The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Oh, I loved reading this, the only thing better would have been riding in the shotgun seat.

[Chewie]

Oh, I loved reading this, the only thing better would have been riding in the shotgun seat.

I know, right?
The northwest is on my bucket list..

[Bruce in BC]

NOS top 1/2 of front window frame.

You do not see these come up often. I think the best place for this item would be on a Dodge Carryall. So if you are on the hunt for one the starting price on this is not out of line.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Dodge-W...3D161598165683

$200.00 lets see if some one we know gets it.

[Bruce in BC]

Chains revisited

Took the carryall out with a friend and a load of huskies. Why is that every time you get out of the truck, even for a moment , there will be a dog sitting in your seat? Seriously these things like to lay in the snow and no matter how long they have been in the truck there is a pound of hair and a cup of water on the seat after they are forced to give up the seat I just vacated.
The goal for the day was to climb down some steep slopes and look for a truck and driver that went missing about 20 years ago. Several people figure that there is a chance the truck went over the steep embankment but the slope has never been searched. To date all that has been done is a walk along the road edge. I think at best we managed to search about 10% of the area before heading back to the truck.
The road was slick with compressed snow and ice. We drove up sans chains but thought it would be a good idea to chain up for the trip back down. Attempted to walk the road but found it easier and more traction in the ditch. This is where we hit a wall. There was a tangle in the chains. Some of the cross bars would not line up. One half were fine and the other half were bound up. No end of flipping or feeding the chain through different openings would clear the issue.
After 55 minutes the problem was solved, instead of feeding the chains through the gap starting with the end you bundle the chains up and tuck the whole bundle through the gap and then stretch out the chains.
After attempting several other old methods of draping the chains over the tire and never getting them tight enough to pull the ends together, the chains got pulled out from under the truck tires.
The fastest way to put the chains on was to drape the chains over the tire and use the bracket I used previously to keep the chains tight against the tire while it rotated. That takes 5 minutes, draping the chains, adding the bracket, getting in, moving the truck, getting out of the truck, attaching the chain ends and tightening the chains.
So the next thing to do is modify the bracket design slightly (build a new one) and figure out a way to prevent the chains from creating a tangle while in their storage bag.
I would not want to attempt getting the chains untangled in the middle of the night in cold and nasty weather.
The truck? I ordered a spare wheel, (hate to think what that will cost) and a Donaldson oil filter DBL 7349. Not cheap but short of a dual oil filter system or a Fleetguard LF9028 I am unaware of a better filter.

edit: no bids on the NOS upper frame, considering a full frame went for $1600 awhile back $200 for a top 1/2 sounds fair. The folks in Carryall land must be short of cash or have perfect windshield frames.

take care out there
and please tread lightly
more areas and access is lost because of poor driving attitude and damage to the wilderness.

[Alxj64]

Bruce,
Fred Williams shared your truck on Instagram and wants to get in contact with you. Send me your contact information if you would.

Blackwaterfabrication at gmail dot com and I can get it over to him. We're ol' buddy ol' pals on the face-space.

[dieseldude4bt]

Bruce,
Fred Williams shared your truck on Instagram and wants to get in contact with you. Send me your contact information if you would.

Blackwaterfabrication at gmail dot com and I can get it over to him. We're ol' buddy ol' pals on the face-space.

Boy talk about carryall envy! I would love to be in your shoes with my carryall.
I hope they do an article in the magazine on it.

[Bruce in BC]

I think Fred would like a carryall in his garage

I contacted him via email and fired off a few old pictures from the files and provided a bit of a parts list. I am not sure if he was thinking of doing a feature or for his own interest. No mention of resolution or content so I am leaning towards personal interest. I think the Carryall is one of his favourite trucks and I believe he has a picture of 4BT powered carryall on his desk or wall.
What would be of interest to readers is an ongoing feature of Alex's build. There is so much of the same slant in 4x4 mags that it is hard to run across new ideas and quality and unique builds. Fred's "Fun Buggy" was and is a great build, the M37 was of interest as well. A Carryall with the Alex's axle build would be awesome new material.

Just a caution for those of you using bucket seats in your Carryall. Going to the fold and tumble bases is a waste of time. In one year no one has tumbled the seat forward to access the rear, including myself. One seat goes back, the opposite forward and the back gets folded forward on that seat. Access is between the seats. I suspect I will end up removing the tumble bases and make new bases and drop the seat down 1 inch while doing so.

To get in the rear.

(1) Slide drivers seat towards the front.
(2) Flop the back of the seat down till it hits the steering wheel
(3) slide passenger seat back as far as possible.

Access is dead easy for flexible people and old huskies with wide hips.

I like suspension seats, you can travel long distances and not seize up.

take care
Bruce

edit: This WC26 showed up again but this time has more pictures. 13 grand
https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5960831977.html

[Chewie]

Wonder if the bear is included..

