This is a pic to illustrate the springs on a Chevy - sadly I cannot remember what this truck was, or what it became after restoration. IIRC it had been “bubbafied” over time…
And this is the resto of a Class 325, showing the spring:
Again, I don’t know about the 100-series crash tenders.
BTW these guys who do the 1:1 restorations certainly put my scratch-building skills to shame! After reading a few blogs I have immense respect for what they do with 80-year old machines…
Sad that with all that data they seem to think stating that it is a 1.5 ton rated chassis is enough information with no info given on base vehicle weight nor gross vehicle weight (with load.)
Robin, I am referring to the link you just posted above with all the spec sheets lifted from the “Standard Catalog of US Military Vehicles.”
I intend, next week to try and call the “National WWII Aviation Museum” and see if someone won’t definitively answer this question for us. (And also perhaps send me a photo of the rear of this vehicle to go along with the ones Robin as already provided.
I did not know about Barkingdigger’s overload springs available on Shapeways. I will be ordering two pair. One for my semi-tractor and one possibly for this fire truck. So thanks for giving me a heads-up on that one.
Bark, does your semi-tractor conversion set already include the extra springs? I will have to dig out my set and check. I don’t believe it does and they will be a nice bit of added detailing seen right out there exposed on the back end of the tractor!
On the fire truck they won’t be all that visible*(But we with know they are there!)*
Not sure if this helps, but the load rating of the CCKW at 2.5T was for off-road use. On paved roads they could take double that, as the suspension and frame took less stress. So the 1.5T Chevy was probably OK for 3T if it wasn’t going cross-country, but of course crash tenders had to go wherever the emergency was, so they needed to be more robust. As for gross weights (truck and load) I’m sure the data is out there, but was more useful for loadmasters shipping the trucks than for users.
Hi Mike, those overload springs also feature on the trailers pulled by the tractor!
EXACTLY - that GVW info would be required reading for any loadmaster (ship, aircraft or beach) so it seems like it should have been readily available, right there on the basic spec sheets.
I agree, in all likelihood the overload springs were probably most common as added to the Chevy Semi-tractor, they would be more likely to be overloaded. Also the particular max load on the semi-trailer would be an unknown quantity whereas the max loading on the fire truck would be almost an exact, known, value. (Chassis + fire box + water)
I assume the Loadmasters no doubt had other books with all-up weights and dimensions that just weren’t as wide-spread.
Therefore: [quote=“165thspc, post:57, topic:27462”]
so it seems like it should have been readily available, right there on the basic spec sheets.
[/quote]
The TM 9-2800 catalogue does indeed list net, payload, and gross weights. From these it seems the payload (5365lbs) is 2.5T, or a ton more than the standard 1.5T payload quoted for a cargo Chevy. I assume this is water and gear, but not the bed structure?
Love the photo of the G7107 chassis in gray primer !!!
Once again, sadly the crash truck in the Colorado Aviation Museum is the later model with the mid-ships mounted water pump and not the earlier model that I am looking for.
I have since fired off an e-mail to the Museum group with hopes of getting more info on this vehicle. For just a moment I was tempted to just get on a plane and go back to Colorado Springs for a visit. That is, until I noticed this is not the exact vehicle I am looking for!
OK you have convinced me. As i said I was already intent on ordering two sets of the springs.
Amazing detail!
Is it possible that Miniart didn’t include the correct/unique spring pack for each variant?
According to this, from a tech manual for the Chevrolet 11/2 ton 4x4 truck:
“On some models an auxiliary spring having six leaves is used in conjunction with the rear spring.”
Seems that for trucks with a unique bed, the extra springs make sense. Even modern, 3/4 and one ton trucks usually have extra springs with utility bodies, fifth wheels, frame mounted light cranes or lift gates.
Cheers
Nick
Given MiniArt’s affinity for detail I suspect they will include them. We will see.
Now that you guys have showed me that the fire truck had a much higher GVW rating you will get no more resistance from me.
The cargo trucks did not need the overload springs - they came fitted to tractor, dump, and fire trucks that all needed the extra support. When MA and ICM get round to these versions I hope they add the necessary parts!
The tractor conversion has the overload springs, but these are attached to standard springs because I made the set to convert a CCKW to a Chevy before MiniArt and ICM came out with theirs. I also released the overload springs on their own to be added to the kit springs. So many options…
More info here on @barkingdigger 's Chevy tractor conversion offerings:
Fifth wheel and overload springs also available seperately!
And yet another Shapeways set I will have to add to my order:
