The GMC CCKW

I thought about putting an extra set of wheels on the front axle to see what it was like to drive with 4 wheels on the front.,anyone done this before?,I've seen pictures of vehicles on the beach /sand with extra wheels but would it be o.K for short road use??

regards

Steve

Steve for an upper-body work-out its great, for maneuvering its cr*p !

Looks cool....but steers like an elephant on snow shoes. Keep it out of front wheel drive and you'll be OK for a few miles, but you'll be better off to try it on wet grass where you'll get a bit of "slip" to aid steering.

Don’t forget to post those pictures.

Colin 352.

You could also use smaller diameter tires (worn) on the outside.

I tried this on my cckw352 while driving on snow (road + off road). It is very hard the steer but you win a lot of grip… With such an outfit you can drive where no jeep can go I haven’t experienced it at hi speeds…
After an hour driving in these condition you do no more need to go to the fitness center


Thierry.

Thanks guy's for the info,I'll give it a go this weekend and post the picture,I've held a spare wheel close to the truck and I must admit it looks impressive.

Regards

Steve

This Jeep MB/GPW is in test in Aberdeen field proof with 7.50x20" wheels.

Mounted the twins to the front and it was awesome looking,took it for a spin and wasn't too bad to steer,will be visiting some shows like this ,this season.
Will be posting the video on You Tube shortly it's great

Regards

Steve

Can't wait to see the Video ! hope you get a chance to do a bit of dirt road or off road clips as well.

Steve,

Great pictures. Thanks!

What a great static display piece.

I am sure it will be copied by many.

What I appreciate most about your pictures Steve is the fact that most of us have yards that look the same. I even showed it to my SHAEF to prove that there is someone else who has OD'd on Olive Drab.

Thanks for the support.

This is the video of the GMC with twin front wheels,will get some off road soon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGVtphf-8CA

regards

Steve

good views , both the CCKW and the Town , looking forward to the next clip.

Thank you Steve,

It sure makes the CCKW look like a much more "Manly" vehicle...if that is possible.

I noticed brake lights on almost every car going the other direction. Obviously they were impressed too.

Can't wait to see the mud flying off road.

Bill

Hey Steve,

Great video! The sound track is excellent.

Lately, I've looked at so many pictures of CCKW's with extra wheels up front, a "normal" truck just doesn't look right.

Drive On!

Cat Man

Funnily enough I have just finished freeing off the outer front wheel nuts on my 352 and will be dualing up the fronts at some of the few shows left this year, will also post some pics here.

I now have some pics of my truck with dual front tyres, as said before makes the steering very heavy, moving on the road is not too bad keep away from the kerbs though if you rub it, it will spin the steering wheel out of your hands before you know it, and you will up on the path or in the ditch !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Manoeuvring stationary is almost impossible, but what do you expect with nearly 20 inches of tyre on the front. This is looking forward, you can see how much the outer tyre sticks out. This was my truck in Normandy France during a convoy on the Beach between Asnelles and Arromanche ( roughly a couple of miles) on the 6th June 2009 for the D-Day celebrations.

Having the extra fronts protruding beyond the wings / fenders is contrary to the road traffic act, unless you extend the fenders ...

By all means take two spares to a show and fit them there, and use them off road, but using them onroad is a naughty. Not had any problems so far? give it time.


Best application for this stuff is to get a 3/4 ton Dodge and double up the wheels all round with outers from a 1/2 ton Dodge. Having the extra smaller wheels on the outside doesn't really add to the steering effort and makes it unsinkable ( just about ) on mud and snow.

Gordon

Gordon_M wrote:Having the extra fronts protruding beyond the wings / fenders is contrary to the road traffic act, unless you extend the fenders ...

By all means take two spares to a show and fit them there, and use them off road, but using them onroad is a naughty. Not had any problems so far? give it time.

Gordon

Sorry to correct you, but where have I said it was used on a public road, with those front tyres being that wide I should think it would be over the white line anyway !!!!!!!!!!! No only done it twice and both times was on my private road.

Also at shows with public access, current road traffic regs apply, so it would be wrong to drive it there as well.

Ta, happy to be corrected in this instance, I should have read more carefully.

I know you can do the same with some of the Dodge applications with a suitable offset, but not all of them.

While we are on the subject of duals, I do have a set of the special dual rims for the 41-47 Dodge one ton here, destined for my panel van;



They look like ordinary rims at first glance, noting the six lug holes specific to the 41-47 Dodge and they are slightly thinner than the ordinary equivalent, and with a bigger offset, but if you look closely you can see that every alternate lug hole has a bevel protruding which locks into a corresponding recess in the other rim, giving a very stable and solid arrangement and reducing the need for over length wheel studs or inside / outside nuts. These appear to be 1941 Budd wheel product, which sets me wondering if they ever made the same thing for lighter GMC / Chevrolet trucks or the same period.

Here are a couple of pictures of a CCKW-353 with twin front wheels. Taken in 1942, courtesy of Life Magazine @ Google: