Hemtt/ Define America Project

[oxi]

Get to know the guys as OshKosh heavy industries, that is their baby.

I work at Oshkosh Defense. What I assume you are looking for is a M977A2 or M985A2 without the rear crane powered by the old Detroit Diesel 8V92 twin-turbo?

HEMTT's are great but they are mostly convoy vehicles, not meant to go far off-road. They run straight axles and leaf springs with the A2 models and lack sufficient ground clearance for their weight.

The new HEMTT's are being fitted with CAT C15 (500hp) powerplants and they now have air bagged suspensions for driver comfort. Still convoy trucks the new A4 models. The remans come in and we re-build them to A4 levels likewise.

The next generation will have independent suspensions under them as evident with the new PLS-A1 that runs IFS on the front 2 axles while the back three are still straight axle.

The U.S. Marines that actually have an off-road profile on their medium and heavy tactical trucks run fully independent coil sprung suspensions with their MTVR and the LVSR with all 5 axles!

Straight axles are becoming a thing of the past with military trucks, more and more are becoming independent. The HEMTT is a great workhorse and having 8x8 capabilities is a plus but running with no load in the back is dangerous in rain or snow conditions on the roads. The HEMTT is a fine medium tactical truck but it can get stuck easily with its lack of proper ground clearance for its massive weight.

[winkosmosis]

Very interesting that the military is moving toward independent suspensions while civilian offroaders think independent = the devil.

I guess it comes down to speed of travel.

[Outback]

Straight axles are becoming a thing of the past with military trucks, more and more are becoming independent. The HEMTT is a great workhorse and having 8x8 capabilities is a plus but running with no load in the back is dangerous in rain or snow conditions on the roads. The HEMTT is a fine medium tactical truck but it can get stuck easily with its lack of proper ground clearance for its massive weight.

And when they get stuck they are STUCK!

[Outback]

Trying to see how this could in any condition be an expedition worthy vehicle. Fuel mileage is in the single digits. Off road.... Well it better be some large expanse of anything except soft soil or water. Maybe sand but no grades to speak of. Maybe Im just missing something. Oh I know the COOL factor is way up there but not see much else of substance. What am I missing?

[Christian P.]

Trying to see how this could in any condition be an expedition worthy vehicle. Fuel mileage is in the single digits. Off road.... Well it better be some large expanse of anything except soft soil or water. Maybe sand but no grades to speak of. Maybe Im just missing something. Oh I know the COOL factor is way up there but not see much else of substance. What am I missing?

Nothing.

No offense to anyone, but I seriously doubt that you could pick a worst vehicle than that for an overland journey.

[asdean]

Thank you all for the feedback. It has been constructive and very informative. Last week I had the privilege of riding in a HEMTT and as much as I like the truck for its "wow" factor we are still keeping our options open to a variety of vehicles. Basically it comes down to the last thing us wanting to do is drive up in a typical fleetwood or something like that. Fleetwood's are good RVs but they lack any sort of "wow" factor. I've been in contact with the guys of steel soldiers and other forums and they have been throwing around several ideas. One of which is a Man Kat which we have found a seller. Our only concern with a Man Kat is that it is not a American made vehicle which could put us in a PR conflict. However we did our research and the U.S. military has used them in their fleet which is justifiable to me to own one .


Again I thank you all for all of your comments. If the HEMTT is not right for us does anyone have any suggestions for a vehicle that would retain that "wow" factor while being a practical platform.

Thank you

[asdean]

Gosh folks!
I have to appreciate someone dreaming LARGE! But as previously stated that's the problem here.
The US Military can drive anything it wants to on civilian roads (up to the weight limits on bridge spans). But you and I cannot!! We civilians have to follow the laws put into place by the DOT (O/A weight, length ,width and height). I'd be very surprised if it could be certified and tagged for normal civilian road usage in any state in the USA.

Nice dream though...

I saw 2 of these last weekend from the National Guard pull up for a lunch break. They are way, way beyond huge and the previous post concerning turning radius is spot on. The H1 that was leading the pack looked like a Tonka toy next to the HEMTT. Offroad it'd be a blast - but who would you call if you got it all jammed up and stuck? Maybe DOD???

