| Author |
Message |
    
Andy Nichols
| | Posted on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 01:44 pm: | 
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Did anyone see in the USA Today a week or so back, that GM is doing (relatively) well in the current marketplace because of their military vehicle contracts (Hummer, GMC I guess). Ford and Chrysler don't have these types of contracts (only Daimler in Europe).
Seems to me that we all should write Ford and tell them to keep the (LR) military market in mind, so that we can keep some of the traditional features of LR's on future trucks (Defender, Disco etc).
How about it? |
Leslie N. Bright (Leslie)
| | Posted on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 05:08 pm: |
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Uh......
Defenders are the mainstay of the military units in many other countries.... UK, etc.....
Even the Rangers make use of pinkie-style D110 on LRRPs....
No, it's not a big component, but it's existent.
-L |
Curtis
| | Posted on Sunday, April 21, 2002 - 02:08 am: |
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Andy,
I would imagine that they are referring to the many, many other vehicles the military uses besides passenger 4x4's. I would bet that Hummer only supplies a tiny percentage of the budget for military vehicle purchases.
Curtis |
Jon Williams (Jonw)
| | Posted on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 10:59 am: |
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GM, Westinghouse, General Electric - all of them have been top Government suppliers from the get-go, and Westinghouse and GE have been divisions of GM at one point or the other. GM also is the exclusive manufacturer of tanks for the military. Ford never really had much interest in that segment, because of the time, money and bull you have to go through when contracting with the Govt., and since GM is already and has always been established, it would be quite near impossible to break-in, unless Ford could offer a Defender that the Government considered to be just leaps and bounds superior to the Hummer. Also, everything serving this country has to be made by a US business. Even though Ford owns Land Rover, they do not operate them, and therefore the US would consider Land Rover to be a "foreign" supplier when it comes to defense contracting. Unfortunately. Which is kinda sad, considering all I've heard about the Hummer is that they're fat pigs that are easily stuck when the going gets tough and only do well on mostly flat surfaces ...kinda like every other GM SUV  |
Jon Williams (Jonw)
| | Posted on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 11:45 am: |
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...for what it's worth, the one advantage Defenders would have aginst the Hummer (in the eyes of the Government) is they're cheap - a LOT less expensive than Hummers. But that probably wouldn't make a difference to the lobbyists... |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 03:03 pm: |
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I know why ford doesn't. It's because "Grandson" Ford whomever he is, is too interested in producing more mustanges and ultra production SUV's like the esca expa what ever the most current one is.
As far as GM & Hummer, how about that new Hummer that was supposed to be for the rest of us? I saw the price tag on it is up to around the $60k mark now. All that for a truck built on a GMC truck frame. Basically, a waste of time in my opinion. At $60k, they might as well have continued making the $70k Hummer the only option. I mean after the first $60, whats another $10?
Maybe when they bring the Defenders back to the States, the military will consider them. Although, I agree that there would have to be a self sufficient factory for them in the States before the military would want to depend on them. |
Joey Chong (Trekker110)
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 05:04 pm: |
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There was a article back in November 2001 about getting affordable and more practical vehicles for military use within the States. It mentioned that although Hummers work great in operations such as Desert Storm they're not needed when the operations are taking place in the suburbs. The logic behind the writer's thoughts was that for the price of one Hummer you can outfit a crew with 3-4 vehicles that will be more efficient in the use of resources. If I find the link to the article I'll post it up.
With that in mind, I think that Ford (since they own LR) should jump in and make a contract for supplying Defenders to the U.S. military. And plus Ford will not have to spend extra money on R&D since the Defender is already in use my the military in other parts of the world. I guess that would be wishful thinking, but one can always hope that they start bringing in the Defender again. I still want a 110 wagon. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 03:47 pm: |
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I think the Special forces still uses 110's |
BW
| | Posted on Saturday, May 18, 2002 - 01:18 am: |
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I surely agree the Hummer has quite a few problems. One trait the Hummer possess that other models lack is the amount of payload the hummer can carry. More importantly, when you load the hummer down with all that gear plus a crew served weapon like a MK-19 grenade launcher, the hummer's wide stance keeps it from tipping.
BW |
Kennith P. Whichard III
| | Posted on Monday, May 20, 2002 - 10:13 pm: |
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To all,
I am in the military, and I know why we have HMMWV's instead of defenders.
Defenders are better in every way exept two. off road Defenders dominate, though, so I will begin with the posistives for Land Rover. To start, the HMMWV can only be tilted safely while loaded 22 degrees to one side, that is streight from the manuel. I can't remember what the climbing rating is in degrees, but it is around 33. Land Rover is 45 all around sustained.
Those ratings are sustained and relate to how the engine can lubricate over time. Of course a HMMWV can power up a 45 degree incline, but the engine won't stay lubricated over a long period of time at that angle.
The HMMWV was chosen because of two reasons: the first is not the defender's fault. It is actually both CHEAPER and can be produced on a more mass scale. The military pays only about 23,000 dollars for a basic M-998 HMMWV. A military Defender Wolf costs considerably more. new. The second is because some of the US government's previously contracted equipment is quite heavy. The HMMWV rides on a 130" load-bearing wheelbase with up to 50 psi in the rear wheels. It's basically a pickup truck. Thats why the militery uses them. More load space and capacity. They chopped the approach and departure angles to dummy-proof them, but left the ramp angle so low they get high centered all the time. Believe me, I know.
They are great for the purpose they were designed for though, and I wouldn't have any other vehicle for that purpose. But for off roading, I'll take my Disco anyday. In the end, they are apples and orenges.
Cheers,
Kennith |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 10:55 am: |
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i didn't think they used hummers in the coast guard |
Kennith P. Whichard III
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 01:11 pm: |
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I am not in the coast guard. |
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