I am reader of JP as i am sure many of the people on this formum are. Also of note i am a college student, and a male so i find some of the stuff that you put in you mag humours and entertaining. though i must say as of late it has been a little out of hand, i can recognize the lien between the two. What i would like to see is more stuff that is down to earth. I want to see what articles like how to build a jeep on broke college kid budget something along those lines, or what to spot in a junk yard. Also i realize that people consider the cj's and tj's to be almost the only jeep in existence worth mentioning. I would really enjoy seeing something on the xj more or fsj's one must see that those are also jeeps. Yes i realize that you are building a j truck and that is an fsj but what about the old two door cherokees i.e. a 79 golden eagle like i posses. I find that people will enjoy seeing stuff that is on a more real world bases rather than stuff that we will never be able to afford unless we rob a thousand quicky marts.

In the end i must say that humour is good, yet just dont fill the mag with it, sure people will always be irrate with something you publish and i understand that. Yet just realize that there is stuff that can draw more readership than other things.

Tristan

Proud owner of 00xj and 79 golden eagle hoopty

So far, I have seen some fantastic suggestions. Youve definately got some fuel to work with. I would like to see some type of "in-print" recognition of this thread and how the readers have caught your attention. BUT, ACT on this, dont just post this and have zero or minimal change. We WILL be watching and LOOKING for change.

Definately more Competition coverage, on BOTH coasts. And dont forget, its those average wheeler folks who built it, brought it, broke it, fixed it, wheeled it harder and even placed at the end of it. He wants to see himself too, so do all his friends and family. Spread the glory around a bit.

One thing I do NOT want to see anymore is anything, anything that can be percieved as negative for the sport. You need to think of this magazine as a Public Icon (ie- athlete, pop star, politician, etc) EVERYTHING you do is in the Public Eye. BE our representative, Show a good example. We fight everyday to preserve our freedoms to leave the pavement, and its a battle with strong opposition.

Thank you for asking.

Chris Biviano.

Well... where to begin...  We've all seen DynaTrac / Currie axles, Atlas II T-Case, beadlocks, etc. installed on Jeeps.  We've seen tire tests... lots of tire tests.   We see tons of things to do to our Jeeps.  But we see very little of what or how to do things IN our Jeeps. 

I've been wheeling for years.  On every trail ride, there's someone (or several guys) who clearly has no idea what he's doing.  Sure, he's got the gear.  Can even tell you his RTI score and cumulative crawl ratio.  He got all that from the magazines.  What he didn't get were any tips on how to 'wheel, spot, recover, etc. 

I know that there's no substitute for experience.  But you're in a great position to impart this experience / knowledge unto thousands of new (and hard headed) 'wheelers. 

Had another thought: spend some time watching Trading Spaces, Design on a Dime (yeah, I'm married... can ya' tell)  could be some cool ideas for Jeep projects; e.g. two guys swap rigs, each spend $1,000...

Anyway, thanks for a great magazine... and caring enough about it and us to solicit opinions.

By the way, I write for FSJ Magazine... I'd love to contribute to JP if the opportunity every presents itself.

Thanks again,

Mark Speece

markspeece@comcast.net

Do a vintage #'s matching jeep vrs. brand new Rubicon vrs. juggy jeep of the year competition like the other magazines do with their lexus', nissan's, and ford explorer's.  I like what your doing a lot.  Do more trail adventure(mayhem was almost OK) and less garage/driveway time. Finsh projects and evaluate them.  Photographs should show the whole vehicle in proper perspective i.e., not all partial shots looking up at front bumper and tire.  Since I have an 86 grand wagoneer, I want to see the 66 panel sitting level from the side. Also, get more variety, to go with all the rock crawling.  Aside from that, keep everything the same, I like it!  

Okay...first off I've enjoyed the Mag for I guess five years now?  Anyways early on there seemed to be more articles on , (just off the top of my head here) installing a shower so you could run hot water from your jeep, wash it or yourself..etc..

I just bought home a CJ8 today, I live in central Ohio, so yah the road salt has killed it..and the previous owner has bobbed the thing...point I'm making...yah..let's get back on topic here!  Point being, more articles on fixing up that old Jeep, which we do see at times, but not often enough....

Also some historical perspective on Jeeps...or a more indept approach in reporting it. 