To me this is kinda like wanting your own Space Shuttle for weekend jaunts to space...

Actually there is a guy I think he lives in Washington that owns one. I know you can find him over at steel soldiers forum. Currently there are about 12 HEMMT that are tagged and certified for civilian use.

[bajajoaquin]

Again I thank you all for all of your comments. If the HEMTT is not right for us does anyone have any suggestions for a vehicle that would retain that "wow" factor while being a practical platform.

Thank you

There was a guy over on Steel Soldiers who was building a "baby HEMTT" on a deuce chassis with a HEMTT cab, etc. With all the custom fab you're going to do, what's adding a cabover conversion going to matter?

[109 Pretender]

Asdean,
Your second thought about a MAN KAT is much more practical and doable. In fact there are quite a few already converted for expedition use and Action Mobile has a lot of experience with that chassis. And yes, the US military has used them - they also use(d) the Mercedes Unimog which I personally think is the best choice and a 6x6 Mog does indeed have that "wow factor" you require.

The MAN might and probably does get better fuel mileage but if you're really considering any of these seriously, then mileage probably doesn't matter anyway... The MAN has a superb Deutz air cooled diesel and I'd vote for the 17 liter V-12 myself (might as well go big here). U-tube has a couple 1000+HP MAN KAT race trucks (if you can imagine anything that big racing??). It's an awesome display of what a 6 or 8 axle machine can do when pressed hard.

Actually, any of these vehicles would be neat if you were just say 'jumping in for the photo op' - then out to a more comfortable machine to travel to the next destination in...

However, if you truly intend to drive and live in (with) the beast, the Unimog, like Charlie's U-500, is simply the very best all around, do most everything, reasonably practical vehicle you could choose.

I think if you guys come up with a really wild color scheme/graphics combo for your vehicle that would also increase the 'wow' factor. Also remember, most US citizens only identify with the makers of vehicles that are commonly available i.e. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Japanese brands, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, and some British marques like Jag or the long forgotten MG.

Visually, the MAN KAT and HEMTT are similiar and I promise you only military personnel and EXPO folks here would be able to identify which was which.

Have fun no matter your choice (think about that monster V-12 air cooled diesel - they sorta sound like a jet engine at takeoff.. and with some colorful graphics...that'd be a real big wow for me!)

[109 Pretender]

Asdean,
I certainly won't contradict your statement about there being several HEMTT "certified" for legal civilian usage on public roads - because I don't know. However, I do know that our roads are scheduled and built according to a max GVWR allowed by the DOT. Secondary roads are not built strong enough for this type vehicle. Our interstates were designed for a max of around 40,000lbs. and this has become a problem when the NAFTA treaty was signed because Canada and Mexico run triple axle loads weighing as much as 70K+. This is tearing up 1-35 which runs right through my state. Have you not ever seen a state trooper pull over a trucker and test the weight load with portable scales? I live in oil country and some rigs are massive and many times over the legal weight limit - although it certainly helps the state's money coffers...

Here's another reason I have my doubts that the HEMTT can't and never will be certified by DOT for civi use. All excess military vehicles like this have to be 'de-militarized' before being sold for presumably scrap metal or military collectibles to the public. Meaning they get cut up with a torch. As a matter of fact there are only around 80 street legal military HUMVEE's from the 1980's depot sale in I think Atlanta. After that sale, the DOT stated that a military HUMVEE was not capable of meeting existant safety laws. All HUMVEE's that are sold today in public govmt. auctions have to be cut in half before being allowed to leave the depot. (Not that several haven't been purchased and welded back together - because some have...) But, they aren't legal in the eyes of the DOT. My state is very lenient on the intreptation of the laws - like we don't have any safety or emissions inspections and our small trailers don't have to be registered and tagged - other states are extremely tight with the law (California) so you need to check this out before purchasing something like a HEMTT or MAN KAT. Additionally keep in mind that 'visitors' traveling in our country are given exemptions for their rigs because they aren't staying permanently. AND I presume that your high profile adventure would want to be legal in the eyes of the law - right?