December 13th, 2015
Jeepdan:
Congratulations on your M715 restoration. One of my favorite 2nd or 3rd generation military trucks and a much better runner then the later M880's and CUCV's. Many people badmouth this truck design, but beyond water pump bearing issues and carb issues, they were a well designed truck. Fast (for the military) capable and easy to work on vehicles been bastardized by many thoughtless later owners with different engines, transmissions, axles and such, showing that they had no respect for their trucks histories and of the units that they served in.
My regret is that nobody in the US has yet figured out how to import the KIA version of this truck into the US, as a great deal of the sheet metal and many parts should still be useable for repairs to keep the older Jeeps running. I would drop a dime on the KIA truck just to get one that could be pushed hard day in and day out without 50 years already going on the truck and it being fairly rare now (for the original Jeeps).
Thumbs up on a magnificent job!