Building an xm381 style bobber

[hndrsonj]

Can anyone get me a measurement of the space between the front bed rail and the cab on an m35a2? Measuring at the middle would be fine. We cut the first part of the bed out and that measurement will help decide the second cut.

Actually, don't you just remove the distance between stake pockets? Doesn't it go from 5 pockets to 4?

 

[hndrsonj]

Here's the original info.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I thought so too at first, but when I measured it all out it didn't seem right. After looking at Fred Crismon's book with a good picture of the real truck I think they shortened it a few inches more than just the 3 feet between the stake pockets.
Otherwise, with the measurements in the plan the front of the bed would be into the cab at the overall length listed.

 

[F18hornetM]

interesting.

 

[hndrsonj]

I thought so too at first, but when I measured it all out it didn't seem right. After looking at Fred Crismon's book with a good picture of the real truck I think they shortened it a few inches more than just the 3 feet between the stake pockets.
Otherwise, with the measurements in the plan the front of the bed would be into the cab at the overall length listed.

The front of the bed should be in the same spot as the normal M34. If it was long, it would be on the back end wouldn't it?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

The front of the bed should be in the same spot as the normal M34. If it was long, it would be on the back end wouldn't it?

Right, my problem is (or was) that I don't have an m35 or m34 truck to measure that space. On the m135 the bed is right up on the cab with no room for convoy light poles or gun ring legs. On the m36 it looked like the bed was further away from the cab than normal. We started on cut number two this afternoon so it doesn't really matter now.

When it's done bed sections 1 and 3 with be the stock length while section 2 in the middle will be around 2 inches shorter than normal. That looks about right from the picture I've seen of the truck. Even on the drawing in the spec sheet section 2 is slightly shorter than the others (although who knows how accurate that is). If I just cut out 1 section the wheel well won't be centered over the wheel anyway so this should work out good.

More pics:

 

[tobyS]

Interesting! You're making good progress.

I'm hoping to do something similar with an A3 but have been thinking about a tool box in front of the (M105) bed. That would make a full length frame work, I think.

 

[Jericho]

You guys never cease to amaze me .

 

[jesusgatos]

Nice work. I've got a set of five M34 wheels if anybody wants/needs them, bought for a project and then decided to go another route.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I think it actually looks pretty good.

The bed is an inch or so too far back in the pics above. Going to take it back off the truck this afternoon to start fitting the two pieces together.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I did a bit of welding this afternoon, still plenty left to do.

 

[tobyS]

That looks nice EDrP! Are you going to turn it over or up on it's side to weld out the bottom? Your crane truck is real handy. What are you doing for paint and will you do it prior to mounting the bed? Is that the wheel and tire you're using? It does look a lot like the drawing. Good work!

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

That looks nice EDrP! Are you going to turn it over or up on it's side to weld out the bottom? Your crane truck is real handy. What are you doing for paint and will you do it prior to mounting the bed? Is that the wheel and tire you're using? It does look a lot like the drawing. Good work!

Thanks! I will take the bed back off to weld up the underside too. The cut across the floor between the fenders just happened to be in the middle of one of the braces that runs from side to side, so we left that in place and just cut the spot welds there. The new piece of floor sits over it so we'll drill some holes and plug weld it there. Should be good to go.

The gin poles on the m756a2 are way more useful than I thought they'd be. Obviously not are good as a wrecker for lifting but the simplicity of the setup is great. The plan for paint on the bobber is to have it match the m756a2 with a 1970s paint job, the large stars, number on the hood, etc. I don't know if it will be done before winter but I don't want to put all the work into this truck without painting it, even if I end up selling it I'd like to wait until next year if needed to have it looking nice. We'll see what else shows up for trucks that I can't live without. I'll paint with the bed off, I'll end up having it on and off the truck a few times more anyway to change around the brackets for bolting it to the truck.

The wheels and tires are what the truck will have when finished. They're 11.00x20s on m34/m135 wheels, just like the original xm381 had. I'll have to find a set of good NDCCs for it though as these are in sad shape.

 

[tobyS]

I know the part about "showing up that I can't live without". I just bought a M929A2 dump that seems to have a virgin bed and under 9k miles from North Dakota (GSA). It's the first military truck of 14 that ran when I got it. But I have to go into the compressor unloader, it's not building enough air.

Sorry, no NDCC in 11.00...I have some in 14.00 NDCC for a bit larger truck. Maybe a bridge truck.

My dump came with a tarp and troop seats and I was thinking how nice the front would go over your projects cab with the soft top removed, like a big crew cab soft-top, covering the cab and open to the bed.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I know the part about "showing up that I can't live without". I just bought a M929A2 dump that seems to have a virgin bed and under 9k miles from North Dakota (GSA). It's the first military truck of 14 that ran when I got it. But I have to go into the compressor unloader, it's not building enough air.

Sorry, no NDCC in 11.00...I have some in 14.00 NDCC for a bit larger truck. Maybe a bridge truck.

My dump came with a tarp and troop seats and I was thinking how nice the front would go over your projects cab with the soft top removed, like a big crew cab soft-top, covering the cab and open to the bed.

Here's the truck I couldn't live without, an m59 dump truck project. This one has seen some use over the years. I've got a couple of those 14.00x20 NDCCs too, they would certainly look cool on the bobber. 11.00s are heavy enough for me though.

Here's a far away pic of the underside of the bed. You can kind of see where the cut ended up over the brace. There was also a brace in each wheelwell that I'll add back in. I'm going to have to move the first 2 beds mounts on either side, the third will stay there and I'll add one to the truck frame to bolt to.

The driveshaft has been redone and is back in the truck.

We also cut the truck frame to the final length today. As I expected the stock pintle support bolts ended up needing to be in the same spots as the rear spring hangers. We're going to use the pintle support off an m211/m135 GMC, which is longer so the bolts should be just in front of the hangers. It's also a lot heavier duty than the stock support (not that this truck would be towing anything heavy enough it need that extra strength).

 

[tobyS]

That dump bed still looks straight. It would appear to be a very worthwhile project. I bet there are not a lot of deuce dumps still around. Is the first photo the same truck?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

The first pic is the m59, the second is the bed which is sitting on an m35a2 chassis right now. There's a little assembly required. You don't see 2.5 ton dump trucks too often, and most are the standard wheelbase m342 trucks. I think the bed on the bobber is longer than the m59 bed.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

It's starting to look a little more like the original after cutting of some of the reinforcements off the bed. We also cut off the front 4 bed mounts so we can weld them back on in the right spots. Only a few more holes to drill in the frame...

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

After 4 or so months of not working on the bobber project we've started getting some stuff done and other things started. Now the glad hand lines are hooked up, so the rear bumperettes and pintle supports can be bolted on for good. We also flipped the second crossmember behind the transfer case upside down, which is actually right side up for a regular deuce (it's upside down for the carrier bearing on the m36a2). Luckily there is enough space between the frame rails to remove the crossmember without having to slide it out the rear of the frame.


We also started cutting down a set of m35a2 racks/troop seats to fit the bed. Pretty simple since the racks are very similar to the m34 style, with just the center stakes being shorter for the wheel well and their respective troop seat supports are shorter as well. For the shorter bed the front 2 stakes were removed and will be bolted back on in the correct locations.


I'm also very happy that the original long bed will end up on an m36a2 that is missing it's original one. The new owner had been looking for the right bed for quite some time.