WHY THE GMC ?????

[KEVINABR]

HI TO ALL JUST WOULD LIKE TO RUN THIS BY YOU... TO SEE WHY YOU LIKE THE GMC DEUCE & HALF..
YOUR MEMORIES OF THE VEHICLE ???
YOUR PREFERENCE ON WHICH MODEL ??? & WHY ???
WHY THE TRUCK ???

THANKS KEVIN
GLAD TO BE INVOLVED IN KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE

[dr deuce]

Go work on almost any other common WW2 HMV then come back and you can then tell me

I had to replace the manifold on my GPW Jeep. No problem. Pulled the nuts and they took the studs out of the block, OK the CCKW does that sometimes too EXCEPT when the stud came out, so did antifreeze!

Ask John Cliche about his helping a friend replace a clutch in a Jeep recently. "another story!"

The design of the GM products was soooo far ahead of all the others in regards to maintenance in general, there is no contest. That is not to say that they did not have their "features": The GMC clutch, the banjo rear axle after thought end of axle oil seal. But those are only a couple and minor in comparison to other designs. Besides, I am an OHV engine design bigot! Flat head engines are a pain in the butt by their very nature and all other WW2 HMVs except a couple are flat heads.

The trucks are narrow (for driving in traffic), fast (a relative term) and fun to drive. They are reliable, well built, will take a lot of abuse, and really require a minimal of maintenance with the lubricants we have today.

How is that for starters?

[Miner Matt]

I personally love the way they look.Easy to work on.Fun to drive.Work horse.And most of all I love working on brakes. (ya right)

[Karoshi]

I'm with Miner Matt, especially the brakes bit. It makes it all worth while !

But if you wanna see the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

Karoshi

[Corne Lauwerijssen]

I like it because:

-its history
-its beauty
-it is fast, if needed 54mph on LPG . Normally 40-45mph
-its very good OVH engine as docter Deuce said
-size, not to large and not small
-its comfortable
-very reliable
-easy to maintain
-and doesnt ask lots of maintenance
-fuelconsumption is doable with LPG
-parts are easy to find and not expensive compared with other HMVs

I enjoh it!

Greets,
Corné

[arthur.m]

The first CCKW I saw made a big impression on me, I was then maybe 15-16 years old, I had never seen such a beautiful truck. The engine is, of course, a legend. And this is in my opinion one of the most important motor vehicles of European history, both during and after the war.

Arthur

[armydriver]

When I was a child, during WWII, we lived on US 71 in Louisiana. I would stand for hours and watch the long convoys of motor vehicles headed south to Fort Polk, Louisiana and I particuliarly loved the big trucks and the sounds of the whinning transmissions. You could hear them coming long before they ever got there.
It was a life long affection for the big Jimmy's.
I like the looks of the truck
I like the ease of working on it.
I love driving it and had much rather drive it than a jeep. I have owned and restored 6 GPW's& MB's and 1 M38 and the CCKW is a lot more fun to drive.
Be a man drive a Jimmy

[dr deuce]

"real men" drive Jimmy's...!

[awg]

in no particular order,

- they represent an evolution in off-road vehicles.

- soft cab in particular cab hark back to the early 20's or even before in terms of styling in many ways.

-they represent a crossroads in truck technolgy, with older design features harmonising with the most modern technology of the day.

-they are the smallest "big truck" you can own.

-they are 100% historically significant...after all CCKWs probably carried more numbers of troops than any other vehicle (in WW2), they are historically significant in civilian use as well.

-they are simple,well designed and easy to work on.

-parts are available.

-they are useable

-they are handsome and very rugged in appearance

[Hammerhead]

Back in the mid sixties, my family and I lived in Beaumont Texas. Beaumont was an important port on the Gulf of Mexico during WWII for embarking war material for overseas shipment. One day when I was just a wee lad my father pointed out a truck driving past that was a CCKW (of course in civilian colors). My father was an 8th Inf. Div. combat veteran from WWII who would never talk about the fighting he'd seen. So it surprised me when he pointed out the truck and stated he had ridden many times in one. That started a lifelong fondness for them that progressed from the ROCO models of the CCKW to larger scale models. I had no idea I could actually ever own one of these pieces of history but I was thrilled when I got the chance. I own two jeeps (MB and GPW), a WC-54 ambulance but my favorite by far is driving that big beautiful CCKW!

[KEVINABR]

Thanks to all, my little questions have brought out some great memories from you. thankyou....
keep them coming

[abn CCKW]

For me the choice was more or less clear I wanted a HMV that was multi-purpose , a vehicle that was used by the army in a wide range of units like the combat engineers,or could transport troops,a dump truck,a cargo carrier,could carry a gun for anti-aircraft defence ,a winch to help un-stick itself or others should it be needed and could be dis-assembled and transported in C47-a's to forward areas faster than it could be driven . Of course there are down sides, first its heavier with all the "goodies" like the ring mount , the winch , the dump hoist and the frame mods to make it air-portable .And the frame is not as rugged as it might have been, it was just a standard CCKW's . and last with all that weight its slower which is fine since during WW2 speed was'nt the most important measure of a vehicles worth.That brought me to the CCKW353-H1