The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1942 Chevrolet 1 1/2-ton (G-506 Military) Panel

Good evening ladies and gents. Hope your Christmas day was cheery and bright.

I wanted to show off my old rig and say that I've finally have gotten my registration in order after many years of being off of the books. It didn't go as bad as I thought. After an initial visit to the DMV I learned that along with an application for registration and a "statement of facts" I needed a VIN inspection by the Highway Patrol. Turned out they make housecalls, which is very cool. That worked out fine, so I took my "verification" form along with the rest of the forms back to the DMV. I hit one more snag. Turned out I needed a certified weight report. I was reluctant to drive the rig to the scale as it was quite a bit farther than I felt comfortable to drive so I hired a local towing outfit near here to put the gal on the flatbed for a ride to the scales. That went swell and one more trip to the DMV office and I had my plates. Yahoo! I am tickled pink.

So we made a little vid of one my first trips out. Oh yeah, the truck is my Chevy 1 1/2 ton G506 panel. Here's the vid. (not too long)

One more thing. I asked Miss Joy not to narrate, but she did anyway Hope you like it.

More pics below in my photobucket account if you'd care to see.

Tony

WOW a Model G-7105 panel truck. Definitely something you don't see often.

Yeah. A G7105. This one shows evidence of being a K51 Radio Truck.

Gas mileage? Not sure. The tank straps need repair so I haven't filled it, then driven a good distance much and filled again to do the test. Just added 10 gal. and am keeping a note in the cab figuring 6 mpg.

It's been over 30 years since I have had her on the road! I've got a weepy front left knuckle/axle seal. Not sure how that would hold up, plus want to see what other gremlins might show up, so I am just tiptoeing around the town here. When I get up to high speed "35 mph" (ha) I getting a bit of a rumble from what seems to come from the right front (driveshaft maybe) so that needs to be sorted out. There's lots of work to do but it's all good.

Not to get to far off topic but there is no need to fill the knuckles with grease/oil.

Grease the CV joint and bearings, coat the inside of the knuckle and hub with grease (about 1/16th inch) and that's it. The manuals say to fill the knuckle 3/4th full of chassis grease, and people throw all sorts of concoctions in there.... but the grease never makes it anywhere useful. If using felt wipers then soak them in oil. That will last till its time to repack the bearings. You can rewet with an oil can. Putting anything like oil into the hub will simply wash out the kingpin bearings.

Pick up a copy of TM9-1765A for banjo axle rebuild steps.

Thanks pfarber. I am pretty sure the inner axle splash seal is letting gear oil into the knuckle. I have those seals and have just ordered a pair of knuckle seal kits from Memphis Equipment Co. Want to buy new kingpin bearings. Also shim sets from Vehicles of Victory. Just recently found copy of the TM9-1765A from 9th Infantry Division http://www.easy39th.com/manuals2.php Had most of the info in my old TM9-805, but this is even better. Will be digging into it when I get all the bits.

There is no oil getting from the axle to the hub. There is a seal (two of them, actually) to keep the oil in the diff.

There is no oil in the knuckle at all. The TM says chassis grease... that's basically peanut butter.

I've seen a fair share of G056/508 hubs and most of them had hard packed grease in the hub... it simply never gets agitated. The CV joint does nothing of the sort.

Filling the knuckle with grease is very, very old school. Every modern CV joint is greased, and that's it. The boot is there simply to keep dirt out.

Just offering a suggestion.

Any chance that you put radio's back in the truck?

Well, perhaps you are right.

Either way I have to disassemble the knuckle and related parts to clean and seal it up. I am the one who filled the space with grease as per the good old book. I've thought that possibly the grease is separating and leaking out. Back in 77 I took the knuckles apart and installed new seals, wipers, etc., but not the inner splash seals. Doesn't seem to me that it would be illogical to think that they could have failed. Not sure how I'll lube the area when I put it back together. You got me thinking.

As far as putting radios back. I don't think so. If I find a zillion dollars, maybe. I did see an SCR299 radio as well as a PE-95 generator on the g503 site a while back. Not too much $$ (but they were not in working order). Those were the main components that the K-51 had. Would be cool, though.

Can you post some interior pics? Interior shots of the dash, floor, firewall. Is the door seal rubber or cloth?

Does it have a heater? Is the extinguisher still there?

Sorry for asking so much... but you really just don't see panels that much.

I can PM you my email if you don't want to post.

Cool truck

Very nice. Any idea what uncle sam's focus was in terms of the design for these. Seems like overkill on the suspension given cargo size, unless you were loading something very dense...munitions perhaps to stay out of the weather? Cool piece of history.

Hey guys.

Glad you like it. The G506 trucks came in various configurations. Here is a link to the "historical chevy photos" on the Vehicles of Victory web site http://vehiclesofvictory.com/chevy-g506/chevy-pictures/historic-chevy-photos/
When you see some of these you'll probably say "I've seen these trucks around". They were used so much in the civilian world after WW2. I particularly like the line of K51 Radio Trucks on the dock.

