M931A1 Gun Truck tribute, perhaps.

[mdainsd]

I've been thinking about how best to utilize my new acquisition. Its of course a tractor. I'm never going to tow 5th wheel trailers and the thing is not so good off-road with no weight on the rears. Also if I don't plan on 5th wheel trailers the class B commercial license is good to go.

At first I was thinking of chopping a cargo bed down to the right length for this truck. Just didn't do anything for me.

What about a gun truck tribute? There are plenty of pictures of 939 series trucks in that role, even short wheel base versions.

I have access to a stack of 4'X8' (I think) sheets of 1/4 and 3/8" armor. On hand are various mounts for armaments. So it isn't that much a question of cost but heavy lifting (literally). Plenty of pictures to base a recreation on.

Ive read some of the threads here by some very creative people who have done a fine job with theirs, so am encouraged.

Leaning towards an armature built of thick wall square tubing, welded and gusseted. Then apply the armor via nuts and bolts to the armature. But have not looked into up armor for cab. This is either costly or something I would have to make out of the stack.

Crazy? Or go for it? Pitfalls? Comments welcome....

 

[AZDeuce]

Well if you could make it resemble an actual gun truck used in the sand box, I think that would be cool, and kind of unique. I had a M52A2 Tractor that I put a 10' old civilian dump bed on behind the tool box, and spare tire carrier, (because it looked military-ish) looked good but still needed a 1/2" to 1" steel plate to be added to the floor to get traction, I never did get that done, and sold it to a friend. But short-bed 5-tons are fun.

 

[M813rc]

Crazy? Sure, but so are the rest of us. I think it would be cool. Not really practical, but great for displays and parades.
Go for it!

Cheers

 

[jeffhuey1n]

With your truck being a 5 ton, your imagination is the only limit. I’ve seen pictures of gun trucks in the desert. A tribute built around Iron Horse’s legacy would be the stuff. Can you put a deuce bed on the back? I was going to go that route with my M52A2. It was more than I could handle so I dropped the idea and instead created War Wagon. I sold the bed to the group down in Colorado and they used it to build a gun truck. Sorry but it’s name escapes me.

 

[mdainsd]

I haven't measure the rail width on a deuce bed, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are the same width as five ton rails. That being said one needs to shorten the bed down to ten foot to put it on a tractor if you want to keep the spare storage area for super single behind the cab. It could be a good seat though and Ive seen deuce beds pretty cheap. 20 years ago I knew of an out of the way place in the high desert where somebody had been rendering deuces for drive trains. the beds cabs and frames were all that was left. Time for a day trip!

This weekend I am going to inventory the stack of plate to see how much is really there.

 

[jeffhuey1n]

Two M52 reactors were converted to gun trucks in the Vietnam War. That’s all I know about anyway. Both used M35 beds. They didn’t keep the spare tire carriers. Not sure if they used the M35 carriers. For the most part, as near as I can tell, the spare tires were carried in the bed and integrated into the armor, most pictures in James Lyles book show how it was done. Of course if you have the skill and resources, cutting one down to fit would look good.

 

[mdainsd]

Well I have located one of the armored boxes, can not for the life of me think of their name.

Negotiations have been started, but I think it will be a long row to hoe...

Poking around for one of the cab armor that drops over the existing cab.

 

[bikeman]

I think there is a Doyle book on the gun trucks of OIF/OEF. But my library is literally a pile of books right now, so I can't help you out with more than that.

Attached are some old pics of some modified gun trucks that I have saved. There was a thread on here somewhere IIRC.