The Jeep Wrangler JK-8. Image: Chrysler Group LLC

It’s no secret that money has been tight at Chrysler in recent years, and many of the projects on the drawing board have been moved to the back shelf. One of those was a Jeep Wrangle based pickup, which seems to draw admiration and thumbs up from fans whenever it’s shown. Admiration doesn’t always translate into sales, as Toyota found out with their FJ Cruiser, so Chrysler has been hesitant to release a Jeep pickup in the current economy. That didn’t stop them from showing the JK-8 Pickup at this year’s Moab Jeep Safari, and many speculated that a Wrangler pickup would be on the market soon.

That turned out to be partially correct, since Mopar has just launched a pickup truck conversion kit for the long-wheelbase Wrangler Unlimited. Now available for order at you local Jeep dealer is the JK-8 kit, which gives you (almost) everything you need to convert your Wrangler Unlimited into a short-bed pickup truck. The kit contains a new steel bed, inner and outer bedsides, extensions for the sport bar, a fiberglass bulkhead, fiberglass “Freedom Panels’ for the cab rear and a removable fiberglass roof panel. At $5,499 before installation and painting, the kit isn’t exactly inexpensive, but it will give you a very unique (and capable) off-roader.

The kit comes with a 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty and can be dealer or customer installed. It’s not just your basic bolt-on body kit, and do-it-yourself types need to be proficient with welding in new quarter panels (not to mention prep and paintwork). Unless you’ve got a serious garage and serious bodywork skills, this is a conversion best done by someone else.

Source: Chrysler