• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

 

Bobbed???

Marcel

Well-known member
1,092
412
83
Location
Rhode Island
Can anyone tell what bobbing actually means? Where did the word come from? I think it has to do with adding larger tires and wheels and going from duallys to singles on the rear. Are you shortening the vehicles as well. This probably sounds like a stupid question to you guys but I've only owned my M53A2 whistler for a few weeks and am just learning about the hobby.
 

rivired

New member
226
2
0
Location
federal way washington
The Term Has a long history..i believe starting with the motorcycle hobby..a Bobber was a harley with the rear fender chopped up and what not way back in the day...Haircut term also.

U can remove as much as u want really..thats the fun part.!
 

Marcel

Well-known member
1,092
412
83
Location
Rhode Island
Okay, thanks I get it. It is a look that you are going for and not necessarily performance. Personally I like the original form. I bought my truck specifically for the 6x6 capability. If I wanted a kick-ass 4x4 I probably would have went with a Unimog. Just my opinion. I don't want to offend anyone. All the people here at Steel Soldiers have been exceptionally kind.
 

armytruck63

Active member
1,663
9
38
Location
Redlands, CA
Bobbing means taking a nicely engineered 6x6 truck, whacking a few feet off the frame, cobbling together some sort of rear suspension, usually with a set of front springs, and re-installing one of the rear axles. The result is a home brew big 4x4.

I prefer trucks in their original form myself...
 

gunboy1656

Active member
3,587
22
38
Location
Beaver Falls, PA
Not only is it ripping up a perfectly good truck, but most of the time a perfectly good trailer most as well.

In my opinion the standard truck just flat out looks better.
 

wreckerman893

Possum Connoisseur
15,606
1,963
113
Location
Akenback acres near Gadsden, AL
My opinion...FWIW....is that if it is a classic or hard to find truck (pipeline, auger, tanker, etc) it should be preserved.
If it is a plain Jane deuce and you want to bob it...go for it...I had a bobber I made that was a kick ass truck...it got a lot of favorable comments wherever I took it.
I traded it to a guy that wanted to bob a tanker he had.....because I wanted a tanker and to keep a tanker from being cut up.
Bottom line is........it's your truck....do with it what you want but be safe and make sure the modifications dont make you a hazard to yourself and others.
 

Marcel

Well-known member
1,092
412
83
Location
Rhode Island
I agree with you as well wreckerman. The reason that these vehicles were built was to preserve freedom. The freedom to choose if you will bobb your truck is entirely up to you and the right to express ones opinion is also protected under the Constitution. I see no reason for quarrel. We all should keep doing what we are doing. Wreckerman should keep bobbing anything he wants and we should keep voicing our opinions any time that we want.
 

CDN-CUCV

New member
166
4
0
Location
Republic of Vancouver Island
bob 2
Verb
[bobbing, bobbed]
to cut (the hair) in a bob [Middle English bobbe bunch of flowers]
v.tr.
To cut short or reshape: bobbed her hair; had his nose bobbed.


As an individual who revels in the challange of customizing and chopping-up a perfectly good automobile, I have to say that I receive a great amount of satisfaction from it. As for the roots of 'bobbing' the original purpose was to positively affect performance. When short on cash, the easiest way to go faster was to trim your ride of the uneccessary 'fat'.

To follow up on what was said before, it is also important to help perserve the heritage of of certain vehicles. If it is a rarer vehicle, try to resist modifying it irreversiblely or at all. This is a time-honoured debate in the hotrod world, Me, personally, if I wanted to perserve one, I would've become a museum curator, no disrespect btw...

So, with that being said, Does anyone want to save a perfectly good M135 before it gets the gas-axe?:razz:

"Anyone can restore a (insert: deuce,motorcycle,vintage car, etc...). It takes courage to to cut one up."

"the expressed opinions are not neccessarily the shared views of this station or it's affiliates".

