{"id":1912,"date":"2020-06-23T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/?p=1912"},"modified":"2020-06-24T16:03:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T20:03:35","slug":"could-a-new-dodge-dakota-be-based-on-the-promaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/2020\/06\/could-a-new-dodge-dakota-be-based-on-the-promaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Could a new Dodge Dakota be based on the ProMaster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

They said it couldn\u2019t be done, but back in the 1980s, Jeep launched a new unibody pickup truck. Co-engineered with the new XJ Cherokee, the Jeep Comanche was more capable than the typical compact pickup, despite a unibody design; it also had more ground clearance than any competitor, even as it had the lowest bed. The Comanche was a marvel, though it got little attention from customers.<\/p>\n

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Fast forward to the present, and we have the Ram ProMaster, essentially a Fiat Ducato van with a much more rugged suspension and other improvements for durability and reliability; it also has a localized powertrain, taken from Dodge minivans (Pentastar V6 with six-speed automatic). It\u2019s sold in chassis-cab form. The front wheel drive setup provides ProMasters with both a lower load height and better snow and dirt traction; when unloaded, the weight is above the drive wheels, and there’s no driveshaft under the cargo bay.<\/p>\n

Merge these ideas together and you get a Promaster-based pickup\u2014something capable of hauling quite large items around with ease. Using a modified ProMaster 3500 suspension, it could have quite a good payload, albeit without class-leading towing numbers. If you want to tow, though, you can always get a Durango.<\/p>\n

This would not be a replacement for the global metric-ton pickup that’s reportedly due in two or three years, but it could be a neat niche vehicle. Many people need something that’s narrower than a typical American full-size pickup, but has a long-length bed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a thought, anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They said it couldn\u2019t be done, but back in the 1980s, Jeep launched a new unibody pickup truck. Co-engineered with the new XJ Cherokee, the Jeep Comanche was more capable than the typical compact pickup, despite a unibody design; it also had more ground clearance than any competitor, even as it had the lowest bed. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,2,49],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/ProMaster-Truck-01.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1912"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1923,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912\/revisions\/1923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autobison.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}