Re: The New Jeep \"Rescue\" SUV. Check it out...
The Turbo Diesel Registry lists describes it as built on the Ram-2500 platform, with coil front suspension, Cummins diesel, ect.
As a recue vehicle, with 10kw generator capability, front/rear winches, safety gear, rescue gear, ect, it makes sense to run a beefier vehicle. Having grown up in Jeep's from CJ2a'-CJ7's, they are a light duty vehicle.. Even the guys running Toyota's on the trails still have a light duty vehicle. The first thing most people do to trail rigs is beef them up for bigger tires, lower gears, winches ect ect ect. Why not use a 3/4 ton chassis to begin with?
Having run the tight trails though, that 3/4 ton width chassis will be an issue. I have been lots of places where a stock width Jeep barely fit through, much less ones with really wide tires or now popular wide axle setup. It is amazing the differenc ein manueverablility between a Jeep or Landcruiser compared to a short bed Toy pickup.
There was some talk a while back on the TDR site if I remember right, about Dodge possibly releasing a pickup for the military that ran diesel electric hybrid. They could run in "stealth mode" using battery instead of a noisy engine. It could also be used to generate electricity. One market item mentioned was the ability to have a generator on construction sites and the like. My contractor buddy carries a generator pretty often to his sites. Why not have a 10kw generator built in to the truck!
