Critical of the AM General HMMWV? Yep, I sure am. I had to deal with these machines for the duration of my time in the Army, and while I’ll sing praises about how this super-size rig can off-road like you wouldn’t believe, I’ll just as quickly turn around and rip it apart for it’s uncanny ability to get it’s ass kicked in a heads-up race with a Chevette. It’s a rattling, clattering ball of disappointment if you were hoping for grunt. The 6.2L diesel V8 sourced from Detroit Diesel was rather mundane in how it went about it’s business. Sure, it had enough torque to tow with, but acceleration? Measure it with a sundial. HMMWVs seemed to be the sole reason why convoy speeds were limited to 45 miles an hour…surely, the LMTVs and HEMMTs could do a sight better down a highway.

Since the engine bay of a HMMWV is friendly to GM products, and with surplus HMMWVs finally headed out into the civilian market, engine swaps would be taking place. While creations like a 502-powered version that went to the Middle East sound enticing, the LBZ Duramax mill that is popular nowadays seems like a great fit instead. Certainly, a wicked-up Duramax can make a HMMWV move out better than it’s original Army setup would allow, right? I’ll put it like this: your standard HMMWV’s quarter mile time might be double what this particular swap candidate’s timeslip reads!