Hi all you CCKW fans out there! I’m on the hunt for info on the dump beds (Galion, Heil, etc) used on the short wheelbase CCKW 352s supplied to the Navy. Good pics, or better yet plans, would be my holy grail! I’ve got a Hobby Boss SWB kit and wanted to do something more interesting than just another cargo truck.
I’ve found tons of pics and info on the later LWB 353 dumpers, but for some reason the SWB models are like unicorn hoofprints…
Like this???
Yep - that’s the prototype, which is the only one I can find in detail. Sadly it isn’t quite the same as production trucks…
Sucks, doesn’t it?
I presume that you are aware of the issues with the Hobby Boss cabin and front sheet metal?
Dumpers, and fifth wheel tractors, had overload springs for the increased loading.
http://www.cckw.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4829
Technical manuals??
Indeed it does! And I’m not sure yet what I’ll do about the cab & front end - it depends on how bad it is and how much it bothers me. I’ve got the 750gal fuel tanker on the bench at the moment so will see if the cab is visibly whack before sacrificing one of my Italeri kits to the gods of Kitbash. Your link is good (been there before actually), but it’s referring to the two-axle Chevy truck rather than the three-axle CCKW. I did a set of the overload springs in a resin conversion set to turn an Italeri kit into a Chevy tractor, available on Shapeways.
By the way, just noticed that when you start to type my screen shows your avatar and says “replying”! Big Brother lives on Dischord…
Hi Frenchy, yes I’ve seen the box art (but not the contents!) online, but haven’t found one here in the UK for reasonable money yet. But the bigger question about reference material still remains. The few pics I can find online are poorly restored frankentrucks whose bodies are questionable - many seem to have later ones added.
There’s a fantastic article on these USN SWB GMC dumpers in an old issue of Wheels & Tracks magazine. And IIRC there are some pics in the Seebees account/collection in Flickr.
Wow, thanks Javier! Got W&T issue 64 on its way from ebay, and those Flickr pics are useful.
Now a challenge to our Frenchy - can you find a pic of the dump bed from the back? All the side shots have just enough shadow to suggest the sides curved round to the floor, rather than meeting at a right-angle (like in a normal cargo bed), but without seeing the floor of the bed from the back I can’t tell…
The next trick is to figure out how to build one with all those dents!
Yep - got it on the shelf! Sadly it’s mostly about the LWB 353, so not much help for what I’m doing.
hello here is my blog I made the gmc dump.
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/655980038973999582/5109790629026833017
Is this one of the frankentrucks you’ve mentioned ?
The “hinges” look similar to those seen in this enlarged view :
H.P.
Hi Frenchy, I saw that restored truck, and wondered about the bed. That other period pic is new to me!
Pascal, I’d love to see your blog, but when I click the link it takes me to a page asking me to set up my own blog - is there something wrong?
Frenchy, this is one of my favourite frankentrucks! Definitely a 353, but with possibly a Galion bed, alther it looks taller than most period ones…
a good article is on Wheels & Tracks number 64
if you don’t found it in internet contact me directly
