Notes on M37 in heavy rain...

[ashyers]

1. Love the vacuum wipers, they keep me from exceeding the tires abilities.
2. Can't help but wonder who decided to place the top's strap supports over the driver and passenger. The canvas is waterproof, but the holes in the canvas produced when the strap's supports were sewn on leak quite effectively, directly on the occupants.
3. The brakes work best after sitting overnight in high humidity, must be the microscopic layer of rust that increases the grab of the shoes. Nearly a power brake feel!
4. You don't need a defroster when the windows are nearly down.
5. It may be time to reseal the front windows, as speed increases water flys from the dash towards the occupants. Makes the new seals on the side windows somewhat useless, but the gauges do stay clean.
6. The truck looks better when it's wet, water hides flaws.
7. The longer you drive, the warmer the floor gets, and the cab.
8. The truck is quite stable when blasting through a puddle at 40mph. The water that flying up through the transfer/E-brake cover and soaking the underside of the middle passenger's legs is PRICELESS!!!
9. This whole El Nino thing may be fun .

[HingsingM37]

Great post, LOL! I remember the first storm we got caught in and your point number five made me laugh. My wife desperately tried to plug the windshield gaps with tissue to stop those streams. All these points add character to our old rigs

[isaac_alaska]

Mine has the Canadian metal hard top. There's a gutter that runs along the top of each side window, to direct water away from any gap left at the top of the window when the windows are rolled up, or mostly up. It's a nice 2" wide gutter, so you can roll the windows a few inches even in heavy rain and it won't come inside. The only issue is that the gutters stop about 2" shy of the front, which results in most of the water from the roof draining onto your knee nearest the door. A small piece of sheet metal on each side fixed this, though.

[Cal_Gary]

Great post, Andy! Glad you finally got some rain in CA to help with the drought. Bet you'd like to have your rig over here with me right now, slamming through all the snow!
Gary

[T. Highway]

Great post Andy,

I remember the first road trip in the rain with a female passenger, the look of panic was priceless.

Bert

[ashyers]

Gary,
Judging from the photos you posted it looks like you are getting the same moisture a few days after us, just at a different temp. Have fun in the snow and beware of the ice!

Andy

[w30bob]

Andy,

Great post........I am still laughing. So ...............it's not the vehicle of choice for date night. I can't wait to read your notes on fording!

Regards,
Bob

[ashyers]

Bob,
Don't underestimate the old M37. It has had "date night" duty on numerous occasions . The first time I drove it home Hilde and I took it out to a popular area nearby for dinner. When we returned to the truck I noticed a person, who appeared homeless, checking out the truck very carefully. I asked him if something was wrong and he went into a long and enthusiastic discussion of the BEAUTY of the M37. Gushing would be an understatement! Needless to say Hilde had a memorable evening (and yes, she's still around!). Now if it's raining and we're going out we just keep the rain gear on.

Andy

[w30bob]

Hi Andy,

Good stuff! Yeah, people sure do "react" when they see an M37! When I bought my first one a few years back I had a buddy with a roll-back drive down to Virginia with me to pick it up. It was painted an ugly Irish-type green and we still got thumbs-up and smiles from everyone who passed us on Rt 95. Same thing happened when I picked up my second M37 from Carter.......that one was painted red and we not only had people honking and giving us the thumbs-up........we even had a few follow us around just to stare at it! I guess folks appreciate us saving the old iron from the scrapper. Shows how much we've evolved as a nation.........I'd bet if we were back in the early 70's people would be giving us a different finger-up......if you know what I mean.

regards,
bob

[Theosaf66]

I have replace the vacum wipers with electrical ones , great different .

[m37jarhead]

Andy:
Funniest post I've seen on g741 in years.
They all made me smile and some made me laugh out loud because they're All true.

Jerry