Prices seem somewhat reasonable, although few of these could be considered military collectibles anymore. It is possible that they folded the original company, then bought back all their own equipment at auction just to start up again. Or perhaps someone else saw the value in scenic Duck Tours.
Not sure the exact failure of the front knuckle on the DUKW that had the accident, but I know in the CF we had issues with the small nuts that held the spindles to the knuckle. They were easy to over-torque if installed with an impact gun, or even a quality air ratchet. At the same token, they were also dangerous if under-torqued. We had to pull all the front wheels of the MLVWs and check the torque on those bolts. There were also problems with the torque and the studs on the kingpins of the MLVWs. Towards the end, 37 years of corrosion were causing failures of the studs at the knuckles. The whole fleet was grounded a year or two ago to have them all inspected and repairs done as necessary.
So there was a lot more than just the wheel bearings to be concerned about with these types of trucks.
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