[SPEAKER_01]: Now this is an exciting moment because case of what are we up to?
[SPEAKER_01]: We're starting an off-road podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is something that you notice.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not really much of any off-road podcasts out there on the air and off-roading is something that we love doing here at DFL and living in Colorado.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we figured why not talk about it?
[SPEAKER_00]: So you guys are part of our pilot program.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you like this podcast, please leave us a rating.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please leave us a comment if you want to see more of these.
[SPEAKER_00]: But basically how this is going to work is my idea is, every other week, we take an off-road vehicle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes extreme, sometimes for the mild, we run them through our off-road test course here, live on the podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we go back to the studio and talk about all of the things that you want to hear.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be talking about modifications, things in the Afro community, a case of garage segments where we talk about some of the projects that we got going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's going to be kind of a fun little thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you guys are interested, drop us a comment.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you hate it, drop us a comment and we'll never do it again.
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's give it a go.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're starting off pretty strong talking about this Bronco, which is arguably...
[SPEAKER_01]: the best Bronco that you could get out there, especially because these are all at this point used, which means they should be a little bit less expensive.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I want to kind of discuss the pros and the cons of Ford Bronco ownership, what they're like off-road, and then talk about this trimming specific a little bit later, which is the Everglades version of the Bronco, but case of Bronco has been out now for
[SPEAKER_00]: five, six years depending on when some customers got their first ones.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think of the Bronco as a platform in general?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we've spent quite a bit of time with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a Bronco right when they first were reintroduced onto the market.
[SPEAKER_01]: Several years ago, we held on to that Bronco for at least two years.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we really did a lot with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is now the second Bronco.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've actually owned
[SPEAKER_01]: They are right up there at the tip top of factory rock crawling 4x4s you can buy turn key ready to go hands down.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's essentially this.
[SPEAKER_01]: and a Wrangler are at the very pinnacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's so funny for 25 years, Jeep kind of owned the off-road, specifically the crawling space, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I know there were four owners and other kind of four-wheel drive vehicles, but if you wanted the ultimate in terms of capability about a Wrangler from the mid-90s through 2020, and you can tell what Ford did is they basically,
[SPEAKER_00]: went with the regular platform and then they just kind of like one up them and pretty much every category.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, oh you are for this power, we're going to one up you.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're this size we're going to make it just a little bit bigger.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the result is a vehicle that I think takes a lot of the goodness that the Jeep fans have loved over the years and improved the product.
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, we're specifically talking about rock crawling.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of other types of
[SPEAKER_01]: sand dunes, things like that, but I would argue that those are maybe more specialized types of off-roading.
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of the off-roading that most people go out and do my experience anyway, is rock crawling.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if we're talking about all that capability, we're talking about rock crawling, capability specifically.
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, the Bronco took basically everything that you can
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's definitely, there's a few fundamental differences between the Bronco and a Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the primary differences is the front suspension.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, this is what the G people keep returning to time and time again is, of course, the Bronco uses an independent front suspension instead of a solid axle.
[SPEAKER_00]: So instead of having a beam underneath the front end that links both front wheels together, you've got a set of control arms.
[SPEAKER_00]: and the left and the right side aren't connected by any means.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what the hardcore arforode rock crawling guys will tell you, well, limited sea potential wheel travel also limits a potential modifiability of the rock or platforming.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what do you think of those those discussions?
[SPEAKER_01]: Ultimately, there are independent suspension designs that can flex articulate really well that have a lot of wheel travel.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not impossible to design an independent suspension that articulate to really well does it articulate as well as a solid axle is it as easy to do suspension modifications, all these things, that's maybe another topic, but out of the box, they can be really good.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we'll test momentarily how this one in particular flexes in our tickets because we can look at that in real time.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it does certainly make this Bronco more refined on the street where even the hardest core off rotors are still probably driving a majority of the time as compared to the solid front axle on a Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think like,
[SPEAKER_00]: In my opinion what shut up a lot of the solid axle guys is like four years all of the most hard core buggies were all solid axle right and then with the emergence of side-by-side and then especially with the explosion of king of the hammers in the last couple of years which is kind of the pinnacle of the offered space in terms of torture testing and
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you know what but but but but this lot actually needs to realize and what a lot people have is like some of those rock buggy some of those bashers and especially all those super capable side by sides they're all independent suspension everywhere and granted it's long arm stuff which gives you huge amounts of wheel travel up and down but it is proof that like well the technology is there it's capable you know and maybe it'll start trickling down in the consumer products as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's a big difference between the penance suspension that you get on on a pilot.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the independent suspension that you have even on this Bronco or on a specific purpose built tube chassis off-road or something absolutely insane.
[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't mean that there isn't a place or a use case for solid axles.
[SPEAKER_01]: They still are very dependable.
[SPEAKER_01]: perform really well.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're trying to also balance driving on the street, you could definitely make an argument for the independent front suspension on this Bronco.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another interesting point of comparison with this is this is a very wide vehicle yeah for sure and I think that this is something that's for absolutely nailed I mean if you look at the form factor two um you know jeeps of a really narrow engine bay and and they've got these fenders that are are very separate from the actual body and wide of the vehicle forward
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, kind of with that retro throwback design as well has extended the fender as all the way to the wheels and then just see small flares.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the result of this is that on the inside, it's particularly better for road tripping because you're not nearly as tight and close to the person next to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that once again, it does limit where this thing can go when you're in tight areas with a lot of trees, but as a livable daily driving vehicle, it's a big improvement.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is, and the outermost points on this Bronco and the majority of Bronco's actually going to take off road.
[SPEAKER_01]: They aren't painted surfaces.
[SPEAKER_01]: You've got matte fenders that are a little better equipped to handle some scuffs here and there.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, still majority of trails, you can squeeze this through, and it's not a huge problem, but I would actually argue that either something like this Everglades
[SPEAKER_01]: for most people most places is going to be the better off-roader than even a Bronco Raptor with how wide that is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Definitely.
[SPEAKER_01]: In a lot of parts of the country, parts of the country that have trees, it's too wide.
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even this, I think, is pushing it in some cases.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it does, it does a really good job of making the vehicle very stable as well, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's true.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you're out on the trail running up some, some, some tilted obstacles or articulated sections of vehicle fields very planted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can side hill, no problem, you can get pitched and rock back and forth a little bit, really not a big issue.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then, of course, another huge advantage of this Bronco over a lot of other 4x4s, but one area where it's similar to a Jeep Wrangler, is removable top.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for sure, right, and I think, you know, another thing that Ford has done really well is, instead of just having this monstrously heavy rear panel,
[SPEAKER_00]: with the rear passenger cover and then the two-freedom panels that Wrangler does.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's actually a lot more modularity in this so you can break it up into smaller bites.
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes it a lot easier to manage.
[SPEAKER_00]: This one is the Everglades, which we'll talk about here in a sec.
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe this one is less easy to go convertibleing than your typical option.
[SPEAKER_00]: But one thing that I think forward should look into, and I don't think they really have, Jeep has the one-touch power top, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: as lazy as it sounds.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's nice just being anywhere at any time with any number of people and things in the trunk and pushing that button.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to use them more often if it's that much easier to use.
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is really cool too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that Ford pioneered with, you know, they call, we've got a nail in that tire.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Ford pioneered the Sasquatch package.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, can you kind of explain what that was or is?
[SPEAKER_01]: What's cool about the Sasquatch package is it kind of shook things up a little bit because for a long time with the Jeep Wrangler, if you wanted all of the all-out capability, if you wanted to have lockers, have a disconnecting sway bar, have bigger, more aggressive tires, you had to go for a Rubicon, and Rubicon's came with a lot of other things, like nicer seats and more, electronics and maybe a better set of headlights, although not necessarily.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you were buying a much more expensive model just to get the off-road features.
[SPEAKER_01]: The cool thing about the Sasquatch package on the Bronco is the way that Ford shook it up was to offer that package even on some very base-level Broncos.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you wanted off-road capability, you could spec off-road capability,
[SPEAKER_01]: and nothing else if you so chose.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which is such a good idea, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then like 35s out of the box, like you said, you know, you got the front of your locking desk, and it turns what would essentially be in some cases, like you're mentioning a rental car spec.
[SPEAKER_00]: Barbie Bronco, and it's something that you could do pretty much any trail realistically you'd ever want to do, straight out of the box.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was a really great pioneering feature, and then of course you know like they put a huge trunk in it, so it's really easy to carry a lot of things.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that forward is done a really good job of benchmarking Jeep and then improving a lot of things, but let's talk about some of the downsides of the Bronco, and we're actually going to do that drive-in-through.
[SPEAKER_00]: or off-road course here.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so let's build up in the seats and get it moving.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you like this interior case?
