The time has come ... GMC 353 CCKW

Greetings Ladies & Gentlemen.

It is slowly becoming a reality that after owning MV's for 16 years, that I shall finally be moving into the WW2 camp!

After the sale of my current project, I shall be looking to buy a GMC 353. Ideally I want a canvas cab with the gun-ring, although the latter is not a total must. I have a few questions, which I hope people may assist with who currently own, or have owned, a GMC.

What do I look for on a vehicle?

I guess tyres, as there are 12 I would want good tyres with no cracks and good tread etc.

Cab- I understand this can rot lots, especially the sides and the floor.

Brakes - hydrovac and usual leaks etc..

Engine I would guess is the usual smoke/noise issues.

Any other pointers?

Much appreciated and hopefully I shall post more soon as to how my quest goes for a new GMC!

I hope I'm not dreaming with £7000 as a budget, I think I am in the right area for something nice

Many thanks

Paul Connor

Talking about tyres ensure the GMC is fitted with the war-time pattern Bar Grip Tyres and the Norwegian post-war clover leaf pattern.

My advice would be to buy the TM9- 801 manual and study the general running and servicing requirements and when going to view take someone with you that is well versed in GMC's. Most trucks were fitted with banjo axles (large circular diff) and parts availability is better on these than on the Timken split axle versions. As regards the gun ring, this is a heavy old lump of metal so be aware of the extra strain this puts on the front axle. Good luck in your search, in my opinion one of the best vehicles to own and as long as well looked after very reliable and a cracking drive.

Open cabs are fine, but they do suffer a lot more from the weather, so might be more work.

My advice would be not to turn down a good closed cab if one is on offer, with winch even better.

Talk to owners, look at trucks- research models there are 6 marks from civilian to hardcab to soft cab- lots of differences. I purchased a 353 tipper before Xmas. I wanted soft cab winch and tipper.

Take a look here-

http://cckwphotoblog.blogspot.co.uk/p/cckw-valuations.html

I have a rere woodern body soft cab want £5500 for it good tyres ect dave 07885231365,

:wow:If it's in good nick that's cheap

off topic , Gerry , I can see in the list GMC tooltruck with winch , but to my knowledge they were never produced , just the open canvas version. the ones I have seen have a non strenghtened chassis , so must have been ordinary cargo trucks , Compressor trucks had again a different strengtenned chassis .

Maurice- that is a link to Vultures blog and his work- sorry I just shared the link.

Gerry.

off topic , Gerry , I can see in the list GMC tooltruck with winch , but to my knowledge they were never produced , just the open canvas version. the ones I have seen have a non strenghtened chassis , so must have been ordinary cargo trucks , Compressor trucks had again a different strengtenned chassis .

My advice would be to buy the TM9- 801 manual and study the general running and servicing requirements and when going to view take someone with you that is well versed in GMC's.

It might be worth pointing out to anyone interested that this manual is freely available on this website in the section ' MV Chatter ' which has a section for vehicle manuals , you don't even need to have to search the internet for it.

Good luck with your search

Points to think about:

- Check for slight tyre bulges.

- Truck should brake really really well (unloaded). If it doesn't there is a brake problem.

- Look for excessive play in the steering. Check the steering box oil level, and looks for leaks around there.

- When out for a drive take it up to 40mph. If the front is shimmying around all over the place, the pins needs replacing on the track-rod.

- Listen out for a blowing cracked exchaust manifold, although you'll probably notice the noise.

- Check exhaust condition. They can take a lot of rust and still hold together, but can be expensive to replace.

A £7,000 budget should get you a nice truck

Kind regards

Vulture

Do you want a driver or closer to factory?

There are some things that must be done to make it a driver that are not original.

What to look for? That's a book in itself.... if you find a truck you like post photos.

Things to look out for immediately: GMC270 motor (original, not civvy replacement). Original CCKW rims, not M35 rims/tires. Original bed not M35/M211/M135. Spare tire carrier in place, pintal hitch and rear bumpers in place. Tire condition... tires are $4000USD+. Accurate 7.50x20's are available, but are about $350USD each.

Buy a HIGH QUALITY TM9-801 manual. The free ones are all black and white and low quality scans. I recommend this site:

http://www.tm-ww2.com/index.php?cPath=24_34_59

Does anyone have, or know of, a GMC353 for sale currently? Must be a canvas cab and ideally without a winch?

As close to Sussex as possible while be great!