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Courtesy of AEV
Wrangler Watch
2 of 2
Courtesy of AEV
Wrangler Watch
A stretched wheelbase over the JKU Wrangler as well as a long rear bed overhang will give the production version a little longer look than the AEV Brute here.
By Budd Stanley, photos courtesy of AEV
It has been the most hotly anticipated unknown when it comes to the next generation Jeep Wrangler – will there be a pickup version? Well, it’s all but official, the next Wrangler will indeed have a long wheelbase pickup truck trim added to the lineup for the 2018 model year. Yes, we’ve known for a good long while, that a pickup would almost certainly be available in the redesign, and now we have irrefutable evidence that Jeep will follow through as a Wrangler pickup test mule has been spotted out in the wild.
The heavily camouflaged test mule sports a full four-door cab that still makes use of the removable roof panel above the front seat passengers. Those panels however end abruptly before the roof sides, lending credence that the new Wrangler will not be a convertible, but will have a solid roof structure. Overhead shots also show that the rear roof panel over the second row is also likely removable.
The pickup has a stretched wheelbase over the JKU Wrangler as well as a long rear bed overhang, so the production version will look a little longer than the AEV Brute conversion you see above. As for the bed, under a fair amount of camo, there is very much a Ram 1500 feel going on with the shape, which in honesty, really doesn’t match up well with the rest of the vehicle. Although, we’re sure Jeep are throwing us a bit of a curve ball here, as we have full confidence in the FCA design team.
Much like the pickup, we were already convinced that a diesel powertrain package would be available on the upcoming Wrangler JL. Another set of spy’s have only furthered our conviction as a diesel powered Wrangler test mule was spotted in the American South West desert. This test mule was noticeably equipped with a fully armoured DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) tank under the body, several diesel emissions systems and the tell tale clatter of compression ignition on startup.
We’ve also heard positive news from Jeep CEO Mike Manley, regarding the aerodynamic redesign of the Wranglers body when he talked to Automotive News.
"You have to be very careful with the aero of Wrangler, because at the end of the day, it needs to be recognizable as a Wrangler," Manley told AN. "To some extent that restricts you on some of the aero that you can do. But with weight and a number of the changes that we've made, you're going to see that we've really pushed that vehicle forward in terms of its fuel economy."
Taking into context what Manley said in that last sentence, one could ascertain that the new Wrangler will have some substantial weight savings, something we’ve been yearning for since testing the lack of performance improvement the Pentastar 3.6L V-6 gave to the JK platform. While the Wrangler won't go all-aluminum, it’s likely the frame is going to be lighter and stronger, and it will use aluminum for certain bolt-on body and chassis parts.
We now also know that the Wrangler's future in Toledo, OH, is officially secure. FCA US announced plans to spend $1.05 billion USD to retool the Wrangler factory and another site in Illinois to build Jeeps. The investment could add up to 1,000 jobs, and, according to The Detroit Free Press, allow Jeep to build as many as 450,000 Wrangler models in Toledo. The plan would be to up fit the current “North” factory with the “South” factory getting attention at a later date.