[Bruce in BC]

More snow time

Dropped the air pressure down to 10 lbs. More or less got on top of the snow and drove in past our last spot of 2 weeks ago. It was raining beavers and bobcats today, the snow was wet, wet, wet and did not compact down to much. Tracks were 10 to 14 inches deep and even at the bottom of the track the snow was still soft. Interesting that when I walked in the track the truck had made my boots would sink in a tad, perhaps an inch. Also when walking outside of the tire track we would punch through deeper than the truck impression. After several hours and we had gone a bit over 2 miles and elected to turn around. (Chopped up and removed several trees on the way) Going back the truck sank further in the snow. Left a diff track most of the way out. Two other trucks had driven in and turned around after about 500 ft. I guess several miles of driving in the slop was pretty good. No one else had been in since the last rescue we did pulling out the Toyota- that was almost 2 weeks ago.
Lots to do and there is another cold front moving in.


foot note. I had a visitor, the guy drove several 100 miles and caught a ferry, he was looking for some tips and pointers for his build - what works, what doesn't. He is not going to use urethane bushings in his build, after we had a talk - I do not like them for several reasons and a buddy was there and absolutely hates them- " I use my truck and in less than six weeks those urethane bushings were destroyed." So we have another convert - rubber....leaning towards OEM quality or better.

We went farther than the snow mobiles had gone, this says more about snow mobile drivers than the trucks ability to travel in snow.

edit: here is another Carryall - this one a 1941, shiny on the outside, inside not so much https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5975664634.html

but for 13 grand if the truck is not full of mud the price just might be darn reasonable.

[Bruce in BC]

and we have another carryall for sale $40 grand

Nice looking truck. It is fully restored, or close enough to look that way. On Craigslist. https://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/cto/5967037995.html

Here is a slice of the add
I am selling a professionally restored, 1941 Dodge WC 10, Carryall 1/2 ton rated, military 4 X 4 with double back doors. In 1941 there were only 1643 of these vehicles made . This vehicle was purchased in 1947 from Fort Lewis, Washington I Corps, 41st Infantry by an old logging company family based in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties starting in 1888, which was before statehood of Washington State . This finely restored truck has had only two owners. This truck has five NEW tires 750- 16 military correct period. The seats have new upholstery front and back . The wood floor is made of White Ash, which has been replaced and finished. The engine is a Dodge 218 6 cylinder in excellent running condition and clean running at the stack. Olive drab paint very good inside and out with finished interior sheet metals walls. Exterior sheet metal all very clean and dent free without rust spots . All glass is excellent with no scratches. The windshield tilts forward and locks. We will deliver the truck within 600 miles of Olympia ,Washington

(once the add is gone, it is hard to retrieve, content posted here for a historical reference)

Just found out a Carryall can pull a dump truck out of a ditch. At least mine did. Pretty simple pull. The dump truck's rear tires could not get a grip on the ice, a few pounds pressure from the winch line and the dump truck eased its way right out of the ditch. Winch made more noise pulling the scrub out of the back forty than it did pulling on the dump truck.

[Kevin in Ohio]

Here's a few pics I took at the Iowa rallies. Enjoy.






You know this one.

[Bruce in BC]

I love those Carryall pictures.

I am pretty sure I am about to burn out another fuel sending unit. I see Classic Instruments makes a floatless sending unit, I will order one next week and report how well it works over the float version. The fuel sloshing around seems to be the culprit that causes the fuel sender to fail.
I was in my carryall stuck at the intersection the other day. There is this little kid sitting in the back seat of his parents vehicle, they are in the front talking away and unaware of anything around them. The kid has this great mop of curly hair, right down to his shoulders. The ends line up with the outside of his shoulders and it looks a lot like an inverted V. He happens to spot the Carryall and glance in the window and see me, and a little smile comes up on his face. But the best part was the wave, it was one of those little side ways waves, the secret wave, the "heh I see you can you see me wave?", that secret wave you only use for special moments. this all happened in a couple of seconds as the car and the kid drove by. I loved it. I waved back with the same sincerity that young six or seven year old man did. We were equals, just for that brief moment and that had me smiling away as I was driving away. It is a nice feeling to know that even after six decades on the top side of the dirt that I still find delight in the small moments in life.
That person could have been a girl, I will never know, does not matter, the moment was fun.
I pressure washed the truck yesterday, trying to get the road salt off, it will take several more washes and some paint to get the suspension back to a presentable condition. I see a tiny leak around my steering box, not sure where it is from.
About to head up the mountain - for a safety meeting, yep I will take the truck and get it covered in dirt,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,again.

take care
Bruce

[Bruce in BC]

Dirt and more dirt

Did you know that driving in snow will clean your tires? Did you know that driving in crispy frozen snow will clean your suspension? I was admiring how zippy clean the whole thing looked when I got to the top parking spot........by the time I got home there was mud, that sticky fine type, covering everything. The under side of the fenders look like they have 1/4 inch of shotcrete on them.
Ordered my new fuel sending unit. Wrapped up a heater hose that runs under the truck, a few bits wanted to get close and personal with the hose.
Not warm enough out there to make me feel encouraged enough to attempt anything.

take care
Bruce

[jbell]

Found this one in St Louis!

#2, Its very complete, back to original.......John
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jcbe...STL%20carryall

[Bruce in BC]

One of the better ones I have seen and complete too

Please share more photos and progress reports as you go about restoring the truck. Amazing how few dents are on the truck - most have at least one rear corner caved in.
Developments on my Carryall? My second fuel sending unit packed it in. It works as normal till half full and then it jumps to empty - which means part of the unit no longer connects. The Classic Instruments floatless sending unit has not arrived and I do not expect it to for another 2 weeks.

I am looking for a little box or an old radio case to install on top of the transmission cover. This will hold two extra guages and some switches. A bit like Alex's unit but not as classy.

Well done on getting the brown Carryall, nice to know it will not get a chevy crate engine and dynatrac axles - yours is one of the few that warrants staying stock.