m715 questions

[The Gimlis]

Well, we are officially addicted to MVs now. I guess Army Bob is not enough, because Mr. Gimli has spied what he believes is the cilivian version of M 715 in our neighbor's back yard. It runs, kinda. He used to haul garbage with it, but it has sat for several months now.

A couple questions for you M715 guys:

1) Did the military trucks all have the soft top with the funky side windows?
2) What is a J-cab?
3) Is it blasphemy to paint a cilivian jeep truck in OD and call it a M715 clone? We would make our own military style bed, make the fenders, etc., etc, but to change the cab would be just too much time and $$$ right now. (Tho Mr Gimli would love to try)
4) Any idea how much $$$ a true M715 cab ONLY would be and are they available? That would be easier to replace the cab than to modify the original. $$$ plays a part there, tho..

Thanks for your help. I already have the feeling this truck will end up in our backyard soon no matter what....

(Actually, I think it may be a great daily driver for me!!!! )

 

[Warthog]

Welcome to the OD Madness.

You will find alot of information about the M715 ay www.m715zone.com . Many members here belong to both groups.

The M715 came stock with the soft top but a winterization kit was available. It is a metal top.

The "funky" side windos are removable. When you lay the front window down and remove the side windows the trucks could be stacked two high for shipping. There are picture of this at the factory.

The J-cab is Jeep designation for the pickup line, J10, J20 and J30. You can find replacement body panels for the J-cab that will fit most of the M715 cab.

You can do what ever you want with any vehicle. If a painted civvy truck suits your needs then do it. There will always be some people that will complain.

You can sometimes find a rust free M715 cab for sale. Shipping is the big cost. Post a wantad here and on the Zone and see what is out there.


If you decide on a stock M715, be aware that the engine is a trouble spot and parts to repair them are getting scarce and the prices have gone thru the roof. Engine rebuild kits are no longer made. Most people do a swap out when it is time to replace the engine. Anything from a straight six gasser, chevy 350 or even a 6 cylinder cummins deisel. The Cummins 4bt diesel is a great replacement. www.4btswaps.com
Warthog

 

[KsM715]

Yeah, what he said,


Oh one other thing,

 

[The Gimlis]

Thanks for the info! I figured there had to be a club for these trucks.

As far as the modifying of it, yeah, we will do whatever we feel is necessary to accomplish the goal at hand. We had a couple of people poo-poo that fact that on Army Bob we cut an access thru the cab to the RV. I figure if I paid the $$$ to buy this, and we are the ones doing the work, if we choose to paint it neon pink and put a top hat on it, that's our business.

Anyway, here's the best I can do with a picture. Neighbor is gone for a few days and Banshee the dog says "No, lady, you cannot come in my yard even if you have dog cookies". We'll catch the neighbor this weekend and see what we can do.

Again, thanks for the info!!

 

[67Beast]

Nope, that's just a standard civilian gladiator. Nothing military about it. It would be far easier to find a M715 than to cut up a civi gladiator and convert it to a M715.

 

[The Gimlis]

Beautiful trucks, Dave! Your hard work is noted and applauded!

Yeah, we knew it was pretty much a civi truck. However, "easier" is defined by the person doing the work. Putting the extreme RV on Army Bob was no walk in the park, I can assure you. Mr. Gimli is one of those that believes the more difficult the challenge, the sweeter the rewards, but even he concedes hacking the cab to make it a soft top is not worth the hassle (if we want to make it a daily driver, we don't want to worry about leaking, etc). Making our own military style bed, HA! No problem. The fenders - way easy. Same with the grill guard and bumper. No, it won't be a true M715 but it will look close enough at 30'.

(To give you an idea of the difficult projects Mr. Gimli loves, I'll be posting some pics pretty soon of the 50 Cal M2 machine gun replica he made - without any machining tools. Just a welder, plasma cutter, drill press and a 4 1/2" grinder. It's not perfectly exact, but at 10' you can hardly tell it's not real.)

I have saved the pictures of your trucks and if we do get this truck, your pictures will be our reference and inspiration. We appreciate a job well done. Thanks!

 

[Warthog]

There are so many possiblities. Here is a related thread from another site.

