1954 Rear Crossmember Design

[mike_l]

Thanks Tom. Looks like the change over may have taken place on the '53 trucks. I caught a reference to a pintle MWO or bulletin the other day going through some stuff, looking for other info. I'll have to go back and see if I can find it again and get a fix on the date.

[k8icu]

My 53 had the old style hitch where the pintel bolted to the spin plate.

[mike_l]

k8icu,
Was your truck the one with the March delivery date?

[k8icu]

Yes.

[refit1701]

Mine was delivered in March of 53 also. Mine is the early type with separate pintle and tail.

John

[mike_l]

Thanks for posting refit1701.

I don't think I've heard back from everyone yet but two dates bracket the changeover. One truck, delivered 12-11-1953 (Dec 11, 1953), has the late style, one-piece pintle like the '54s & 'B1s. The truck closest to it with the early style, two-piece pintle was delivered Nov 1953 (I didn't get a day). So, if we get more info to pinpoint it, I'll post it. But it looks like there may have actually been a production change in late '53 to the late style, one-piece pintle formally thought to be 'B1 production.

[neverfinished]

Mike, in response to your pm, my 53 looks just like the one in refit1701's pic-right down to the color . Sorry, no delivery date.
Ted

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

Well......I might as well come join the fun. The first pic is my AF truck built in April 1952...and it has the early style 2-piece rotating pintle.
The second pic is my Army truck built in November 1952.......and it has the later style rotating pintle.
Not sure if that throws a monkey wrench into the works or not.......but it's what I got.

regards,
bob


DSC05189 by w30bob, on Flickr


DSC05191 by w30bob, on Flickr

[mike_l]

Hey Bob,

Thanks for posting the photos. On the November 1952 truck, do you mean 1953? That would then fall in line with the November-December time frame on a changeover. Elsewise, yep, it throws a BIG (ginormous) monkey wrench in the works. If it is '53, do you have a specific date on the delivery date?

Neverfinished, thanks for the input.

Thanks again.

[w30bob]

Hi Mike,

No, I really mean 1952. SN on the truck is 80040692, which decodes to November 1952. Now I'm not the original owner of the truck, so I can't say what was changed over the years.....meaning if I'm the only odd ball truck then something is amiss. So just take it as a data point for now and ignore it if it makes no sense.

regards,
bob

[mike_l]

Well, it is about 1 year off from all the other trucks. That is why I wanted to clarify the year. Trucks all through 1953 seem to have had the early two-piece pintle up until about December. The earliest truck equipped with the late one-piece pintle I've got info on is 11 December 1953.

Hmm, I supposed the one-piece pintle could have been adapted to fit. It would only take four additional holes drilled for the flange. I guess the best way would be to look at the center hole in the crossmember or the outer four flange holes. The smaller diameter (1.25") of the late one-piece pintle would fit inside the larger hole (2.5") of the early pintles. The outer flange holes should be 1/2" diameter for the early trucks, 3/8" diameter for the late trucks. With the matching flange to bear the load, it should bolt up if the inner four flanges holes are drilled for it on the early trucks. Presuming the center hole or outer flange bolt holes in the crossmember weren't closed up to fit the smaller diameter pintle shaft and bolts, either would certainly be a tell-tale indicator.

I could see them doing this if the only replacement pintle available through the supply system (or cannibalizing another truck) was the later one-piece pintle used on the later trucks and M715s. This would be an easy motor pool mod.

[refit1701]

I think this is the later style pintle, which I bought for my 53 USMC truck which was missing its. It looked like the early style at first glance when I bought it but now I see it is different.

[mike_l]

Hello Refit,

Yes, that would be the late style, one-piece. That is an excellent photo showing the extra reinforcing plate sandwiched between the flanges which is why the late style crossmembers have those extra 4x (3/8") holes for a total of 8x holes vs 4x holes on earlier trucks. Thanks for posting the photo.

To update everyone, I've received enough data to narrow a changeover to a November-December time frame. All the trucks (except for w30bob's 1952 truck) up to 11 November 1953 (SN 80256894) have the early, two-piece pintle. This is based on raw data received from all the owners of Jan-Oct trucks, a 4 November, and an 11 November truck listed in the Registry. There are 4 trucks between the two November trucks but I have not heard back from any of those owners to confirm consistency. All the trucks from 7 December (SN 80257890) and after have the late, one-piece pintle. There are 6 trucks between the 11 November and the 7 December trucks I haven't heard back from yet that could narrow it down more.

So, 11 November - 7 December seems to be our pintle production change window for now. I'll post more updates as I receive them.

[mike_l]

This afternoon I received a note and photo of a truck delivered 19 November with the early, two-piece pintle. This narrows the changeover window down to less than a few weeks or within 513 trucks - somewhere between SN 80257377, Del Date 11-19-53 (early) and SN 80257890, Del Date 12-7-53 (late). Still have a few trucks in between I haven't heard from but it's getting close.

[mike_l]

Greetings all,

We have just passed what I suspect is the 60th anniversary since the pintles were changed over to the late style, one-piece design. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten anymore information on the trucks delivered between 19 November and 7 December. All the trucks on each side of this window have solidly supported a design change somewhere in that gap. So, for now, I can't narrow it down any further than the last half/end of November or early/beginning of December. But at least we know it happened thereabouts.

Happy holidays all!