But yeah, they beefed them up pretty well given their load ratings. On my data plate the GVW is noted as only 9975 lbs. The 1961 1 ton panel I had for many years was rated at 10000 lbs.

pfarber. Hey, no problem guy, I shot a few more pics of the interior last night and uploaded them to my photobucket acct. Check em out. It has an old Southwind gasoline heater in it (not stock and not operable), as well as the fan from an old Harrison heater (there were remnants of ducting where someone rigged a way to get the heat from the Southwind to the Harrison fan). And any rubber weatherstrip or similar item have turned to stone or are simply gone. I'll replace those items as I repaint.

Check out any album you can get to in my photobucket acct. The "Murphys Fire Truck" is an old G506 Airfield Crash Truck. Also, on this site in the Gallery, check out Greg Lampmanns 42 1 1/2 ton panel. It is nice. I saw it in person last year at the Tower MV show. Ater you see his, you won't even want to look at mine anymore.

Take care, Tony

A modern lubricant that could be used for the front knuckle is from John Deere called "corn head grease". It seems to always ooze and slowly flow and not pack in. It seems perfect in steering boxes also.

It may work in your old warhorse.

Hi Howie. I have read a little about that lubricant. Isn't it used where you want a liquid lube when it's warm, then having a property where it solidifies somewhat when cold? I think in the knuckle, where you have a CV joint of sorts, the rapid rotation of all that in there would liquify the cornhead grease, and the seals of the knuckle are not designed to hold that back. Not sure, but that's my inclination.

Thanks for the input.

Just talking trucks here... I don't want to ruffle any feathers...

Corn head grease has been around for decades. Its never been in any CV joint, at any time, anywhere. At some point people saw the 'wet knuckle' and thought it was a design feature. It's not. Its just a byproduct of the felt seals weeping. Few, very few, kingpin bearings are splashed lubed by grease agitated by the CV joint. Every manual I have says pack the bearings before installation. While manuals may state the 'wet' knuckles are acceptable, they never say they are required.

A true grease consists of an oil and/or other fluid lubricant that is mixed with a thickener, typically a soap, to form a solid or semisolid. The oil will naturally separate from the soap little by little... THIS IS WHAT IS SEEPING ON THE THE EXPOSED KNUCKLE.

Feel free to use that corn head stuff. But since the 40's trucks have had #2 grease (aka chassis grease, bearing grease) in the hubs. All it ever really did was stop the inside from rusting.

If you check your TM, the hubs and CV joints are to be removed, cleaned, inspected, repacked, and reinstalled every 6,000 miles. And the specified grease is simply 'chassis grease'. Every 1,000 miles you are to check and refill the hubs, again, with CG.

I've taken apart more than my fair share of hubs and they are always in one of two conditions: Jam packed full of dried, hard grease, or lightly lubed on the inside. I have yet to run across anything in the middle.

No feathers ruffled. We are just throwing stuff around. LIKE HANDS! Just kidding.

On my truck, it appears that the kingpin bearings reside in a separate location in the knuckle (top and bottom). Those would obviously be packed separately as the the grease applied into the fitting on the "ball" would not get to those bearings. Nor, of course, would the grease get to the hub's bearings as they are on their own too, obviously again.

I was under the impression that the cornhead grease would be used in places where you would want a heavy gear oil when agitated and warm, but then gelling somewhat when cold. Maybe good for a somewhat leaky old gearbox or differential. No?

Did you check out the "interior" pics?

Never in a differential or gearbox.

"Formulated for John Deere corn head and other slow-speed gear cases"

Its called corn head grease because there evidently is this thing you bolt on a combine for corn stalks that needs this type of grease.

I'm sure any grease is better than no grease, but there really is no need to fill a knuckle with lube. I run my GPW the way I describe, and my CCKW the same way. Rzeppa joints packed, bearings packed, thin coat of grease inside the knuckle for rust prevention.

My 66 M35a2 had the front axles packed with grease.... it must of been in there since it rolled off the factory floor.. I had to melt most of it out with a mapp torch.

Cornhead Schmornhead. How bout some pics of Jeeps n Jimmies.

Tony,

You will not need to know what cornhead grease is if you set up your gearboxes/axles correctly. Just give a shout when you are ready and we will set you up.

And now for the truck porn:

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/1435837@N24/pool/interesting/

Have a great new year!

Paul

Hey. I know you. Will ya stop with the cornhead grease thing? Cryminny sakes (or did I mean to say "cry in my sake"?).

What an awesome group of 506's. I thought it couldn't get any better than the 8 wheel panel...But it did! Thank you, thank you. Happy New Year to you (and the rest of ya) as well.

The web address provided was not a direct link. I had to type it in.

BTW. I have all of the bits for the job either here or coming in, except for the kingpin bearings. Would like to find those. My usual clever "go to" guy here in town couldn't match em.

Tony