2016 Jeep Wrangler To Shed Weight, Keep Ladder Frame Chassis

The global head of Jeep has given the strongest indication yet that the brand’s iconic Wrangler off-roader will continue to use a body-on frame construction.

Speaking with TMR, Jeep CEO Mike Manley said that off-road capability was paramount for the Wrangler, the ruggedness of a ladder-frame chassis remaining integral to the Wrangler’s mountain-climbing prowess.

“To maintain the capability of that vehicle is fundamental, and as you know it'd be very difficult to create that level of capability if you departed too much from body-on frame,” Manley told TMR.

“The Wrangler has to be the extreme capable vehicle in our brand, so I think body-on-frame is the way to go with Wrangler. Certainly for the next generation.

“Afterward, we'll see where technology takes us.”

The current JK generation Wrangler has been on sale since 2007, and won’t be replaced until mid-2015 at the earliest.

Currently in its third generation, the Wrangler’s fundamental building blocks have changed little over the past 25 years, and the Wrangler can trace its roots right back to the Jeep CJ - a civilianised version of the WW2-era Jeep.