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For those who follow nasty weather, you may have heard of the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV). The TIV is a highly specialized vehicle designed for chasing and studying tornadoes. This unusual storm chaser vehicle was created by filmmaker Sean Casey and his team, and was featured in the Discovery Channel’s show “Storm Chasers”. The first rendition of the TIV (TIV1) is a highly modified Super Duty with a heavily armored shell made of steel plate and bullet-resistant polycarbonate windows. The TIV1 could safely drive into weak to relatively strong tornadoes to film them and take measurements.
Equipped with a 7.3-liter Ford Power Stroke turbocharged diesel engine, air-ride suspension, and hydraulic claws for anchoring, the TIV1 has a top speed of 100 mph and a fuel capacity of 60 gallons. Although no longer in use by Casey and his team, the TIV1 was recently found by another storm chaser, Robert Clayton, who plans to restore it and use it for future tornado research.
The TIV1 also includes a heavily reinforced interior with a mobile weather station, multiple cameras for filming tornadoes, and a hydraulic platform that can be raised to a height of 14 feet for better visibility. The TIV’s design allows it to get extremely close to tornadoes, allowing researchers and storm chasers to gather data and footage that would otherwise be impossible to obtain.
This looks like the latest Batmobile’s older brother that is much stronger.
While the TIV1 is no longer in use by Casey and his team, it has become an iconic storm chaser vehicle in the world of storm chasing and tornado research. However, as tornado research progressed, the need for an updated version of the TIV was soon realized. This is where the TIV2 comes in.
Casey and his team were determined to make the ultimate storm-chasing machine after their experiences with the first Tornado Intercept Vehicle. They knew they needed something with higher ground clearance, four-wheel drive, and a much faster top speed. Work began on TIV2, a modified Ram 3500. The new vehicle was destined to be featured in their next IMAX movie and Storm Chasers series.
Forty welding students from the Great Plains Technology Center in Lawton, Oklahoma were enlisted to help build the vehicle, and after a year of hard work, TIV2 was ready to hit the road for tornado chase season. The modifications made to TIV2 included a strengthened chassis and the addition of a third axle to make it a six-wheel drive. However, after season two, the vehicle was converted to four-wheel-drive, instead.
TIV2 is powered by a 6.7-liter Cummins turbocharged diesel engine, which was modified with propane and water injection to produce a whopping 625 horsepower. This gave TIV2 an estimated top speed of over 100 mph and a fuel capacity of 92 gallons, giving it an approximate range of around 750 miles.
The body of TIV2 was constructed with a 1/8-inch steel skin welded over a 2-inch square-tubing steel frame. The windows are bullet-resistant and made of 1.63-inch interlayered polycarbonate sheets and tempered glass. TIV2 also features an IMAX filming turret, similar to the one on the original TIV. However, the hydraulic claws on the original TIV were replaced with six hydraulic skirts that dropped down to deflect wind over the TIV, stabilizing the storm chaser and protecting the underside from debris.
TIV2 is a true engineering marvel and a testament to the ingenuity and determination of Casey and his team. The vehicle allows them to get closer to storms than ever before, capturing footage that had never been seen before and advancing our understanding of tornadoes and severe weather.
