Aussie / American M36 6x6

[rob love]

The photos don't look like it's an M36 chassis. They are 3 feet longer, and the distance is quite visible. With the swapping of cabs or data plates over the years, it's possible they got swapped, or the chassis shortened.

The Canadian trucks have a serial number on the frame over the front left tire, and the model of the truck was part of the serial. Not sure if this applies to the older trucks or were the result of more recent manufacture.

[john piercey]

Hi Rob,Yeah i thought it was short but never having seen a picture of a long one i thought it must only be an inch or two difference,frame number says M36 -366 is on lhf side of rail behind wheel so i dont know ,theres not a plethora of them over here to compare with,but it may well have been shortened to better suit the drill rig which was once fitted.
Canadian trucks must have copped the model in the serial no whereas U.S. versions didnt except the early Studebaker built ones.
I guess i will just have to keep researching and accept that we may never know the complete story, thanks

[john piercey]

Looking at your photos you can see a very big difference,i will inspect chassis rails and see if there are any matching holes for suspension setup.



I have just checked frame rails and cant see any matching holes to suit that pedestal mounting pattern,rails appear to be original with no stitching in of new lengthening sections all crossmembers have their original rivets and not bolts which may have suggested repositioning,approx wheelbase measurements from centre line of front axle to centre of spring saddle/pivot point is 154 in and to centre of rearmost axle is 178 in,i will have to try and find orig measurements of a standard WB and compare those

[john piercey]

I have just checked the "standard" wheel base measurements and they match perfectly,so am still confused?oh well

[rob love]

Originally Posted by john piercey

Canadian trucks must have copped the model in the serial no whereas U.S. versions didnt except the early Studebaker built ones.

There were no universal standards for serial numbers until 1981. The Canadian MLVWs are generally 1982/3 with a few 1984 anomalies thrown in. They used the 17 character North American standard for serial numbers, which included the model number at the beginning of the serial, and the Canadian Forces Registration number as part of the serial number. The Iltis, which came out a year or two later, also used the same serial number pattern.