To make United States Army weapons as effective as possible, it’s no surprise that they have been tested in some surprising ways. In this case, the Army tested World War II Jeeps in a very unique way. Driving them over a wavy road with multiple people in each Jeep properly explains how well these important military vehicles can withstand the stress of uneven road environments. With this in mind, let’s look at some soldiers in a Jeep almost taking flight after hitting a wavy road bump.
One Giant Jeep
The video starts with one giant Army truck hauling a gun. This test ensures that hauling this type of equipment on uneven terrain doesn’t cause additional stress to the truck or the gun.
A Big Weapon
Seen from a different angle, this part of the video focuses on the large gun being hauled by the truck with its own two wheels. Surprisingly, even with the truck moving at what appears to be a high rate of speed, the gun doesn’t seem to be taking any damage.
Close Up
This third and final image of the gun shows it up close, looking almost parallel to the ground. Again, this is very surprising, considering that the goal of this experiment is to stress how well the gun handles driving on this road at a high speed.
Wavy Road
The Army says that riding this washboard highway is like riding an ocean wave but rougher, which seems like a great explanation. The Army says this is how soldiers will learn to drive on roads anywhere in the world.
The First Jumper
If you squint and look very closely at the person in the backseat of the Jeep at the bottom right, you can see him holding on for dear life. As seat belts were unavailable during this era, all you could do on this road was hang on tight.
A Jumper Angle
Looking at the person in the rear seat again from another angle, you can see how much higher the front passenger and rear seat passenger are coming up from their seats. This occurs when they go up one of the inclines on the wavy road.
Close Up
Yet another angle shows the closest Jeep in the video frame, and you can see exactly how high the vehicle is bouncing off the road. The rear Jeep wheels are off the ground, and the suspension adds increased space between the vehicle and the frame to compensate.
Hold On
With one final look at this Jeep, you can again see how far off the ground the wavy road causes for the Jeep. Better yet, you can almost tell the two rear seat passengers are hanging on to one another to stop from falling out.
Long View
This still image from the video provides another angle. From the rear of each Jeep, you can see how much the wavy road is stressing each vehicle. Undoubtedly, this teaches drivers how to handle bumps on the road.
Don’t Fall Out
This still image shows how dangerous it can be for rear-seat passengers on the road. In this case, the rear passenger in the front Jeep looks to be doing whatever he can to prevent himself from falling out.
Help!
This image gives you a better sense of our poor backseat passenger who is holding on to try and keep himself from abruptly exiting the vehicle due to the jumps from the wavy road.
Watch the Full Video
Watch the full video to see these soldiers trying to stay in their vehicles. Of course, this video includes some great scenes of engineers trying to crash tanks into logs, so it’s a win-win for those watching.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Miiisha/Shutterstock.com.
