For a very learned and detailed comment on this piece, GO HERE
We've got the wrong vehicles in Iraq, stupid. As a former car and light truck salesman who actually had to go to school in order to be allowed to sell light trucks to customers, let me clue you in. The weight you intend to carry in any truck is crucial, not only for the engine specs, but especially for the transmission and rear end. That weight includes anything you want to haul too; trailer, boat, and so on. What the Pentagon is doing to the Humvees in Iraq guarantees breakdowns. Loading more than a ton of extra weight on vehicles not designed for the weight will assure serious breakdowns and engine blow outs. This means that the soldiers in the stalled Humvees will be sitting ducks. We have all had our cars malfunction and overheat. How long did it take before you could get the car going again? An hour? More? How about with people shooting at you? A rear end gives a little warning but an overheated transmission without gages to warn you about overheating will disable your vehicle instantly. So when summer rolls around and the temps get to 130 degrees we are going to have terrible losses. Terrible.
What we need are completely different vehicles with different engines, rear ends, and transmissions designed to carry the extra armor tonnage. Don't hold your breath.
12/14/2004
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Actually, there are two types of armor, add on armor (which has all the problems you describe) and armored vehicles that are designed from the factory. The factory installed stuff comes with upgraded suspension et al and the maintenance schedule is normal. The cheaper and quicker to make add on kits come with a nice set of new maintenance schedules for the motor pool to change everything faster.
The risk of actual breakdown/death of trapped soldiers is lower because of those motor pool mechanical staffs whose only task is to keep those vehicles running. You end up paying for the up-armor kits and the "road warrior" improvised armor but the latter provides protection without going through the procurement bureaucracy.
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