Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Jeep Hope is Closer

Yesterday I had expressed a hope that Chrysler would start building the prototype JT compact truck or the modern version of the Scrambler. Well, last night I got my newest copy of 4wheel and Off Road magazine and while perusing it's pages found a snippet that had a picture of something similar to the JT. Apparently you can use your 4 door Wrangler unlimited or buy one then buy this $5,499 dollar kit to create what Jeep dubs as the JK8. If your not real handy with tools your dealer can perform the transformation. No telling what that would cost. So, shell out 12 to 30 thousand dollars for a used Wrangler Unlimited. Tack on 5,500 for the kit and most likely an astronomical amount for the dealer to install the kit. Woohoo, what a deal. NOT!

There is another way of doing a JT/Scrambler build. Cough up around 13,000 bucks for a Brute kit that actually lengthens the frame of the vehicle. So once again we are looking a very expensive conversion. Using it though, you or your fabricator can end up with something like this.

I like the Brute kit better but it does take a lot more fabrication skills than most people posses. Using purchased skilled labor will send the cost through the roof and that goes for the JK8 too. So, we are back to spending what today amounts to a small fortune to create a compact 2 door 4x4 truck.
If there is enough demand for these kits, both the JK8 and the Brute, isn't that enough demand for Chrysler/Jeep to bring the JT to fruition and deliver a factory made fully warranted vehicle?

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