Trail Recon 392 Sold

[Terrymo]

I like his videos, but someone who smiles that much makes me nervous and suspicious.

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[Whaler27]

You just described most his videos. The guy has gone from seeming pretty genuine in the early videos to a complete tool.

I’ve learned a lot from Brad. He doesn’t pretend to be a professional mechanic or an “expert”, but he’s now put several hundred thousand miles on a collection of jeeps spanning a wide variety of powertrains and platforms. He’s also tested/used his Jeeps offroad more than about 99% of Jeep owners and, as components have failed, he’s enlisted the help of some of the most respected mechanics and manufacturers of aftermarket Jeep products to help him work through modifications and repair of common trail failures.

He’s just a guy who wanted a jeep, bought one, then started using it to learn and play offroad with his family and friends. That evolved into a big money-making machine. Good for him. He’s earned his success — even if he’s only contributed about 50,000 times what I have to the Jeeping community.

He‘s also a retired navy corpsman. I have great gratitude and a special soft spot for those guys, because they take care of Marines under fire and afterwards. He’s had a bigger favorable impact on the world than I have.

 

[Ev08]

My sensor failed 2x within 30,000 miles.
Total clusterF on Jeep's part. Incompetence of the highest order.

Agreed - the same happened to me and my jeep with 30k miles last year. They replaced the sensor twice, did not fix it and realized on the trails. They also replaced a module and the 4th visit they end up replacing the rear axle housing smh.

 

[RicRecon]

Yeah, I always read people complaining about him but when I watched a couple videos on YouTube I was like "wait, this is the same guy everyone hates?"

I agree and also wondered why this guy is an issue.

 

[greige]

I’ve learned a lot from Brad. He doesn’t pretend to be a professional mechanic or an “expert”, but he’s now put several hundred thousand miles on a collection of jeeps spanning a wide variety of powertrains and platforms. He’s also tested/used his Jeeps offroad more than about 99% of Jeep owners and, as components have failed, he’s enlisted the help of some of the most respected mechanics and manufacturers of aftermarket Jeep products to help him work through modifications and repair of common trail failures.

He’s just a guy who wanted a jeep, bought one, then started using it to learn and play offroad with his family and friends. That evolved into a big money-making machine. Good for him. He’s earned his success — even if he’s only contributed about 50,000 times what I have to the Jeeping community.

He also a retired navy corpsman. I have great gratitude and a special soft spot for those guys, because they take care of Marines under fire and afterwards. He’s had a bigger favorable impact on the world than I have.

Thank you, I couldn't have said it better. Yes, some of his content does not meet my needs or curiosity, but for the most part, I have enjoyed his content and have learned something from almost every video. Lately, I have been skipping over some of his content. I guess my biggest problem (my problem) is that I want him to stick with the Jeep I think is best, the Rubicon Diesel. I will always watch Brad's content where he looks at things other than his current project, like EJS, the Jeep Museum or Collection he had access to, the factory tour and other stuff like that. His diligence has earned him access to really cool stuff.

 

[sbrimer]

When I watch and hear about people making You Tube videos and becoming "Influencers", and then making money, sometimes lots of money, off the things that they are doing, I keep in mind that if those same people don't keep doing what they are doing and keep it engaging at some level, then the money ....................stops.

It's the same with any type of income.

I also keep in mind that it is entertainment and I am free to not watch or participate, and if I do, I give it the value I think it's worth......to ME.

Maybe that's just a generational thing..........................

On a side note.............I do enjoy his content..................and have gained some value from it.

(By the way......I Love my 392 and I wheel the hell out of it more than most would say that I should with THAT Jeep.)

 

[beewil]

I like watching his trips, but it is pretty obvious he isn't all that mechanically inclined. All Rubicons that are pre '24 have or will be affected by this. This includes all the ones he owns. My '18 went out, I used the Z-Automotive bypass to fix it as it was out of warranty. My buddy had his go out last fall when we were in Moab on his '22. It was still under warranty so Jeep fixed it.

