us is at jeeptalkshow.com slash contact. And hey, if you wanna contact Natalie

 

about a high lift thing, and you can’t type in highliftoffroad.com, just go over to jeeptalkshow.com slash contact, I’ll make sure she gets the message. Absolutely. All right, Natalie, thanks again for being here, and have a great day. We’ll see you again really soon. Actually, we’ll see you on Monday.

See you on Monday, it’s gonna be a great episode, a little teaser, we’re gonna talk about cleaning your trail rig.

Very cool. Oh, so you mentioned Miss Shiftmaker earlier. I did, she’s so amazing. So on the guys of keeping your job, did you talk to her about doing an interview on…

You know, I actually was, I did not, because I was nervous to talk to her. And I’m sorry if she’s even listening and hearing me say that, because she’s so comfortable.

This was an opportunity. You gotta take these opportunities.

 

My mom here told me never to do that again. He’s like, Natalie, that was your opportunity, and I shouldn’t have gotten to be an introvert. But I just think she’s just such an amazing, amazing person. And I hope one day, I would be honored to interview her one day. I look up to her very much.

We’ll get her on there.

I should not have been nervous because that’s not her. She is just so approachable and just so warm. And I should not have been nervous, but I was, so.

 

All right, guys, have a great day.

 

Broadcasting Sense 2010.

 

You’re my friend, you’re my new friend.