4xGuard

What's Up with Potential New Products

2010-05-15T09:56:00.000-06:00

In response to several inquires I agree I have been remiss in not communicating here on the plans and status of our R/D projects. Of course we hesitate doing so, because it then comes to pass that perspective customers get anxious and the email messages of "when" start pouring in. Be that as it may we have always tried to be as open and forthright as possible relative to all aspects of our business, be they "good" news or "bad". That said, here is the latest (and hopefully at least in some eyes the greatest).

During our five years of trying to develop a front swaybar disconnect system we have encountered many, many setbacks. And at the brink of success we are again faced with a setback. There are two underlying issues on this potential product: 1) the extreme forces on the swaybar link, which I would argue are in the "extreme" catagory (if there is such a ranking?), and 2) the tendency of the unibody construction to transmit any suspension noise to the cabin of the vehicle. Many of us have found that both OEM AND aftermarket (Superlift, BDS) links start failing after a relatively short period of time, the result of which is frontend noise. Our current problem is that we finally found a setup that performs well as a disconnect, but in doing so has enough internal "looseness" that irritating noises are generated. Recently we conquered the "looseness"/noise issue only to be confronted with a potential product that is not user friendly--i.e. it is too tight for easy removal in order to disconnect. That is where we are right now: trying to find a compromise or other solution to this dilemma.

Related to the disconnect system we have also looked atreplacment (non-disconnect) swaybar links, and have recently decided on a package of components that can be used for 0 to 5 inches of lift, mounted either front or rear, and incorporate much stronger bushings as well as Heim joints to increase longevity and decrease suspension noise. These should be available very soon.

It took us longer than expected but the Commander version of our popular Side Guard 2 will be out very soon. Production is now completed and all that needs to be done is a final fit check (first batch and all!) before we can start notifying those on our list of potential buyers and shipping.

Last but not least is the replacement product for our Rear Guard, which we recently discontinued. This product will be available for both the Grand and Commander, but it will not be a skid plate per se. We will call it the Rear Guard Slider, and as the name implies it is designed for carrying the full weight of the vehicle as it might slide down off a rock ledge, provide an increased level of protection for the rear fascia corners of the vehicle during this and similar situations, and allow installation of D-Rings/Bow shackles (by which one could conceivably lift the vehicle with a HiLift jack). With relatively minor modification the previous Rear Guards will be compatible with the Slider, a combination which would offer the ultimate in protection and as well as rugged, offroad good looks. We will likely also re-design the Rear Guard for those not having one or not wants to do the "modification".

That's it for now--let the emails begin :)

I’d give the WK a 9.5 (“on my scale there ain’t no 10’s, you know”)

2010-02-22T14:52:00.002-07:00

Having just returned home from a 2,965 mile RT road trip from Denver (cold) to Brownsville, TX (warmer) I thought it a good time to post—again—an “I love my WK” comment.

My WK is a CRD and I averaged a calculated 12.97 mpg pulling a 28 ft travel trailer on all but about 200 of those miles (now with the Bully Dog setup about 2 mpg better than I got pulling the trailer to Canada last summer). Equally important IMO was the comfort/convenience we were afforded, from the all important auto-dimming headlights to the auto wipers to the wonderful navigation system (loaded with 1800 of our favorite tunes). Due to an unexpected family matter we had to return quickly and I drove 1300 miles in two very long days. I have NEVER had a vehicle where I could drive 10-12 hours straight without extreme fatigue—until my 2005 and now this 2008. Obviously this would not hold true for everyone, but I find the seat, sitting position, quiet cabin, and ride to be near perfect. Lastly, the final few hundred miles across western Kansas and eastern Colorado were fairly treacherous early Saturday morning. The road was snow packed and icy; there were numerous accidents involving tractor-trailer rigs, SUVs, etc. It was not the best time to be pulling a trailer to say the least. But QDII performed as advertised and kept me on the straight and narrow without slipping even once.

