Chrysler's Mopar division went hog-wild on new off-roading rigs for the 44th Easter Jeep Safari. There's a quartet of Wranglers, the bitchin' Nukizer concept, a high-clearance Powerwagon and the Raptor-like Ram Runner. Glad to see someone at ChryCo's still kicking.
Click on the images for details on the vehicles which, before you ask, haven't been announced for production. Fortunately, you can build most of those out of parts from Mopar, AEV and others.
The high-travel, customized Ram Powerwagon rides on a brief 120 wheelbase and sports a custom step side bed, modified headlights, rock rails and body armor, a 4-inch suspension lift and some beefy 40-inch tires. It also seems quite happy going sideways.
The Wrangler Immortal packs a seriously cool upgrade — bolt on gear-reduced portal axle ends. The system's designed to work with Mopar's Pro Rock and Power Wagon performance axles and afford 5" of additional clearance and a 1.5 gear reduction. Powering this sucker is AEV's 5.7-liter HEMI conversion kit running through 4:1 transfer case for a crawl drive ratio of a whopping 100:1. No need for hill decent control on this bad boy.
We saw the radical Jeep Nukizer 715 a bit earlier and are still cleaning up the keyboard drool. It starts off with the Jeep J8 chassis, adds a modified M-715 military vehicle cab and an AEV Brute bed then tops everything off with a custom canvas top. We want it, we need it, Chrysler, make it so.
The Wrangler Trail Boss is basically a Rubicon with the Mopar and AEV parts catalog thrown at it. It's got the half doors, 3-inch lift kit, bead lock wheels, AEV bumpers and hood, a Warn winch, sun bonnet and a partridge in a pear tree.
The Ford F150 SVT Raptor seems to have stirred up the pot when it comes to desert ready off road trucks. Toyota's talking about a hi-po Tundra and here's Chrysler with their Ram Runner. It's more or less set up as pre-runner light with a custom high-travel suspension, all-fiberglass fenders the full set up to do some serious speed out in the boonies.
The Wrangler General is built to climb rocks. It's got a 4.5-inch lift, bead lock wheels, flat fenders, rock rails and underbody armor, and a half-door kit so you can lean over the side to watch wheel placement.
The Jeep Wrangler J7 is basically a civilianized version of the military-upgraded Jeep J8. It starts as a Wrangler Unlimited and has the interior stripped out, including the carpets and stereo, a two-inch lift is applied, and the helicopter hook-equipped solid metal bumper bolted on. This is the J8 anyone could build if they were so inclined.
Not pictured and not discussed is the Jeep Patriot "Extreme." It's extreme in its lameness with a 2-inch lift kit, bigger wheels and a bunch of bolt-on tchotchkes.