[SPEAKER_01]: I do, yeah, I wouldn't say it's maybe, I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than the Jeep interior.
[SPEAKER_01]: I still like the Wrangler interior a lot, love the way it looks.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the Bronco does a good job.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's comfortable enough.
[SPEAKER_01]: All of these vehicles are very compromised when it comes to on-road comfort and driveability.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're talking about this independent front suspension, maybe, well, almost certainly being better than a solid axle.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
[SPEAKER_01]: but that doesn't mean that this drives the same as other vehicles that are designed specifically to be road-going cars.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a pilot like you said earlier, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It still is very tall on his pretty high-center gravity, but with another cool thing that, you know, Ford's done here is they've given us a lot of options in terms of Ford- drive systems, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jeep forever, you had a manual, manual, suitable for real drive, we had two-hine, four-high.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then they choose rock track on a very limited number of trims.
[SPEAKER_00]: But on four it's really easy to get too high and a four auto setting.
[SPEAKER_00]: which is huge for, for like us in Colorado, in the winter time, you just leave it in Toronto and there were guards of whether it snows a range, you never have to actually think about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which sounds like a dumb thing, but like, the number of times in the winter, we're like, it's wet, but is it wet enough to the foil drive?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, but it's drying out in places and then you hit a patch of ice.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just being able to stick it in the auto setting and then forget about it, it's really really nice.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's really nice, and then the other thing that four did incredibly well is the locker engagement, which we can look at too.
[SPEAKER_01]: One thing this Everglades in particular is missing is a disconnecting front sway bar.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so the articulation we're about to demonstrate on the front end of this Bronco is not going to be as good as a Sasquatch Package Bronco with the sway bar disconnect.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is our trenches course, and basically we dug out these pits in the earth,
[SPEAKER_00]: to test stuff like fluidized systems and articulation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now I'm just running it in four-wheel drive auto, high-range, and we're going to see if it can do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're picking up two wheels.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and some people might be saying, Tommy, why aren't you using some momentum to get up this hill?
[SPEAKER_01]: When we're doing testing like this, it's actually our explicit goal, not to use momentum, to make this test as challenging as it can be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, and we'll try it again with lockers here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you can see even in the four-auto setting,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the traction control they're able to figure it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're right, though, in that it would be cool if this did have that disconnect because it does seem to make a really big difference when you say it's a whole.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, definitely Broncos that have the front sway bar disconnect articulate noticeably better than ones without.
[SPEAKER_01]: You could turn to the aftermarket, you could do a manual disconnect, but
[SPEAKER_01]: the ease of the factory sway bar disconnect, you just can't compete with.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll stick it in a low range here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you like the buttons or do you prefer the lower?
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'm not that particular to be honest.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't care.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't tire manhood to the.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, all right.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's other things to base your personality on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we also have these goat mows, which test for goats over any terrain, and you can see,
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got, you know, eco, we got sport, we got slippery, we got mud ruts, sand, and rock crawl.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll probably go to mud ruts, it's kind of where we're at right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now when you, I think about these Moses are very particular, so like mud ruts to exit foreloast shift to end, be like, well, what if I want to stay in foreloat when it mud ruts?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then if I go to rock crawl that, well that'll let me use foreloat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also automatically kicks on your rear locker, which maybe you don't want if you're gonna go through a lot of tight turns Yeah, so I kind of just like leave it a normal mode and then lock it on lock But I do want to show this because case you mentioned this earlier The engagement for the locking diffs on the Bronco is the best in the industry.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it really is
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the moment you hit that switch, it works.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to articulate here, so that's clear, articulated, all right, we're slipping, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, but watch this, switch.
[SPEAKER_00]: go yeah and what's funny is like I've talked about this before in the channel and people are like well let's just fake right the light comes on but the lock is not actually on no I know it's on like bad locker is on and saving with the front end switch on now we're fully locked up because if you're and if you're paying attention you you can see that in the footage the moment you hit that switch and went to the throttle yeah
[SPEAKER_01]: The locker was working, there was no more spin on the rear end, so yeah, no, it really does work that well.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's pretty impressive, especially when you look at some other manufacturer's lockers, things like any else the grenadier of those lockers.
[SPEAKER_01]: take some trial and error.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, yeah, and look, if you guys like this podcast format, we'll try to do a whole bunch of videos and we'll talk about little things like this because I'd love to get a Tacoma out here, like a 3D Pro, and then you can see what the frustration is like with some of the toilet lockers, where it's just like mind numbing and how long it takes for the lock-up.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, now we're going down our boulder boulevard here, which is kind of a little rock crawling section we built.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is more of a crossover, so nothing here is going to even remotely test the ground clearance of this brocco, because you've got something like 10 or 11 inches.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely tons of clearance.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we can go ahead and talk about one of the perks with this being in Everglades, is that we've got some good underbody protection.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have sliders.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everglades is obviously Florida, so we've also got a snorkel, even though there's no water almost anywhere in Colorado, so
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure, or the raised intake is manufacturers like to call them.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure that's going to do us a ton of good here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just had a really fun conversation.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're cool thing to do in this podcast to interview engineers with the head of the Ford Offroad Program.
[SPEAKER_00]: We were talking about waterboarding and so much engineering now, especially with the modern day models.
[SPEAKER_00]: right can be done in the computer and like well you can probably just do water death in the computer right he's like water death is one of the hardest things to account for in a computer because water goes everywhere right and especially when you factor in air in lits cooling fans right it's really hard to actually rate a vehicle for water for it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And until you see how everything actually fits together, maybe what kind of gaps you might be dealing with, yeah, I could see that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of manufacturers don't seem to try and push the water forwarding too far, because ultimately, if you're drowning your fuse box, are they going to guarantee?
[SPEAKER_00]: that's going to be sealed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And one of the things with the Everglades is the reason I love it is because it's very purposeful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's pretty stripped down in here, plastic floors, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The standard audio system, but then you get the lockers, you get the great tires, you get the cool wheels and the snorkel, and also get the integrated.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to put air quotes around integrate it because it's a plaster of the front of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: You get a winch, which is great.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a great thing to have from the factory.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not really built into the front of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it is kind of copy and paste it on of the front bumper, great.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because of that, you also get the small engine.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is a 2.3 liter for a cylinder.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've had many debates and comment sections and forums about people saying you're wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: I talked to the Heddy Offer Program for 40, said the reason this had the forceholder is a weight thing when you account for the weight difference between the 4 and the 6 plus the winch, it would be heavy with the V6.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you guys are going to say I'm wrong and there's a million reasons why that's what the head of the Offer at Engineering Program told me before, so that seems like a pretty credible source.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, three-engine options available in the Ford lineup, right, you get the two-three.
[SPEAKER_01]: You get the 2-7, right, or if you get a Raptor of the 3-liter, but again, there's trade-offs with the Raptor not only in price, but the size and the form factor is different.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've actually learned to the interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: The actual engine block and the bottom end is exactly the same from the 2-7 to the 3-0.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's all in the, I think it's, I think he said it was bore, is a difference.
[SPEAKER_00]: or maybe the stroke between the two seven and the three oh but are you like really picky about the engine and the same like if if you're a shop in between two one had the V6 one of the four cylinders that could be a deal breaker for the four cylinder in a Jeep Wrangler between a pentastar and a 392 I am very particular.
[SPEAKER_01]: between a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder, I like the two-seven better, but this two-three, believe it or not.
[SPEAKER_01]: has really no problem motivating this Bronco, this Bronco as a rock crawler, especially, it doesn't need to be any faster than what this one is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I actually think even with the 35, like it's not blisterly quick, but when you made it to the 10 speed, which is just so many ratios for the engine to kind of work with, I think it's plenty plenty plenty.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's what?
[SPEAKER_01]: It's around 300 horsepower.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you got it right, it's how much do you need?
[SPEAKER_01]: I like your point, it's a bit of a hot take for most people,
[SPEAKER_01]: True actually with rock crawlers can it go 80 miles an hour?
[SPEAKER_00]: then it's fast enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, can go up a hill, you're probably good.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this is where I think as we finish this up, we're gonna have a little bit of a disagreement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I think this is a fantastic vehicle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everglades has been discontinued, cost about $55,000 in this trim.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Bronco pricey is kind of all over the boron.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think they start mid-30s, realistically, with dealer lots.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the Raptor now, 80, 90, probably?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, pricey.
[SPEAKER_00]: So for me, I think that the one to get keep it on the base and keep it basic, keep it two, three, Sasquatch, it would be awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where I think we might disagree a little bit and I wanna hear your take when you're looking at the top and of the Bronco lineup.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm talking.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bronco Raptor versus 392 Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are we in agreement that like on a basic one, we'd probably both go forward?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we probably agree on that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think so.
[SPEAKER_00]: If we're looking at a $40,000 one, the four, I think, is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're looking at a Bronco Raptor or a $392 Wrangler, I'm getting the Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm getting the Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm getting the Wrangler, I'm getting the Wrangler.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, I'm not going to disagree.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I would get the Wrangler too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this vehicle is leapfrogged the Wrangler in so many ways, but the V8 makes up so much of the magic.
[SPEAKER_01]: The V8's of the V8.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's two better than a V6.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's all there is to say about their maples.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, guys, well, that was just our quick first drive off road in our Bronco.
[SPEAKER_00]: The idea with this format is like in a couple of weeks, we tried to come on a land cruiser and a power wagon, all these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: But now we're going to cut back to the studio and talk about some news of the week.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now we are no longer in the dirt.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're in the studio.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're in the studio and I thought, we'll be cool for this podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of transition to talking about some of the news in the off-road space of the week.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we can also talk about some of the things going on within our garages and that kind of thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, pretty slow, news week, I did want to show you this case.
[SPEAKER_00]: The biggest news is happening right now in the off-road world is King of the Hammers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: which is the ultramarathoning of of of card driving ultramarathon slash burning man for spectators.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly right and there is this guy, it's cool I forgot the name of his channel here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bomber fabrication who had a buggy and I want to show you just to the hint of how extreme this race is I call play this clip.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this man ran at the probably a four foot tall boulder and he said it felt like being hitting the chest with a sledgehammer, but the insane part is he hit this boulder probably 25, 30 miles an hour and then keep striving.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: some so his pages of fabrication page obviously got to be some good welds going on in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: What did add?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's he?
[SPEAKER_00]: One more time call.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is on his Instagram in case you want to check it out himself, but here he goes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bam, immovable object 30 miles an hour and he just drives away from it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm shocked not only that the car made it, but that he was okay enough to keep driving.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a hell of an ad to for King Shocks.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, to say, for you posted this on there on their page.
[SPEAKER_00]: The car was not totally okay, like apparently it needs an alignment.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, apparently it's sprung a leak in the cooling system.
[SPEAKER_00]: I could see why.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which is not unsurprising.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but yeah, I mean crazy crazy stuff that's doing over at King of the Hammers.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's crazy footage coming out of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It really is almost, uh, a stir just like event.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jive any people go pretty wild.
[SPEAKER_01]: And doing that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It'd be interesting to see, I don't know if I would want to be in the, uh, in the mosh pit where people are punching each other and shoving each other off of cliffs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, but exactly, it looks, uh, it looks exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it's, um, I think driving it looks crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's you so hard to relate to.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've driven this area.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have actually, yeah, I did one of the big hills actually in a block of raptor, but we're doing it at like two miles an hour instead of 40.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, which is the crazy part is like difference.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only rock crawling, but you're like rock crawling with speed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's next one.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unreal.
[SPEAKER_00]: So these are news this week, though, which is interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is over on Carbus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Apparently Nissan dealers saw some behind the scene images.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a sneak peak preview of the new exterior.
[SPEAKER_00]: The image we're looking at is not it.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, that is a build that somebody made for SEMA that is maybe an idea of some of what the exterior will be like, obviously heavily modified.
[SPEAKER_01]: So somebody for SEMA put basically a newer frontier front end on an older exterior, modified the body a lot.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's got
[SPEAKER_01]: a raised intake, it's got a roof rack, it's got still bumpers, it's heavily heavily lifted, so it is cool, it's not very much like what an actual factory extero would be like.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but apparently, this is a corner car bus, Nissan showed its dealers, understandably desperate for anything resembling a new and exciting product.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ouch, that's a harsh.
[SPEAKER_00]: Carbuss there.
[SPEAKER_00]: A preview of the new exterior.
[SPEAKER_00]: One dealer told all the motive news.
[SPEAKER_00]: The new SUV is quote radical looking and described it as quote a beefy full-sized truck with big tires, a muscular grill and a no-frills rugged focus, another dealer told told automotive news.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's an aggression to the new exterior style, which curious to DNA the original but has a modern twist.
[SPEAKER_01]: weren't kind of expecting that they're going to keep this new ex-tera, a body on frame vehicle, like it was in the past.
[SPEAKER_01]: My hope and I would be perfectly fine with this personally is if they just SUV as the frontier, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, little shorter wheelbase,
[SPEAKER_01]: make it an SUV, but it could have the same front end, have the same power train, make a pro 4x trim with a rear locker, same basic suspension layout.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would be great, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what I know about this vehicle is I was at a Nissan program a while back and they took our cameras, dang it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they actually put them in these little, like, Ziploc, unseeable bags.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they showed us, like, a little behind a sneak peek teaser of the exterior, which hopefully is less than what the dealer saw, because you couldn't see much, but one thing I did see is it didn't appear to have, like, you know, a 33 or even larger offer tire, and perhaps even a solid axle.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I hope that they keep going down that route and they do it right because, you know, they do this raw creek thing like with the rogue and with the pathfinder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's not really what enthusiasts are looking for.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's more tires and cosmetics.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think everyone's first question when the exterer is coming out is going to be, is it body on frame?
[SPEAKER_01]: Does it have a solid rear axle?
[SPEAKER_01]: have any lockers that have a low range.
[SPEAKER_01]: If the answer is no to just about any of those, it doesn't necessarily have to have a solid rear axle, it'd be nice if it did.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if the answer is known to basically any of those things, then I think a lot of people are gonna be disappointed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right, right, I think you're on the right track there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think that likely it's gonna be, like you mentioned, Frontier-based, which makes sense because the Broncos more or less Ranger-based, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so the forerunner in the Tacoma.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a good one, especially the new gen are very, very closely related.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so if they just do that same thing, then I think that would be great.
[SPEAKER_00]: A big hit, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So really excited for Nissan to come out with this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they killed the exterior right before, like the offer at SUVs, blue of a popularity.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've been asking, well, not just us.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody who's been asking for the exterior to come back for a long time.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ever since it was announced that it was going away.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what's time.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bring it back, Nissan, please.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the next segment is going to be called What's in the Garage and it's going to be time about our little wrenching projects we've got going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: A little projects.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got some maybe bigger than little projects in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So a case of course has a super cool,
[SPEAKER_00]: Landover Discovery 2 that the LS swapped and it's kind of big lift on it and it's bright blue and it's super rad and the last time it was on the channel We were cruising over the rocks in Moab you talk and now it's not doing that as much.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's the video of it in Moab If you're watching this as a video rather than just listening you can see some images related to what we're talking about so
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, drove it through Hell's Revenge, had it out in Moab for the Land Rover National Rally, which was a lot of fun.
[SPEAKER_01]: We got to meet some really cool people, and I finally got to test it out on some more interesting trails.
[SPEAKER_01]: I had taken it on some local trails here in Colorado before going out to Moab, but this was really kind of my initial shake down.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I had had quite a few issues with the 6L80 GM Transmission that I swapped into this vehicle.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a computer-controlled transmission.
[SPEAKER_01]: lot of electronics, very complicated.
[SPEAKER_01]: Most of it is over my head.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm not a software guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: The programming is out of my league by far.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm happy to bolt up an engine, bolt up a transmission, all of that kind of stuff that I was comfortable with doing in my own garage.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when it came to getting the program, programming actually done on the transmission, I kind
[SPEAKER_01]: to other people and the transmission initially stopped going into reverse and then stopped transmitting entirely.
[SPEAKER_01]: So transmitting the power to the rear wheels or all the rear wheels.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was basically all neutral.
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, it's back under investigation.
[SPEAKER_01]: The motor is great.
[SPEAKER_01]: The L.S.
[SPEAKER_01]: is just unstoppable.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an awesome engine.
[SPEAKER_01]: GM automatic transmission, not as great.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not as good.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I mean, the crazy thing is like, it's been to now what two or three shops that are specialists in this kind of thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, transmission, I've had it in an output a few times.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's just kind of wild to me that, like, you have a GM engine.
[SPEAKER_01]: and you have a GM transmission and it's it's not some one of four hundred and fifty you know automated single-clutch manual Ferrari crazy transmission from 28 years ago it's
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a Chevy suburban transmission.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are hundreds of thousands of these very same transmissions out there, shifting through gear sometimes.
[SPEAKER_01]: So occasionally, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm amazed that it's been so difficult.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're coming up on the one-year anniversary of the first time I had any issues with that transmission.
[SPEAKER_01]: So really putting swapping it in L.S.
[SPEAKER_01]: into it the motor that was it was a project but that wasn't that hard.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: I got that figured out in a few months.
[SPEAKER_01]: Transmission has been a huge pain.
[SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, in a lot of ways it would have been better if I stuck with the original 4-speed, but we live up here in the mountains, 4-speed automatic transmissions, just don't drive that well on I-70.
[SPEAKER_01]: So ideally, I'd like to have a functional 6-speed and I think it's possible for a 6L-80 to work.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just been a challenge.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you're going to get there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to be at the next land of a rally and I'm going to call right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to answer, but from a gentleman named Rob the Jeep guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: which is a type of call that you get a lot now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I do, I am talking to Rob all, he's my new best friend and also the reason I'm broke.
[SPEAKER_00]: So a while back, I bought this 1948 Willy CJ2A or Willis, if your case, and half the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: But basically, the story is I bought, it's like little cheap, cheap, it was pretty awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, this should be a video over a TFL in the last six where we took it off-road.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it needed a couple little things like it, you know, had a starting issue and it has some car work.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then, in case, you know, convinced me that the best way to fix it would be to split it in half.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is exactly what I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm like,
[SPEAKER_00]: three or four months into this quote restoration, and I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I've had a really fun time trying to figure it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been really, really fun.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a fun vehicle to work on because it is dirt simple.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so little going on.
[SPEAKER_01]: This particular one,
[SPEAKER_01]: We found a great buy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, figured out it's on the rougher side, but what's cool about what you're doing is cosmetically, you know, you're leaving a lot of the bumps and bruises on it, it's not going to be a trashed tub.
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought it's an original tub that's got some character to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the story is, you know, like a bot this thing home, you know, start poking around and figure out that the actual body, which you people call the tub is pretty trashed for your rusty, so that's one case, give us people, oh, I just pull the whole face off of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I pull the face and all the limbs off of it, and then figured out like it'd probably be easier to replace the tub.
[SPEAKER_00]: then to try to fix the old one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's where Rob the Jeep guy comes in, he's my Jeep guy, and he has like a graveyard of 30 of these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I found a pretty good tub and did some welding work on it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I attempted, I don't know if you know this, I attempted some welding work and it looks like trash, but that's okay because I'm learning and it's a Jeep, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Far the point.
[SPEAKER_00]: So so right now the way it says is there's there's a bare frame which I have Ground down given myself infosema.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got new break lines.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd got new my new break lines I had a realization that was on granted that paint that is probably all-lettered paint But that's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: That'll help me in 30 years
[SPEAKER_00]: on new brake lines, geez, I got a lot of new stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's getting the transit built, it's getting the transfer case resealed on the engine, I'm doing pretty much everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, exhaust manifold intake manifold distributor, carb rebuild, and the manifold studs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, manifold stud, that's why I'm currently at, it's getting new gas kits in the engine, which is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fresh coat of a name.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very shiny now.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's how I restored it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which is important.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you painted a black getting a new steering box in it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably front main rear main seal pan gasket.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, a little bit everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might do head gasket.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, maybe head gasket because it's flat head.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, so at this point, you need to get it running again.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're getting laughed at by our producer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you laughing at me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you don't think I can do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm feeling it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the whole thing, what started out of the flywheel is now the whole damn thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you seen it?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's cheap recently.
[SPEAKER_00]: What we're going to do, Cole.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to leave the bottom end of the engine alone.
[SPEAKER_01]: For you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it will be completely rebuilt.
[SPEAKER_00]: Electronic ignition is getting a new wiring harness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whole new wiring harness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the whole thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it did have the whole thing, so that's really funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the hell Cole, this is the wiring harness.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tommy got shocked by his fuel gauge.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the electrocuted head electrocuted me and then it's caught on fire.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it was it was it was like simmering.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you should have seen it was a pretty ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an open flame.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was I could see flames coming out of the house.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was just a little sizzle.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, it wasn't so much a sizzle as a flame.
[SPEAKER_00]: I when I did as I grabbed the wire, ganked it out and like the whole wiring harness was black.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why did you do that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it was on fire, I wanted to get the fire out from underneath the dash.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, the fire didn't start because of you tug of the wire?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, it just started randomly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was driving it along and then it just caught on fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just started smoking and sizzling.
[SPEAKER_00]: The fuel gauge chored it out and then it took out all the wires next to it, all six of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so that was about half the wires in the Jeep.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, exactly.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now it's got a new new wiring harness coming And then I got to do all of the suspension and the axles.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a small project.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying I'm not saying it would be fat though easy, but yeah, in case it's going to help me paint it here and hopefully on the next few weeks Yeah, simple single stage We're looking at dark blue.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so it's going to be really red and what were you going to do on the wheels?