Yes there have been, and perhaps continue to be, quality issues that are frustrating, but I continue to be impressed with the WKs versatility, comfort, performance and value. Not a perfect 10 to be sure, but a darn nice rig IMO.

New Website Launched

2010-01-19T13:57:00.003-07:00

With a great deal of pride and satisfaction, but with unfortunately little fanfare, our new website was launched on January 17, 2010. It represents the culmination of a great deal of time and effort on the part of my two sons, Lance and Mike; I did little but try to stay out of the way. I am extremely proud of the many accomplishments of my sons. I suppose many can say that but I feel it is more accurate and honest in my particular circumstance. From the time they were youngsters until today they have given their mother and I very little cause for concern and tons of pleasant memories to carry with us during the waning years of our life. No father can ask more than to sincerely feel their sons (or daughters, for that matter) are leading productive and apparently happy lives, and becoming more each passing day the kind of father and husband that I hoped they would become one day. It is easy to say it is the parents that set the foundation, and that of course is true to some degree. But in this day and age I feel there are so many distractions and negative pressures that the heart and soul of each person is what most dictates the kind of person they ultimately become in life. Irrespective of the reasons they are fine men, and I thank them from my "heart and soul" for doing such a great job of me on this new website.

It was a very good year

2009-12-30T12:14:00.002-07:00

This phrase pretty much summarizes 2009. It is also the title to what I regard as a rather nice song by Frank Sinatra--not that is has anything to do with me and certainly not 4xGuard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwv-DxOPhSc

Anyway for 4xGuard we experienced a fairly substantial increase in sales despite the economic downturn, had the opportunity to meet lots of nice folks that were either customers or other enthusiasts, wheel'd some fantastic trails on the public lands of our great nation, and attend some exciting and interesting events such as the SEMA tradeshow. There were, of course, some tough times as well, primarily adjusting to a new fabricator and keeping products in stock, but like child birth those times seem now to pale to the good times. We are extremely fortunate to have come so far these past 3 years--a period that allowed us the opportunity to not only build a business but also to experience the personal growth associated with that process. I feel I have a better appreciation of the many aspects of owning a business, have more skills in terms of product design and website maintenance, and have in the process met so many great folks. Again it has been a very good year, and we look forward to the challenges and success that 2010 will bring. We expect the new year will include introduction of a few new products, expansion of affiliate products that we test and sell, and an increase in our participation in off-road events around the country. I wish for all a happy and healthy New Year, and for our country a solution to the economic and military/security challenges it faces.

Thoughts on the end of summer

2009-09-16T14:49:00.003-06:00

The past 9 months have brought a number of challenges, not the least of which was moving our fabrication to Metalforms while at the same time finalizing the Matrix series of products. Though more work needs to be done to improve the overall operation of the business I at this point feel pretty good about things. Metalforms is now doing a great job on the fabrication end of things, Superlift is shipping products without too many issues, and 4xGuard sales are far ahead of last year despite the nation's economy. In addition we continue to hear from customers how much they like the products and service, and we have even gotten "press release" articles in Four Wheeler and 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility magazines as well as a nice editorial statement and our first advertisement in JP Freek magazine. We count ourselves very fortunate for these and many other reasons.

The summer also brought the loss of an old friend and companion, our trusty 2005 Grand Cherokee Limited. It was the acquisition of this vehicle, and subsequent desire to improve its off-road performance with custom skid plates that launched 4xGuard over 3 years ago. It was very sad to see it in the hands of another, but it was time to move on. In its place is a 2008 CRD Overland that is still undergoing modifications to bring it up to the level of the 2005. Overall we are very pleased with the towing capability of the CRD and creature comforts of the Overland model. Time will tell if we become as attached to it as we were with "big red".

Matrix--the end is in sight

2009-06-08T09:13:00.003-06:00

I have been struggling for several years on the Matrix concept. I wanted something that had lots of versatility so customers could obtain only what they wanted and needed, as well as good looks and lots of enhanced vehicle capability. I suppose there have been at least 3 versions that have been designed, prototyped and tested, and many more that never got that far in the overall process. Fabrication if the "final" version was completed last week and my copy will arrive shortly for QA/QC before the backlog of orders is filled. As with all new products I enter this stage with a great deal of anxiety concerning fitment, instruction errors, etc., and of course the response of the WK community. I guess time will tell in that regard. For the moment it's time to relax a bit and perhaps feel a little sense of accomplishment.

New fabricator on board--Matrix is back!!

2009-02-08T21:09:00.003-07:00

This week I spent several days with a new fabricator and came away extremely pleased with the services and quality that we have been offered. The Matrix has seen several improvements and we have opted for another prototype to make sure the final is all that it can be. Production of the Side Guard HC will commence soon so it soon will be available for sale on the website. Thanks to all for your patience.

Introduction of the Matrix postponed

2008-12-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it. Today our fabricator informed us that the slowing economy has forced downsizing of their company, which began yesterday, and resulted in their being unable to produce the Matrix for several weeks and perhaps even longer. I sincerely apologize for this unexpected circumstance; those that have made pre-release purchases to date will receive full refunds asap as well as some future compensation for their trouble in this regard. We will of course seek long-term solutions to this fabrication dilemma. Sometimes it’s tough being the small guy with little clout.

4xGuard's Matrix brush guard and light bar a go

2008-10-27T12:05:00.003-06:00

It has been far too long, probably a couple of years, that we have been working on the design and fabrication of a product for the front end of the 2005+ Grand Cherokee. We have had at this point over 6 configurations, in fact. Over the last few months we have been trying desperately to complete this project and get something out, and I feel we have at last been able to finalize the design and move towards production. Our goal is to have the Matrix available for sale before 12/20/08. The pre-production feedback has been very positive but one never can tell how sales will go until a few customers "touch and feel" the product and provide their opinions on forums and the like. The bottom line is it is a significant financial committment for us, even more than the Side Guard-HC was, and in this economic climate we hope the decision to go forward was the right one.

Last of the summer fun

2008-08-18T19:41:00.002-06:00

Its been awhile so let me recap. We had a number of product-testing runs this past summer. We worked on the swaybar disconnects, the Matrix brush guard, and the Bilstein front (adjustable) and rear shock setup. The discos and brush guard look good at this point, and after minor modifications the only issue is the cost of production. We like the Bilstein front setup, but the rear was in our opinion too stiff. So for the time being we are going to see if Superlift has interest in working with us on the discos, and will try to modify the design of the Matrix in order to make it more cost-effective.

As for the future we had hoped to participate in the 2008 Pomona Offroad Expo but ultimately decided against it this year. Frankly the industry has experienced a significant slowdown in recent months and we simply do not see a positive cost/benefit ratio. We plan a pleasure trip to the west coast, however, and will spend a day at the Expo to see what is new and exciting.

Several forums have suggested that 2010 may see the end of the WK platform as we have come to know and appreciate it. If this turns out to be the case, there are many of us that will be extremely sad to see the end to such a fantastically capable vehicle. As I have said on many occasions there simply is no rig IMO that comes close to its combination of style, performance and versatility. I hope these negative predictions are wrong and an even better WK platform is in our future!!

Grand Slam Moab and New Product Testing

2008-06-08T20:23:00.003-06:00

Last week we joined a wide variety of other Grands to run a number of trails in the Moab area. The trial we chose was Hell's Revenge, a trail we had run several previous times but which offers the vistas and obstacles that we were seeking. High on our list was testing the prototype disconnects. We were concerned the telescoping design of these disconnects may not have sufficient travel, and indeed the first obstacles on the trail showed that to be the case. It this was determined a design that would accommodate the range of 0 to 4 inches of suspension travel would have to be scraped in favor of one for only lifted (2 to 4 inches) vehicles.

