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I figure when it comes to vehicles my purpose will mostly be escape rather than durable rampage killing. If you ram too many corpses with your vehicle your air filter begins to fill up with blood which is very bad.

My following choice is based on what I currently have at my disposal and am capable of working with myself. I like to be realistic.

My vehicle of choice is my ranger. It has 4WD and is decently high off the ground. I figure streets will be plugged so from time to time I will need to go off road for a little bit. The frame is solid steel rather than fiberglass so if I do hit something it won't be as harsh on the frame.

For armor I have a bunk bed that is more or less a bunch of metal bars. With some metal working tools I can reshape and resize the bars to make a grill to cover the windshield and window. The bars in the bunks have about a 3 inch space between so they can't reach in too far hopefully. The grill will offer some light protection without obscuring vision too much. I want to see where I am going. The end pieces of the bed are pretty decent sized bars. I could reshape them to try and make a roll bar. With leftover parts from the bunks and end pieces I should hopefully have enough metal left to reinforce the frame in the front in case I hit something. If it comes down to choosing between the reinforced grill or the roll bar I will probably take the grill. I don't plan on driving at very fast speeds so chances are I won't be as likely to need the roll bar.

Two words. Snow plow. That way you wouldn't need to reinforce the grill. Just weld the b***h to the tow hooks in the front and since the hooks are part of the frame there's no need for reinforcing.

If anything I'd pick a diesel International dump truck (Circa mid 1960s like the two my family used to own at the farm they were big ******** things not petty 6600 sized diesel dump trucks they had a bed that could compare with a personnel carrier.) with wooden paneling dump bed walls and gate. Weld a plow on the tow hooks. Weld metal grates over the windshield (Save for a spot where I can see), door windows and rear windows. Put a canvas canopy over the bed and a lock mechanism on the dual gates from the inside. (Bar and a set of metal arms.)

In the case the military will be overrun and killed take an M2 Browning from a disabled humvee and bolt it to the roof of the cab using the existing humvee turret mount.

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Juggernaut.

@ Speedman: Good luck affording a 6x6 Military personnel carrier. Might be able to come by one after some soldiers die in the initial days of Z-Day.

I don't have that much metal at my disposal nor do I think I would have enough time to rig one up.

As for diesel vehicles I like to also think about long run. I don't know how many days of fuel a tank will get you in one of those, but when you have to refuel I don't imagine it would be as easy as gasoline. Almost everything takes gasoline so I don't even need to look for a gas station and I don't take very long to siphon the gas I need. That's my train of thought though. It's not very impressive when it comes to power, but it can still tow light loads and will be easier to fuel up.

Take your average straight plow cut it in half and weld it back together in your desired shape. A junk yard will have a cutting and welding torch (and some broken down plow trucks).

I'm thinking that either the Dominator or the TIV 2 from Stormchasers would be worthy offensive and defensive vehicles.

Both vehicles are more than armored enough against zombies, are fast and flexible for mixed terrain, and have a reasonable driving range.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/storm-chasers/vehicles/vehicles.html

Or find an abandoned ready built zombie plow in the mountains in the form of a 4 ton snow plow. I love the ones with the spinning squirrel cage that acts like a wood chipper. Picture going 30 miles per hour through a wall of walking dead with one of these!

Or if you're damn lucky, you might stumble over a Badger.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/howe-and-howe-tech-badger-assault-vehicle/

I'd take that truck from my work. 400hp diesel engine, 15 speed transmission, locking rear diffs. The cab is steel, the radiator is steel, the bumper is steel, and the deck is steel. It's already a Juggernaut before I get to playing with it. I often push fully loaded semi-trucks with it, so I know it'll push your average abandoned car around. Plus it was built in 1979 so I know its easy to fix if it breaks down.

Plans? well I'd extend the cab so I can get more people in. Cover the windows with either steel decking or expanded metal from debris. Anyone ever watch Tremors? remember when they pulled that big end-dump trailer with the bulldozer to get the people to safety? thats plan A for moving people. I'd leave the wrecker deck on (winches are handy) but build up some sides on the back for storage/Firing positions. might throw a simple plow on the front if I find that I'm driving over more things than through them. thats my Juggernaut.

NOW, for my zombie killin' machine:


My pickup is a 84 Dodge crew cab, it's already got heavy duty bumpers, diffs, and tires. Because the bumpers are steel and mounted directly to the frame, I can weld a plow, spikes, blades, whatever the hell I want to them with either bolts or welds. Cover the windows with steel with gun ports, cover the windsheild with steel grating, mount two M2's on the roof on coax mounts so they can fire 180* firing arcs on each side from the roof. Have another M2 on the rear tailboard for rear coverage. build a simple light bar for a number of LED flood lights (low amp draw, long life, super bright) facing both ways plus to the side.

my truck has proven to be reliable, tough as nails, and has more than enough gear reduction to push, pull or drag anything I chain to it. plus, like the Jugg, its old so its simple to repair.