Yet another Jeep concept truck, J12

[87Warrior]

I am not one to post up concept vehicles since it is always a let down when they never hit the showroom floor. I don't think I've seen the J12 posted yet.

 

This one is just practical enough and built off of many existing parts that maybe, someday, something like it may come to fruition...oh wait, Chrysler do something practical? It took them about 15 years to produce the Rubicon package (the best selling Jeep yet).

 

Image Not Found

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/jee ... ive-review

 

Built off of the new JK Wrangler chassis with the Mopar JK8 hard top, stretched a little with a new front end bolted in place.

 

How hard could it be!?!?!?

[SW86]

they just need to stop. i don't see them making a truck thats built for real world truck situations. they keep building them up basicly for a offroad truck. then again i don't know the stats on towing or hauling.....anybody know?

[Comanche County]

They hit the mark with the Mighty FC concept but it'll never happen. It was a wool blanket pulled over our eyes to make us think they're actually going to design something new. Same with this but worse, this one leaves me with kind of an empty feeling. Its a watered down Nukizer. Its as if every year their concept designers sit down at a table and ask each other, "What are we going to make out of a Wrangler this year?" No push, no gumption, no guts at the top for a new platform.

 

If they want to make a truck, make a truck already and stop fiddling with Wranglers. They're too afraid to let go of the Wranglers profitable coat tails which they're hanging on to for dear life while tricking us into believing that perhaps one day we'll have another Jeep truck. When they make a real truck worthy of putting the name "Jeep" on it, then they'll see the magic happen. Their concepts are nice, but in truth they're half-hearted. Forget towing and payload, and God forbid we mention the words "Metric Ton", "Full Size", "One-Ton", or such nonsense. They just ooze compromise, that's what the "C" in Chrysler stands for.

 

The bottom line is that Chrysler will not make a full size Jeep truck that could take a piece of the Ram's market share. Never mind about going toe to toe with all the foreign auto makers dominating the small and mid-size truck market, they haven't forgotten the Comanche and they're too scared to get back in that market. As long as Jeep is under Chrysler, a Jeep truck will never happen. :smart:

[Eagle]

The bottom line is that Chrysler will not make a full size Jeep truck that could take a piece of the Ram's market share. Never mind about going toe to toe with all the foreign auto makers dominating the small and mid-size truck market, they haven't forgotten the Comanche and they're too scared to get back in that market. As long as Jeep is under Chrysler, a Jeep truck will never happen.

 

Scared?

 

You say that as though Chrysler had somehow been hurt by the Comanche. The truth was, they pulled the plug on the Comanche because they could see the Jeep people would rather buy the Comanche, and Chrysler wanted us to buy the Dakota. They weren't about to pull the plug on the Dakota, so the Comanche had to go. And they won't build a new Jeep truck now for the same reason -- they don't want to compete against their own Ram trucks.

 

There's really no reason to build an all-new full-size Jeep truck. Once you get into the 2500 and 3500 series, the Rams use the same solid axle, 4-link front suspension as the XJ and MJ. What Jeep does need is a small, Jeep-size pickup.

[Comanche County]

Scared?

 

I didn't mean to imply they were hurt by the MJ as a product that flopped and thus hurt the company, it wasn't a flop and clearly more capable than the Dakota. But didn't the dealers unite and ask them to stop production? Anytime dealers ask a company to stop making a vehicle, that's gotta evoke some hesitation to get back in the market, especially without a separate facility to build them. They made what, 14-15 give or take a few MJs a day on the XJ line, all the while XJs sold like hot cakes and MJs sat around longer on the lots. I agree though in theory that Jeep's place should be in the smaller truck market. But they keep designing concepts on a Wrangler chassis, and its never going to happen on a JK production line if they have to slow production to slide a truck through. The Chrysler execs are aware of this. The only concept that's made production is the Rubicon. after much prodding from the offroad community. The Rubicon first came out as a concept, then a production variant, now its the best 4x4 on the market. Seeing that success, they've been testing the waters in the offroad world, slowly introducing concepts of various designs and and cautiously gauging consumer interest. But its been what 10 years since the Rubicon was introduced? Since then we've seen a new generation of high power/high mpg engine designs and the market relationship between full and mid sized trucks has totally changed. Ford has killed the Ranger because the F150 Ecoboost gets better mileage, Toyota and Nissan are now very profitable in the full size market even though the Titan and Tundra are practically bested in every aspect by Domestic trucks (which is why I think there's room for a Jeep FSJ) and they still control the small truck market.