We also were testing the new installed Bilstein front ADJUSTABLE shocks. This setup proved itself to be far superior to the stock setup, handling on-road and off-road maneuvers extremely well. The ride quality on road and their ability to flatten out the corners were particularly noteworthy. We will soon be adding Bilstein rear shocks to test their impact on the vehicle.

Lastly, we had the latest version of the Matrix front guard on our WK. We like the new design, as do several you had occasion to look it over. We now go forward with the design to see about production costs and timeframes.

Overdue Update

2008-05-12T16:11:00.002-06:00

For those that have occasion to view this blog I apologize for such a long hiatus. It has been so long I don't remember why we have been too busy to keep this thing current. Be that as it may here are a few tidbits on recent developments and the like.

Our two biggest new-product efforts have been the swaybar disconnects and the Matrix front guard. The discos are done, on our vehicle, and ready to be tested in Moab and Ouray. The Matrix--prototype 3--finally got back from the fabricator after 3 months or so of promises and delays, and is mounted on our vehicle. However, it is clear a number of modifications are necessary and we are going through the CAD thing to get that done. We will then update cost information and decide whether it is a go or no-go. There has been lots of interest so we hope we can produce the product at a reasonable cost so all the effort will not be in vein.

Despite a general slowdown in the economy it seems our sales have suffered very little. In fact we are currently out of stock for several products. Our new Side Guard HC has been received very well, and it is now out of stock.

I will try to keep up better with this blog--after all that defeats its purpose.

Future 4xGuard Products

2008-02-02T20:00:00.001-07:00

Though our website covers some of what is going on relative to new products, I thought I might take this opportunity to provide a brief update.

The Matrix. This product will be a modular, bolt-on brushguard that can be built-up by the customer to include a receiver for up to a 9,000 pound portable winch, a mount for off-road lighting, and additional front-end protection; "D" shackles that are frame mounted will be standard as part of the basic configuration. We are on our second design and a second prototype will some be ready for fitting and testing.

Swaybar Disconnects. We have fortunately been able to use a set of custom JKS swaybar disconnects and our testing has confirmed that the vehicle performs much better off-road with the swaybar disconnected. As JKS has indicated they will not be making this accessory for the WK/XK, we have completed an entirely different style/design and the parts will soon be fabricated into a prototype set. They will be tested this Spring.

Tail Guard HC. This product would complement our Rear Guard HC and provide corner protection around the lower perimeter of the rear quarter panel, which has been found to be very prone to damage during severe off-roading. Design is ongoing.

Rear Differential Skid. The rear driveshaft has been found to be vulnerable to damage in severe off-road situations, especially vehicles with the Superlift suspension kit. In fact it was this damage that caused the Grand Cherokee to not be awarded the Four Wheeler of the Year in 2005. A skid plate has been designed to protect the rear differential and rear driveshaft,; a prototype is planned for testing this Spring.

As indicated earlier we welcome suggestions for now products--just send us an email or give us a call.

4xGuard featured in National Magazine

2008-01-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful week for us as the February issue of Diesel Power Magazine (published by Primedia who also does Offroad, JP and Four Wheeler magazines) has begun to arrive on the doorsteps of subscribers and at some news stands. The extensive coverage of the initial stages of a planned 18-month buildup of a 2008 diesel Grand Cherokee prominently features 4xGuard products, including the Rear Guard HC and a prototype version of Side Guard HC. Coverage of the installation of the Front Guard HC and Belly Guard HC will be part of an upcoming issues. This is obviously great advertising--our first coverage in a major national magazine.

The stage was set for our involvement in the buildup of this vehicle when we were contacted many months ago by a representative of Jeep to see if 4xGuard had any interest in participating in the project. Later we hosted the editor of Diesel Power as he drove across the country with his new acquisition (the brand new rig and its newly installed complement of a Superlift suspension, ARB bumper with winch, and four 4xGuard products) and as the article indicates personally installed a set of prototype Side Guard HCs (the paint was hardly dry...it was that close to not having them ready!). Meeting with such a high-level person in the magazine industry, discussing the future of vehicles such as the diesel-powered Grand Cherokee, and learning more about the behind-the-scenes elements of vehicle testing and the magazine industry, were certainly highlights in the history of our small business.

