The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Goose]

I like the size/dimensions description, BIG :D

[jim lee]

Wow! What the heck?!

First the tranny thing, what a pain! Then, you have slime-balls using your truck as bait. And this is the third time?! This is beyond bizarre. I hope your get your machine running. I'm taking mine out on a overland group picnic this morning. (Fingers crossed)

-jim lee

[Bruce in BC]

So I want to tweak my front springs a bit. The plan is to add an extra leaf and go to a military wrap. My new front springs are taking an S shape and need a little extra help. I also want to drill out the leafs and add spring pads. That is where the issue starts, finding pads. I have phoned several spring shops up this way and get a "huh?" from most of them. While digging around I noticed Trail Gear had leaf spring pads which were sold through NSOR, I ordered them because they were supposed to be 21/4 in diameter. Of course when I get to NSOR I find that there are two sizes and most of the stock is 11/2 inch wide. I am now looking for another source for these pads. One issue I am finding is these pads are available in all sorts of different plastic, a lot of which is junk when used as a spring pad. The other issue is Ebay, I find a pad listed for 3 dollars and the shipping is $24.95. I want 20 of these pads - the math does not work for eBay stuff in many cases and this seems to be one of them. there has to be a source for these pads that is reasonable priced.
Jim we do need to meet up, Carolyn and I are going to be in Victoria Feb 22 to 25. Basically we get there on Friday afternoon and are leaving Monday morning. Because my daughter has no vehicle (they totalled their Dodge on the I-5) I have been told that we are going in our roomy Honda Fit.
I could do a different trip and bring the Carryall - but have no idea about where to explore on Vancouver Island. Just going to Long Beach and hitting up the Provincial Camp ground might be fun......but most likely darn wet.
The other thing I may do is head for a swap meet in Washington State, say the Monroe Swap meet. I would take the Carryall on that trip.

take care
Bruce

[Alxj64]

Bruce, in regards to your front springs, is there room to put a torque arm on each side to help keep the front from wrapping and S- warping your springs? Adding the wrap and extra leaf might turn it into more of a tank and less of a truck. Also, drilling those springs for the pads may be a bit of an effort, most holes for that spring steel get punched in and not drilled, but granted I am sure your plan is to just drill the spring tail for a retainer. The pads on my Alcan springs are delrin, which are plastic. The ones in my 2006 Ram are also the same material and have 200K miles on them and seem to still be fine, granted your Carryall sees a lot more grit. Have you looked at using some bronze sheet stock and having then having a stud staked into them, or got a touch thicker and have a machine shop mill around on the surface to leave a stud behind to index the pad and also create a shoulder for them to prevent spinning? How wide are your springs? Are they still the 1.75" wide or nah? My rear springs ride really nice, but I do get some wrap out of them. I disliked my anti-wrap bar design so I am going to re-think that later on down the road.

[Bruce in BC]

When I built the truck I used a set of used Dodge first gen Cummins springs. I re-arched them a bit and replaced a bunch of thin galvanized strips that were about 10 inches long where the spring perch bolt goes. The ride with these springs is great, the issue was the tips where each spring touches was quite worn and the springs did not have a smile shape to them but were flat.
I ordered new springs and of course forgot I had added about 1/2 inch of arch.
The new springs ride great but there is no smile shape to them, if anything it is a frown and the top leaf were it does not contact the leaf below it turns down. I could call this an S shape but perhaps wiggle is a better term. Axle wrap on this truck is not much of an issue, going in reverse the rear axle does wrap but I have only had the issue a couple of times and not often enough for it to annoy me enough that I want to fix it.
Adding an extra leaf may make the ride harsher, in an effort to keep the nice ride I want to add the friction pads to each leaf. If the ride quality changes then I will pull the leaf and go ina different direction. My rear end has leafs and air bags, my original intention was to do the same with the front but my steering box is in the way on one side.
There is a way to do this- I am just not sure what that is at this stage.
Take care
Bruce

[jim lee]

I did a Blog update. Here.

-jim lee

[Alxj64]

I did a Blog update. Here.

-jim lee

I read all of these. Your adventures never cease to amaze me! Thank you always for sharing!


I've been tinkering with my seats and such again and also have been rummaging through my pile of random interior panels and trim pieces. Thank goodness I have the un-molested spare body out in the yard to figure out where half of this stuff goes.

[Bruce in BC]

WC53 in Washington. On Craigslist, complete and has a winch, tailgate is the straightest no restored one I have seen yet. $8500.oo I suspect it will sell fast and we will see it resisted for closer to $25000.oo. I think this one is worth the $8500.oo asking price.

[Bruce in BC]

The truck is in Woodland Washington, has no title which can be a pain in the hoohoo.

[Bruce in BC]

How a one hour drive turns into an eight hour adventure. Short story is someone I know pulled over on to the side of the plowed road but dropped in the ditch. After driving up the road several times and attempting to winch him out from the back all we managed to do is have his front end get stuck deeper and deeper. After spinning my truck around for the 5th time and driving down the road I caught a tire and drifted off the road into the ditch. It may not look like it but the Carryall is laid over at 31 degrees, the front passenger tire is deep enough that the top off it is below the road surface and it is in the air. You can slide your hand under the drivers rear tire too. It took some very creative winch work to extract the truck, we pulled it back 6 feet and then anchored the rear and used the Carryall winch to move the truck side ways and up on to the road. I have excellent chains........ I loath putting them on....... No damage to the truck:) :)
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[Matthew Welcher PWA]

That is an amazing shot. Winter is beating people up everywhere this year. Having a winch proves incredibly useful in the snow. Glad no damage was done!

[W_A_Watson_II]

Wow!

[Bruce in BC]

Yep it was slick, I could drive up the hill, bring the truck to a gentle stop and it would start sliding down the hill with the brakes locked. So I would spin the truck around, drive down the hill to a flat spot, turn the truck around and try again. Several people fell down while attempting to walk on the road surface. Found another WC53 this one in a museum in Guam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCTB1XoAeFU

[Alxj64]

Middle seat frame is bent up and welded. Now I just need to add my panel and cushion attachment plates and then the leg frames will get built AFTER I get the upholstry done. I ended up doing it backwards for my front seat and it ended up too tall and I need to redo the brackets. This way, I can have some friends sit in the back seats and I can adjust and build the risers to match the ideal height and slope.

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[Greg Coffin]

Is that Sch 40 pipe? It will last through the next war! You've got some cool tools in your shop my friend!

[Alxj64]

Is that Sch 40 pipe? It will last through the next war! You've got some cool tools in your shop my friend!

Yes, it is. Cheap enough, strong enough, and once blasted and powder coated, nobody will ever know or care.


Well, my health is still deteriorating... and because of it, I am looking at life in a different way. I'm 34 but I move around like I am 60 or maybe even older and it sucks. I've realized that despite my technical abilities, as I continue on this M.S. decline, I am going to be able to do less and less.

I had acquired another Carryall back in the Fall of '17 with intentions of doing something fun and cool with it. The truck has a history to it, a cool one at that. I even have a tattoo of the squadron logo of the B17 group that the truck served with.

I think I need to sell it. I fear that I will never be able to build it. Its a very rusty but very complete WC53. SN dates it sometime in November of '42. I'll post some pictures at a later date.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

One foot in front of the other my friend. Concentrate on what needs done for now. Take care of you and as you have time, head to the shop and put a smile on your face.