1995 Jeep Cherokee Se Sport Utility 4-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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SUV lifts you up where you belong and leapfrogs traffic jams

So, you're at a dead stop, stuck in traffic, when it pulls up behind you. It appears to be a garden-variety Jeep Grand Cherokee. That is, until its undercarriage lifts the Jeep 9 feet into the air, and the whole rig straddles you and the cars ahead of you in a bid for open road. The car is called the Hum Rider, and no, you can't buy one at the Jeep store. It's a one-off publicity stunt intended to promote Verizon Telematic's Hum platform, which plugs into a car's OBD port and for $10 a month provides vehicle diagnostics, roadside assistance, location tracking, and speed and geo-fencing alerts. (Not sure if Hum tracks vertical leaps.) Verizon enlisted viral marketing agency Thinkmodo to promote the Hum, and this idea was head and shoulders above the rest. "We saw this one [and said], 'Wow, that is crazy,' said Jay Jaffin, Verizon's VP of marketing. "We loved the idea." Thinkmodo co-founder James Percelay told Mashable that they wanted to represent the upgrade Hum brings to cars. So the car goes up. Get it? Here's the star of this story: Hum Rider's designer, Scott Beverly, has done visual effects for Hollywood in The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar. He works for A2Zf, a Lancaster, Calif., design and engineering firm that keeps the world filled with Batmobiles, Red Bull Can Cars and beautifully designed VWs and Audis. A2Zf has also worked with NASA on X-planes and with Northrup on the B2 bomber, so compared to those projects, a car-straddling car is hardly a stretch. So what does it take to make a car do this? How about: Over 300 feet of hydraulic lines that operate everything - the lift mechanism, steering, braking and power to the drivetrain. A gas-powered Honda generator under the hood that powers hydraulic pumps pushing out 900 pounds of pressure. A lot of mechanical structure. Hum Rider weighs 8,500 pounds, almost double a standard Grand Cherokee. Heavy-duty truck tires to support all that weight. Four undercarriage cameras that allow the driver to see and clear what's beneath him. What did it cost? They're not saying. What would it be worth, the next time you're stuck in traffic? Priceless.

Fiat Chrysler's profit boosted by Ram and Jeep in North America

MILAN/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler took the market by surprise by sticking to its full-year profit guidance on Wednesday after a strong performance from its Ram pickup truck in North America helped it defy an industry slowdown. Chief Executive Mike Manley, in FCA's first earnings release since a failed attempt to merge with France's Renault, also left the door open to that or other deals. "We are open to opportunity," Manley said on a call with analysts. "I have no doubt why there still would be interest in it," he added, when pressed on what it would take to revive talks with Renault. Manley declined to comment further. FCA last month abandoned its $35 billion merger offer for Renault, blaming French politics for scuttling what would have been a landmark deal to create the world's third-biggest automaker. Manley said a merger was not a must-have and Fiat Chrysler's business plan was strong. The company said it remained confident its adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) would top last year's 6.7 billion euros ($7.5 billion). Given disappointing forecasts from other automakers this earnings season, FCA's confirmation of the outlook sent Milan-listed shares in the Italian-American automaker, whose other brands include Jeep, up over 4%. A broad-based auto sales downturn has rattled the sector, forcing FCA's competitors — including Renault, Daimler and Aston Martin — to cut their sales forecasts after second-quarter results, while U.S. carmaker Ford gave a weaker-than-expected 2019 profit outlook. Japan's Nissan, a long-term partner of Renault, said it would cut 12,500 jobs by 2023 after its earnings collapsed. In the second quarter FCA's adjusted EBIT totaled 1.52 billion euros, versus analysts' expectations of 1.43 billion euros, according to a Reuters poll. FCA's U.S. shipments were down 12% in the second quarter but the group said that the successful performance of its Ram brand resulted in an enhanced share of the large pickup truck market of 27.9%, up 7 percentage points from last year. Adjusted EBIT margin in North America rose to 8.9% from 6.5% in the first quarter, thanks to strong demand for the heavy-duty Ram and the new Jeep Gladiator pickup. Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer also said FCA expected to report up to 10% margins in the region in both the third and fourth quarters.

Chrysler recalling 644k more Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs over brakes

Early last month, we reported on Chrysler issuing a preemptive, proactive recall for about 25,000 units of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango. The issue revolved around a brake system that wasn't causing any actual problems, but delivered an unsatisfactory brake feel, so Auburn Hills called in a good 25,000 of SUVs around the world, including 18,700 in the United States.
Now Chrysler, having apparently determined that the brake problem on its sport utes is actually much bigger than it initially realized, has drastically broadened the scope of the recall. As a result, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall for precisely 655,354 examples of the Grand Cherokee and Durango, covering the 2011 through 2014 model years. In addition, Chrysler is recalling 42,380 units in Canada, 21,376 in Mexico and 159,685 overseas.
The problem which Chrysler found revolves around the brake booster, whose center shell has been found to be subject to corrosion, allowing water to get into the brake system. That water in turn could freeze, preventing the brakes from working as well as expected.