I dunno, I heard these somewhere before.....:razz:
 

Col Psoas

New member
1
0
0
Location
Lehi, UT
the first "bob"

sorry to jump on this thread so late but depending on how much you still may or may not care you might find this interesting.
the term bob comes from back in outlaw motorcycle days when someone would buy a harley, often at auction and cut off as much weight as possible to help with speed and handling. as mentioned by one of the members earlier
I am pretty sure the actual name can be traced right to taking up to half of the front fender off as is was just extra weight to them
the ironic part was often the bikes used by the outlaw bikers in this was were former police bikes that has been retired and sent to auction.
Hope this helps
 

performanceauto89

New member
16
0
1
Location
Yankton,SD
Remember years back that deal with a Lorana Bobbit? She made things a little shorter than most would have liked!!! Hey how about that for a shorty truck name. "Lorana"
Just giving you folks a little chuckle!!!!!!!!!:-D:-D:-D:-D
 

Barneyszoo

New member
529
12
0
Location
Riverside, CA>
I got a bobbed truck it's a lot easer to drive around the city, go to the store, I drive it everywhere. Not to say I won't get a fullsize M35 or 5 ton. Or maybe some day a HEMTT!!!
 

GoHot229

Member
I think theres an understanding/evolution that almost everybody goes through ie. : You, by hook or by crook decide you got'a have a Deuce.....somehow, somewhere one comes up or you search one, or several out. You sell some existing toy you already own, or add it in trade for the Deuce and post on Steel Soldiers something in the order of "Got My Deuce" or some such caption. The first fiew weeks its all about cruseing around showing your friends or finding some dirt to play in. A fiew hill climbs, a fiew runs through the water or mud, yank down a couple trees, break a shear pin in the winch, hand wind the winch back, find out about the rivits on the underside of the winch cover verses your un-gloved hands=scrapes, and then you settel down to life with the truck. The mind wanders......how big of tires can I use? how do I turn up the fuel? Can I get power steering? Hmmmm, can I run some sort of 12volt stuff.... and on it goes. Then seeing a fiew examples on the forum of nicely or not so nicely done Bobbed Deuces, you toss around the idea of building your own Bobber. An easy enough task really, just big tools for big toys, a fiew big jacks and a couple weeks later either you have destroyed and want to off it 'cause now its really messed up, or you'v got yourself a Bobber. Now.....big tires/wheels or some other mod, mabe lockouts or a heater if yours is without etc, etc, and so it goes. You'll find most forum members to be tolerant of Bob-building, but some of the 'purists' not too keen on the wanton destroying of the Deuce in question. You will have your crowd of Bobber Entheusists banding togather in some cases. But when the rubber meets the road, theres something to be said for both flavors.........................Me... I like original, but I also like some of "CaveMan's" builds. Is one better than the other? yea and no, you get better MPG with a Bobber, their easier to park and manouver, less tires and wheels to buy, and go faster top speed. They may also come under screutiny of DOT or State Police as far as new heigth and tires/wheels and such, where the stocker does not.......finnally you decide to leave it stock, paint it, cherrie it out some and with a stocker that your happy with, the big delema becomes..........should I get a NAPA mufler or not? So the Bobbers have been around for a while, and there are examples of actual decission-built Bobbers by the military itself, though not in any large numbers. Would I like to have a bobber? yea, but not out of my existing Deuce, that was my first puppy, and it's getting the re-do back to Vietnam era factory specs. and paint. So if you must "BOB AWAY"
 

frodobaggins

Active member
2,861
16
38
Location
Ruston, La
wooow......decaf dude.....seriously.
we don't need no decaf here, why would you say such a thing, how dare you, I wanna build one, can I have disk brakes, oh look a squirrel, I go squirrel hunting, deer sometimes, oh dear, wait what, No, huh, we were all out at the lake one morning, but didn't see it, how are you, There is that squirrel again ! hold on, gotta get some more coffee
 

Marcel

Well-known member
1,092
412
83
Location
Rhode Island
Remember back then there were only Indian and Harley motorcycles. No rice rockets. Speed and handling is relative.
 

Chester777

New member
1
0
0
Location
Santa Cruz, California
To Bob or not to Bob

As an old M-37 enthusiast , I was impressed when I saw my first Deuce and a half that had been bobbed. It looked like an oversized M-37. I wanted one almost immediately.
I would not want to do this to a vehicle that is rare, but there are quiet a few 2 1/2 tons out there, with more coming monthly.

From a practical standpoint, here in California, and as I understand it, to drive a normal 2 1/2 ton, with both rear axles, you need a class A license, whereas with a single rear axle, you need a class C. (Much less hassle and expense)

And, for a bit of humor, my Cousin married a fellow named Bob Cox. As one might imagine, we did work him over every now and then, with respect to his profession.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks