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Hi Guys,

A few weeks ago when I was up at Carter's place looking at the red M37 he had for sale I noticed the tailgate had "L" shaped reinforcements at the bottom corners by the hinges where the gates always crack. Carter mentioned that both his trucks had the "L" bracket added as a field modification. I didn't remember
the tailgate on my M having that mod, and didn't remember to look until last night. As I suspected my truck doesn't have the mod. But my truck is an Air Force truck.......so maybe that mod was only done to Army trucks? I can't access Carter's album anymore, as Webshots is now defunct, but the brackets are simple pieces of metal (flat steel maybe an inch or so wide and 1/8 inch thick) bent into an "L" and welded in the lower corners of the gate to the bottom and side. So my question is.......do the rest of you guys with Army trucks have this mod on your tailgate? I'll circle the area where the mod goes in the pic below. If Carter reads this maybe he can put up a pic of the mod if he has one.

thanks,
bob


Tailgatemod by w30bob

Yes, my 51 had them on the original tail gate, when i replaced it with a NOS gate which did not have them i made my own from some flat steel and welded them on. Kirk

I used to have an MWO that covered this mod but it was loaned to a fellow owner who lost it.

My tailgate reinforcemnt kinda' sorta' looks like Carter's. It's 1 1/4" x 1/4" flat stock welded to the inside of the tail gate frame.
It has shorter "tabs" bent over on the ends than shown on Carter's.
Mine is an obvious field repair or added after the truck was surplused out.
The welding is anything but expert.
JB

Most of the tail gates that I have seen used 1 inch angle Iron welded into place. I would imagine the motor pool used whatever they had to make this fix.

Hi hb,

Yeah, when I looked closer at my tailgate that's what's on there....1" angle iron. But my mod doesn't have the tabs that bend at the bottom to reinforce where the gate usually cracks (by the outboard hinges).....as Carter's does. His mod makes more sense than what I got. So I'm not sure what the purpose of the mod on my tailgate is for? I'm guessing it's to strengthen the sides of the gate from buckling under load, but doesn't address the weld cracking problem.....as you can see in my pic. It's raining now, but if it stops I'll get out there and get some more pics.

regards,
bob

Mine does not have the modification, but the MWO you seek is included in the AHL M37 Resto Guide if you need a look....
Gary

Gary.....that's the book that sells for $15,000 on eBay, right??



bob

Air Force M-37's didn't get the tailgate field mod because the tailgates didn't have to carry any load in parades or beer runs...

'Tanner'

Tanner,

What exactly do you think the AF folks did with all their down-time?? I thought beer runs was what their M37s were used for primarily.

later,
bob

Since we are doing a survey. My B1 gate didn't have the reinforcement. My earlier spare gate does and it looks like Carters picture. The earlier tailgate had less dents, but since the gate was Ex Fire Department I figured they added the band iron. Long story short being a welder for 45 years I couldn't bare to look at the welds. I beat out most of the dents on my B1 gate and used that. Today I learned something that it was a military up grade.

Yeah Bob, the same one I got from Dave Ahl himself for $18....
Gary

Tanner wrote:Air Force M-37's didn't get the tailgate field mod because the tailgates didn't have to carry any load in parades or beer runs...

'Tanner'

From my experience, you're absolutely correct Tanner! LOL LOL

I thought some "bubba" just welded the metal bracing to the tailgate for the heck of it, but now I see my tailgate had the field mod applied as well. The welding job is horrific on mine

I don't think it was an office MWO where the Army put out the MWO and provided a kit. But it was an office modification that the Amry approved and put into the PS Magazine. If PS told you that it was ok to do it then it was the same as a MWO. I'd have to go back and read through a few years of PS to find the articale, but I can remember reading it on how to do it. Many field mods were done that way as appose to the office MWO.