Richard Farrant

A few weeks ago I had to use a local bus. The driver was obviously an ex- soldier, the bus was a Dennis with auto transmission, and I can tell you that he drove it like a 432 carrier, booting it hard, so the box was changing harshly......and as for speed limits, well I expect his excuse was, keeping to schedule :nono:. No sympathy for the vehicle nor respect for other road users :shake:.

Overall tracks were issued to the wartime, (and earlier ), 6x4 3ton trucks, which all employed the WD pattern rear bogie. Examples are Austin K6, Crossley, Leyland Retriever, Thornycroft, AEC Marshall, Karrier and Guy. So they were not just for walking beam axles.

Hi Mike, If your ring spanner is flat, or slightly cranked, I guess you have to remove the wheel before using it? The purpose of the box spanner we had was that you could weild the hammer away from the tyre or vehicle, the block supporting it. When loosening the nut, it was handy to have the wheel on the ground to stop it rocking, and loading the teeth in the gearcase.

Hi Mike, The wooden block was made for a different purpose . I worked on a lot of Explorers when they were in service, at a REME workshop. Not sure where your puller originated from, but to describe the set we had, I guess it was factory supplied, well used anyhow, even the local bus company and garages borrowed it for their demobbed Explorer recovery trucks. There was a very heavy box spanner which must have been 18" to 24" long, with a bar about 2 or 3 foot long welded at right angles at the end. The wooden block was about 8" square and stood on end to support the end of the box spanner, the top of block was radiused for the spanner to sit into. One person holding the box spanner firmly on to nut and supporting block, other person with sledge hammer welting the end of bar to release nut. Once nut is loose, the puller which looked like a modified hub cap, was bolted on to the hub, the extractor screw had same size hex head as nut, so box spanner was used again to shock the hub off, as you say, a thump on the end of the screw helps once it is loaded. The hubs should be tight on the taper shaft, else the key is likely to shear and tapers wearing. I recollect having to renew a taper shaft on one occasion, due to a loose hub and damaged keyway, the tonnage to push it out of the gearwheel was terrific, something like over 30t. Hope this is not a case of teaching grandma to suck eggs, but it all came back to me when I read the thread :-D

Hi Degsy, Here is a 1947 Bedford ML, the military version has a tilt frame, otherwise little difference.

..........and the special wooden block

Laurent, You are asking for a picture of a 1947 Bedford 2-ton military lorry, so to be specific for the year 1947, the OX was not made after 1941-42, MW ceased in 1945. Now the attached picture is from a 1947 Bedford manual and is of a K type 2 tonner, which I know the army had because I came across the remains of one from an army apprentice school with its contract plate still on it. all you have to do is draw in a canvas tilt. It was a commercial type truck with no particular "military" fittings on it.

Seems there is a problem with MLU Forum now, message coming up that the account has been suspended, this includes other associated sites.

CW, When this happened, was it the hardest you had ever pushed the engine, since rebuild? Could have been a faulty piston, although unusual in this day and age, it was a problem in the 40's era, with unpredicatably alloys. I have come across pistons that have expanded and ended up larger than their plan size.........and that was after they cooled down

I have seen big diesels where this has happened, piston then broke up and rod through the block, so you can consider yourself lucky in that respect. Perhaps the piston to bore clearance was a bit on the tight side?

CW, Don't want to be guilty of deviating from the thread subject :shake:..........but sorry to hear that. Send me a message about it :tup::

No.......whats happened? .........War broken out ?

Hi CW, This might have been when the old friction type dampers were the norm, but on hydraulic type dampers, a smear of graphite grease between the leaves is recommended. Just checked your Bedford Service manual, and it says use graphite in there :thumbsup:

Bernard, I believe you are in East Sussex, there is a auto paint specialist in Northiam, called Britcon, by the station. They mix sythetic paint ( like the old coach paint ) and I have had Eau-de-Nil from them, wartime engine colour for tanks, etc. Cost is about £10 per litre tin.

I think these could be road wheels from a Covenanter tank, early WW2. They had rubbers with holes in like this, and I have seen living van with a steam roller with them on.

Just been on MLU, no problems, using the normal www.mapleleafup address

I recollect my father telling me about the crew of a crashed German aircraft that came down in Sussex. He was in the Home Guard. They were buried outside the local churchyard. I think that a lot of the German graves were relocated to a German war cemetry elsewhere in the country.

Richard, That reminds me of something the Royal Australian Air Force F-111 pilots used to do on displays, they called it "dump and burn". They dumped fuel and it then ignited behind them, looked like a damned great blowlamp !

It comes from the Isle of Wight...........hence the name.

Jack, what happened to the cyclist? Must have been quite a shock when that wing came down :shake:

Hanno, I think from memory, this was brought back from Bosnia for the REME Museum and believe it to be at Arborfield......stand to be corrected. (I see it has a Greek port on the shipping instructions )

Les, Hold the cursor over the picture, right click, then click on to "full screen"

Mike, Better account of Joseph Kennedys last flight here.......in a US Navy Liberator , www.b-29s-over-korea.com/kennedy_story/kennedy_story01.html it continues on to Page 2 as well

Hmmm............I had trouble understanding you, with that Doooooorset accent :-D

Ciney Militaria 26th October :coffee: