Morris C8 Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Here are two photos of 1920s RAF trucks, one has a plane in the back + 1930s Army truck broken down 6 wheeler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil munga Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Great pictures , Whats with the wheels I can see the two front trucks are not identical but the front one has spoked wheels up front and the rear wheals look solid very much the same as the truck behind but then its front wheels are not spoked , did some have wheel discs like hub caps or would they be just pressed wheels ? the guys in the lower pic look a bit sick maybe broke a half shaft , ropes on the ready but whats the box ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Great pictures , Whats with the wheels I can see the two front trucks are not identical but the front one has spoked wheels up front and the rear wheals look solid very much the same as the truck behind but then its front wheels are not spoked , did some have wheel discs like hub caps or would they be just pressed wheels ? the guys in the lower pic look a bit sick maybe broke a half shaft , ropes on the ready but whats the box ? I think the first lorry is an AEC (Y-type ?) and the following two with disc wheels are Leylands, the wheels were a feature of theirs. The lower pic, not sure, but think it might be a Guy, the box looks to be the same size as the VM toolbox still used at least into the 1990's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 The bottom one does look like a Guy but I'm afraid I don't know the marque in sufficient detail to determine the model. Does it appear to have two radiators, one behind the other? I have never seen that done before! The first lorry in the first picture looks like a Leyland to me. The Y-Type had the same size wheels front and rear (850mm) whereas the Leyland had the standard Subsidy arrangement of 720mm at the front and 881mm at the rear. The mixture of spoked and disc wheels is not unusual as there seems to have been a wheel shortage during the war with most companies taking whatever they could get. Wheels were mixed and matched a lot more than one might expect as the whole wheel had to be taken to a tyre press to change the tyre. As this would take at least a day, depending on how close the nearest type press was, the motor transport companies always had a float of spares in order to keep the vehicles on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris C8 Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Here is a close up of the rad, it looks like it has two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les freathy Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Guys did indeed have a oval badge in those times but Crossly also used a a radiator badge of similar shape and from the close up it would appear to have more than three letters in the name. I would guess the reason for two rads is the climate out there and i would imagine the second one has been installed locally, any more photos from this period Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les freathy Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 A photo of a Morris D type 30cwt and a Thornycroft in the Waziristan district in 1927 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Guys did indeed have a oval badge in those times but Crossly also used a a radiator badge of similar shape and from the close up it would appear to have more than three letters in the name. You have me worried now! I know I have seen this badge but cannot lay my hands on a picture for the moment. I think I have seen it with the words 'Guy Motors' inside the 'G'. As soon as I find some more evidence I will come back. Of course, it could be a 'Gilford'! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 The Guy is definately a Guy! - The badge will say "Guy Motors Limited". The first four lorries in the first picture are all Leyland "RAF" types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nz2 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 The first photo shows Leyland trucks. Number one truck has the holes across the front chassis cross member. A Leyland feature. The front wheel design of the following Leylands again a feature of early Leylands. Some Leylands were produced with disc front wheels having no holes at all where as others have four holes. The body design on these Leylands appear the same but the front truck appears a larger unit based about the radiator and bonnet shape and form. This could be a 3 1/2 ton truck ( 40 hp) while the balance are 2 1/2 tonners. Difficult to be true working from photos. The Thornycroft in the latter photo would be an A3 model, developed from the A1 in 1926 with a bogie axle. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris C8 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hello Doug, Thanks for the the info on the Leyland trucks. Would you like a copy by email? Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Well an army truck should at least look interesting. This is one of a series of shots taken around these events which pop up on E-Pay from time to time. Well before the Louisiana war games that featured VC and VF trucks plus early GMC 6 x 6's. ------------------------------------------------------------------ California 'exercises' in the late 1930's. A White / Corbitt, probably a 7 1/2 ton 6 x 6 model Indiana 20x6 from about 1936, tows an anti-aircraft gun and crew. This design would be a run-on from the Quartermaster Corps Standard Fleet I think. The AA gun does nothing for me, and the two crew sitting on it while they tow it with the barrel up don't look impressed either. I'd love to have the truck, though. production quantities would have been so small that parts would be impossible, it would be easier to find bits for something made in WW2, or even WW1, in larger quantities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nz2 Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Looking at the photo of the two radiators leads to a series of questions as to how these were mounted. If done the field for neccessity, the resouces available may not have been the largest to draw on. I take from the photos the header and lower tanks are alloy, they appear close together so coupling the inlet and outlet pipes between the tanks would be an interesting job. That is assuming the pipes link directly through between the tanks, rather than having rubber hoses passing around the front tank then joining up . Linking two tanks together means cutting a hole in the tank would then require a suporting flange to mount the other end of a conection piece. With no alloy welding. Otherwise remove tanks from radiator, cut holes and bolt in place flanges from inside the tanks. Mechanics had to be good alround trades people. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I found this picture recently, which suggests that the twin radiator was a factory option (from Motor Transport June 20th, 1927): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Grundy Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 While we are on with the subject of Army lorries of the 1920's, would anyone have any photos of details of the Vulcan, 30 cwt, six wheeler that was supplied to the War office in 1928 ? I have this rare vehicle, I am improving it at the moment as some of the previous restoration was not too good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Bob, I'll put something in the Vulcan thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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