We are equally very pleased that a number of other off-road businesses have called or e-mailed us this past week to congratulate us on the magazine coverage of 4xGuard. This aspect of the industry, the camaraderie among those manufacturing and distributing off-road accessories, is certainly one of the things we most enjoy about the business. There are truly so many folks we have come to know that are not only great people in a technical, business sense, but "simply" good people. We are proud to be a small part of that community.

Our next post will focus on new products, either envisioned, planned or in various stages of development.

WKs and carrying over sized spare tires

2008-01-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Joel's comment and suggestion touches on one of the two most common questions we are asked: I am going with over sized tires and where can I carry my now larger spare? (the other question is how does the Superlift 4 inch ride and handle?) First let me say that moving the spare inside is probably unworkable due to tire size exceeding the available space, moving it on the roof is not IMO aesthetically pleasing and potentially increases center of gravity issues, and building a (heavy) rear swing away is not financially in our best interests due to the costs involved and relatively small market.

When I contemplated trading my 2-inch lift for what was then a "soon to be available" 4-inch kit my biggest concern was indeed carrying a much larger spare tire. I never wheeled without a good spare that matched the set on the ground. The Superlift instructions--at least my old version--says "the factory spare tire/wheel can be used in emergency situations." I questioned this statement on principal and concern for my rig's driveline, but soon thereafter had a chance opportunity to meet a Jeep engineer involved in designing the WK/XK platform. This gentleman confirmed Superlift's statement--"just don't drive at high speed for miles down some freeway!" For me that was enough and the rest is history. I now run 305 series tires and carry a 265 series spare, which is deflated so it will fit in the OEM location. (And when the fellow doing my oil changes brings this condition to my attention I enjoy telling him "leave it flat--it keeps the weight down and improves gas mileage.") Anyway my point is I feel this "solution" is preferable to the alternatives. Besides I have never had a tire failure using the Goodrich or Goodyear 3-ply sidewall tires (though I recognize it is certainly possible and thus have tapped my wooden desk top a few times.)

Sorry about the response, but is there anything else that you would like us to work on, Joel?

New Year...New Blog

2008-01-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to a new "blog" for 4xGuard. We hope through this form of communication to achieve several objectives:

Let folks know of the latest information relative to our products,
Tell about our 4-wheeling adventures (most of which are business related), and
Answer common questions that come to us relative to "unleashing" the WK/XK platform.

As I am a novice at this "blogging" thing the initial posts may be a bit awkward and such, but with time even I can learn to do things better.

As with any New Year one typically is inspired to take stock of the past, in this case particularly 2007 and 4xGuard. What first comes to mind is the fantastic growth of the company and sales of its products, and the opportunity to interact with so many great people, both customers and others in the industry. In fact it is the people more than anything that keeps us going. Not to brag too much but we have had a tremendous amount of positive feedback, and are becoming to feel like a "player" as our name and products are becoming more and more recognized in the community of Grand Cherokee/Commander enthusiasts. We are truly amazed at how the business has evolved in just a couple of years, and looking forward to what this new year brings our way.

Through your comments I would like to hear what products you would like to see us develop, what improvements we should make to those we currently have, and how we can better serve WK/XK owners through products offered by other manufacturers. You all know my bias: the WK/XK with proper accessories is one of the most capable off-road vehicles and is, in my opinion, the best overall in terms of versatility and performance. And I truly think the future bodes well for these vehicles as more and more recognition of their attributes make their way into the marketplace. We want to be a part of making that happen, and through your comments you can help us. So visit this blog on occasion, and tell us your thoughts...it will be fun and informative.