rmvivas
New member
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- Location
- Columbia County, NY
One of the things I had been meaning to get for my M37 was a spare wheel and tire. It came with 4 very nice condition wheels and some rocking tires, but there were only four of them and I really wanted to have a spare.
Spare wheels for an M37 are not exactly something you can run down to the local Dodge dealership and purchase.
I started watching online for a spare wheel and rim to come up on the auction sites. They did come up on rare occasion and were priced at around $75-100. The price wasn't unreasonable, but when you factored in the shipping it became cost prohibitive. I figured I would just have to wait until one came up that was in my area, win the auction and then go pick it up.
An associate of mine recommended looking on one of the 'List' type websites that are basically huge classifieds. I started looking and saw an ad placed by a fellow one county south of me for M37 ROLLING CHASSIS for $100.
Well $100 bucks did not sound bad!! I figured that for a chassis to be rolling it would need FOUR wheels/tires, so.........
I made the deal, I made the trip and I made it home.
What did $100 get me?
Well first let us look at the price; it was $100 for the rolling chassis, $70 to rent a trailer, $30 for a 2 inch ball hitch for the wife's Trailblazer and about $40 for gas. The whole thing worked out to about $240.
The frame is in rather nice shape. Nothing on it has been cut, bent or otherwise damaged or mutilated. It has a light patina on it (which is getting heavier as it sits in my driveway; I need to throw a tarp over it) but looks like it would blast and prime quite nicely.
The rubber tires appear to be military and their condition ranges from abysmal to bad; I'm not concerned about that though as my interest is in the wheels. However the rubber is in serviceable condition for moving the frame around as needed until I find a final resting place for it.
The wheels are in pretty fair shape. Some look better than others. My goal here was to get at least one usable wheel and I think at least three and possibly all four will clean up nicely and be usable.
The pintle hitch on the back is intact and in very nice shape. It even has the retaining chain and cotter pin in place. I could keep it as a spare or make a mounting plate to put it on the front bumper of my truck for pulling stuff out of tricky spot. It's more likely though that I will probably dismount it, grease it up and either store it as a spare or use it for sale/trade fodder.
The gas tank is missing but the gas tank SUPPORT STRAPS and HOLD DOWN STRAPS are present and in decent shape.
There is an engine just loosely sitting in the engine compartment area. I'm not sure what engine it is and am still learning about all this stuff, so I can't identify it. The fellow stated it came from a Carry All. I really have to take a look at it and see what it is and if it is in any kind of salvageable shape.
The transmission and transfer case are present as are a couple of the pedals and their associated linkage.
Overall I think I did alright. Figure that I get two usable wheels off this, that would have run me around one hundred dollars each. That leaves me short forty dollars but I suspect that I can find a doodad or two off this that will put me into the black.
The fellow I got this from had a very tiny yard that was very full with one M37, an M151, a military jeep I couldn't immediately ID, an M101 trailer and a water trailer ("water buffalo") as well as various goodies and spares.
If I had more parking area I could very easily see how just getting that one military vehicle one has always wanted can easily morph into having a small motor pool and private junkyard!
I suppose I am on that track as my thoughts right now are turning to pouring concrete in the springtime to make a little more parking available.
The fellow I got it from was hugely helpful and knowledgeable. I don't know if he is on this forum or not, but it was my second time dealing with someone who favors military vehicles as a hobby and so far the folks I've met have seemed pretty helpful and decent!
Spare wheels for an M37 are not exactly something you can run down to the local Dodge dealership and purchase.
I started watching online for a spare wheel and rim to come up on the auction sites. They did come up on rare occasion and were priced at around $75-100. The price wasn't unreasonable, but when you factored in the shipping it became cost prohibitive. I figured I would just have to wait until one came up that was in my area, win the auction and then go pick it up.
An associate of mine recommended looking on one of the 'List' type websites that are basically huge classifieds. I started looking and saw an ad placed by a fellow one county south of me for M37 ROLLING CHASSIS for $100.
Well $100 bucks did not sound bad!! I figured that for a chassis to be rolling it would need FOUR wheels/tires, so.........
I made the deal, I made the trip and I made it home.
What did $100 get me?
Well first let us look at the price; it was $100 for the rolling chassis, $70 to rent a trailer, $30 for a 2 inch ball hitch for the wife's Trailblazer and about $40 for gas. The whole thing worked out to about $240.
The frame is in rather nice shape. Nothing on it has been cut, bent or otherwise damaged or mutilated. It has a light patina on it (which is getting heavier as it sits in my driveway; I need to throw a tarp over it) but looks like it would blast and prime quite nicely.
The rubber tires appear to be military and their condition ranges from abysmal to bad; I'm not concerned about that though as my interest is in the wheels. However the rubber is in serviceable condition for moving the frame around as needed until I find a final resting place for it.
The wheels are in pretty fair shape. Some look better than others. My goal here was to get at least one usable wheel and I think at least three and possibly all four will clean up nicely and be usable.
The pintle hitch on the back is intact and in very nice shape. It even has the retaining chain and cotter pin in place. I could keep it as a spare or make a mounting plate to put it on the front bumper of my truck for pulling stuff out of tricky spot. It's more likely though that I will probably dismount it, grease it up and either store it as a spare or use it for sale/trade fodder.
The gas tank is missing but the gas tank SUPPORT STRAPS and HOLD DOWN STRAPS are present and in decent shape.
There is an engine just loosely sitting in the engine compartment area. I'm not sure what engine it is and am still learning about all this stuff, so I can't identify it. The fellow stated it came from a Carry All. I really have to take a look at it and see what it is and if it is in any kind of salvageable shape.
The transmission and transfer case are present as are a couple of the pedals and their associated linkage.
Overall I think I did alright. Figure that I get two usable wheels off this, that would have run me around one hundred dollars each. That leaves me short forty dollars but I suspect that I can find a doodad or two off this that will put me into the black.
The fellow I got this from had a very tiny yard that was very full with one M37, an M151, a military jeep I couldn't immediately ID, an M101 trailer and a water trailer ("water buffalo") as well as various goodies and spares.
If I had more parking area I could very easily see how just getting that one military vehicle one has always wanted can easily morph into having a small motor pool and private junkyard!
I suppose I am on that track as my thoughts right now are turning to pouring concrete in the springtime to make a little more parking available.
The fellow I got it from was hugely helpful and knowledgeable. I don't know if he is on this forum or not, but it was my second time dealing with someone who favors military vehicles as a hobby and so far the folks I've met have seemed pretty helpful and decent!
