Off Road Podcast 388 – Year in Review

This episode of the Off Road Podcast is Sponsored by WARN, Medical Gear Outfitters, and Colby Valve.

Tonight, Aaron wraps more gifts, Jeremy is boring as always, & Ben prepares for battle

Welcome to the off-road podcast. A podcast about everything off-road. We cover the news, review products, and interview people in the off-road industry.  Your hosts tonight are Aaron, and Jeremy and my name is Ben.  Welcome to the show.

Jeremy – Preparing the menu for snow camping.

Aaron – Tomorrow is my wife’s birthday. Shop took some damage in a wind storm.  Caught a bad cold. Sold some parts from the Titan.

Ben – 

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News brought to you by Colby Valve

• Road & Track – Ken Block dies at 55 in a snowmobile accident
  • Pro rally driver and Hoonigan co-founder Ken Block was killed in a snowmobile accident on Monday, Hoonigan’s social media accounts confirmed.
  • “It’s with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today,” a statement from Hoonigan says. “Ken was a visionary, a pioneer, and an icon. And most importantly, a father and a husband.”
  • When he wasn’t driving electric stunt cars from Audi or race cars from Porsche, Block spent his time participating in a variety of winter sports, including snowboarding, driving UTVs, and snowmobiling. Block is survived by his wife, Lucy, and three children.
• Autoblog – Scout Motors gets a website and a new teaser for upcoming off-roader
  • Website launched scoutmotors.com
  • Forum launched scoutmotors.community.forum
  • Predictions are for the all electric truck and SUV to go on sale in 2026
  • “Community and history are ‘very important’ to the folks in charge of resurrecting the Scout and they want to stay as true to the original as possible” said a forum member who has spend time talking to some of the engineers and designers.
• The Drive – You Can Buy a New Suzuki Jimny at US Dealerships. Just Don’t Ask Too Many Questions
  • The current Jimny (JB74) isn’t available for sale in the US.
  • I wanted to know more about these imported vehicles for sale, a few of which have been sent in by readers or written about by other publications. In a quest to get more info, I called two dealerships that claimed to have them available.
  • The first dealer I called was Iconic Motors of Oklahoma City. Initially, I was told what I was expecting to hear. The truck was brought north from Mexico and, in fact, it had allegedly already been sold to a customer. The man on the other end of the line then told me they had a meeting going on, and instructed me to call back later.
  • The second dealer, Barrett Auto Gallery in San Juan, Texas, had two Jimnys for sale, though they were listed as Samurais. This might be an even better lead, I thought. I picked up the phone, dialed the dealer’s number, and someone answered straightaway. I explained who I was, why I was calling, and then I asked how they got the Jimnys. San Juan is right on the Mexico-U.S. border, so I assumed they were brought here just like the others. I was right.
  • “We bought them in Mexico and brought them back here,” the dealer employee said. I prodded them about how the vehicle was registered, if at all. Then they seemed to get suspicious. “Do you want to buy one?” they asked me. I responded that, no, I wasn’t going to buy one, but it’s unusual for a Jimny to come up for sale in the United States, and I wanted to write an article about the two they had for sale. A few seconds of silence passed and just as I was about to ask another question, they hung up.
  • I thought that was odd, but something even stranger was that shortly after the call ended, both vehicles were removed from the dealership’s website.
  • After that, I called Iconic Motors again. A different person picked up, so I explained who I was, what I wanted, etc. The phone was then handed off to another employee. He reiterated the fact that the truck had already sold, but he had a little more to say. As we talked, he reiterated that Iconic Motors bought the truck in Mexico, though he added, “They’re a very popular truck outside the United States, so we figured we would sell one here.” That’s… as good a reason as any, I thought.
  • I felt like I was on a roll, so I asked what the deal with the title was. “It has an Oklahoma title,” he said. When I asked how you’d go about tagging it, he said, “Just go register it.” Right, of course.
  • That particular Jimny is actually still up on the dealer’s website as of publishing despite allegedly being sold. I also archived the link so it’s saved forever if you’re curious. Originally, the sticker price was $45,000—similar to the other two at Barrett Auto Gallery.
  • If you actually wanted to buy a Jimny here, it is technically possible. Step one is, when you call to ask about it, don’t say you’re a journalist. Step two is to only use it off-road once you purchase it. If you drive it on public roads, you could be in serious trouble. There are, however, all sorts of ways you could go depending on your state government. Who knows, maybe you could get the thing at least somewhat legal on American highways, like what was done with the Amarok. That being said, I’m obviously not responsible for any sort of Jimny-related shenanigans you get into. The bottom line is the federal government doesn’t like these things, and buying one is always going to be risky.

Main Topic powered by WARN  

• Rig modifications/fixes

B-  finally got my skid plates busted a bump stop inner outer tie rods, got my Patagonias and dirty life wheels 

J- Air locker line

A- Front hub & brake swap from Titan.  Replaced rear spacers with adaptors.  Warn wheels and tires going on soon. Replaced power steering cooler lines and cooler.

• Trips/wheeling/camping

J- Snow wheeling, Some Kid Camping

A- Shot show in January. Snow camp in February. RV camping in April at the beach.  Disneyland in May.  Overnight trip on my Birthday in the woods with the Ironman 4×4 Swag.  RV camping in July at the beach.  Three shooting competitions.  RV camping in August in central Oregon. Attended the Iron Rigs event in November

B- managed to get 13 camping trips in

• Favorite Episode/Guest

A- 334, 347, 365, Marketplace Madness episodes. 345 The Great Diesel Debate.

B- 377 Brennans Garage

J- 368 Freeze-dried food taste test

• New Gear

B-  skid plate(s) tire carrier bits and bobs of recovery gear and element fire extinguisher, rock lights I still haven’t installed

J- ARB Line coupler 

A- Warn 17” wheels.  No recovery gear has changed.

• Anything Else  

J- Getting my kids out for their first times (since Infants)

A- Starting to use my shop.  Looking to get out a lot more this year since the rig will be ready and not have bald tires.

B- Hit 50 episodes this year.  We only missed Valentine’s Day & the 4th of July 

• Coming up in 2023

A- Snow trip.  Working out of my shop.  SEMA in the fall.  Planning for 2024 trip to Sand Hollow.  NWOLR.  HAM

B- same as Aaron minus sand hollow might try and complete Wa bdr this summer

J- Snow trip and hopefully a bigger trip. Getting some ORP Patches 

(From Last year)Coming up in 2022:

• Snow camping trip in Eastern Washington in Feb
• Jeremy’s going to the Rubicon
• Aaron on 35s

Closing Statements

Thanks to everyone who listens to us weekly and also to those who watch us live on YouTube.  We really appreciate you.  Please share us with your friends and help us grow.  God bless America!
Don’t forget to visit Patriot Patch and join the patch of the month club. Check out our Gaia affiliate link for up to 40% off. Also, don’t forget to head over to Warn, Medical Gear Outfitters, and Colby Valve to see all their great gear. We are a proud part of the firearms radio network. Got a question or comment?  Send it to us through our webpage at firearmsradio.net or through our social media channels by searching for Off Road Podcast.  Also, you can listen to us live at overlandradio.com Mondays at 7 pm Pacific.  When off-road please remember to have fun, tread lightly,and  be safe and courteous. Thanks for listening.