The Bantam “Jeep” and original Dodge Power Wagon both faced the same problem when they were being tested: mud could get trapped in the wheel wells, stopping the unusually mobile trucks in their path. Eventually, they came up with different wheel-well designs to resolve the problem.
Still, heavy snows can get packed into the wheel wells in modern trucks and Jeeps; and a cycle of driving in freezing weather, stopping, and driving again can yield massive, unyielding blocks of dirty packed snow and ice.
It took until now for Stellantis to come up with a solution, highlighted by an MSN writer: heated wheel wells. That can prevent the snow from being packed in, or make it much easier to dislodge. MSN specified that this was meant for Ram, but Allpar member 82cordoba pointed out that patent #20240359662 actually shows a Chrysler 300. This makes sense, since cars typically have much smaller wheel-well areas, which are more likely to hold ice and snow.
Some may be more interested in the windshield wiper de-icers that used to be standard on Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth minivans, taken off by Daimler to save money; or the gearbox for electric cars to have a high and low gear, as offroad vehicles do. FCA US recently patented one of these, filing in March 2023, specifying that it was for electric off-road vehicles.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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