Picture of the Week 12/26/2011

[Bill_Wolf]

[Fort Susquehanna]

That be my family's truck! It's a 1944 CCKW 353H1 Tipper, split axle, Norwegian return that I bought from Manny Rogers. The engine was overhauled in 1976, the Generator has an overhaul tag from 1974. Serial number range is 393XXX. It has been a good bit of work, as I was forewarned by Bob Rubino and Joel Gopan. When I first got it, before I insured it and put it on the road, I used it around my farm and it ran very well. Then the rear left wheel cylinder went, and my first job was an overhaul. There was an overheating problem- the original generator belt on the truck was too big for it and wasn't working the water pump enough; the right sized belt fixed the problem. Then, I started losing oil pressure, but the oil wasn't dropping; 5 gallons of gas and oil in the crank case tipped me off to the fuel pump diaphragm going. I overhauled the fuel pump. Then, with an overnight full battery charge, it turned sluggishly or not at all; the original cloth braided cable from the battery to the starter wore off all its shellac, and when it got wet, it grounded to the frame. I had a modern cable made and that solved the problem. This past spring, right before it went on its first trip, #6 exhaust manifold gasket blew. This is the time frame you are seeing in the photo. When I got the manifold set off, there was a crack that started on the exhaust by the heat riser, and went into the intake manifold. I put on a new pair of manifolds, new exhaust (which was from a vendor, didnt' fit, and had to be modified to fit), new muffler, and kept the original tailpipe seen in the photo on the truck. I didn't overhaul the carb, but I opened it up; it looked brand new inside except for some crud laying loose in the float chamber. New gasket, put it together, and the front rear left wheel cylinder went. After overhauling that and bleeding the brakes, the front left cylinder let go. That was a bitch; the rear axles have the demountable drums, but the front one had the old style with drum built onto the hub. And an 8 sided bearing retaining nut to boot. It's better to be lucky than good, and my local old auto parts store had the 3 1/4" 8 point socket IN STOCK. $23.00 or so. Got that done. Right now, it's sitting in the same place with a minor fuel problem. All in all, I am very happy with the truck in spite of all the work needed.

While all the tipper's supposedly had only open cabs, I'm keeping this one the way it is for now. If I actually restore it some day, and wind up with a WWII fuel truck with an open cab, I'd put the open cab on it to make it original. The truck is satisfying to work on, but a bit more complicated than the WC's and MB/GPW's I am accustomed to. Joel Gopan, Bob Rubino, and a few local friends have been of immense help guiding me on doing some of the jobs. I have the early original TM 10 manual (orange cover), the later reprint TM9-801, and the reprint two book master parts list (both the last two are from Portrayal Press); all three have been very helpful on the truck. My only advice to prospective owners is to be very critical of all systems, especially the brake system, go through all systems carefully, read the books, and amass spare parts as they are getting difficult to find for these trucks.

I am going to mark this truck as a tipper from the 243rd Combat Engineer Battalion. The 243rd CEB was an ETO unit and was in the general vicinity of the 14th Liaison Squadron, a unit I research, and may have worked on the Artillery Spotter landing strips my Stinson L-5 flew from in WWII (My L-5 is an ETO combat veteran).

Thanks for posting the photo!

[dr deuce]

Nice looking truck. Has great potential. Yes the brakes are a problem. Do them once completely and then USE it. Many brake problems happen from sitting...

I have a AC refueling tanker for sale.

[Brad]

I had to make a home made version of the 8 sides front retaining nut socket out of strip steel and it worked well for an improviesed one.... looks good,nothing like seeing your own work being done on the the truck.

[Vulture]

Good looking truck, and thanks for posting details of your experience with it to date, it made an interesting read.

[Fort Susquehanna]

Hi,
Thanks for the responses. Dr. D., Unless you're willing to take trade-in on Ford GTB's, Bomb Trailers, Knock Down Ambulances, or a Vultee BT-13 project, I won't be looking for a fuel truck until I own an airfield. That is a distinct possibility in the future, but not just yet. Brad, I thought about making one out of a strap wrench and some sheet metal, but I had just gone to the parts store and saw the 8-point big sockets right before I knew I needed one. As I said, it's better to be lucky than good. Vulture- I like the paint job of your truck, but every time I see it, I'm picturing it in OD paint with a WWII Field Artillery unit's markings on the bumper.

[Vulture]

Hi,
Vulture- I like the paint job of your truck, but every time I see it, I'm picturing it in OD paint with a WWII Field Artillery unit's markings on the bumper.

Fort
In the short term I'm going to keep it Grey, certainly for this next calender year. This is mainly because there is so much else that I want to do on it, and I find I do not have anywhere near as much free time to spend on it as I would wish. The Grey has grown on me, but I know what you mean. In the longer term I may put it back to OD, we shall see....

[Fort Susquehanna]

Vulture,
You can tell all the money I've spent on paint on my vehicle to this point- $0, except for the gallon of TM 9 ordnance paint for spot painting it. When it is mechanically sound, it'll get paint, but not more than the bumper, hood, some stars and unit markings. You can't drive a paint job!

[Vulture]

Vulture,
You can tell all the money I've spent on paint on my vehicle to this point- $0, except for the gallon of TM 9 ordnance paint for spot painting it. When it is mechanically sound, it'll get paint, but not more than the bumper, hood, some stars and unit markings. You can't drive a paint job!

LOL Yeah I'm with you on that last bit