I wasn't greatly offended by the last issue I recieved...I am 32/single..etc...so I understand the whole concept of "living it up!"

However, some things are best kept in that inner circle of 'office buddies, coworker's..etc at JP'....we know u guys have fun.....just don't jeapardize the Magazines reputation.... (Hey I got a laugh, but the thought that also came to mind was...dam..how far can they go with this Magazine!)

Anyways I mentioned earlier that I just got a CJ8...I see on the JP site here there is a Scrambler article, as well as in the current Mag.  Also the articles lately seems to be cut down to a small read...with few pictures, for tech purposes.  I would love to see some more frame up resto's, or builds...and more reader's rigs featured on buildups.

THe CJ8 is my sixth Jeep...I have presently two FSJ's a Grand WAg, Cherokee Chief, a CJ5, CJ8...and sadly I sold my CJ7...which I spray painted a few weeks before trading it in...with rust oleum, dealer thought it was a pro paint job, and gave me $3000.00 for it on a trade to my Waggy...LOL...

Okay otherwise Keep up the great work on this Magazine...just give it a revised kick or twist, with more features on the 'Jeep Hobby'...from the very practical 'jury rigg'in, to the expensive buildups'...and throw in all Jeeps old and new...

L8tr's

Aaron J. Davis

I really enjoy your magazine.  I liked the mayhem tour.   Stuff like that shows that you and those who participated enjoy a good time, (never knew blow up betty could double as a cup holder)!  Tech articles are great but when your rig is built, then stories of trails and road trips come in handy for when you want to get out and use your jeep that you worked hard to build.  I have a 97 TJ and you provide all kinds of useful info for modifying that model of Jeep.  I am currently in the process of building a 90 Grand Wagoneer and would like to see some articles on modifying the SJ.  I know you won't start covering this model on a regular basis as people who wheel them are the minority and I understand that but if you could do articles covering tech specs, popular buildups such as spring lifts, SOA lifts, powertrain mods, I would be grateful.  I did like the recent article on the J-truck and the different mods you did to it but I would like to know, for example, if a 241 (Rock Trac) T-case will bolt to the back of my 727 and if not, how to make it happen.   Keep up the great work, I always look forward to the next issue!! 

Graham.  Vancouver, B.C.

uh, i like the tube jeeps and i'm building one.

some people do indeed build those kind of vehicles

Need more Krylon articles.  

ttt  

I Like the Cherokee idea. I drive the 98 Grand Cherokee 5.9L and I would like more information on what I can do to make it look tougher and drive tougher.

Jess

Ok, a little variation on all of the above.  First of all, you are in a rock/hard place, the business of selling magazines AND selling advertising!!

The problem is, you MUST use products that are on the market and yet all of us wanna see the OTHER options that cost less.  But that doesn't make your advertisers happy.

So here is a suggestion, do "both", when you write an article, say about On board welders, show the home built model, AND the bolt on version.  The hard core guys will love the home built version, but the OTHER 90% of the guys who don't wanna build their own will like seeing the bolt on that they can buy.

Then give some honest feedback, PROs, CONS of both methods, lay a bead down with them, ease of use, etc.

This concept can be applied to almost every article, Junkyard D60 vs the $3000 D60 you built.  Build it yourself rock rails, vs the nice plush $250 deals, etc etc.  The guys with a good product are not going to mind being compared to home built, because their quality will show thru!

So....do both, the home built that alot of folks (including me) are looking for AND the off the shelf parts and then compare em, be honest.  (I KNOW it is gonna take a ton of time to build my own welder, make sure and track the "true" cost of time and materials.)

Sam Hinton

Hello Cappa

   I have been an avid Off-road enthusiast for over 35 years. My first Off-Road vehicle was a home built Buggy made from a cut down 1952 Studebaker with a 6 cylinder straight 6 with 3 speed T-90 Trans with an overdrive. I was in High Shool and finances were tight. I wanted a Jeep and saved my money up and in 1968 finally bought a 1949 CJ-2A.  I was going to college and finaces were still a major issue, but by scrimping and saving slowly made changes. Some of the changes were mandated by necessity (breakdowns) At that time in the late 60's Offrad magazines were rare. The articles of interest to me were homebuilt articles and inexpensive add-ons.  Most of the other 4 wheelers I meet still have the same interests.  Over the years I have owned several 4 wheel drive vehicles, most of them Jeeps. I have had many adventures over the years. Of particular interest would be getting home from mechanical breakdowns and bailing wire repairs.  An article on jury-riiging to get home especially from your readers and their overcoming diversity and their story on the lessons learned would not only be good reading but also a great resource to off-roaders.  Others may face the same problem and may remember how to get out of trouble by following the published article.  

