1954 Rear Crossmember Design

[Milsurp]

Milsurp,
Yes, that sounds like it would be the early style pintle hook without the adapter being bolted straight to the crossmember.

Sal,
That is the one-piece/late style pintle that is on my truck also.

As an update, I sent emails out to all the '54 owners in the registry. Every response except one has been they have the one-piece/late style pintle. The earliest truck I've heard back from has a delivery date of 23 January and it also has the one-piece/late style pintle. Is it possible these were in service as early as late '53? I'm finding from the responses, they were certainly common to the '54s. It really is starting to look like a production change.

Nice research, Mike. Well done!

[mike_l]

A correction to my earlier report. I misunderstood one of the responses and after clarification, it is 100% on the one-piece/late style pintle on the '54s, at least as early as 23 January.

Any '53 owners out there have the one-piece pintle as shown in Sal's post? They had to start using them at some point. We can probably figure this out amongst ourselves.

[maxim]

At first I guess I missed what you are looking for in build dates.
I also have a 1-27-54 with a swiveling pintel.

[mike_l]

Thanks maxim. Is it the one-piece style like in Sal's post? If so, every '54 so far has the late style.

[maxim]

Yes the 1954 has the one piece swivel stud as Sal's
The 1951 has the split bolt together version as MilSurp

[Rick C]

Can't locate the paper now but the army did put out a notice saying that to hook up the M101 on some years that the pintle had to be rotated for the upper jaw to clear the tailgate center support.....
Rick

[mike_l]

Rick,

There was a notice abut M37B1 trucks in the PS Magazine, issue 82, dated 1960 that refers to two contracts: DA-20-018-15711 & DA 20-018-17307. The article described turning the pintle to the left or right to allow clearance for it to open enough for the trailer lunette ring. The article was 1960 date and specified the B1 trucks under those two contracts. That's all I've ever seen on it which I presume may be the piece you're referring to. I always wondered what changed on those trucks that the pintle clearance wasn't enough. Did they move the holes or change the center tailgate support? The illustration in the magazine definitely shows what we call the late style pintle. Thanks for reminding me about that.

[Rick C]

Yes, that was what I was thinking of. Thanks for the memory refresh. Odd thing is that my 52 and 53 had to have the pintle rotated as well.....

[Milsurp]

So after all the input in this thread (which by the way is awesome), does it mean that my Pintle is NOT original for my 1954 M37, because it not of the swivel type?

[maxim]

The picture posted by Sal represents the type on my 1954.
The picture posted by you represents the 1951 outer half of the swivel which has a duplicate rectangular casting to match the rectangular portion of your pintle, and the pintle and swivel are bolted together.. I can not post picts as the site will not let me.
I have not seen a rear crossmember that had the pintle similar to your posting on a M37. I have seen them on a M38A1 with no swivel capability.

[Sal]

I have to rotate mine also in order to open the jaw. Did the early type Pintle with the 2 half's that Maxim spoke of have to be rotated also, And if not why? Was the head smaller or was it mounted further away from the cross member so to clear the bracket ?

Sal

[Milsurp]

Thanks. So, what I'm basically asking is, is the pintle on my truck a fluke? Or, could it have originally been born with the swivel pintle, and somewhere down the road it was taken off and replaced by the earlier non-swivel version?

[maxim]

This is my take on it. In nearly 60 years the pintle could have been removed, replaced, broken, ,replaced. Depending on where the parts supply was and how often it turned over it is not unlikely whom ever, took what ever pintle was on the shelf, parts bin, or junker out back to replace the pintle and get the truck back in service. Not really giving any thought or consideration that it was a old version or upgraded version. I own several M35's, M37's, M38A1's and the upgrades/replacements/over their life span resulted in a host of mixmaster parts. Not making them incorrect, only evolving into what they are today.

[tbone1004]

If you want a rotating pintle assembly let me know. Mine is without the actual hook, but the rotating assembly is intact on my 1951 and I don't won't be using it since a 2" receiver will be going in

[mike_l]

Milsurp,
Yes, all M37s were built with rotating/swiveling pintles as I understand from reading the manuals and TMs of the day. I think Maxim pretty much summarized it accurately. However, if you want to go back to the original, just confirm the hole pattern on the crossmember before looking for parts.

I think the best way to confirm which pintle type fits your truck is to take off the pintle or otherwise get access to view the crossmember behind the pintle. If the pintle is bolted straight to the frame, the easiest way may be to look between the gas tank and the crossmember to see the hole pattern. If there are 8 holes (4x inner 1/2" dia. and 4x outer 3/8" dia.) and a 1.25" center hole, you have a late style crossmember and will need a one-piece, late style pintle and the correct flanges and reinforcing plate to match the hole pattern. If there are only 4x 1/2" holes and a 2.5" center hole, you have an early style crossmember and will need a two-piece, early pintle with correct flange to match.

The PM magazine piece that Rick C referred to was the only article on pintle clearances I've ever seen. My pintle does the same if I want to fully open the jaws to the detent position. Mine hits the center tailgate support as I suppose they all do if they need to rotate to open fully. I'll have to check a few of the other M37s around here to see if they all are like that.