Chrysler Canada RAM

[rob love]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...9-9f1dd9831eb7

Looks like this one has been converted to a cummins diesel from the original 318 V8.

[Bob Carriere]

One was destroyed during testing.....

One is at the Plow Share museum near Ottawa...

One is somewhere North of Oshawa...... previously from Andre Moreau of Cantley PQ..........

One in Calgary.......

Strange the Calgary one seems slightly different....for example the tailgate is straight across..... the ex Cantley truck had a scooped out center section on the tailgate to allow a long shaft outboard motor to be fitted for faster water travel... cab layout also seems different.... again the Cantley one had a driver's seat and a long 3 passenger front seat.

Extremely maneuverable over rough terrain......scary since the driver's position is slightly ahead of the front axle........and floats in a scary nose down when swimming with out a load at the rear.

The oddity is that if you wanted to float you needed to manually make sure the drain ports underneath were bolted shut......... crossing a fast moving stream not deep enough to float..... you needed to open the ports and let the water inside the bilge compartment or risk being pushed sideways while crossing a stream with fast current. The original 318 engine had a waterproof ignition/carburetor similar to the Dodge M37. Then ex- Cantley model had water cooled jackets on each rear end and front end...... about 3 inches thick and held in place between the axle casting and the differential sheet metal cover.... it was plumbed to the radiator cooling system.... disc brakes mounted in board inside the bilge area.

Favorite trick after filling up the bilge ( which contained dead leaves, muck, oil and lubricant residue ) was to pull up ob shore and rush close to another 4x4 and turn on the bilge pump which would spray a steady 2 in. stream of dirty water at whom ever was standing or parked to close......

Can't remember who purchase it in the GTA area or whether it was ever restored.

Bob C.

[rob love]

The photos on the ad show a civilian bucket, and the military guages stowed in the back with a civilian dash installed in the cab.

I believe you mentioned a tan one years ago on this site. Possibly this is it? I think the data plate shows serial number 5.

[Robin Craig]

The one north of Oshawa as you say is in the ownership of Mr Jack Innes who is a friend

[Jack Innes]

The RAM that Robin mentioned is indeed mine & it is here, near Brooklin. It is unit #3 & was withdrawn from testing at 9,000 miles & therefore is in quite good condition. It is fully operational & legitimately licensed for the road. (the insurance ends at the water's edge) Fortunately it came with all of the parts stripped from the one tested to destruction as well as the spare parts on hand when the testing was finished. It appears that all of the trucks were a little different, each having variations offered by the designers to be evaluated during testing. It seems that the RAM was not chosen as a replacement for the M37 since it was too expensive & too hard to work on.

[rob love]

That is one gorgeous truck Jack. It has always been on my wish list. It is unfortunate the one in Calgary got the changes involved with an engine swap.

[Bob Carriere]

My old foggy memory .... remembered a scooped out tailgate to accomodate a long shaft outboard motor....but was wrong. When the truck was first purchased from the buyer who got it first hand from cadc (Carleton Place???) it came delivered with a single axle dump truck full of spare parts some NOS and two sets of tires 900x20 and 14 X 20.........fully mounted on rims.

It was a riot to drive....... and scared a lot of people fishing off the Hull cement boat dock/ramp below Interprovincial bridge when we first floated it....

Glad you got it Jack......Did you ever fix the dented/tweaked left side cargo bin door???

Bob C

[Jack Innes]

Bob, Yes the cargo door is fixed. I have done considerable maintenance work on the truck, including all new brake pads & calipers. Front brake work requires removal of the engine assembly. Oddly all 4 brakes use left front calipers for an Oldsmobile Toronado. Fortunately the majority of mechanical parts are off the shelf items. I do have both sets of original tires but the 1969, 16.00 X 20s are not trustworthy. It now has modern 14.00 X 20 military tires.

[Bob Carriere]

Jack....what happened to the white aluminum top?? was it even original ???

....is the truck noisy to ride without the top closing off the engine cavity??

Did you re-install a 318...... there were rumors that the 318 that was in there when Andre purchased it....later redone with a 340 civvy... rumors it had replace the original 361 Industrial Chrysler engine derived from a 383 destroked engine block favored by Chrysler Canada for industrial application. Wonder what the other survivors had for an engine????

Some mean dune buggy!!! it was driven up to the head water of the Dumoine river fishing camp....... when we got there people we surprised we had come up by road which had not been used for years....they always flew in from the Ottawa river. Them were the days of the Outaouais 4x4 Club from Hull.....early 70s....... following the FLQ crisis and rise of the PQ Party all the huge privately owned fishing camps( a lot funded by USA members) were arbitrarily abolished....all they could own was a few acres surrounding the camp sites....... there response..... no more maintenance of the dirt roads/bridges giving access to the camps........ that was a dark period for about 4 to 5 yeras until duly organized ZEC were created....."Zone d'Exploitation Commercial...... who took over the maintenance and enforcement of fishing rules and regs...... so for about 4 years it was a free for all as long as you had vehicles that could travel the bad roads,,,, we favored the surplus M37 over anything else at the time.... Out of country fishermen were flying in from Maniwaki........ fished the lakes with out ever touching the shores...... there by eluding the early ZEC road blocks in such places as Otter Lake....... where they were seizing trucks, trailers and campers with 100s of trout filets in coolers. In Maniwaki they got off the sea planes and just drove away....

Bob C.

[Jack Innes]

The top is with the truck but not installed. With the top in place the truck will not fit in its storage building & secondly if you had a disaster in the water it would be almost impossible to escape. It does have a sun-roof that was likely intended to be an escape hatch but too many trips to the buffet have made that option questionable fo many of us. The top was not likely original to the truck & appears to have been skillfully made using aircraft methods. The noise level is about the same with or without the top. I think #3 had a soft top originally.

The engine is the original 318 with 9,000 miles on it & the transmission is a beefed up 727 automatic. The manual for the truck specifies the engine as a 318-3LA.

Great information on the fishing trips. I understand it handled better in the water with a barrel of gasoline at the back of the box.

[rob love]

When we used to swim the carriers, we would place sandbags in the back to simulate the weight of either cargo or troops to keep the vehicle level. Not on the MRT mind you. There was already enough weight in all the spare parts and tooling.



With the M113, there was only one drill whilst swimming. If the vehicle was taking on water, the engine stopped, or a host of other warning signs, you abandoned ship.