Gordon_M

Both ways, but in one direction much more than the other. If you have them off the truck, look for the filling screw in the side, then fill them right up with shock oil (or jack oil if that is all your supplier has) and work them forward and back a few times. I've looked at a lot of these, and I've only ever found one of the knee-action shocks that didn't respond well to a fill up and a little gentle exercise. I suppose it is possible you re-fitted them the wrong way round and the basic shock action is in the wrong direction?

Not particularly helpful to the Crossley question, but on WW2 Dodges you can use 3/4 ton WC 9.00 x 16 rims on the front and inner / outer nuts, plus 1/2 ton WC 7.50 x 16 rims outboard of those. There is a little extra weight, but no extra steering effort at all as the outers are off the running suface until you really need them on soft going.

If it's a hole punch. maybe it punches holes in, say, horses ears for identification purposes? ouch Gordon

berwickborders_mvc@yaho.co.uk <berwickborders_mvc@yaho.co.uk> Hmm, maybe if you try it as yahoo, rather than yaho ?? Malcom should be on here anyway and that's his part of the world. Gordon

That's very much a last resort. These big filters are great, and last for ever, but regular draining is the thing and avoid dismantling at that joint wherever possible. It's actually better to take the whole thing off and rinse or back flush it than dismantle, as the top joint is a b!"£$r. The big fuel filter is like the cartridge oil filter in that getting it to re-seal when you reassemble is a problem. Cleaning, new rubber ring, all that stuff, and it still might not seal, then you try and tighten the main holding bolt that extra 1/4 turn and ... ping! I normally suggest to other Dodge owners that they pick up complete spares of the fuel filter, oil filter, fuel pump, carb, starter, and waterpump, together with a complete set of radiator and fuel hose plus a gasket kit. If you have all this lot on the shelf, or better still stowed on the truck, you can bet you'll never need them, but the one thing you don't have will let go some wet Sunday night miles from anywhere.

Hmm, Diamond Industrial Supply, Brown Street, Camelon might be worth a try for bolts? They supplied nearly everything I needed for the DUKW and a pile of Dodges, I just stumped them when I needed wing nuts. No connection except (relatively) satisfied customer Diamond Industrial Supply Co 4 Brown Street Camelon Falkirk FK1 4QF Central Tel: 01324 629151 Fax: 01324 627363

Well my/Berts Dodge site, or Maple Leaf Up are your best bet for info. I don't know anyone who will admit to knowing a lot about them, a few still survive in Canada and the Norwegians sold off a few from reserve stock too. Although you can get a copy of the build card for any US Dodge of this period from Chrysler Historical I've heard that all the Canadian production records went in the bonfire, but with a build quantity as small as that you should be able to narrow it down One for the Maple Leaf Up Forum, softskin section, definitely.

Stuck inlet valve on the carb / float, however.... Drain your big fuel filter and look for c!"p, consider taking spare fuel hoses, pump, and so on in the toolbox, and get used to cleaning the carb out. Regualr draining of the big filter will help, if there is a lot of stuff in it (apart from petrol) consider cleaning the tank too. Gordon

I think I got £9000 for mine some time back, which was complete but not as original as that one. If you have ALL the Carryall-specific parts, and spares for things like rear window winders, and seats, tailgate, liftgate, all that stuff, you could easily spend £10k buying bits. It is an early one too, note the symettrical headlight guards. Might even have a leather interior. If you want it, but remain unconvinnced, bid a lower figure like 8 or 9k and see what happens, but do check it over. I do have a selection of Carryall "how to's" on my pages... http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/carryal4.htm

I don't have original shots, just this one small image of a WC56 I did some time back; The OD green paint and USA numbers are as factory applications, but till mid -42 you can use the three colour star as seen in the small image, personalise it with names, flight crew stuff like FOLLOW ME signs, that sort of thing. One important feature often neglected on USAAF trucks is that because they were only operated around the airfiled it was common to see them with no spare wheel, no jerrycans, no pioneer tools and racks, that sort of thing - you were always within walking distance of the garage.

.... teaching you more than you ever wanted to know about Stalwarts, isn't it? Having owned a LARC 5 (didn't run, so it didn't eat much) a GPA (junk) and a DUKW (best of the lot) I'm thinking there's more parts in one Stalwart than in all three of those put together. I have particularly fond memories of the DUKW as it had very few jobs that one person couldn't tackle with the appropriate spanners and a bit of ingenuity, whereas the Stalwart looks like a two person / heavy equipment job for just about anything serious. I'm just very happy I didn't give in to temptation when I sold the DUKW and buy a cheap Stalwart, though I have had a run in a fully-sorted one and very nice it was too. Gordon

When the earliest 3/4 tons were made the USAAF was starting to re-locate to England, and many 3/4 tons were issued to them, specifically Command Cars and Carryalls, which were seen as being a little to obviously senior staff transport for much use up the sharp end. Half ton and 3/4 ton Command and Carryall were used extensively in Alaska on the Alaska Highway and Canol projects, but I can't think of an instance where 3/4 ton Commands would have been specifically issued to / used by the RAF Far East maybe, Burma, places like that ? If you are looking for interesting paint options, then the use of the Command by the USAAF gives you a lot of options. "Follow Me" trucks, flightline taxis, stuff like that.

There's actually two ... The front two-thirds of the joint uses plastic insert, just like the rear wings. On the early half tons the rear 1/3rd was filled with a rubber insert, but when rubber got to be strategic (as during all 3/4 ton production) the rear 1/3rd of the joint was filled by an insert made of 3/4" manilla rope in a loop of OD canvas - basically a 5" strip of canvas, lay a bit of rope down the middle, fold it in half, and sew it up. Vintage Power Wagons have both types off the shelf, but for your 3/4 ton the rearmost 1/3rd is easy to make.

Of course that's a long time before it was painted purple and used in Darling Buds, Mr Larkin sir. I know all the history of that purple one since it was registered in London around 1950, and it isn't a tipper, or even a cargo..... Gordon, in Scotland

Nice work there - I agree with the question about having a day job. It might have been in Switzerland, but it is a US body. I've talked to a few GMC owners with Swiss retro-fit bodywork on them over the years and the reason for this expenditure of money and energy s always given as the same thing. The replacement bodies are a set width, height, and top corner radius so they could be carried / driven down Swiss logistics railroads / tunnels whatever. Your body is the original high square-cornered US type, and it's realy nice to see on a hard cab chassis as so many had the rather pointless (for a workshop truck) soft cab

Oh, that Federal in Dundee has come down in the world, I wondered where it went. About twenty years ago I saw it sitting off the A9 in Pitlochrie, maybe 50 miles north of there. It was one of two which had been used for heavy construction, the other was sitting not far away as a bare chassis. At the time I saw it the doors were still on, but the whole ash frame under the cab was rotten so not surprising they have fallen off. It was originally an aircraft wrecker, but the fifth wheel had been removed and the boom altered too. Either that one or the other one also had a diesel lump fitted. Where was it in Dundee then? it couldn't still be there? probably worth not more than scrap value in that condition, when you can pick up a decent WLF equivalent anywhere in Europe for a reasonable sum Gordon (Aberdeen today)

Recovery film is included on the original BP films, which are all copyrighted unfortuantely so I can't distribute, though there are clips on You Tube. As you surely worked out they were driving along and a crevass lid just fell away beneath them. As mostly ex-military types they described it as being like driving a tank over a minefield, except you went down instead of up. Usual procedure was to drive another couple of 'Cats up front, disconnect the rear sledges and add a couple of Weasels to the back as ground anchors, then dig lightweight aluminium bridging underneath and drive or haul it out. The four Sno-Cats got all the way across, and numerous other vehicles (Weasels, Muskeg) were abandoned as planned, but one of the four Sno-Cats was lost a couple of years later on the Ross ice shelf when it ran over a similar crevass but end on - one fatality and two seriously injured. My Sno-Cat, a smaller 443 or the same period, sits on a nice dry garage floor and tows up to three M19 ski/wheel trailers when I take it out.

You need to get rid of the reflecting license plates and get good old black and silver plates on there, you can always stick another huge reflector on the back if you are worried about visibility. A video camera mounted up top might not be a bad idea, for when some fool tries to argue with a front wheel .....? There were some range target Saracens sitting locally to me, but really didn't fancy trying to resurrect them Gordon

... with only two tracks; Yes, I do have one, and yes, they did do military ones... Gordon_M