Canadian Dodge, 3 ton 4x2

[Kevin Goodwin]

Hi all,
This is my first post on here, introductions first I am based in England on the East Coast in the county of Suffolk, not too far from Tom Watts.
I have recently purchased this 1943 military Dodge, which according to the farmer has not been used for at least 45 years, the truck is very complete with most if not all of its data plates. The plan is to restore the truck to correct war time spec, there has been mainly one modification carried out to the truck, that being tipping gear and frame added below the original body, with the rear of the chassis shortened to allow the body to tip. the truck also originally had a gun cupola which has been covered with a tin plate. I do not know much about this model, so any info anyone can give would be gratefully received, I have many questions to answer, hopefully they will eventually be answered!

The chassis number is 91065118
Engine number is TU01 49435-3
Model D60420 C-GS-1
Manufactured 22/06/43

Whilst looking around the truck this weekend a few initial questions have been raised.
1 - There is evidence of sand coloured paint below the civilian green and war time olive drab, with the manufacture date would/could this vehicle have been built for the North Africa campaign but not issued due to the end of that particular battle, subsequently being painted in the olive drab? or could this truck have been built ready for the Sicily invasion? Or could this just be an undercoat?
2 - The body appears to be correct based on pictures from the few resources available and compared to Tom Watts truck, however are the body extensions original? The iron work, brackets,coach bolts and nuts all look to be of the correct period. I think the rear mudguards are a later addition dating from the tipper conversion.
3 - The dual rear wheels look to be the correct style as do the front 'split rim' wheels, the spare for the rear wheels is carried under the rear of the truck, where would the spare 'split rim' have been mounted?

thats all for now, Kevin

The site will not allow me to upload the pictures at the moment, asking me to log in when I am already logged in! I will have another go when I have posted this.

[Kevin Goodwin]

Hi all,
Some of the pictures are now available to view. I will post more asap
Kevin

[Kevin Goodwin]

Hi all I have lost patience with the site as it will not allow me to upload any more pictures! I will have another try another day.
Kevin

[lynx42]

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to MLU. You have come to the right place to get information.

Your Dodge is a good looking truck and looks like it won't be too much of a restoration.

Here in OZ we had quite a few Dodge D 60420.C, 3 ton 4x2 trucks with the turret opening in the roof and blitz wheels on the front.

Here are some photos of one I had a look at about 12 months ago. Not a tipper but a GS tray.

Regards Rick.

AWM & Dodge 092.JPG

Sitting in a paddock for many many years, it is remarkably complete.

AWM & Dodge 094.JPG

The back end showing the towbar.

AWM & Dodge 103.JPG

ID Plate for the D 60420.C

AWM & Dodge 107.JPG

Known as a D110L. over here.

AWM & Dodge 112.JPG

16 inch x 10.50 tyres on the front and 20 inch x 7.50 on the rear.

[lynx42]

Some more photos

AWM & Dodge 117.JPG

Military clearance black out lights

AWM & Dodge 121.JPG

Front on.

AWM & Dodge 122.JPG

Roof hatch open.

AWM & Dodge 143.JPG

2 speed differential.

AWM & Dodge 099.JPG

Gear change plate and others.

Regards Rick.

BTW. Kevin, try reducing the size of the photos and you will be able to add 5 at a time.

[Tony Smith]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

The manual I referred to in Tom Watts's thread (MANUAL), shows the TL110-L5 as originally having 10.50-16 tyres front and rear (to Contract SM 2458, dated 30 Jun 42, co-incidentally shown in "Light Stone" or sand paint). It was common practice in post-war Australia (and I suspect Britain would be similar) to fit dual wheels to the rear of many War-surplus vehicles to increase the legally allowed capacity of the truck in civilian service.

Bedford and Austin truck duals have the same wheel stud pattern as the WD single wheel, and are a straight swap on the rear axle. As a dual wheel rim has a different "offset" to a single rim, they must be fitted with a spacer (or a different design hub) on the front axle to maintain steering geometry, but on a 4x2 vehicle any variation in tyre diameter isn't as critical as on a 4x4, so often it was simpler to keep the original wheel on the front axle.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Here in OZ we had quite a few Dodge D 60420.C, 3 ton 4x2 trucks with the turret opening in the roof ....

All of the Dodge 4x2 60cwts I have seen here have this roof hatch, but as seen in Kevin's pics and the parts manual pic, the hatch wasn't originally specified in the contract. The Hatch and grab handles are very similar to the style fitted to Australian Ford CMPs and MCPs. I wonder if the hatch was an Australian requirement, and was installed locally by Ford?

[Tony Smith]

More (Australian) Dodge info in THIS THREAD.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Here in OZ we had quite a few Dodge D 60420.C, 3 ton 4x2 trucks with the turret opening in the roof.

Attachment 92925
ID Plate for the D 60420.C

Originally Posted by Lang

The Australian Dodges were delivered direct to Australian forces in the Middle East to an Australian order (not ex-British).
lang

Lang, I have several pics of Dodge data plates in Australia, and they are all from Contract Supply Mech 2458, which as the Canadian Manual states is for the British Army. If they are from an Australian order, the order was placed against British WD stocks (not ex-British Army), and not direct from Dodge in Canada.

Are there any pics of Australian Dodges in the Middle East with the square hatch, as it certainly resembles the Ford Australia design and seems to have been fitted here. Or alternately, are there any extant Dodges from SM2458 in the UK with the square hatch?

David Hayward would have been good to get to the bottom of this.

[Lang]

Tony

David provided most of my information.

I will find the delivery records soon but seem to recall an annotation of "against Australian Order 1234"

The square hatch on the Dodge is much more compact and neater than that found on say a Blitz

Lang

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Here in OZ we had quite a few Dodge D 60420.C, 3 ton 4x2 trucks with the turret opening in the roof and blitz wheels on the front.

Another has appeared on Ebay, appears to be a complete and straight, rust free truck. Just needs work.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VINTAGE-D...K/142475528241

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Lang and Tony,

The hatch is a standard Aust hatch as fitted to Ford Cab 12 CMPs in Australia, utes, etc. It was an Aust Army requirement, fitted by the assembler after the vehicle arrived in Australia. That's why you don't see them on the order, or on vehicles supplied to other countries such as Britain.

It's dimensions were smaller front to back than the hatch on Cab 13 CMP Fords in Australia, but the same from side to side.

The design was a stamped inner welded to a stamped outer, with a hatch rim welded into an aperture cut into the roof of the vehicle. The handles are standard hardware door handles, riveted to a top-hat section welded to the roof in front of the hatch. The handle on the inside of the hatch was the same as the grab handles, and the catch/lock was a standard hardware small-size slide bolt. The hinges were also standard hardware items.

The AWM has a very nice original example. Look up REL24655 on the AWM website.

Mike

[Rob Abbott]

Hi Kevin
I have a pair of wings and a full grill for one of these if you need any "spares" plus the curved windscreen Glass.
If interested at all I can get you some photos if you let me have your e mail address
All the best
Rob

[Kevin Goodwin]

Thanks to all concerned for the info, it's interesting to see the trucks in the 'Ryde' picture have round roof hatches like my truck, also the 'desert camouflage' looks interesting.
Rob thanks for the offer, the front end on my truck looks ok but I will bear it in mind. Where are you in the UK? And do you have one of these trucks?
Thanks again Kevin