   I would guess that many of your readers would also have stories to relate on how they built up a junkyard acqusition to a very functional off-road vehicle.  When I finally sold my CJ-2 (a dumb move) I used the money to buy a 1965 IH Scout. A description of the reasons and the lesson learned with the reason why it was a mistake would be interesting story. Once again your readers could be the source of your story. The story would include comments from your writers.

   For example the CJ2A mentioned earlier evolved from a bone stock Willys to a very competent vehicle.  When I sold it, it had a 215 cu. inch all aluminum Oldsmobile V8 from a 1963 F85. The sandbuggy from my High school days donated its overdrive to the T-90 trans and finally let me go fast enough on the freeway with out having to worry about 18 wheelers running me over. I routinely drove 300 to 400 mile trips. Every mod on the jeep was a result of breakdowns. One of the breakdowns was a result of the #2 cylinder launching itself through the right side of the block of the old flathead.  After about 12 hours of work about 50 miles off the highway in the Desert Center area pass Indio. I managed to repair the vehicle well enough to get home about 200 miles. I even drove it as a 3 cylinder for about a year and  half and eventually Swapped in the Olds engine which was the ancestor of the venerable Buick odd-fire V-6. How about some Homegrown How-to's. I had fabricated a winch. It was a spool that was fabricated to bolt to the wheel lugs with a manually wound cable from a engine hoist. When properly lined up and with the trans in low range, it never failed to get me unstuck. I originally got the Idea when I was stuck in a quickstand pool in the Riverside CA area. I used a long logging chain wrapped around a wheel rim in which I had removed the tire. With the engine running and the transmission in low gear, it came out after being stuck axle deep with no problem. With over 35 years of stories, I have no lack of intersting stories, and I am sure that many other JP readers have interesting and informative stories to tell.  If this ounds like a possible way to get articles, I would be glad to get the ball rolling and send a couple of articles. I could easily write them for any length from 1/2 page to 20 pages or more. Contact me at my e-mail if you are interested. I do feel a regular section on getting unstuck , homegrown how to's could be a very interesting addition to your magazine.  In closing my first off-road mentor also gave me the best advise "Chances are that if you get into an area with 2 wheel drive, 4 Wheel Drive will always get ya' out."

Rick

rickl1@hotmail.com  

ttt  

I LIKE the J-10 on 2 1/2 tons! Let's keep that going. I really like it when you guys do a project like that becuase you let us in on a lot of the details, including what might have gone better.

Here's some more things you are already doing that I'd like to see more of:

More real world tech with enough details for the average Jeep guy to make some use of it in his own garage.

More trail coverage from the entire USA, and Canada would be great. Coverage of trails that have never been in a magazine before would be great too. I know it costs a fortune to fly an editor to a different place every weekend, and I know nobody really wants to fly that much. I don't know how to fix those things easily. I know getting submissions from random readers would be no picnic either. Hopefully you can figure out some way to get more trail coverage without killing yourselves or your budget.

More 'mid range' Jeeps. Stock and near stock Jeeps are kind of boring, becuase everyone has one or two. High buck Jeeps are cool, but often so out of reach that it's difficult to even get ideas from them. Well built rigs that were done on a budget and with tools that most people have or at least can afford fall in between these extremes. The average guy would be able to relate to these better. The Drake's Commando (from South Dakota) was a really good example of this type of Jeep. I liked that article a lot. More details would have made it even better.

I guess I can sum all that up with this: I think people are looking for more than just entertainment in JP. I think they want to learn about Jeeps, find new things to do to their Jeeps and find new places to go in their Jeeps.

I want to see more CHEAP TRICKS to build up your jeep.. im talkin' dirt cheap... i just got a 98 TJ and i cant (the wife says no)  afford many pricey parts or accessories right now... the parts used in the mag are way out of my everyday budget...

less sand buggies ... those aren't jeeps

more MUD less rocks and sand... im from the south ... we dont have mountains

thanks