Canadian dodge ?

[martyn]

Hi a friend has a dodge it has a canadian chassie and been told a american rear body ?
what is the diffrance and has anyone seen a canadian dodge (wc52) used by british units ?

iam not a dodge man myself so i have no idea whats the diffrance between the us dodge 52 and a canadian dodge ?

any help would be good and pickys of poss

cheers martyn

[gordon]

If it looks like a US Weapon Carrier it sounds like your friend has got an APT, a Canadian AirPorTable version of the Weapon Carrier.

It is very similar to a 3/4 ton Weapon Carrier but every bit is just a fraction different. Engine is longer (25") and so on. The APT came with a back body that looked like a Weapon carrier body, but many of them were noticeably narrower, Don't have any pics here.

I think the only adivce I would give is that all the engine parts pretty much just interchange with other Canadian 25" engines, particualrly length-related parts like cam, crank, head and sump gaskets, etc, etc.

It's quite possible somone has found an APT chassis / cab and put a US back body on it, but I believe the very first APTs had the same width body as the US equivalent, which might be confusing. No idea how you would positively identify an original APT rear body, other than the narrowness of the later ones.

There are many other right hand drive Canadian trucks in the T212, T222, and T110L series that a US body could be fitted to, but they would have the very obvious points of right hand drive and civilian type front wings

[martyn]

Hi Gordon

my friend has told me sum more about it now

it came from norway ex army it has had a winch mounted on it and the engine he says has extension brackets bolted to it reach the front mounts here is the numbers he gave me ?

chassie number - 91168940 (1945 )
make - 2205 dodge
model -D3
trype - 4wp/APT
this is all on the id plate he has with it ?
he says the engine and box is out of a M37

[gordon]

At the end of the war ( and the APTs were produced in 44 and 45 ) they started producing exclusively non-winch chassis, and if they needed to fit a winch they just used bolt-on extensions - though they are more often associated with the post WW2 Power Wagon, the WDX.

If the engine is original it will have a T236-xxxx engine code stamp, so get him to check that, a T245 stamp will mean that it is an M37 engine.

They produced two batches, a 5000 off and a 6750 off, total of 11,750, and that chassis number sits almost exactly halfway through the second batch, probably means it should have a 'narrow' rear body on it.

The Norwegian APTs were surplussed first, as the parts dont interchange much with the US ones, and most had done very few miles and were in very good order. I remember two in Bergen that had only done a few hundred miles from new.

[Lynn Eades]

The U.S WC 52 all had an 8 digit serial number with the first 4 digits ranging from;8152xxxx to 8160xxxx I think the rear body was shorter on the Canadian one on the drivers side allowing entry/ exit past the spare wheel.
Did they have a cut out in the bonnet, and an external air cleaner on the APT?
Martyn, I can give you info on the U.S WC52 If you require anything. I have a "37mm Gun motor carriage M6", which is basically the same as the WC52 except that this is 42 production.

[martyn]

Hi Lynn
any help would or info would be good as i know nothing about soft skin stuff lol
i rember when he got it it was painted red and we were told that people painted vehicles red to say they were a new driver in norway lol
fancy one of them as a first car.........

hes had trouble in the past getting parts as gordon says most bits were diffrent hes done the chassie and bulkhead he wants to put the correct engine and box in it and then sort that rear tub out its slow and steady think it will be a good truck when hes done it, only had it 3 years lol may get it finished in about 3 more hahahaha

hes seen my carrier and decided he wants one of them now too
Any help from any one would be greatfully recieved if you have any pickys or info and want to email it direct just pm me and will send you my email

thanks martyn

[Ron Perry]

Martyn.

To see some differences between the US and the Canadian Dodges,
visit my site Wheels of Victory.
go to http://www.wheelsofvictory.com/index8.html

Regards.
Ron Perry
ron@perry.nl

[martyn]

Hi ron

thanks for the info will print him a hard copy off and then he can spend hours looking and checking bit
thanks martyn

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Ron Perry

Martyn.

To see some differences between the US and the Canadian Dodges,
visit my site Wheels of Victory.
go to http://www.wheelsofvictory.com/index8.html

Regards.
Ron Perry
ron@perry.nl

Ron...
Nice site..
I went through the differences between the Canadian and American Dodges and you did a great job..You may want to add that the Canadian Dodge 3/4 APT stood for 3/4 Ton air Portable as it was smaller and narrower and was designed to fit in the Horsa gliders and was made that way to go in the gliders..hence"Air portable"..and had a 98" wheel base..
And you are right..they were designed to be wade proof as the maintenance manual states.


The Maintenance and parts manuals are available from Grant Bowker on MLU forum by PM..

#48: 150 pages
WM 4143
CHRYSLER CORPORATION OF CANADA LTD. DODGE TRUCK Parts List for British Army Symbol D 3/4 APT 3/4 Ton 4x4 - 98 W.B. Supply Mech. 6423, April '45. Illustrated.



#50: 220 pages
3/4 APT-D1
CHRYSLER CORPORATION OF CANADA LTD. MAINTENANCE MANUAL DODGE TRUCKS 3/4 TON,4x4 (Canadian) Air-portable Wade Proofed. (Dec.'45). Illustrated
This manual includes MM-TPL/1 Tropical Maintenance Supplement - A survey of Potential Problems and Their Prevention in the Field. - In this section are included:
i) the whys and wherefores of potential troubles related to operations in the tropics.br ii) generally recommended preventative maintenance practices.
iii) approved protective materials and their general applications.
N.B. - section i) also includes what to do if your vehicle is attacked by termites.

[gordon]

... are "the same but different"

I remember Geoff Hargreaves in Grassington found a complete one ( he has put on to its location by the famous Bill Huck of Ingleton ) It was relatively complete but did not have a bonnet / hood.

The hood looks identical to the WC one, but of course it is longer to cover the extra engine length, so Geoff had to end up making one. In common with a lot of Canadian tactical truck production they had flanges bolted to each wheel for lifting purposes.

I do remember that the body started out the same width as the US one, but was made narrower for later production to fit in better with the AirPorTable role

I wouldn't see much chance of finding an original engine for it tho'

Gordon

[Pete Ashby]

Good site Ron a lot of detail gone into it,
I wish something like that was available 25 years ago when I had Weapons Carries

Pete

[gordon]

I think the only things that could be added to Ron's summary would be the differences between the early and late APTS, for example I'm sure the hood cutout for the wading gear wasn't on the first APTs, but it need someone more knowledgable than me for that.

[Keith Orpin]

Totally agree with all the comments so far, but how come early WC's had max speeed 55mph stamped on the nomenclature plate ?
Regards
Keith

[Lynn Eades]

The WC51 and WC52 had 6 (six) volt electrical systems. ... An interesting site. Thanks.

[gordon]

Originally Posted by Keith Orpin

Totally agree with all the comments so far, but how come early WC's had max speeed 55mph stamped on the nomenclature plate ?

Early = All

The 55 limit was set on the velocity governor and didn't vary between VC, half, and 3/4 ton WC that I know of. Even a T23 6 x 6 could wind itself up to 55 if given long enough.

Given the brakes and handling I'd think a 55 limit was sensible.

[Pete Ashby]

Originally Posted by Keith Orpin

Totally agree with all the comments so far, but how come early WC's had max speeed 55mph stamped on the nomenclature plate ?
Regards
Keith

Now then Agent O, get the dust sheets of the old gal and give her a blast to blow the cobwebs away. Mind you with the cost of fuel we now have in the UK you'd better save up for it, at 55mph she'll drink some juice.

Actually I agree with you Gordon, given the braking capacity 55 is plenty fast enough, mine would tramp on all day long at 45 but above that you needed written notification to stop.

Pete

[Ron Perry]

Martyn,Alex,Gordon,Pete,Lynn.

Thank you for your replies and comments concerning my site.

When I will be abel to enter my site again (there are some problems with
my Web Program) I will add your comments to it.

Regards,
Ron Perry
ron@perry.nl