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2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | The other Trans-America Trail

In 1941, when America needed heroes, Jeep answered the call. – "Jeep Joe" Sarette, Sales Associate, Outer Banks Jeep Chouteau, Okla. – Whoever's in charge of rain hates North Carolina. At least, that's what I thought two weeks ago, during the opening stages of my 14,000-mile overland trek in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, as rain pursued me from the Oregon Inlet National Park Campground on North Carolina's Outer Banks to the western edge of the "First in Flight" state. Then the rain traveled the Trans-America Trail with me through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. When I arrived at the Love's Truck Stop in Chouteau, Oklahoma a few hours ago, it was raining. And it still is. And you know what? Don't care. Nearly three weeks into this wet and windy Rubicon Alaska Cannonball, there's but one word to describe it: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I hustled from Southern California to Atlanta, Georgia in two days. In the ATL I stuffed my gear in the Jeep, stuffed my face with Waffle House, and squeezed in a side trip to The Jeep Collection at Omix-ADA. Any Jeeper who ends up in the Atlanta area should make time for a visit. It's not huge, but it contains original and vital specimens of Jeep DNA, meticulously and colorfully explained by tour guide Dave Logan. And Logan was kind enough to loan me his personal snatch block since I'd somehow managed to forget that item in my recovery kit. Four days later, I departed for Oregon Inlet. That was the start of my Trans-America Trail, but I need to clarify that I'm not on original Trans-America Trail. The one most people know and read about was stitched together over a decade by a motorcycle rider named Sam Correro. When I researched this trip, Correro's trail didn't cross the country. It started in Tennessee. A little more Internet digging turned up another trans-America trail put together by another motorcycle rider called GPSKevin. His route starts further south in the Outer Banks, in Buxton, and covers similar local ground to Correro's trail all the way to Port Orford. I'm taking Kevin's route, but only because when I found it, it crossed the country and Correro's didn't. I'm going to refer to Kevin's trail as the TAT for simplicity.

Jeep beefs up the Wrangler Rubicon with 2017 Recon Edition hardware

The Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock is dead. Don't worry; the 2017 Rubicon Recon is heading to showrooms soon to take its place, and judging by what it's packing you'll hardly miss the Hard Rock. Essentially, this is a Rubicon with some beefed-up bits underneath and a few special cosmetic tweaks, a bit like the outgoing Hard Rock. Up front, there's a stronger Dana 44 with strengthened tubes and heavy-duty end forgings. Likewise, the front and rear differentials get stronger cast covers than the Hard Rock's stamped ones. The ratios are the same, with 4.10:1 front and rear ratios, Tru-Lok locking diffs, and a Rock-Trac transfer case. There's also a half-inch lift. Cosmetically, there are new 17-inch wheels exclusive to the Recon equipped with 32-inch BF Goodrich KM tires, and the rock rails have been reshaped to allow owners to fit 35-inch tires without interference. The Recon also adds red seatbelts and stitching, something you haven't been able to get in a Wrangler before, a Jeep rep told us. If that's what you were waiting for to get into a Wrangler Rubicon, well, there you go. There's also the special-edition farkles you'd expect: a dashboard plaque the fender badge, and a unique gauge cluster treatment. The two-door Recon will start at $40,140 and the four door at $43,940 – that's compared to the base Rubicon, which starts at $34,190 in two-door form. So, the Recon represents a nearly $6,000 premium over the base Rubicon and a $1,150 premium over the outgoing Hard Rock. It'll be available in dealers at the end of this month. Related Video:

Chrysler Recalls Jeep SUVs For Ignition Switches

The ignition switch defects that engulfed General Motors are now a rapidly growing problem at Chrysler. Chrysler said Tuesday it is recalling up to 792,300 older Jeep SUVs worldwide because the ignition switches could fall out of the "run" position, shutting off the engine and disabling air bags as well as power-assisted steering and braking. That's the same problem that has forced GM to recall more than 15 million cars over the last six months. Chrysler's recall covers 2005-2007 Grand Cherokees and 2006-2007 Commanders. The company said it is not sure exactly how many will be recalled, but said it will notify customers by mid-September. Chrysler said an outside force such as a driver's knee can knock switches out of the "run" position. Engineers are working on a fix. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker, now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, said it knows of no related injuries and only one accident. But it said owners should keep clearance between their knees and keys until repairs are made. Chrysler has now recalled more than 1.7 million vehicles for ignition-switch problems. In June, the company added 696,000 minivans and SUVs to a 2011 recall to fix faulty ignition switches. Those recalls covered Dodge Journey SUVs and Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and Volkswagen Routan minivans - which Chrysler made for the German automaker - from the 2007 to 2010 model years. Tuesday's recall is the outgrowth of two investigations opened by U.S. safety regulators last month as part of a broader probe into ignition-switch and air-bag problems across the auto industry. The agency wouldn't say Tuesday whether its investigation could lead to recalls at other automakers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in June that it was investigating Jeep Commanders and Grand Cherokees after getting 32 complaints that a driver's knee can hit the key fob or key chain, causing the ignition switch to move out of position. The federal investigation is still open. The agency said Tuesday that it is requesting additional information from Chrysler to ensure that its repairs will be effective. The investigations and recalls come after GM bungled an ignition-switch recall of older small cars. GM acknowledged that it knew of the ignition problem for more than a decade but failed to recall the cars until earlier this year, when it recalled 2.6 million small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt.