Aussie / American M36 6x6

[john piercey]

Hi guys havent been on here in a while,but i am wondering if any one can help with some info.
We have had sitting at home (Perth Western Australia) for the last couple of years an early m35/36 LWB cab chassis;from what i have been able to glean so far it is a STH BEND Studebaker built Diamond reo M36 with chassis/frame number of M36 366.
All of its data plates are missing presumed souvenired by past operators,i have just rubbed back the bonnet/hood area and have found in approx 2inch yellow lettering USMC 168048, rubbing thru door reveals a red symbol with yellow3 bladed sort of fan affair with COMM HQ RAD arou.
nd it it has been last used as a drilling rig by a Perth based company and has been(worked hard and put away wet) having been repowered by a 6.354 Perkins deisel at some stage.
Studebaker stamped chassis no.s between 1950 to 1964 by model no and numerical sequence, then when taken over by Kaiser/jeep a different numbering system was used.I will get some pics up as soon as i can shanghai some one who knows how to do it (read wife)
The questions i have are can any one date it by the frame.usmc numbers.or how it got to Aus

[john piercey]

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by john piercey

I have just rubbed back the bonnet/hood area and have found in approx 2 inch yellow lettering USMC 168048, rubbing thru door reveals a red symbol with yellow 3 bladed sort of fan affair with COMM HQ RAD around it.

It is the insignia of the 3rd Marine Division, stationed on Okinawa since the Korean War era, with a short tour (4 years) in Vietnam. COMM is for communications and RAD is for radio. Each division had a communications or radio battalion as part of its make-up.

Cheers,
Dan.

[john piercey]

Hi Dan,thanks for that info,i know it is not really a CMP vehicle but i thought that with Bombadier making Canadian versions that some one may have some interest in the M35 family.
The plot thickens now with Okinawa thrown in the mix,as well as some other site i have been on recently regarding M35/G472 trucks states that Marine Corps werent issued with these trucks,so what would they have been issued with? as M series were the main U.S. truck for many years.
The spare cab that came with it has its data plates but are well worn and its hard to distinguish the info thereon,but one does say M139 5 ton.
Australian Army did have some heavy wreckers by USA manufacturers but info on these vehicles is hard to find,i have personally seen one which was described to us as a Kaiser when in army cadets ( high school based) in 1970s at Northam army camp when on a training course.
It is entirely possible some of these trucks may have been imported by private concerns as a basis for specialty drilling rigs etc direct from U.S. disposal auctions

[john piercey]

Australian army which follows closely with British practises has a more formal policy of nothing too flamboyant as far as markings just your basic white lettering/numerals etc although probably from time to time in hostile actions im sure some unit artwork may have been applied but promptly removed if returning home

[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.