Jeep News & Rumors
•Jeep now has a dedicated customer service phone number: 877/IAM-JEEP (877/426-5337).
•Will the soft-top Wrangler get killed off in California when the new '12-model-year reflective-window regulations go into effect? (The law is being enacted to keep the interior cool and reduce A/C use. It's a global-warming thing, if you're a believer.)
•We can answer that: No. Chrysler panicked and pleaded with the California Air Resources Board to exclude the Wrangler because what was being required wouldn't work on flexible plastic windows. CARB agreed.
•FLO TV-not a creepy medical show coming to NBC next season. It's a new mobile TV option for Chrysler vehicles. It's for those of you who can't live for five minutes without television.
•The Center for Auto Safety has sent a petition to NHTSA to investigate a possible defect and also recall all '93-'04 Jeep Grand Cherokees because of the fuel tank being behind the rear axle, saying there is nothing to protect it in the event of a direct hit in a rollover or from a low-profile vehicle. CAS wrote in the petition that a search of NHTSA's files revealed that from 1992 to 1998 there were 172 fatal fire crashes with 254 fatalities.
•The winner of Quaker State's World's Worst Commute contest was Kimberly Hanson from Salt Springs, Florida, as selected by NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Kimberly pilots her Jeep on a 7-mile washboard road-and it often gets stuck in mud-then rides a tugboat ferry, then drives another 11 country miles. As winner, she'll ride shotgun on Jimmie's ride to work.
•A parts shortage idled the Toledo Supplier Park plant that makes the Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited.
•Looking for Mopar parts? The Mopar eStore (mopar.com) will ship to anywhere in the U.S.
Industry News
•The "unbundling" of Dodge has begun: Look for the separate Dodge Ram brand and Dodge Car brand.
•And on the topic of Dodge Ram, the '10 2500 and 3500 HDs will start at $28,165 for regular cab, $31,415 for crew cab, and $36,865 for Mega Cab.
•We're going for an all-Dodge Industry News this month: Will the Dodge brand disappear from Europe?
•You can now order custom hi-po ignition wires from ACCEL through its new site, accel-ignition.com/wiresdirect.
•BFGoodrich donated $5 to the BlueRibbon Coalition for every tire sold in its new sizes of Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 between August and December 2009.
Things to Do With Your Jeep
Throughout February and March there are tons of training opportunities from Badlands Off-Road Adventures, such as beginning off-road skills, winching, sand driving, and trail leader school. Visit 4x4training.com
March 5-7, Tierra Del Sol 48th Annual Desert Safari hosted by Tierra Del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club of San Diego, Truckhaven Hills in Ocotillo Wells SVRA park, tds4x4.com
March 5-7, Superlift ORV Park Manager's Special Run, Superlift ORV Park, Hot Springs, AR, orvpark.com
March 19-21, National JK Jamboree hosted by TexasJK.com, Superlift ORV Park, Hot Springs, AR, orvpark.com
March 19-22, Death Valley Adventure hosted by Badlands Off-Road Adventures, Death Valley and Saline Valley, CA, 4x4training.com
March 25-27, North Rim Grand Canyon Parashant Adventure hosted by Badlands Off-Road Adventures, near St. George, UT, 4x4training.com
March 29-April 2, Easter Safari for First Timers, hosted by Badlands Off-Road Adventures, Moab, UT, 4x4training.com
Auto Graphs
•According to thehill.com, the Pentagon is paying an average of $400 per gallon of fuel for combat vehicles and aircraft in Afghanistan. That's due to a lack of seaports and good roads, so commercial trucks have to transport the fuel and sometimes even change carriers midway. Then it's transferred to storage spots in Afghanistan. And for remote locales, it may need to then be transported by air; bladders in helicopters is a very expensive solution.