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Project Trail Force Jeep Wrangler goes to SEMA, then to a lucky winner

Extreme Terrain is an aftermarket parts company focused on the Jeep Wrangler. Partly just because it's a really cool thing to do, and probably having something to do with Jeep's upcoming 75th anniversary, Extreme Terrain found some dance partners to help work up a special 2015 Wrangler Rubicon that it will show off at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in Butler, PA, then at SEMA in November, where it will be given away. Extreme worked with Barricade Off-Road and Kevin Tetz from the Spike show Trucks! to build the Wrangler it calls Project Trail Force. There is more than $24,000 worth of aftermarket gear on it, starting with the Ripp centrifugal supercharger that pumps an additional 140 horsepower into the 3.6-liter V6. It's got a 3.5-inch lift kit from Rock Krawler, Dana 44 axles strung between 37-inch BFG tires, Barricade bumpers, a 9,500-pound winch, fender flares, rock sliders, a 50-inch LED light bar above the windshield, LED spotlights on the A-pillars, and seven-inch KC Hilites headlights. Rugged Ridge worked over the inside with upgrades like all-terrain floor and cargo liners, plus seat covers, and a new navigation system with a back-up camera. If you want to win it, you can enter the contest at Extreme Terrain once every week until Oct. 23. The winner gets flown to SEMA to have Kevin Tetz hand the keys over. If you just want to see it, you can head to PA for that heritage festival. The Project Trail Force will also lead a Jeep parade that could set a Guinness World Record. The press release below has a lot more info on the build. Good luck. EXTREMETERRAIN AND BARRICADE OFF-ROAD TO UNVEIL THEIR FULLY-BUILT 2015 JEEP WRANGLER AT BANTAM JEEP FESTIVAL ExtremeTerrain.com and Barricade Off-Road teamed up to build a $73,000+ 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to be given away to a lucky winner at the 2015 SEMA Show • Giveaway Link: http://www.extremeterrain.com/jeep-wrangler-project-trailforce-giveaway.html • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsO6fxVq6kI MALVERN, Pa. (June 12, 2015) – ExtremeTerrain, a leader in providing aftermarket Jeep Wrangler parts, along with rugged, enthusiast-driven Jeep Wrangler aftermarket armor and accessories manufacturer Barricade Off-Road, today unveiled a fully-built 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon dubbed Project Trail Force at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in Butler, PA.

Stellantis suspends vehicle production in Russia

MILAN - Stellantis on Tuesday said it was suspending production at its Russian plant due to logistical difficulties and sanctions imposed on Moscow. The world's fourth-largest automaker, which produced and sold the Peugeot, Citro¸n, Opel, Jeep, and Fiat brands in Russia, has just 1% of the country's car market. It runs a van-making plant in Kaluga, around 125 miles (201 kilometres) southeast of Moscow, co-owned with Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi, which halted production at the facility earlier this month. "Given the rapid daily increase in cross sanctions and logistical difficulties, Stellantis has suspended its manufacturing operations in Kaluga to ensure full compliance with all cross sanctions and to protect its employees," Stellantis said in a statement. The plant employs 2,700 people. The company will continue to pay salaries through a local downtime scheme and by using anticipated vacation periods, Stellantis told Reuters. It said it did not know how long the stoppage would last, adding that its priority was its staff and the return of peace. Stellantis had already suspended all exports and imports of vehicles with Russia, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, moving production to western Europe. It had also said it was freezing plans for more investments in the country. Van production in Kaluga had remained just for the local market. Scores of foreign companies have announced temporary shutdowns of stores and factories in Russia or said they were leaving the country for good since Russia began what it calls "a special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24. Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares in late March said the group would have to close the Kaluga plant shortly as it was running out of parts. Separately on Tuesday, General Motors Co said it was extending its suspension of business in Russia due to the conflict and international sanctions. The U.S. automaker, which initially suspended imports into Russia and commercial activity on Feb. 28, said it was laying off most of its 66 employees and providing them with separation packages. GM does not have plants in Russia and only sold about 3,000 vehicles annually there prior to the suspension. (Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Washington; Editing by Mark Potter and Mark Porter) Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing Fiat Jeep Citroen Opel Peugeot

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | 14,000 miles to Deadhorse and back

I've never delayed big adventure long enough to fill a bucket. But I do have a bucket item that dates to 1992: drive from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Twenty-six years later, it's time. But first, I needed a vehicle. And a Jeep Wrangler was not my first choice. Growing up as a kid in the Midwest, I loved Jeeps. But around 10 years ago I went on a camping trip to Death Valley with a colleague, testing the early JK Wrangler against the competition. By the end of it, I couldn't justify the ergonomic and physical punishment for the admittedly massive capability. So two years ago, I bought a 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser project truck to make the journey. I paid too much, and the Cruiser revealed itself to be not a garage project, but the Manhattan Project. I took this as a good omen. Adventure begins in the deep end, so why wait to get there? During a break from discovering enough gremlins to reboot the movie franchise, I had dinner with Jeep's West Coast PR guy. I mentioned my plans for a six-month overlanding trek to Alaska. He said, "You know, we've got a new Wrangler coming out — that might be a good test of the chassis." My outside voice said, "That would be interesting." My inside voice said, "Hmmm." Anything's possible after 10 years, right? I might like it. Might. Many plans have gone awry on the way to this moment. It's taken more than a year to lock in a start date, because Jeep couldn't spare a Wrangler Rubicon. Everyone else in America keeps buying them. A suitable Wrangler was found eventually, but now the deed had to be done in three months, not six. What was going to be a comfortably-paced, backwoods roll up to Alaska and back has turned into the Rubicon Overland Cannonball. I know 14 weeks is plenty of time to drive to the Arctic and back. (Tierra del Fuego is officially off the itinerary.) However, the point of this trip is to fit in as much dirt, as many bucket-list trails, and all the wild America possible. That means my route's about 14,000 convoluted miles of criss-crossing the country in all the cardinal directions. And that's assuming everything goes to plan. Until last week, I was doing this trip with a friend from college who lives in Marietta, Georgia. He was the photo/video guy. Then he had a medical emergency, so the only trip he's taking is to the OR and rehab. Now I'm going by myself, and I think it's important to point out that I have no idea what I'm doing. That isn't modesty, that's truth: zero clue.