roll call of EXISTING Vietnam gun trucks

[papabear]

When the Ugly Ranger rolls under it's own power, let me know and I'll update the list.

WILCO...thank you Sir

 

[maverick]

UPDATE! Since I can't edit the original post anymore, here's the updated list. Please let me know if there are any more out there...

vehicle, repro or tribute, name, owner, location
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M151 repro, Wolfman
M37 tribute, Boonierat, WarrenD, Connecticutt
M37 repro, Malfunction, New Jersey
M35 tribute, Aces and Eights, John Tennis, New York
M35 tribute, Assassins, Texas
M35 tribute, Bad Ass, New York
M35 tribute, Business As Usual, Kansas
M35 repro, Gamblers
M35 tribute, Grim Reaper
M35 tribute, quad 50, I Dream of Charlie, England
M35 tribute, Iron Butterfly, Max Levell, England
M35 repro, Psychotic Reaction, Illinois
M35 tribute, Squatter Swatter, Florida?
M35 repro, The Gamblers, Michigan
M35 repro, The Widow Maker, Texas
M54 repro, Ace of Spades, Tennessee
M54 repro, Black Widow, Florida
M54 repro, Highland Raiders, England
M54 repro, Proud American, Larry Board, Georgia
M54 repro, Red Baron, Wayne Dobos, England
M54 repro, Satan's Lil' Angel, New Jersey
M54 repro, Uncle Meat, Michigan
M54 repro, The Untouchable, William Parker, New Jersey
M54 repro, Wild Thing, Indiana
M54 original, Eve of Destruction, US Army Transportation Museum, Virginia

Hi There,
Sorry to mess your list up but the repro Highland Raider here in England is built on a M35 and not a M54 as listed

Thank you for keeping the list going

 

[maddawg308]

Corrected - the websites you posted the pics on seem to be down at the present time. I looked in Hard Ride and saw there were two trucks with Highland Raiders as a name, one M35 and one M54. I guessed wrong.

 

[quonsethut]

"Bad Ass" formally Have Gun Will Travel

M35A2 tribute truck "Bad Ass" formally "Have Gun Will Travel" Austin Texas

 

[prguntruck]

Hi, Do you have current pics of the gun truck?

 

[frank scholer]

Does anyone have any information about the M35 based GT "Celestial Death", assigned to the 4th ID, 4th S&T group? There is a picture of it on page 35 of the book "Gun Trucks of Vietnam".

After further research I found out that Celestial Death went by two other names; first it was Pink Panther(picture 155, same book), the Celestial Death and finally Grim Reaper(picture 149 same book). Bumper number was 44ST B15. Still don't know the hood number, any info or photos would be appreciated.

 

[prguntruck]

Hi Frank,
Don Zwar supplied that photograph for the book; he might have a little more info.
But you also might come to the Vietnam Gun Truck Gathering Aug 9-14th 2016 in Chattanooga and ask around with all the other Gun Truck and Trans Co Vets that will be there.
Best Western Plus
6710 Ringgold Rd. Chattanooga, TN
423-*‐893-*‐7979 for reservations

Anybody else want a copy of this book?? see; http://vietnamguntruck.tripod.com/HaveGunsWillTravel.html

 

[frank scholer]

After further research, I found out that the truck Celestial Death later went by the name Grim Reaper, still with the 4ID, 4S&T. I found a picture of it on a youtube video named 2 1/2 and 5 ton gun trucks of the Vietnam War (at 6:33). This picture shows a partial hood number of 04E7xxxx and a front bumper number 44ST. There is an antenna with what appear to be state flags from Ohio, Florida and Connecticut. I suspect these might be the home states for some of the crew members. Can anyone confirm this information?

 

[frank scholer]

The Lyles book "Gun Trucks in Vietnam" lists five different trucks all named Grim Reaper. One is already in the list on this thread. Where is it and what unit was it part of?

 

[red]

Has anyone built a m51 gun truck? And directions for more info on 'Invader II' would be appreciated.

 

[Another Ahab]

Has anyone built a m51 gun truck? And directions for more info on 'Invader II' would be appreciated.

Are you planning a build, red?

 

[red]

Are you planning a build, red?

Possibly. That m51 I have hasn't sold so it will end up being built.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Another Ahab]

Are you planning a build, red?

Possibly. That m51 I have hasn't sold so it will end up being built.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

A new build? And as busy as you are with that wrecker!?

Where does that lazy bone of yours come from; your Mom's side, or your Dad's?

 

[red]

Hahahaha it comes and goes. Besides paint/body stuff the wrecker is almost complete.

The m51 would be multipurpose, dump bed dedicated to a gun truck but replaced with a 5th wheel the rest of the time. I'll start a build thread before long

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[frank scholer]

Since my last post I've made progress on the my gun truck. The cab and chassis are painted in semigloss black as is the outside of the gun box with its steel pate. I wet sanded the first coat and then shot a second coat, which greatly improved the look of the truck. The grill, headlights, etc are back on as well. I repaired the exhaust pipe, replacing the U-section under the fender that has rotted out and also made a 2' extension on the vertical stack. I did this based on a photo of the original truck. The exhaust is all painted flat black with high temp paint. Next task is to paint the "GRIM REAPER" name on both sides of the gun box. I made a paper template to make both sides the same. We plan to lift the box onto the chassis in a week or two, when fellow members of the Military Vehicle Collectors of Colorado will provide the heavy lift equipment - military wreckers. You can see our video on youtube of the removal of the van body. Still looking for arms to go inside: one 50 cal and two M60s.

 

[frank scholer]

Two days ago we put the gun box on the chassis of my deuce. We lifted it up with a wrecker on each end, then backed the truck under it. It lined up pretty well and only required a slight adjustment and the mounting bolts literally dropped straight in. From start to finish it only took about 55 minutes. It went on without a hitch. The truck looks quite good. Also mounted a fire extinguisher and AS-1729 antenna on the right front corner of the fighting box, just like on the original truck. Question: how do you torque the bolts? The rear bolts are hard connections but all the others are spring bolts. Do you measure the installed height of the bolt/spring for a certain compression value? I don't think a torque value would be much use.

 

[Another Ahab]

Two days ago we put the gun box on the chassis of my deuce. We lifted it up with a wrecker on each end, then backed the truck under it. It lined up pretty well and only required a slight adjustment and the mounting bolts literally dropped straight in. .

You don't maybe have a pic of that, do you!?

 

[frank scholer]

I will be posting photos of the project in the next few days.

 

[frank scholer]

photos of gun truck

I can't seem to post the photos here. They are on my Facebook site now, I'll try to get them here soon.

 

[Another Ahab]

photos of gun truck