5/4 van body

[rob love]

I have had a 5/4 ton for a year or two now. It was originally a URK van (unit repair kit, or as the army now calls them, shelter, internal combustion repair or something similar). The van bodies were all retained by the DND when the 5/4 tons were PCC'd, so any of the vans were sold off as cab and chassis. The van bodies were sent to Corcan (corrections Canada) ,where those individuals housed in the correctional facilities would refurbish the van bodies, after which they were installed on the LSVW.

So my truck came to me with no van body, although a M104 trailer box had been fitted. I later replaced this with the proper 5/4 ton cargo box, and never really expected a van body to come along.

A friend in Winnipeg came across a CUCV (diesel 5/4 ton) which did still have it's box. These boxes were a slightly later design, and were not to be retained for the LSVW program. However, many bases still held onto the boxes for sheds. This one somehow made it out intact. Walter had no interest in the box, and offered to sell it to me. It was a comms van, and still had the battery charger, the benches, book cases, lights, and even the chair still in it. Only the radio IKEEs had been removed.

Derk Derin and myself recovered it last Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon, I had it repainted back to the olive green form the white that it had been painted. It turns out the truck and van body had been to a UN mission somewhere.

Anyway, here are some photos of the body next to my 5/4 ton. I still have not had time to install it yet.