Every post-apocalyptic movie or series features a great survival vehicle to boot. Case in point: The Walking Dead has the TV, Mad Max features the car and Zombieland includes the gaudy Cadillac Escalade.
But, when the apocalypse comes for you, what four-wheel monster will you take to the streets? If you plan to retrofit a zombie-proof vehicle when faced with a worst-case scenario, here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind:
The Vehicle
Choosing the right vehicle will save you from the zombie hordes or leave you at their mercy. And while we would all love to drive around the bus from Dawn of the Dead, we need to think a little more practically than that. A good survival vehicle should be:
- Common: There are thousands of vehicles spread across the country, some of which can be scrapped for replacement parts.
- Modular: Adding and replacing parts should be easy.
- Off-Road: This type of vehicle must be high clearance and offer four-wheel drive. Splurging for differential lockers/low-range drive would be a bonus.
- Reliable: It goes without saying, but you don’t want this vehicle to break down with 100 hungry zombies trailing behind you.
- Passenger-Friendly: Yes, driving a Ferrari through the end times would be exhilarating, but two-seaters won’t cut it here.
There are several vehicles that fit all these criteria — Jeeps, Land Rovers, Ford F-150s — but the one we recommend is the Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. You can scavenge parts from other Toyota 4Runners (even non-TRD Pros), as they’re available seemingly everywhere. The TRD Pro offers low-range, four-wheel drive with rear lockers and, of course, you also get the reliability of a well-manufactured Toyota. Indeed, this escape vehicle can weather the ultimate storm.
Tires
Having a good set of tires is even more important than four-wheel or all-wheel drive. Just look at this video below comparing an all-wheel drive vehicle with standard all-season tires to a rear-wheel drive car equipped with snow tires.
After a demonstration like that, a good set of deep-tread, all-terrain tires should be at the top of your list of zombie-proof gear. Yes, these tires will put a hit on your gas mileage, but remember, this is the apocalypsehere should be plenty of gas available in the stranded cars you’ll see during your escape.
Bumper and Winch
A good set of tires will kick dirt onto the faces of the horde of zombies trailing behind you. But what about the ones lurking in front of your escape vehicle? Clearly, they’re not just going to move out of the way. Even if you strike a zombie with your vehicle at 30 mph, your bumper will be absolutely destroyed. With that in mind, invest in a steel aftermarket bumper to bump zombies out of your path and keep the front of your vehicle intact.
Another benefit to investing in aftermarket bumpers is that they can fit a winch, an electronically-powered cable used to pull your vehicle out of mud or other sticky situations. In fact, it’s the Jeep accessory Nedry used in Jurassic Park before getting blinded by the dinosaur. However, you may have better luck using a winch to help save your skin.
Bolted-On Skid Plates
Picture this: You pulverize a crop of zombies with the front of your car. And, now that you’ve got that beefy steel bumper, your vehicle’s front end shouldn’t have a scratch. But, as more and more dead bodies drag underneath your escape vehicle, you hear all sorts of noises until your vehicle hauls to a stop. Uh-oh.
So what does this all mean? Even the best armored vehicle will be completely exposed on its underbelly without skid plates. This is where crucial pieces like the transmission and differential live, so protecting them is key with a slab of steel. In the end, avoid welding with bolt-on plates and make the underside one less thing to worry about as you mow through a path of the undead.