Choptop Buildup Thread - International Full Size Jeep Association

There was a member on the Zone that did a Gladiator pickup/M715 conversion. If I find the thread I will post it.

Here is a thread that was started but some of the pictures have been deleted. In this thread is a picture of something like you want.

Ultimate M-715 PIC THREAD! - M715 Zone

 

[Barrman]

The thing to remember about a M715 compared to a FSJ vehicle is that the frame for the M715 was purpose built to be a 1-1/14 ton truck. The FSJ frames were basically for a 1/2 ton truck. Yes, I know the J30 is a 1 ton. Wagoneers and Gladiator trucks were 1/2 ton.

Looking at a M715 frame and a Wagoneer frame will show a huge difference in size and strength. Build whatever you want. Just understand going in that the M715 had a bigger stronger frame.

 

[Warthog]

A member on this site has done the FullSizeJeep- FSJ to M715 Frankinstien. Here is his website Hardcore Froadin

On the left side is the link to his truck Full Size Jeeps section.
Click on the Stories button and he describes what he has done.

 

[91W350]

You can drive the M715 as a daily driver, I did for a few years. The heater is minimal and the defroster is non-existent, but I doubt you need that much in California anyway. The M715s were pretty crude, really simple, sheet metal inner door panels, two batteries between the seats in a large box, no dash pad or top surface. I always thought they were among the best looking of the lighter military trucks. A lot of the guys would pick up a civilian truck grill, sandblast it and paint it green as the trucks originally did not have a grill. We enjoyed it most in the summer, in the evening, top down, cruising through the county roads, chilling in the valleys, warming on the hills.

I think you found a very solid Gladiator from the photo, ours are all about half rusted away. If you were wanting to build a military looking pickup to drive daily, that would be a great start. The 715s had flat windshields and a bracket that bolted to the cowl as a hinge. That part would be tough to duplicate. The Gladiator was a pretty capable pickup, later ones were available with larger V8s and automatics. The average guy on the street would think your conversion was an earlier version of the CUCV line. Sounds fun, you would never fool a purist, but I think there could be a lot of fun to be had there. Glen

 

[The Gimlis]

. Sounds fun, you would never fool a purist, but I think there could be a lot of fun to be had there. Glen

You got it right, Glen. If we wanted a true M715, we would go find one. Since Mr Neighbor has mentioned getting rid of the Gladiator, it's too good to pass up if we get it at a good price. If we weren't into MV's, we probably would get it anyway and keep it original. But now that we have Army Bob, the "M715 clone" would look sharp at a car show next to Bob, painted OD with a big star on the door, just like the real ones.

We understand the M715s were tough SOB's and that this truck is not so much. It's main purpose would be to look good and get us from point A to point B. Also any attention it gets is free advertising and promotion for our business. Win Win - we get all the above and the poor truck gets a better life than sitting around doing nothing.

You have all been a wealth of info - Thank you! I'll post some pictures if this works out!

 

[91W350]

I violated my M715 pretty badly, put a Chevrolet V8 in it, converted it to 12 volt and put winches on both ends, lockers in both differentials and after market tires, a huge improvement! (the tires) Anyway, it was certainly a lot of fun and all of my boys enjoyed driving it. I would let them go at the rock quarry, low gear, low side of the transfer case. They could climb whatever they wanted to climb until the tires started spinning, then back up and try something else. It was big, slow, and very stable. The kid was about tall enough to see out the windshield. He had to hang on to the bottom of the steering wheel to push the clutch in. He could get it rolling though, standing on the floor or pulling the throttle to drive around. I think he was about 6 or 7 then, he is closing in rapidly on 18 now. Lime green, recovered from a rural fire department. This one was unusual, the original engine ran good and we just could not get the right clutch parts, so we went V8. We actually scraped most of the lime off and just patched in the rougher areas of paint. It was good enough for us. It was money well spent, the boys enjoyed it, they got to work on it and drive it. I sold it and lost some money, but the dollar per mile was pretty good overall. The fun per dollar was outstanding! Glen

 

[Barrman]

There is a guy on the Zone, Mikel, that has a J truck with a 4BT in it. He claims 25 plus mpg. Just something to think about if the old 230 Tornado goes out.