 

Perhaps I'm being too hard on Chrysler, the market situation is umm, tenuous. There are new CAFE standards in the not so far off distance. The age of a vehicle design lasting 25-30 years is long gone. Perhaps they do want a Jeep truck, and are trying to find the right design with the right look that will sell like crazy and still not kill the production rate of another vehicle line while still being profitable, and the JK is the best they have to work with, thus that's what we're seeing.

 

Honestly, I must say their concepts are getting better over the last few years. The "Jeepster", "Hurricane", and "Renegade" concepts however, all look like Hot Wheels cars and are just ridiculous and stupid. This latest batch the last two years is a good improvement.

 

But, really since Chrysler took over, the only thing they've released that's new are things like the Artic Editions, the Call of Duty Jeeps, the "Willys" Wrangler which are just trim and sticker jobs. Its like slapping an emblem in cursive script that says "Special" on a 58' four door Biscayne. When you take a step back, its really not special at all, for that matter, neither is a Rubicon, hmm a TC and some Elockers, now was that so hard? Except for the current WKs and JKs (I cringe to say), Chrysler has not produced a truly quality Jeep, (WJs might be an exception) everything else are designs inherited from AMC.

 

I am fearful for the future of Jeep.

[Zenobian_84]

The bottom line is that Chrysler will not make a full size Jeep truck that could take a piece of the Ram's market share. Never mind about going toe to toe with all the foreign auto makers dominating the small and mid-size truck market, they haven't forgotten the Comanche and they're too scared to get back in that market. As long as Jeep is under Chrysler, a Jeep truck will never happen. :smart:

This.

 

Seriously, the idea that the Jeep marque will release a true pickup truck is as laughable as the idea that Chrysler will bring back the "Cherokee" other than just a namesake for another platform. People have been saying that Chrysler needs to bring the Cherokee back and redesign it with a better engine, and more standard comforts that are found in today's top brand cars, but seriously, the idea that that would ever happen is too small to even be believable.

 

Even if the Cherokee platform was redesigned, and the idea of a Compact Pickup brought back (highly doubtful, as the Com. Pickup market is as good as dead in the US) Chrysler and Fiat wouldn't go anywhere with it. If they were serious about bringing back a pickup for the Jeep platform, it would have already happened. The layouts have been there going on 10 years, as well as the more-than-capable drivetrains / 4x4 Systems.

 

Even if the Cherokee was originally an AMC idea, you would have thought the 13 year profits under the "Chrysler" banner would have meant something. You don't need to come up with your own idea to make it work. Just tweak it and make it better than the other guys did.

[Incommando]

 

Seriously, the idea that the Jeep marque will release a true pickup truck is as laughable as the idea that Chrysler will bring back the "Cherokee" other than just a namesake for another platform. People have been saying that Chrysler needs to bring the Cherokee back and redesign it with a better engine, and more standard comforts that are found in today's top brand cars, but seriously, the idea that that would ever happen is too small to even be believable.

 

Even if the Cherokee platform was redesigned, and the idea of a Compact Pickup brought back (highly doubtful, as the Com. Pickup market is as good as dead in the US) Chrysler and Fiat wouldn't go anywhere with it. If they were serious about bringing back a pickup for the Jeep platform, it would have already happened. The layouts have been there going on 10 years, as well as the more-than-capable drivetrains / 4x4 Systems.

 

Even if the Cherokee was originally an AMC idea, you would have thought the 13 year profits under the "Chrysler" banner would have meant something. You don't need to come up with your own idea to make it work. .

