General Dynamics Growlers

[dougnash]

I have been seeing these on gov planet auction lately

One sold for $20k

They look really cool especially with a diesel

They have head and tail lights so I guess they can be used legally on street?

Looks like there is a 4 seater M1161 and a 2 seater w/ jump seat in back for 3rd person M1163

Any one on here have one or know more about them?

 

[Gunzy]

I know the GP ads say General Dynamics, but they are not the manufacturer. The manufacturer is actually Growler Manufacturing and Engineering. http://growlerme.com/images/New_M-1163_Brochure10-09-2014.pdf

 

[IRQVET]

Never seen one before, I wonder what period those saw service and under what circumstances?

 

[milerbros]

I am not sure where they saw service but they first came into use around 2009.

 

[sue]

They mostly used by the jar heads to see how
many marines could survive roll overs pulling
artillery.

 

[Another Ahab]

Never seen one before, I wonder what period those saw service and under what circumstances?

Are they related to the MUTTS at all, like a revised/ later generation version?

 

[Carboarius]

Are they related to the MUTTS at all, like later generation version revised?

Sort of. Designed to fit inside the V-22 Osprey it was intended to fill the role of a jeep: light utility, reconnaissance and fast attack vehicle, as well as being a prime mover for the M327 towed heavy mortar. Used by the US Marines since 2009.

The confusion stems from the fact that the company originally made aftermarket bodies for the M151 series, and the first prototype Growlers did use surplus M151 parts. However, the Growlers that went into production used all original parts specific to the vehicle.

 

[cucvmule]

A few weeks ago Gov-Planet was auctioning parts for Growlers, rear steer assemblies. Keep an eye on the auctions as there has to be a cache of maintenance parts somewhere.

 

[fasttruck]

Reference post 1: $20K is cheap, I have seen them go up for as much as $34K.

 

[Another Ahab]

Sort of. Designed to fit inside the V-22 Osprey it was intended to fill the role of a jeep: light utility, reconnaissance and fast attack vehicle, as well as being a prime mover for the M327 towed heavy mortar. Used by the US Marines since 2009.

So the power plant is a cross between speed and torque, or does it go one way or the other, do you know?

 

[Carboarius]

So the power plant is a cross between speed and torque, or does it go one way or the other, do you know?

The engine is a 2.8 liter inline- 4 cylinder turbo diesel. Torque is 230 ft lbs at 2000 rpm with 132 bhp at 3600 rpm. The mortar isn't real large.

I think the main thought process when they were designing it was the fact the Humvee didn't fit in the Ospreys and they needed something that would.

 

[Robo McDuff]

Just read up on the Growler, then on its never-selected competitor the Badger. Now that is a vehicle worth 20K. Interesting enough, the second half of that article is about why the by far SUPERIOR and CHEAPER Badger was declined in favor of the Growler. In short, the Badger fulfill all the requirements, and then some, while several requirements were later deleted because the Growler could not fulfill them.

"The Badger proved stable on side slopes of up to 40%, while the Growler proved dangerously prone to tipping-over by simply swerving; in a now-infamous incident at Camp Lejeune, a Growler rolled-over while swerving to avoid hitting a turtle, at a speed of only 24 km/h"

A Steel Soldier thread from 2008 by Tanner already mentions this.

In short, somebody got his oclets filled by selecting the Growler, and then they spent years defending why this was the correct choice, only to admit in 2017, that "probably it was not the best choice"

 

[Tracer]

The engine is a 2.8 liter inline- 4 cylinder turbo diesel. Torque is 230 ft lbs at 2000 rpm with 132 bhp at 3600 rpm. The mortar isn't real large.

I think the main thought process when they were designing it was the fact the Humvee didn't fit in the Ospreys and they needed something that would.

I've heard that the engine was built in Brazil, anyone heard that?

 

[Robo McDuff]

Preceding the quote from above on the growler turning belly-up on the http://www.military-today.com website:

The Badger's engine was manufactured in the US, while the Growler's engine was made in Brazil (under military procurement law, by act of Congress under the Barry Amendment, all US military weapons and their components must be made entirely in the US). The Badgers were all factory-new vehicles, while the Growlers were all assembled from decades-old used parts, taken from M151 MUTT jeeps.

 

[Tracer]

I think it would be a nice MV to own, but my main concern down the road is this vehicle will become a parts orphan. I haven't seen much yet on spare parts coming from GP.

 

[Robo McDuff]

I think it would be a nice MV to own, but my main concern down the road isthis vehicle will become a parts orphan. I haven't seen much yet on spare parts coming from GP.

It should not be a problem, see my post above

while the Growlers were all assembled from decades-old used parts, taken from M151 MUTT jeeps.

You don't see the Growler parts because they are actually MUTT parts

 

[Tracer]

Thanks Robo for the info on this. Never would have guesses that the Growler was to a degree based on the M151.

 

[NDT]

Geeze this Mutt parts fallacy has been discussed in other Growler threads! No MUTT parts on a Growler!!!

 

[Robo McDuff]

Geeze this Mutt parts fallacy has been discussed in other Growler threads! No MUTT parts on a Growler!!!

Did some more reading up about it, some sites provide conflicting information.It looks like they started with the concept of a modified M151 and actually did use Mutt parts in the original phases, but the final and upgraded product was not using parts of the Mutt anymore, the price was doubled and it now fulfilled the requirements (not in the least because the military modified or scratched several requirements it could not meet).

Concluding:
1- wondering if any of the Rae-Beck Badger still exist.
2- we are all looking at the wrong Growler anyway, this one falls over also if you are not careful, with much bigger damage.

 

[dependable]

we are all looking at the wrong Growler anyway, this one falls over also if you are not careful, with much bigger damage.

As an avid home brewer, this was my very first thought, but I was not going to go there on this forum.

The Badger does look like a more able vehicle, and the need for it is still probably there, I wonder if it will be re considered.