ORR Jeep Blog

Check out the new Off Road Report article reviewing legendary tire manufacturer Interco and the rugged Super Swamper line of tires. Continue…

The reviews are in and the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is a hit with many in the off road community. In fact, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, save one thing—the underpowered 3.8 liter V-6 that came right out of your neighbor’s Chrysler Minivan. With all the options available to DC corp. it’s a mystery to me why they would put such a lackluster powerplant in the new JK.

However, there have been rampant rumors about various engine upgrades in the 2008 JK. I must say, after taking a look under the hood of an ‘07 Rubicon Unlimted a couple of weeks ago, there seems to be an unusually large amount of unused space surrounding the 3.8. Coincidence or planning ahead for a Hemi?

Another announcement sparking much talk in the Jeep forums comes from legendary diesel manufacturer Cummins. The’ve announced they’ll be supplying DaimlerChrysler with two new engines for their “light-duty” vehicles—a 4.2 liter and a 5.6 liter version. The possiblity of a Cummins diesel in a Jeep makes me almost giddy. I think this rumor has some legs too. DC will supposedly be unveiling a concept version of the JK, called the 50 JK. This rig will be powered with the 4.2 liter Cummins and have full leather interior as well as some other agressive off road features.

So if you’re anything like me, and you’re wondering why DC would put such a wussy little motor in the JK, maybe help isn’t too far down the road. If you can wait, you might have some more powerful options for the 2008 line of Jeep vehicles.

Technorati Profile

PureJeep is among the first to market with a complete line of crawler bumpers for the new 2007 Jeep Wrangler JK.

The PUREJEEP 2007 JK Wrangler Crawler Front Bumper is made from 3/16″ steel plate and uses a narrow design for better approach angle. The bumper is compatible with most winches. It also has a good design that lowers the winch between the frame rails so the winching force is centered on the vehicle’s frame.

Two rear bumper options are available. One with a spare tire carrier and one without. Both bumpers allow for the use of a factory tow package and the tire carrier version allows you to mount a spare up to 35″.

PureJeep has also designed a set of rocksliders for both the 2-door and the 4-door JKs. Each is made from 3/16″ thick steel plate and laser cut for a perfect fit.

You can see the complete line of PureJeep products at 4Wheel Drive Hardware

I came across this killer product in one of this month’s off road magazines. It’s called the Warn Powerplant. Warn has always been famous for making great winches, but now they’ve incorporated an air compressor into the winch body for one of the coolest new product i’ve seen in a while.

The Powerplant uses a 4.6 hp motor to generate 5 cfm @ 90 psi. Plus there’s a with a built-in air reservoir and intercooler. That translates to airing up four 35″ tires from 8 psi to 35 psi in 8 minutes.

A quick flip of the activator switch and you’re back to winch mode with a full 9500 lbs. of pulling power with a fast line speed of 26.9 feet per minute with no load and 5.2 feet per minute at max load.

As you might expect, this winch doesn’t come cheap. It’s around $1400 at any online dealer.

It was great. My ‘96 Dodge Cummins Diesel with a six pack camper in the bed, towing my 78 Jeep CJ-7 on a double axle car hauler trailer. I was the perfect setup…until F-A-T-H-E-R-H-O-O-D.

Since 1997, my wife and I are lucky enough to have added three kids and two dogs. I love them all, but unfortunately, the times of the whole family fitting in a six pack camper are long gone.

So last Friday as I browsed the local online classifieds, I came across an ad for an Extreme RV 31-foot Toy Hauler. The ad copy said something like “will fit four atvs, a sandrail or a Jeep.” I guess I’m behind the curve, because I had no idea these things were capable of hauling a Jeep.

First thing Saturday I went and checked it out. I made sure to drive my Jeep so I could check the fit. (I still had my doubts about a Jeep with 4-inches of lift and 35-inch mudders fitting in a trailer.) Sure enough, I pulled my rig right up the ramp and into the trailer’s garage—fit like a glove.

My next question was “Can this trailer handle the weight?” The seller pointed out the triple axle design and some other frame features that, along with some research on the Web, made me feel completely at ease with the hauling capacity of this particular unit.

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about the setup. This hauler has a fuel station, 4000kw generator, air conditioning, bathroom, tv…essentially all the luxury features you’d expect in a regular trailer, but with a garage! And at around $20k, the price isn’t bad considering the outstanding capabilities.

We all know the advantages of selectable lockers. But up to now, the most common options involved the use of air power. Yesterday I ran across a cool product called OX Lockers. OX makes a selectable locker that works via a physical connection. The OX Locker uses a cable run through the differential cover and into the cab to a hand controlled shift lever. The small lever mounts virtually anywhere and is simple to operate. OX Lockers are available for the Dana 30, 35, 44, 60 and the AMC 20. OX also plans to introduce a locker for the Ford 8.8 in the near future.

Recall Notice: Chrysler has issued a recall for over 800,000 Jeep Liberty vehicles from 2002 through 2006. The recall involves a failure in the front ball joints. Extreme cases have resulted in the vehicle actually dropping onto the front tires. To date, Chrysler has received 110 complaints regarding the ball joint failure—three of which resulted in injuries.

Teraflex introduced its lineup of lift kits for the new 2007 Jeep JK. The offerings include a 6-inch long arm lift kit, a 4-inch lift kit that will clear 37-inch tires, a 3-inch that’ll fit 35-inch tires and a 2.5-inch budget boost system. You can access their product PDF here: http://www.teraflex.biz/pages/TERAFLEX_2007JKnewproducts.pdf. It’s got some killer pics of lifted JKs.

Looks like Avenger Superchargers is ahead of the field again. Avenger plans to unveil a supercharger for the new Jeep 3.8 Liter motor. The unveiling is scheduled to take place at this year’s SEMA show. The Avenger Supercharger should be welcome news for Jeepers complaining of a lack of pep in the 3.8. For more information check out http://www.avengersuperchargers.com/