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, so originally the dark blue Tubbs, I think, had orange wheels, but that's a little too Denver, Broncosy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So thinking I might do white wheels.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that'll look the best.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the black wheels make it look kind of a steer.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then long term it would be really cool to do lockers in it and suspension.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just need to get it back to where it moves again.
[SPEAKER_00]: So cool stuff's laughing at me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and then it will be in a good spot, but it's really rough trying to build stuff with Colora.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, what the hell, man?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not very angry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Over here, tell my story, and he's just coming in and making fun of me.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we got a lot in the garage, so that's what I'm up to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then last update, this is kind of fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cole, go to YouTube and look up a channel called Lost Cause Ranch.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we got a lot of four by fours that don't run.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we got a ton of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only ones in the cus we like.
[SPEAKER_00]: Gips and land runs.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're a Toyota people.
[SPEAKER_00]: We would never have this issue.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a really cool dude named Joe who are the really cool channel named Los Cos Ranch.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's doing this awesome project by the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're taking a Land Rover LR4 and turning it into a pickup truck.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, which is pretty impressive.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty awesome and like the results I look in freaking awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: So in between doing that, he also has another one of my cars, he's an Iowa.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he
[SPEAKER_00]: So, he pulled it apart, took the heads, got a new machine shop, it's got a nice, it's got new valve seals in it, it's got a new water pump, he fixed oil pump in it, you're getting basically a whole top end rebuild, yeah, look at that, yeah it is a whole top end rebuild, yes, got new rockers, ARP head studs, oh
[SPEAKER_01]: So nice.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so this is pretty cool.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's maybe won't be hard to convince, especially non-laner over people, but the rest of this disco one is actually in really good shape.
[SPEAKER_01]: Paints pretty decent.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: The interior is pretty decent.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was bone dry underneath, not a speck of rust on it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So overall, it's actually in pretty good shape, but yeah, it needed the head gasket.
[SPEAKER_01]: So once a head gasket is done,
[SPEAKER_01]: This is going to be a really nice running and driving disco one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was really cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: As you can actually follow the build over at Joe's channel, the Lost Cause Ranch.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a really cool build series.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can see my new rockers in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So as far as I know, I mean, it's done and it's running and it's back together and he just wants to, you know, make sure that it's all set up and good for my drive back to Colorado, which we're going to do at the end of February.
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, dude, it's it's it's looking good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really stoked about it So I'm gonna have a super nice running and driving D1 Which you know, I'm gonna wheel a little bit and daily drive a little bit and just have some fun with but I think it's gonna be a cool cool car plan is not to turn that into some huge tire massive lift still bumpers kind of thing because it's very
[SPEAKER_01]: It's very stock, and these in relatively stock form are pretty cool.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, you use as the same oil and those that I put in my truck.
[SPEAKER_01]: T4.
[SPEAKER_00]: Good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tell a man.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so this video will be coming shortly to the channel, but yeah, common land over issues going through head gaskets.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hopefully mine, we'll have head gaskets in it in the next few weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: yeah which is a big good stuff right there it's pretty cool um well that's all we've got going on in the garage and guys let us know how you'd like to see us kind of evolve this podcast because we've got some ideas cooking up about you know what what to do with some cars and trucks and we could do like a question and answer thing and we could also talk about maybe some more aftermarket parts and modified parts and we can always talk to about what our experience has been with different manufacturers as far as
[SPEAKER_01]: uh... four wheel drive systems regarding trash control locker engagement yep and we can talk about different suspension designs pros and cons i mean the sure lucky lucky thing for what we do is that we get to test out
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, everything from every brand, since we live in Colorado, we actually get to run some cool trails with them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep, so I think we get to compare and contrast a lot of vehicles on some of the same trails.
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, so there's a lot of fun stuff we could talk about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we could also go, you know, talk about some of our adventures that we're up to, and some of the new press tries we've done, some of the company projects like tomorrow we're...
[SPEAKER_00]: breaking the news here but we're picking up a hundred series land cruiser that we're gonna do a project build on a wicking you know kind of fill people in on the parts that we're using and the parts that we like and don't like and uh there's a lot of opportunity here so we'd love your feedback and your input on what we should do yeah absolutely this is a podcast that i'm looking forward to for sure guys well if you like this one leave a comment if you don't don't be the comment yeah well i'll see you in the next one