 

What is any surviving version of a long-running vehicle if not a namesake for another platform? Isn't the YJ the direct descendant of the CJ and therefore the TJ is also the direct descendant as well? Is today's 'vette not a 'vette because it isn't built on the same platform as the 1954 version was? They did update the Cherokee: it is sold as the Liberty in N. America but still called the Cherokee everywhere else that the patriotic fervor wouldn't go over. Did ya catch the now-abandoned reasoning at jeep that named the two models released for a period the LIBERTY and PATRIOT? You can order Cherokee badges for a KJ/KK from Mopar as they are factory pieces. So the modern Cherokee is alive and well with a better engine and "more standard comforts that are found in today's top brand cars" and are more suited to the wants of the new car buyer not some cheap-assed second, third, or fourth owner that cuts them up and wheels them as those people - ahem you and me- do not make the manufacturer a dime. "Just tweak it and make it better than the other guys did.." Are you serious? At its 2002 introduction the Liberty's segment competition included the CR-V, RAV4, Vue, Escape, Freelander, Imprezza wagon/Forester, and the like. If you don't realize that the Liberty was head and shoulders better off road than ANY of its direct competition when it was introduced despite it being a much safer and more modern design....

 

Scroll down to the second vehicle in the Jeep line-up:

http://syiir.com/category/jeep/

Are how about this little gem?

http://www.babez.de/jeep/jeep-cherokee-renegade.php

 

It is so much easier to curse the darkness than to light a candle I guess.

[meljr]

:agree: good point with respect to the Liberty. Hardly ever see one wheeled, however.

 

-meljr

[Eagle]

At its 2002 introduction the Liberty's segment competition included the CR-V, RAV4, Vue, Escape, Freelander, Imprezza wagon/Forester, and the like. If you don't realize that the Liberty was head and shoulders better off road than ANY of its direct competition when it was introduced despite it being a much safer and more modern design....

Somebody sold you some bad dope.

 

Are YOU not aware that when the Liberty was in final testing, Jeep did as they had always done and drove one over the Rubicon Trail? And that it was so BAD that to get it through they had to manually pile stones at many of the obstacles to make approach ramps, and they still had to push or pull it over some obstacles?

 

Yeah, it's just a wonderful off-road vehicle.

 

Not.

 

You can't go by articles from other countries -- they don't generally have a clue as to what 4-wheeling is about. Heck, in my wife's native country they call anything with 4WD a "Jeep." On the trip when I first met her, I went in order to go wheeling with an off-road club there, one of whose members had invited me. So we're out in the middle of an ocean of sand dunes, standing next to his 2000 Cherokee Classic, and we hear an engine over one of the dunes. "Here comes Ivan and my old Jeep," says my host. Cool, I think, I get to see what he used to drive.

 

And what he used to drive turned out to be a Daihatsu Rocky. To them it was a 'Jeep" -- hey, it has four-wheel drive ...

[Incommando]

:agree: good point with respect to the Liberty. Hardly ever see one wheeled, however.

 

-meljr

Though rare they are out their. I regularly wheel with a group of lifted KJ's with rear lockers. They will go anywhere a similarly-modded Xj will go.

[Incommando]

At its 2002 introduction the Liberty's segment competition included the CR-V, RAV4, Vue, Escape, Freelander, Imprezza wagon/Forester, and the like. If you don't realize that the Liberty was head and shoulders better off road than ANY of its direct competition when it was introduced despite it being a much safer and more modern design....

Somebody sold you some bad dope.

 

Are YOU not aware that when the Liberty was in final testing, Jeep did as they had always done and drove one over the Rubicon Trail? And that it was so BAD that to get it through they had to manually pile stones at many of the obstacles to make approach ramps, and they still had to push or pull it over some obstacles?

 

Yeah, it's just a wonderful off-road vehicle.

 

Not.

 

You can't go by articles from other countries -- they don't generally have a clue as to what 4-wheeling is about. Heck, in my wife's native country they call anything with 4WD a "Jeep." On the trip when I first met her, I went in order to go wheeling with an off-road club there, one of whose members had invited me. So we're out in the middle of an ocean of sand dunes, standing next to his 2000 Cherokee Classic, and we hear an engine over one of the dunes. "Here comes Ivan and my old Jeep," says my host. Cool, I think, I get to see what he used to drive.

 

And what he used to drive turned out to be a Daihatsu Rocky. To them it was a 'Jeep" -- hey, it has four-wheel drive ...

 

Dude...speaking of putting down the bong.... The links cited were to point out that the US Liberty is the Cherokee every where else in the world. Reading that those are the official JEEP CHROKEES in those countries doesn't seem too difficult? READ THE FACTORY NAMEPLATES ON THOSE JEEPS! Or do your own research...

 

And speaking of not knowing anything but what you read: Please list your personal off -road Liberty experience with proof such as pictures and stuff. I won't hold my breath while waiting for the response with proof... :roll:

 

And while there: you qouted my part about the Liberty's segment competition so please show how any of the vehicles I cited outperfroms the Liberty off-road. Again, I won't hold my breath while waiting for the response with proof... :roll:

 

I can personally attest that a 2005 KJ with the 3.7L V6, NSG370 6-spd, 241 transfer case (never seen in an XJ or MJ from the factory), 3.55 gears with 2.5" of lift and 31" tires WILL outperform a 1988 SWB MK with a 4.0, aw4, 231, 3.55 gears, 4" of lift and 32" tires over the exact same trails at the same off-road park. Been there/done that as the owner & driver of both.

This KJ:

soundly trounced this MJ

in every category except cargo cpacity both on-road and off-road.

 

I think that is personal knowledge & experience regarding these vehicles that few here can match ... thus they rely on prejudice and intardnet "truth". I would bet that you have no such experience.

[87Warrior]

I do recall reading an article of the final KJ testing. The rig came back smashed to bits. Just as the XJ was frowned upon because it was a family car when new but is now desired by many, as KJ prices come down we will see more and more of them built up and on the trails. But that none of that is really important here.

 

I think we have 3 Jeeper personalities here (many possess traits of 1, 2 and 3):

1. Purist

2. Enthusiast

3. Optimist

 

The purist will hate what Chrysler is doing and won't consider anything built in at least the last 20 years as a true Jeep. The enthusiast is very vocal about what they view as the future Jeep even though they are content with their old(er) Jeep. The Optimist has faith that Chrysler will continue the Jeep line and keep it true to its name while meeting the needs of tomorrow's auto market.

 

I don't know if we will ever see a Jeep pickup produced, and if it is will it be what we think it ought to be.... The fact that the JK still has a solid front axle, stronger axles and better brakes than any SWB Jeep ever produced tell me that Jeep trying to listen. Even the KJ still has a rock solid drivetrain despite the IFS. What the future holds is for Jeep is uncertain. Two things are certain, the JK is still selling quite well to wheelers and soccer moms alike and there will never be more MJs built.

[dasbulliwagen]

In my opinion, and with being a dealer tech and going to Chrysler tech centers for training, I see these new pickup concepts as guaging opinion for the next gen of Wrangler production that is due out in the next 2-3 years. They won't do anything like a truck until then if they do it at all. And with the new leadership at Chrysler, I see it as much more of a possibilty now than I did in the past. There are some real enthusiasts in the company leadership now which is good for us... so hopefully they will get something like this J12 pushed through. Our chances to see one are better now than they have been in years. Time will tell. This J12 is the second similar concept theyve shown, this one being much more realistically put together than the Nukizer, and also hugely more realistic than the FC concept.... that thing would never pass crash testing for frontal impacts these days. All I can do right now is keep my hopes up for seeing a true midsize/ compact truck Jeep truck again.

[Comanche County]

If there is not a separate (edit: (and successful)) production line it will never happen.

[MancheKid86]

i want to make my own jeep truck,

from a commander, it seems like it has great potential,

now don't go stealing my idea on me!

 

here's a pic,

sorry for rough ms paint chop

[ajpolitz]

i want to make my own jeep truck,

from a commander, it seems like it has great potential,

now don't go stealing my idea on me!

 

here's a pic,

sorry for rough ms paint chop

 

Not at 13mpg it wouldn't. :fs1:

My buddy leased one of them darn things. Almost ended up alongside of the road on fire. :no:

[dasbulliwagen]

Ive never been impressed by the Commanders. They are just a rebodied WK with even more weight on an already heavy vehicle. If theyre going to do a truck it needs to be a smaller one like the old MJ, so that it doesnt compete as much with the Rams. That J12 concept fits the bill pretty close. Now if they build it, they just need to make it affordable, (starting well under $20,000) and it will sell great. But knowing the expectations we have, theres no way it will start that low. I am hopefull though that we will one day see another Jeep truck.