We had 1 day to run around to various booths while at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab and spent alot of time at Jeep’s booth. The next couple of posts are dedicated to some of the cool vehicles we seen – This is the 2007 Jeep J8 ‘Sarge’.
From pickuptrucks.com: Like the legendary Willys MB from World War II, the standard-issue Jeep J8 is a military-spec support vehicle built to serve a variety of missions in the field, from troop carrying to ambulance services. But it’s not for American soldiers or civilians: The J8 is manufactured in Cairo, strictly for the Egyptian military.
The starting point for all Jeep J8s is the Jeep Wrangler JK Unlimited platform. Special body and frame structural upgrades give the J8 its military rating, including a beefed-up frame, a Dana 60 rear axle mounted on leaf springs, larger front disc
brakes, and exclusive-to-the-J8 17-by-8-inch steel wheels with larger 5-by-5.5-inch bolt patterns. Command-Trac four-wheel drive and a Trac-Lok limited-slip rear differential give the J8 aggressive offroad capabilities.
The J8 powertrain consists of VM Moturi’s 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel engine — producing 158 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque — mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. It’s the same engine formerly offered in the Jeep Liberty compact SUV in 2005 and 2006, but cancelled due to stronger federal emissions standards.
To create the Sarge, Mopar Underground added a 3-inch lift, using Superlift front coil spacers, 35-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tires, offroad rocker steps from Jeep’s trail accessory catalog, and a custom cargo top. It’s painted olive green with military markings that include silhouettes of toy soldiers.