As you are all aware, the older rims and tires can be problematic to service or disassemble after being in use for 80 years... My solution to the issue was to have a new rim made to take care of the problem... I have found a company in California that will produce a rim similar to a Dodge Power Wagon for $ 245.00, but without any holes, and much like the rare 10.5 x 16 rim fitted to Canadian trucks sold for export...
The 10.5 x 16 rim might require modifying the fenders up front for the wider tires, but, I am willing to compromise and go with a narrower wheel up front 8" or 9" and not have to widen the fender by 4.75" and yet still have a wider tire fitted.. Another option would be to have staggered wheels... 8" up front and 10" in the rear. Opinions/information welcomed regarding suitable tires as well....Thank you.
Late '50's 22.5 tubeless wheels will fit with a hub spacer, easily made. Fit 9 x 22.5 tires well. Somewhat hard to find, look on farm trucks. A gentleman in Az had some modern 22.5's with that kind of centers made by some wheel CO.
Ed
'37 GMC T-18 w/ DD 4-53T, RTO-610, 6231 aux., '95 GMC running gear, full disc brakes, power steering, 22.5 wheels and tires. '47 GMC 1 ton w/ 302, NP-540, 4wd, full width Blazer front axle. '54 GMC 630 w/ 503 gasser, 5 speed, ex fire truck, shortened WB 4', install 8' bed. '55 GMC 370 w/270, 420 4 speed, grain, dump bed truck from ND. Works OK.
Hello Ed, thank you for the suggestion... It would be interesting to see details and photos from this gentleman in AZ. For now it seems easier for me to have new wider wheels made for my truck since I want to convert it to a Long Range Desert Patrol configuration...
Those are not highway tires, but they're DOT rated... Remember it is not a 50 MPH truck. Good for rural roads, country roads. Not meant for highway, never my intent....
Yes, they did, the second split wheel is fitted to an Australian Chevrolet truck, same hub; but God forbid I could find that part number anywhere! I will be drilling the front hubs for 5 extra studs on each on mine...
Thank you, can't wait to get it all done... Surprised to see that there isn't much interest out there other than I couple people I know in a project like this....
Brilliant that you have chosen this as a project and it looks very much like you are doing it right.
The originals caused way more trouble for the opposition than they cost in dollars or men. They were strictly ingenuity and make do on a tight schedule.
Some will complain that you are mucking up a nice Chevrolet, I think you are creating something much more than an original restoration could ever be. It will honor the brave men that built the first ones and risked their lives in the desert.
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
Did you split the fenders or did you find some rare factory wide ones? I have two pair of wide fenders for '41-'47 GMC, didn't know if the made ones for earlier trucks.
Ed
'37 GMC T-18 w/ DD 4-53T, RTO-610, 6231 aux., '95 GMC running gear, full disc brakes, power steering, 22.5 wheels and tires. '47 GMC 1 ton w/ 302, NP-540, 4wd, full width Blazer front axle. '54 GMC 630 w/ 503 gasser, 5 speed, ex fire truck, shortened WB 4', install 8' bed. '55 GMC 370 w/270, 420 4 speed, grain, dump bed truck from ND. Works OK.
Hello Ed, I split the fenders according to the military specs. of the time, which was a real pain in the neck,,, Do you think that the fenders you have would fit my truck? What model option truck did they fit originally? Can you post photos? Thank you.
It is fun in the sense that no one has done the early WB trucks in the US as far as I know, only the 41-43 models which reside in California... In the UK there are at least two of these early trucks reproduced, as the only one original survivor resides in the Imperial War Museum... I am trying to be as historically accurate as I can, but there are limitations. In terms of many parts (a lot has to be fabricated/finding used ones has proven very costly ) and even tires... Original wartime sizes are not available and one has to compromise...
Indeed, for such a small group of men they sure caused quite a bit of havoc against the Italian and German armies in Northern Africa...One great advantage was that many years earlier men such as Ralph Bagnold had traveled the desert with a small expedition and mapped many parts of the terrain, knowledge that was worth its weight in gold during the war... They were never expected to appear in many places and there they were, always harassing and disrupting the enemy convoys and destroying valuable supplies and fuel...
As for the trucks, initially they were purchased straight out of the GM dealerships in Alexandria and converted quickly but there were some units that came from the Indian Army as well... Out of nothing and very quickly they had to come up with trucks big enough to carry the weapons and supplies needed, but not too heavy as to be a problem in terms of weight or fuel consumption... That is why the (Ford) 4x4 units were tested but not utilized because they were impractical...
Now regarding possibly mucking up a nice truck, everything that I am doing can be reversed... I still have the original Budd wheels, the fenders would have to replaced and the rest of the truck will not be cut up... I have decided to keep the original cab after finding that there are no 1.5 ton open express trucks anywhere, especially 39-40 years... Despite wanting to present a small tribute to the men of the LRDP/LRDG group by doing this truck, I am all for preservation... I have kept the original 216, 6 volt system, saved every original W1 marked bolt I could keep,etc... So, I hope that I can be forgiven by the purists for doing this... My biggest let down, parts availability/prices and some vendors... I will just leave that there...
In terms of other support, I appreciate the words of encouragement by all members here, and I will try to post updates as quickly as I can. Still, I don't want to get off topic, but if anyone knows of someone that can help with good used parts it would be appreciated. Thank you.
At last I have the widened fenders on the truck... A little more work remains, extending the fender braces and cutting the running boards on the inside so they can be bolted... For now I will leave them as they are resting on the inside of the fender... Later on I will have to extend all of them out to match the outside of the fender. A second set will be used for that on the front but more than likely the rears will have to be cut straight as well... I'm reluctant to go forward because of that at the moment...Need to rethink my options. Though overall I am happy to have replicated the war-time configuration on the truck...
Thank you... If I remember correctly, the rear tires fall within the old footprint of the dual wheels while the front is over about 1.5" from the original setup...
I just found this book in a box of favorites, I got it long ago, and I was wondering if you have seen it. There are a lot of pictures of your truck in it and many stories about it.
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
Yes, there are quite a few, I picked a couple that showed the truck best. There are pictures of Rommel and Montgomery and all those guys, a few tanks. There are more of the trucks but most of them are focused on something else, like the guns or the piles of stores. It is a fairly interesting read but there is not a lot of technical stuff on the trucks. There is a good one of the front wheel but it really does not show anything not in the pictures you posted. They call them "30 cwt", no mention of the drive line or model. It almost sounds like these were completely standard fare for the desert, nothing special, and they could be had at the local dealer. They look pretty special to me.
This was written by a historian, who I don't think was actually involved in the fight.
Do you have anything written by the guys that did the actual raiding or prepping of the trucks?
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
You're correct in the sense that they got the first few trucks, 30 or 40 straight out of the Cairo dealerships and got minimum work done, such as the fenders and wider tires plus cutting the cabs... I do have a couple of documents detailing what was needed for these trucks from the LRDG... The first page deals with Ford 4x4 trucks and the second deals with the Chevrolet trucks...
Here a few photos of the truck almost done, with a few small details to the body to be fixed... At last all the major modifications are done, and I was able to save the rear running boards and not having to extend the sides by almost 4" by modifying the front running board to match the rear...[img]http://[/img]
