cargo hooks?

[Joe]

I went and looked at a M37 that's for sale and I noticed that it had odd cargo hooks on the back. All other M-37s that I've seen have hooks made from a flat piece of metal and they're riveted on. But this one had hooks on the tail gate that had a round cross section and they were bolted on (IIRC!). The hooks on the sides were the normal, flat sheet metal type. Does anyone know what the story is on these "round" hooks? I've never seen them mentioned in the manuals or in the list of production changes. BTW I was told that the M-37 is a '54 but his ad said it was a '52 and the data plates are scrubbed clean so I don't know what year it actually is but it's not a B1. http://img402.imageshack.us/i/cargohooks.jpg/

sorry, I TRIED FIVE times to include the picture but it just doesn't work! You'll have to use the link and put up with IS's clutter! What's the chances of getting this site to recognize and retrieve pictures directly from our hard drives instead of having to use these ridiculous hosting services and putting up with all their nonsense?

[Lifer]

The "round" type are the newer style. The flat ones were the original, and all original M37s came with them if my info is correct. The round ones came along after the B1 models came out and are a great improvement if used correctly.

[cuz]

This is Joe's photo.

[Lifer]

Dang! Never seen one like that, Wes!

[Cal_Gary]

Me neither!

[Paul in Kempner, TX]

On my 1942 WC52. Same on my 1942 WC21 Same on my 1944 WC51. Same on my 1944 WC62.

Not sure I'd call them "newer" type.

Possibly a very early M37????

[Lifer]

I was going to attach a pic of the "round kind" that I thought he was talking about, but it was too big, and I can't resize it. Anyway, it's the bolt-on one that looks like it was bent around 180 degrees, forming an upside down "U," and then bent around the other direction so that the "U" is bent double.

[Paul in Kempner, TX]

Most of us who visit this Forum want to help each other. Many of us actually have G741 trucks. Some of us have the actual references. We try to help by sharing our knowledge and we are pleased when our efforts are acknowledged.

Sometimes we find that the one who posted the question lives in his parents’ basement and has been "restoring" his mother's YUGO for years with no progress. Even then, the rest of us try to help by suggesting information sources for YUGO.

My experience with M37's goes back to 1963. I was on active duty until 1982 and saw the transition to the M715's and the M880's. I was assigned additional duties as Motor Sergeant, Unit Maintenance Officer, and Property Book Officer. And here at the Kempner Power Wagon Museum I have about $3,000.00 worth of factory service manuals, Army Technical Manuals, history books, and parts lists. I work hard to give the best possible answers to questions posed on this - and the other Dodge Forums.

Joe, you have asked us about a particular tie down hook on a M37 that’s for sale. In your post you say, "But this one had hooks on the tail gate that had a round cross section and they were bolted on (IIRC!)." My 11 year old granddaughter tells me that “IIRC” means, “If I recall correctly”. You included a picture of that hook. I would think having the picture in front of you would help you “recall correctly”. The picture shows a riveted hook but you ask us about a hook that is bolted on.

It is possible that the picture you provided was not from the truck you were looking at and your question was actually about that style hook. So I went around to all the trucks I had with that style hook. Then I took pictures and used "these ridiculous hosting services and putting up with all their nonsense" and posted pictures to help.

In addition to examining my trucks that had the pictured tie down hook, I checked my M37, my M37B1, and my M56B1 to see what style of tie down hooks were used on my M37 series Dodges. All of them were formed from flat stock. I have never seen an original tie down hook of any style on any military Dodge that was not riveted on.

If that picture is of the tailgate on the truck for sale you are looking at, then I think we can get past the “bolted” on part and move to your actual question. Just ask. We are standing by to help.

[Joe]

Paul, I don't know what you're beef is, I asked a simple question and it got answered before you started your lecture. But You do need to go read the posts AND the title of this thread again. This thread wasn't about the type fastener used, it was about the odd cargo hook! Moreover, I didn't post the picture, Cuz did. (Thanks, Wes!) Second, the head of the bolt/rivet(?) on the posted picture is clearly raised and dome shaped, look at the ones in the LH hook, you can see distinct shadows from them. They doesn't look anything like the almost flush rivet head in the photo that you posted. Yes, IIRC does stand for If I Recall Correctly. That's a standard abbreviation and I used it deliberately because I wasn't sure what was used on the truck and I couldn't tell from the picture. The parts are so rusty and covered in multiple paint layers that I can't honestly say from the picture if ithey're domed screw heads or a partially rusted away hex bolt heads or rivets but I thought they were bolts from what I remembered. Regardless, the fasteners wasn't the issue. My question was had anyone ever seen that type of hooks on an M-37 before. What has any of this to do with restoring Yugos or you having $3,000 worth of books?? IF I had $3,000 worth of TMs maybe I wouldn't have had to ask the question but I don't so I did ask it!

IF you want to contribute to this conversation then why don't you use your $3,000 worth of book or your past 47 years of experience with M-37s to tell us why this M-37 has a hook type that no one has apparently seen before? And why are the ones on the tailgate different from the ones on the sides.

PS; the original post said that this is supposed to be a '52 or a '54 M-37.

[Joe]

I was going to attach a pic of the "round kind" that I thought he was talking about, but it was too big, and I can't resize it. Anyway, it's the bolt-on one that looks like it was bent around 180 degrees, forming an upside down "U," and then bent around the other direction so that the "U" is bent double.

Are you referring to the type that's used to fasten on the canvas cab cover? I've often wondered why they didn't use one type or the other (cab type vs cargo hooks) for both jobs. The cargo hooks appear to be stronger so why not just use them in both applications? The military designers usually make a serious effort to standardize parts, both for simplicity in use and training and for costs control so maybe each of these designs have some significant advantage that I'm not aware of.

[Lifer]

Yes, I am, Joe. My '54 had the "bent U" hooks on the cab and the flat ones on the bed. I have seen M37B1s with the "bent U" hooks all the way around, though. Whether that was "correct" or not, I do not know, but they do a great job of securing the cover or cargo without knowing how to tie umpteen kinds of knots if used properly. Doesn't matter to me...I wasthe son of a Navy bos'ns mate and was a Scoutmaster for a long time. I'm pretty well versed in knots and hitches.

[Joe]

Lifer,

I've never seen the wire type hooks used on M-37 beds but they do use them on the Deuce and probably others. I like them, if you use them right they're really quick and easy to use and they hold the tail of the rope so it doesn't come lose. I prefer them to the regular cargo hooks and wondered why they didn't use them instead but I thought that perhaps they weren't strong enough.

[Master Yota]

My bet Joe is that perhaps the original hooks, (whatever the style) may have been damaged at some point, the motor pool tech. might have just grabbed whatever was at hand to replace them with to keep things mobile. This seems a reasonable conclusion if this tailgate is an oddball...

[Joe]

That makes sense. They probably had left over hooks from the old WC trucks and used them.

[Joe]

FWIW

I just looked at the newest entry in the M-37 registry (#80030372) and it has the same hooks.