armydriver

I like the photos of the pre-war trucks.

It is definately military. I agree with the sCanadian theory. Great find at a good price.

it my understanding that the machine gun mounts on the GMC's were meant to be used in case of an attack by aircraft. If this is the case then only a couple would be needed in a convoy. They were not meant as an offensive or defensive weapon against infantry, however probably some were used that way. I would suggest that the ommission of winches on some trucks was more of a case of conserving steel and costs as not all trucks needed the winch, when others were traveling with them. All tippers had winches, but then they are construction trucks. I have a friend that was a South Pacific combat veteran with the 2nd Marine Division and he said that they mounted pedestal mounts, similiar to the jeep mount , in the rear of the IH trucks , right behind the cab, with the .50 caliber machine guns and used them against the Japanese in an offensive manner. We all knoiw that in war time ingenuity in the field can mean the difference between victory or defeat and trucks that were supposed to be support vehicles can be quickly turned into weapons of war.

Jack I had one rear wheel on my CCKW that would lock up and I replaced the spring and that took care of the problem. The old springs do get weak over time and while they appear really strong when dissambling the brakes, they may not be strong enough to pull the shoes away from the drum against the wheel cylinder pressure.

I would appreciate anyone knowing of a GMC CCKW with a date of delivery of August 1945 or later to please notify me. Thanks. Jim

Does anyone know of a CCKW that the data plate date of delivery is stamped after August of 1945?

Jack The more you drive the old Jimmy the more you can get the feel of what is best for the truck. Mark is right on that pointm you kind of become one. They are very noisy in the cab so don't expect a pleasant conversation while out on a country drive.

The stuff I have come across is almost like tar. It is real tough and adhears to the metal real well. Unsightly to say the least but keeps out corrosion very well. I had a GPW that was undercoated with the stuff and there was very little rust out at all on the gas tank sump or tool boxes. No ruined crossmembers or supports on the jeep.

If it is leaking into the Hydrovac it can get into your engine. Best to find the leak as soon as possible. I had that problem and replaced the Hydrovac unit and that solved my problem.

Very interesting thread . My truck is named Betty Boop and I even have nose art of Betty Boop painted on the passanger side panel. My truck was an Army Air Force used truck so nose art seemed appropiate. :lol:

Tipper bed CCKw's are in very short supply here in the states and parts for them even scarcer. I am in need of the tail gate latch. It is a big cast item that is bolted on top of the bed rail , hook shaped . If anyone has a spare or an old rusted out bed with one of these I would love to buy it. Thanks Jim

That looks like a Mack truck 5 ton more than likely. I am a canvas bucket man myself and consider any truck with a canvas bucket well dressed. I have hung other items on my CCKW for display purposes but never in a parade. As my truck was used by the Army Air Force and carrys a local air field markings, anything that is added are things that would be used on a flight line truck, such as an aircraft tow bar and fire extinguishers.

Now there is a man with good taste. Just like fine wine, the older the better.

I wish I knew Jack. When these trucks were generally de-militarized and turned into what ever it was going to do in civilian live, whether it was to be a logging truck, work in the oilfields or on a farm, it seemed that the spare tire carruer was in the way and discarded. Other parts are often needed also, inclucing the pintle hook and rear bumberettes, but those have generally been available. Not so with the spare tire carriers. Also try to find the open cab parts over here, like the windshield assembly. Next to impossible. Most restorers here need a spare parts truck to take parts from in order to build one from two. The parts I needed to restore old Betty Boop came from a friend in Sweden from a parts truck he had.

Very nice jacket. Thanks for the photo as I have never seen a British Ike jacket. I have several American Ike jackets and I really the ones that were originally class A dress tunics that have been cut down into an Ike jacket. I wish the United States Army still had uniforms as dressey as the uniforms of WWII. Thanks for sharing the beautiful find of an Ike jacket.

Those have to be scarce, just as most WWII issue boots are. It has always amazed me as to how much British gear Americans would wear into combat during WWII, which speaks for the quality and utility of the British stuff. Many of the American B-17 and B 24 crew nenbers oreferred tge RAF fleece boots and a lot of the P 51 pilots preferred the RAF flat flying goggles to the American issued ones. I have a leather u.S. Issued flight helmet with the British RAF type goggles given to me by a former P-51 pilot and he said the view from the curved plexiglass in the P-51 was not as distorted with the RAF goggles as it was with the curved lensed U.S. goggles. I don't know really for sure, but then he was the expert not me. He flew his thirty missions in the 8th AAF and shot down 4 FW190's.

i have an early M1 fixed bale helmet thqt has the OD sand finish and I have another that just has the OD smooth finish. Neither have any numbers or markings in them . Not to say that the markings are not original .Remember the helmets were made by different manufacturers and were in continuous use from 1942 until the introduction of the new Kelvar helmets used today, so many were redone and re-issued. When I was in Vietnam we were still being issued WWII dated rations and web gear.

You guys just made my day. whistlenwolf that is funny. Really the stuff is called mink oil here, I am not sure how they get it from the mink though :lol: as those little suckers are mean and probably don't want to give up their oil. It is amazing how much we can get off of the original posts on these sites though. I like the idea of having a 37 MM anti tank gun on a jeep. They mounted rocket launchers on the beds of CCKW's in the Pacific theater. They put 75MM automatic cannons in the noses of B-25's for anti-ship attacks in the Pacific so considering a size to caliber ratio a 37 MM cannon would be nice on a jeep.

At 66 years old my boyish good looks have run off somewhere. You realize how old you are when 50 year old women look like young chicks to you and you feel like you would be robbing the cradle. :lol: Imagine a situation where the driver is old, driving a truck that is almost as old and blowing his sirene at old ladies and smiling at then as if they were high school cheerleaders. Man that is scary. :roll:

This is probably not new to most of you guys, but it was a revelation to me. I recent received a spare tire carrier for my long wheeled base CCKW from a really nice MVer in the Neatherlands and with it I received two of the original nuts that hold the spare tire on. On first appearance they appear as any other Budd lug nut, but then you realize that they do not have the external threads on them for the large nut. Just a small bit of information for the real purist out there. I would have never known and would have assumed the regular lug nut would have been what was used. have a great week guys. AD

Thats a fact. :lol: :lol: :lol: Thanks for the invitation. I look forward to a lot of good interaction on this site.

My restoration of my CCKW has been an ongoing labor of love for 5 years with something new being added as original parts are found to complete the project. I just received a spare tire carrier from Holland. Those things are really scarce in the states.. I have sandblasted it, put two coats of primer and one coat of OD paint on it and will install it tomorrow as I have a few days off from teaching school. I have a 20" rim that is being shipped to me from California so I can mount a spare tire. Just one more thing to make my old truck as original as I can get her.

my 43 CCKW353 cargo truck was an Army Air Force truck and then Air Force truck. She was still painted flight line yellow with black hood markings when I fuond her. At the advanced pilots training fields at Kelly and Brooks Fields in San Antonio, Texas during World War II hundreds of T-6 trainers were flown each day. A cargo truck loaded with pilots would drive slowly between the lines of aircraft lined up faceing each other and each pilot would disembark at his aricraft. After landing ,the same truck would slowly make it's way down the long line of Texans and pick up the pilots and return them to the debriefing area for additional instruction and reports. They also had CCKW dump trucks for airfield maintance as these training fields were grass fields during the war. later they would become hard stand with runways.

Jack, as we discussed on CCKW.org, this is a tough one. I still believe it is the manufacturing stamp of a sub contractor that was making the brush guards for the CCKW's just as someone had found the same mark on his bumper of his truck. I don't believe it is a steel foundry mark. Now all we need to find out who the sub contractor was.

let me add my take on this. You will find some Air Force vehicles fitted with them, especially any flight line trucks, crash trucks and of course ambulances. I have one on my CCKW because it garners attention during a parade , especially when the spectators are attractive women in shorts and halter tops. ( dirty old man at work) :lol: :lol: My CCKW was used by the Army Air Force and U.S. Air Force so therfore my excuse as it was still in it's original flight line yellow paint with black hood markings when I found her.