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Originally Posted by stephen wilson
Just curious, what were the specific problems you had with the Humvee design/reliability? Was your usage in the military, or civilian?
Steve
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I use them in the military. The older models are severely underpowered, too heavy, and will get stuck more often than people realize. The designers never heard of the word "ergonomics" nor "functionality". Visibility is very poor, not just in the blind spot but forward as well. I have a CDL and driven all sorts of trucks but this is the worst. The seats offer little to no adjustment, the military thinking that all soldiers are built exactly the same and when you wear body armor the steering wheel is pretty much in your chest. They tell us we have to wear seatbelts but it is impossible while wearing armor. The radio mounts in such a way that in order to effectively use it you need to be either in the back seat, or if your truck is a two seater you need to crane your neck at an impossible angle to view the panel. Ventilation is awful. The hood is pretty good to sleep on though. These trucks break down all the time, usually at the worst times.
The newer models have a higher power output and alittle better reliablity, but being clad with armor performance is not improved (10-12,000lb empty weight). With the new armor, it is very top heavy, harder to get unstuck, and in the event of a rollover, the doors are nearly impossible to open if the truck is unfortunate to land on its side or at an angle. Armored doors weigh 200-500 lbs each depending on the model. Exiting the vehicle in a hurry is a bit tricky too, with the high sill. And Humvees are also not very good at taking IED blasts. I think alot of the problem is lack of coordination between the military and AM General. Mission requirements are always changing and the manufacturer either can't keep pace or are not allowed to change the basic design so that all trucks have the same design for maintenance issues. The original design did not allow much for changes or addition of extra equipment which the military has always done. It's like Clark Griswold's station wagon. They kept putting extra crap on and they didn't know when to stop.
I'll use whatever the military tells me to use, but I can't see a poor design implemented for thousands of soldiers to use will be very mission effective. The poor design of the HMMWV has been in the news for years and finally they are doing something about it. Atleast we no longer use them in combat operations using them only for training and FOB/Garrison use. We sold many to the Iraqis and we now use MRAPs, which are a vast improvement.