From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Sat Dec 04 2004 - 21:13:45 PST
Hello Bjorn,
>Makes a lot of sense, what you are saying, Steve, I guess I wanted to be
>critical towards the FMTV design and thought about pushing down small trees
>with the windshield etc. Headlights mounted within the bumper is not a good
>feature in mind mind.
But how often does a truck of this size have to "bushwhack"? I'd think
only a fraction of the time compared to running on roads. Just like the
majority of a Humvee's service is spent driving on roads or terrain that
a much less expensive and lower maintenance vehicle could handle just as
well. Even the military finally realized this, though I would guess all
of that has been put on hold since Afghanistan and Iraq.
To add to what David said:
> just
>some people cannot get use the lack of something in front of them other than
>a windshield. ;^)
The first time I hit 55mph in my Pinz I thought my life might come to a
sudden end when I hit a pothole. For a split second I felt like I was
going to bounce off the road and face first into something rather
unpleasant. You know... like a couple dozen big trees :-) After a while
I got the feel for the vehicle and realized that it just feels different.
Still, I don't use it much in the winter because of the risk of ice (big
issue 'round in Maine). I love my MVs, but I'll take a vehicle with a
low center of gravity, evenly distributed weight, ABS breaks, and full
time all wheel drive any day!
>If the front/rear weight bias is right, I prefer the cab forward design off
>road.
My thoughts exactly. Plus, as "scary" as a Pinz's cab forward design
might be... a MULE's leg forward design is 100 times more so :-)
Steve
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