PIP 2-1/2 ton on auction
Hey guys.
Take a look in the old Military Wheeled Vehicles book by Fred Crismon...that is indeed a protoype PIP upgrade deuce from the same program of which the 900-series 5-tons were born. See, the PIP trucks (product inprovement program) were both supposed to be built, as 2-1/2 ton AND 5-ton replacement interim vehicles prior to the FMTV fleet replacing everything.
However, the AM General PIP deuce was NOT selected, just the XM900 series protoype, and instead the military thought they made a better money deal by rebuilding M35's into M35A3's....
You are absolutely right, though, as far as axles looking like the 5-ton axles on the 900's...they are identical, except the springs are rated lower and the tires are smaller.
Wierd, huh? You can't imagine all the wierd XM-prototypes that get dumped out via DRMO and now GL....back in the 80's Jeff got an XM-ten ton six by that Aberdeen Proving Ground had converted into a test bed/mobile dynamometer....V8 LeRoi gasser with dual exhaust...every once in a while when he blows the mouse nests out of the pipes I get a flashback of when Mel Gibson starts up that tractor in the desert in Road Warrior.....