Oshkosh HMMWV suspension upgrade

[haven]

Oshkosh has offered an upgraded suspension for the military HMMWV for a couple of years. The Marine Corps has ordered some. Anyone here driven one?

The new suspension does two things: It provides a significant increase in ground clearance, and it restores the HMMWV to the original design's payload of 2500 lb. The photo makes me wonder if the new suspension dispenses with the portal axles of the original design. Those drive shafts look like they go to the center of the wheel.

 

[Carlyle]

That's an impressive suspension upgrade Haven.

 

[profabber]

I am currently at Oshkosh Test center, not sure if any have been sold. Where is this picture from, I don't reconize it's location. Yes they are cool.

 

[Mrknowitall]

Looks like the new upper A-arms mount to the original lower A-arm positions. The front diff looks like it is a top-loader of sorts, definitely with some drop built in. I would expect a gear ratio in the high 5's, if not 6's, since the hub reduction is gone and the tires are much taller.

 

[crazyeyez]

found a few other pics of this...

http://www.oshkoshdefense.com/tak-4

 

[Master-Pull]

It looks awkward and top heavy. There are huge bids out now to retrofit the HMMWVs with all sorts of suspension, equipment, recovery gear etc. That picture has been floating around for around a year I think.

-Alex

 

[crazyeyez]

Wait till it its a gun mount, turret, turret wall... HMMWV's are tipsy as hell with all that ****. Many have flipped in iraq and afg with all that crap on top, and drivers that dont know how to really drive....

 

[911regular]

Those pics were just in one of the big diesel mags within the year. The article stated it was the IED retrofit kit, instead of buying real IED proof/resistant vehicles the military retrofitted old HUMMERS.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Wait till it its a gun mount, turret, turret wall... HMMWV's are tipsy as hell with all that ****. Many have flipped in iraq and afg with all that crap on top, and drivers that dont know how to really drive....

I thought that was one of the main design criteria, to make them wide and low so that the greasy side stayed down more often than the M38A1 and M151.

 

[marshal]

humvee's are dead. MRAP's and M-ATV's are the future. the Navy and the Air Force refuse to buy anything that doesn't have a V-shaped hull on it. they're the power players in this one.

the Air Force and Navy are spending huge amounts of money training specifically for the new MRAP series of vehicles and M-ATV's. the only specific training we get on Humvee's outside of OJT anymore is specifically the 6.5L Diesel.

 

[DT75FLH]

I would also think that trying to do a quick mount/dismount in full battle gear, and body armor would suck.

 

[MrGrimm]

HMMWV's are still being used a lot back here in CONUS as safety vehicles. Over in Afghanistan, MRAP's and MATV's are used a lot. Our HMMWV's got pulled from use on patrol back in late 2009 in Afghanistan.

Like the earlier posts, once you start adding everything else to that thing, it will start to get really tipsy. No v-shape bottom? With or without one, I still wouldn't ride in one if they brought it back to Afghanistan. Picture below was an MRAP that hit an IED in early 2010 killing two and injuring 4 others. One of those 4 still can't walk unassisted.

 

[haven]

I think this suspension is a modified version of the suspension used on Oshkosh's MRAP.

 

[crazyeyez]

It is, haven. Its listed as such on their website.

 

[crazyeyez]

I thought that was one of the main design criteria, to make them wide and low so that the greasy side stayed down more often than the M38A1 and M151.

Yea, but adding all that weight above the CG jus makes the CG even higher, and a real high CG isnt good. Then add in this lift kit....