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Landrover WMIK


martynsmith

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Hi guys

 

I'm trying to get my head around the WMIK so I hope you can help with some the more technical side of it...I know theres the WMIK, E-WMIK and now the R-WMIK but when did each come into service/replace the other(s)? I also have a basic idea but what are differances exactly? Also; did the very early ones (say Sierra Leone/Macedonia) carry the spare on the bonnet like the Wolf or has it always been on the side?

 

I'm sure I saw a photo from Sierra Leone with one on the bonnet?

 

Cheers

 

Martyn

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Hi guys

 

I'm trying to get my head around the WMIK so I hope you can help with some the more technical side of it...I know theres the WMIK, E-WMIK and now the R-WMIK but when did each come into service/replace the other(s)? I also have a basic idea but what are differances exactly? Also; did the very early ones (say Sierra Leone/Macedonia) carry the spare on the bonnet like the Wolf or has it always been on the side?

 

I'm sure I saw a photo from Sierra Leone with one on the bonnet?

 

Cheers

 

Martyn

Hello martyn.

i think that the veh you refer to in sierra leone is not a wmik, their is a well known pic of an sas lr out there showing a tyre on the bonnet.

wolf versions have almost always had them on the side, except for version like the pulse

which very occasionally had them on the bonnet.

terry

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The R-WMIK has an up-rated engine board out to 2.8 and painted blue. it has an auto box, with ARB air locker diffs front and rear. shocks are up-rated but cant remember what type they are, Alloy wheels with aggressive off-road tyres.

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WMIK came out in 1997. It is a kit fitted to the Wolf so has the spare wheel on the side as per the wolf. on the bonnet it has a basket to take the cam kit on the bonnet.

 

The E - WIMK is the up armoured version. this came in around 2005 and included the cutting out of most of the floor, and being replaced with V shaped armour panels. The wheels were replaced with alloys and Bowman and ECM was formerly fitted.

 

The R-WMIK+ is basically a new vehicle, shaing very little other than the chassis with the Wolf. it has a complete new drive chain, 2.8 engine, Auto box, New american Axles. The rear body has been widened, and the front roll cage and Gun post re designed. This came out last year.

 

The wolf, and WMIK only have the spare wheel on the bonnet for transportation purposes. they shouldnt be used this way as there is a risk of the bonnet flex allowing the weight of the wheel to crush the fuel lines. Well thats what the manual says anyway.

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Hi fellas

 

Thats great thanks.

 

I've heard another reason the wheel isn't fitted to the bonnet is that squaddies tend to drop the bonnet and the wheel ends up trashing the fibreglass...or is that a falacy?

 

Is it right the RWMIK is also built on redundant Snatch chassis?

 

Cheers

 

Smudge

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there is no fibre glass in the bonnet, so I would say yes..... myth. I have also been told that the wheel was moved from the bonnet for H&S to stop issues from lifting all that wieght on the bonnet, and also as the ladies in the Army couldnt manage it. maybe they want to try lifting the wheel up on the side mount when they are a little under tall...... like me.....lol.

 

The snatch chassis is completely different to the Wolf and WMIK chassis. the R-WMIK+ is built on the E-WMIK chassis (although there isnt much else from the E-WMIK that made it through though).

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In the Introduction of the Operating Instructions for RWMIK/RWMIK Plus :-

 

"RWMIK Plus is an upgrade scheme, whereby a number of SNATCH, VIXEN or RWMIK vehicles have been heavily modified in a number of areas to upgrade this vehicle in line with current in service vehicles".

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Well there you go.

 

The only RWMIK + I saw was deffiately on what looked like a wolf chassis, yet I have seen Snatch chassis' which are reinforced but are different to wolf chassis. I guess then that the snatch chassis was modified to accept wolf style bodies etc.

 

What I can say with some degree of confidence then is that Wolf and Snatch chassis' started out in life being two different beasts, two ways to achieve the same thing, a stonger defender chassis. They may now have both morphed through developement into one in the same.

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  • 11 months later...

Hi MartynHere are some shots of the Wimk's we had in 2002/03 in Afghanistan, these were early models were inherited from 4 Lancs and the SBS before them.....Due to the G5 stance on the NSE at Kabul at the time we only mounted the GPMG on the top mount and on picture 4 you can see the LMG mounted on the commanders mount...mounting pin are in the same place.... of course this all changed later :undecided:

167948_1822489611637_1522122324_1969018_3908585_n.jpg

4450734120a5450653041o.jpg

img007.jpg

img008.jpg

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Heres a couple of newly converted 'R-WMIK+' on the back of a low loader at Bridgwater Truck stop en route to Lympstone at the end of last year, note the numberplates.....'KK' denotes an ex Snatch landrover (32KK76)...The other is a converted xD Wolf (HJ69AA). Cosmetically the same and about time that surplus vehicles were recycled rather than cast and ££££s spent on new vehicles, me thinks.

 

 

HJ69AA (1024x768).jpg

32KK76 (1024x768).jpg

Edited by mattblack
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