It’s true that we’ve seen tons of modifications, and some of the most interesting included engine swaps. One man has decided to take things much further by completely reengineering a Jeep Renegade to accept a 5.7-liter HEMI V8.
Keep in mind that the stock Renegade sits on a front-wheel-drive platform that can also accommodate AWD. Changing it to a rear-wheel-drive biased V8-powered SUV requires far more modification than most folks would comprehend. The only way this guy would have made the build more extreme might have been to try and make this thing mid-engined.
The man behind the channel, Mike Martin, started the series about a year ago with a few videos focusing on the beginning of the process. In them we see him removing the drivetrain from a 2016 Dodge Charger before he replaces some damaged parts and prepares the subframes for installation into the Renegade.
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A lot of chopping, welding, and engineering has been required throughout the entire build process to make everything fit just right. The floor and firewall were also ripped out of the Charger to ensure easier installation and maintenance of the new drivetrain.
The two floor pans aren’t the same of course and that alone required major modification with angle iron and a lot of welding. Martin has torn the engine down as well to ensure that it’s in top-notch condition before he lights it up for the first time. At this point, the little Jeep is closer than ever to making a big impact on the road.
In his latest video, Martin has finished installing the Charger suspension. Once the wheels are fitted it’s easy to see how much wider the track is than that of the original Renegade. He’s still got a lot of work to do, though. The upper control arms aren’t fitting perfectly and he still wants to create pick-up points for a sway bar. We can’t wait to see how this monster comes out because it’s the Renegade we never knew we wanted so badly.