Dodge Durango
The Dodge Durango is a bit of a beast. You may not realize it when you look at the Durango, it’s packing some serious oomph. Beyond that, it’s huge and provides a large amount of size for people. The design of the Durango is that of a truck. That truck base off of RAM products has allowed it to be stronger than most other sport utility vehicles.
The Durango has been in production since the late 90’s and has increased in size from the original to the second generation of the Durango. Dodge decided that it wanted to switch from a mid-size SUV to a gigantic SUV. They needed a vehicle that could provide the size for 7 seats. While that used to be the job of a minivan, most companies now want to have a 7 seat SUV. That third row is often not the biggest of seating spaces. A good third row can fit adults and they won’t require hours of massage therapy afterwards.
Source: Shutterstock.com
Dodge specifically built the Durango to be their tough and strong SUV. The Grand Cherokee was just as strong as the Durango but was being shown off as more of a showpiece and for more luxury buyers. The Grand Cherokee was incredibly tough. However, the Durango gave the appearance of being even tougher.
Dodge marketed it based on the fact it was a body on frame design. As will be mentioned over and over here, that design has allowed for a much tougher vehicle. When a vehicle uses a unibody construction technique, it’s limited in the amount of torsion that can occur when going over uneven surfaces like large rocks. Essentially the SUV can’t twist. However, when using a body on frame design, there is a lot more “twist” to it. This is why the Durango could do a lot of things that others couldn’t.
