RE: [ihc] IH deuce and a halfs; some clarification

["Mac McMuffin" <mac@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

ahoy, one and all.  i tried to post previously, and apparently something
went wrong as my post didn't go through.  i'm giving it another go now, so
hopefully this one finds you all well and having had a good all hallows eve.

Ed Sohm and i have been discussing the deuce and a half issue off-digest for
a couple days now, and we agree that some clarification and correction on my
part needs to be addressed.  so that's what this is for.  with a bit of luck
this will address all the questions raised by the first post i made and Ed's
first response to it.  i go into further detail than just the 2.5-ton "deuce
and a half" trucks and their period, but hopefully you can bear with me here
and maybe find this informative and helpful.

at any rate, these are the conclusions we've come to, what we believe to be
fact, or at the very least what we have been able to find documentation and
evidence to support. Most of this info is a result of my (Mac's) research
into the issue (via Crismon books, several other printed references, many
hours of internet searching).  according to most references, the last
2.5-ton tactical trucks (deuces if you prefer) IH produced for the US
military were the M-5H-6.  Production appears to have ended in 1945 with the
end of World War II.  most but not all of these trucks went overseas during
the war.  of those trucks remaining in US service, most went to the Marines,
some to the Navy, and a few to the Army.  if my research is correct more
than half went to the lend-lease program in Europe, the remainder of
exported trucks saw service in the Pacific and many were left there when the
war ended.  basically, the majority of IH-built 2.5-ton trucks manufactured
during WWII were exported and didn't come back.  however, many remained in
service with the US military presence in Europe and Asia through the '50s
and perhaps into the 60s, and a number of them remained in service with
other military and civilian organizations during that period as well.  there
were quite a few of these surviving trucks in service with the US Army
during the Korean War.  so while they were no longer being manufactured,
they certainly enjoyed a relatively long service life.  it's difficult to
find exact information on the fates of the trucks after they were excessed,
but it appears that most of them were scrapped, so there aren't very many
left, either overseas or here in the US.

IH is purported to have been experimenting with singles in place of duals on
the M41 5-ton in the '50s and early 60s, as well as some experiments in
single wheel 2.5-ton trucks at the same time, which is what my original post
was referring to.  so far as i can tell, there are no surviving examples of
either type of truck.  obviously they were not the first manufacturer to
experiment with single wheel applications in this period, as GMC did it
(maybe at the military's request) in the early '50s with a series of 2.5-ton
trucks (M-135 vs M-211).  within the US Military, other than the notable
exception of the GMC single wheel 2.5-ton trucks, single wheel tactical
trucks did not receive wide acceptance untill the '80s.  it is possible that
others did also prior to that, given that it was recognized at least as
early as the early 1900s to give superior traction on soft surfaces than
duals.  however, i have found no evidence to support that any other maker
(REO, White, Kaiser-Jeep, AMC-General, etc) built any single-wheel trucks in
the 2.5-ton range during this period, if ever.  note that the 2.5-ton trucks
built by GMC are different from those built by all the other manufacturers,
all of whom (except GMC) adhere to a mil-spec currently referred to as the
"REO-Style" truck type.  all modern conventional 5-ton trucks are also built
to the REO-style spec, regardless of manufacturer, and are single wheel.

additionally IH was still filling contracts for M55 (REO-style) dual wheel
5-ton trucks in series production up through at least 1962, and these trucks
remained in service untill sometime in the '80s, when they were excessed and
replaced with newer trucks.  it was in this period that 2.5-ton and 5-ton
dual wheelers began to be replaced with single wheelers, in many cases
2.5-ton trucks being replaced with 5-ton trucks.  as of this writing, there
are not very many dual wheel 5-tons still in service with the active duty US
Army, and even fewer conventional 2.5-ton trucks.  the IH M41 mentioned
previously is in fact a single wheel variant of the M55 dual wheeler.  the
M41 was rejected by the Army and i know of no surviving IH-built M55s still
in service.

nowadays, the only 2.5-ton trucks the US Army is buying are cabover trucks
from the FMTV family of vehicles.  these are a series of cabover single
wheel trucks available in various configurations.  the most notable thing
about them is that the 2.5-ton version in standard model only has one rear
axle and a 12-foot bed, where the 5-ton standard model in that series has
two rear axles and a 14-foot bed.  according to the sources i've been able
to find, the US Army no longer purchases conventional 2.5-ton trucks, and
intends to replace the current conventional 5-tons with these new cabover
trucks.

however, what i didn't make clear in my first post, and what i was actually
referring to in part of it, is that IH did build some of the first (if not
the very first) single wheel 2.5-ton trucks during World War II, known as
the M-3-6, sold in small quantities to the Marines in 1942 and 1943.  these
trucks were originally designed and built in 1942, and i have seen no
mention of them being in production after 1943.  the GMC DUKW is also a
single wheel 2.5-ton truck, it first saw service in 1943 in Sicily, but was
designed and probably first built sometime in 1942.  originally i was under
the impression that the IH M-3-6 beat the DUKW into production, but i am now
unsure that this is the case, so my claim that IH was the first single wheel
2.5-ton tactical truck is possibly in error.  i haven't found any specific
production start dates for either the M-3-6 or the DUKW, so i really don't
know which entered production or was designed first.  what i do know is that
the DUKW is designed on a standard GMC 2.5-ton dual wheel chassis.  does it
count as a modified dual wheeler, or does it count as a ground-up separately
designed single wheeler?  my opinion is that it's up to individual
perception.  i'm still researching to find out what the facts are, anyway.

anyway, i think i covered everything and i hope this clears up the issues,
and i hope i have not been too repetitive.  if there are further questions
or i haven't been clear again, please let me know and i'll do my best to
answer any and all questions.

--Mac

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Krystof "Mac" MacBryghde
TyrGothi

http://master.triad.ath.cx/
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