More Marmon Herrington Questions
 

I have a few more questions about some photos of Ford Marmon Herrington trucks which I hope someone can answer for me.

The first is the 3 trucks in Syria 1941. All are M/H's but they appear to be tractor units with semi-trailers. Would these have been a full length (134in or 158in) chassis OR a special wheelbase of their own?

The second shows Ford Roadster cab 6X6 M/H in 1945 titled "WONGABEL, QLD. 1945. TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY COY TRUCKS".
Now what would have been the wheelbase of these and the total chassis rail length?

Both photos are from the AWM :)

Partial answer
 

I don't know about the three in Syria, so can't help there, but I'd like to know too!
My guess for the 6x6 MH Fords is that they are on the same chassis as the 6x6 ACV prototypes, which I believe were on a Ford 11T 156 inch wheelbase. I stand to be corrected, of course.
The 156 inch measurement comes from an article on the ACVs written years ago by Paul Handel. I think 158 inches is the 4x2 chassis, not sure why a 6x6 would be shorter.
Cheers,
Allan

The "wheelbase" for a tandem pair of rear axles is measured to the centre of the pair of axles. If you look closely at the pics re-posted by Cliff in the Thornton-Welles diff thread, you will see that the tailshaft from the Transfer Case is the same used in the 4x2/4x4 truck, but the length of the pinion onto the T-W drive splitter is shorter than the pinion of a Ford Differential, my guess would be 2in shorter. This would move the centreline of the T-W drivesplitter/tandem bogie assembly 2in forward of the single Ford Truck rear axle.

According to Bart's " The Observers Fighting Vehicle Directory"

1942 front end (Jail bar) Ford #3A, 3 ton, 6X6, Breakdown (Aust) - (Ford/Marmon Herrington 296T) has a 156in WB and overall is 290in Long X 98in wide and 118in high. Also fitted with a soft top cab. 10.50 X 18 tyres and Australian type spring bumper.

The 1941 was designated as a #3

Reading this I believe the 1941 may have the same WB and dimensions. Am I correct? :)

Thanks for the clarification Tony. I see what you mean with the length of the drive shaft into the splitter. That makes sense to me.
So is it right to say there have been two versions of 6 wheel drive used on Aussie Ford MH trucks? The Thornton-Welles as you describe, and also the type using a Timken double pinion splitter mounted on the forward of the rear axles? And would the Timken type also be a 156"wb?

Cheers,
Allan