the perfect example of an H2

wherethefmi wrote:

Jensenman wrote: The H1 was an adaptation of the military version which was intended not for rock crawling but rather for urban warfare and high speeds across rough ground. That's how it ended up with SLA suspension.

One of the coolest things on the H1 is the inboard brakes, I'd love a car to have that, reduced unsprung weight on that beast makes me laugh sometimes, wow I'm weird.

Actually, if you think about it, as big as the wheel/tire/knuckle has to be to carry the loads put on them then reducing unsprung weight makes real good sense for high speed rough ground operation. That's a big thing in the dirt bike world, the less weight flopping around out there on the end of the rear swingarm or front fork the easier it is to control.

Colin Chapman's Lotus guys used to run inboard brakes on the front of some of their designs, a short CV axle did nothing except transmit brake force to the rotors and calipers mounted inside the body. Seemed awful complicated but I guess the results were worth it.

neon4891 wrote: seeing as a properly working H2/3 is quite capable off road, does anyone think that in another 10 years these will go from the malls to being used for "affordable" trail rigs? BTW, IIRC the last gen of the military jeeps where 4 wheel independant, and required a special liscense to operate.

personally i'm waiting for the h3's to get down around 10-15k, which should also be around the time i'm looking for another vehicle. row-your-own versions are tough to find though

35 years from now nobody will be running H2/H3's or restoring them, but TJ's and the other real (read solid axle) Jeeps will be restored, off-roaded and abused. The H2/H3's will be yet another punchline to GM jokes.

Jensenman wrote: Colin Chapman's Lotus guys used to run inboard brakes on the front of some of their designs, a short CV axle did nothing except transmit brake force to the rotors and calipers mounted inside the body. Seemed awful complicated but I guess the results were worth it.

that is interesting. i guess if they were already using a fwd style knuckle, then the only addition would be the cv shaft, which would be more than offset by the relocation of the brake caliper and rotor

DrBoost wrote: 35 years from now nobody will be running H2/H3's or restoring them, but TJ's and the other real (read solid axle) Jeeps will be restored, off-roaded and abused. The H2/H3's will be yet another punchline to GM jokes.

Back in the '80s you could hear the same sentiments from Land Rover Series owners about the "luxury" Range Rovers. 20 years on, look at what's happening:

DrBoost wrote: 35 years from now nobody will be running H2/H3's or restoring them, but TJ's and the other real (read solid axle) Jeeps will be restored, off-roaded and abused. The H2/H3's will be yet another punchline to GM jokes.

I love it when people try to predict the future. A lot of vehicles have a huge following now that were less than popular in their time. Even recently you couldn't give Turbo Supras away in the mid 90s....now look at them. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm seeing H3's under $20k, FWIW