The transfer case issue was caused by him. He was driving around with his trailer on dirt roads in FT. Of course he burnt the clutches. Driver error.

The fuel one is one that seems to be affecting the 392s, at least more have been reported with 392s than the other engine configurations. Not sure if it is because the fuel pickup is different in the 392s or because they use more fuel. Most have figured out to bring extra fuel though.

This guys has bought and sold more Jeeps than all my friends combined (and I belong to a Jeep club). I think he was being dramatic for clicks.

I noticed that the Z Automotive bypass on their website only went up to model years 2023. Thanks for the clarification and info that 24’s are not affected.

 

[kah.mun.rah]

Guess I never got the memo or was too late to the forum, but why is [Banned Site] banned? I really like his content and he seems genuine. What am I missing?

Because Eddie (and his buddies) are complete a-holes on his Forums. Nice guy in person but major keyboard warrior prick online.

Brad looks like the nicest guy on the planet in his videos but is pretty arrogant in person. He buys/sells a new vehicle multiple times a year. He blames it on the vehicle when he sells it but IMO it is either for fresh YouTube content or else he has the attention span of a goldfish.

Kevin and Brittany look like they could be a bit "too cool for other people" in their videos but in person are the nicest and coolest people you will ever meet.

Matt on Matt's Offroad Recovery talks the talk and walks the walk. The cool guy you see in his videos is the same person he is in his daily life with other people.

 

[Jeep Wick]

Ironically, his Gladiator that he wants to keep for another 100k is also a Rubicon. How long until that starts eating locker sensors??

 

[Throatcuttter]

My brother in law has a 2021 392. It's been really problematic and they have had all sorts of issues, most of the ones TrailRecon reported. My 2018 Rubicon has had just one issue in the 7 years, 165,000 miles I've put on it and that was just an AC issue that a Jeep tech screwed up. The Jeep wrangler wasn't meant to be a high performance vehicle. It's crazy that people will spend $95K for something so badly built. Better to stick to what it's best at. I almost traded for a 392, then I decided to keep my 2018 JL and get a Gen 3 Ford Raptor and I'm way happier than I would have been with a 392. The Raptor is built to go fast and hit stuff hard. The Jeep just isnt.

 

[sherpaJL]

Guess I never got the memo or was too late to the forum, but why is [Banned Site] banned? I really like his content and he seems genuine. What am I missing?

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ong-with-these-people.4445/page-2#post-161223

 

[Oletimer]

I like watching his trips, but it is pretty obvious he isn't all that mechanically inclined. All Rubicons that are pre '24 have or will be affected by this. This includes all the ones he owns. My '18 went out, I used the Z-Automotive bypass to fix it as it was out of warranty. My buddy had his go out last fall when we were in Moab on his '22. It was still under warranty so Jeep fixed it.

The transfer case issue was caused by him. He was driving around with his trailer on dirt roads in FT. Of course he burnt the clutches. Driver error.

The fuel one is one that seems to be affecting the 392s, at least more have been reported with 392s than the other engine configurations. Not sure if it is because the fuel pickup is different in the 392s or because they use more fuel. Most have figured out to bring extra fuel though.

This guys has bought and sold more Jeeps than all my friends combined (and I belong to a Jeep club). I think he was being dramatic for clicks.

so the 24s are different/better?

 

[gato]

The fuel starvation is easily solved ...

Correct.

... by carrying extra fuel for long off-road trips.

No. By properly engineering a fuel pick up system. This problem has been solved for decades. A Wrangler is designed to be at steep angles. It's fuel system has to work at steep angles. everything abut the 392 has been rushed, kludgy engineering.

 

[THAW]

All Rubicons that are pre '24 have or will be affected by this.

so the 24s are different/better?

The locker sensor was updated during the '23 model year.

Old (borrowed from @fixbroke):

New (borrowed from @legacy_etu):

 

[gato]

The locker sensor was updated during the '23 model year.

Question. Can we buy and retrofit the 2024+ sensor into a pre-2024 locker? Thanks.

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