1941 US Government Report on Army Trucks

[dr deuce]

The same conference drew up military characteristics for a 2½-ton 6 × 6 truck, a new type first procured in 1939, and an outgrowth of a previous conference on field artillery motor vehicle requirements held at the Holabird Quartermaster Depot, on January 17, 1939. In general the characteristics are identical with those of the 1½-ton 4 × 4 truck, except that the required payload including equipment is 5,000 lbs., the towed load 3,000 lbs. and the required minimum engine displacement 255 cubic inches instead of 235 cubic inches. This vehicle, with 7.50-20 tires and closed cab, was approved as a standard type. The specifications then issued for the vehicle provided for a light chassis vehicle and for the use of not only a gear reduction in the high range of the transfer case, but also for a five-speed, over-drive transmission, which resulted in a high gear grade ability of but 2.3 per cent, in this case a material decrease from the 3 per cent requirement of 1938. This is the truck which has been adopted as the principal vehicle for field artillery. It is rated to transport the same total load, and has about three-fourths of the high gear performance of the 1½-ton 4 × 4 of 1938; yet it weighs 6,000 lbs. more than that truck.