Shackles on USMC modified M37?

[Dodge man]

My 1951 M37 has the USMC type rear light guards that also relocate the lifting shackles to the outside rear corners but does not have the "paper clips" on the front bumper. Has anyone ever seen this before? I was TOLD that this M37 originally belonged to the US Navy and was later transferred to the US Army but I've found no signs of gray paint or other indications that it belonged to the USN. However it is undercoated. I understand that the early M37s were not undercoated so this also has me wondering about it's past. One more question, are the shackles that are supposed to be mounted in the re-positioned locations the same as the standard M37 shackles or are they different?

 

[Greensteel37]

As far as I know, USMC trucks did have the paperclips on the front bumper. If your truck was sent to play with the Army, they may have changed the bumpers to stardard parts.

I'm not sure on the shackles.

 

[AZDeuce]

Generally, only the Marine Corps undercoated their vehicles, possibly Sea Bees also, BUT I have a 1953 REO rebuilt to A2 specs in the 80s, it has Air Force blue, and Army green, but it is undercoated. Go figure. As far as I've seen so far, it was NEVER a Marine vehicle (I''ll "fix" that!) Also I had a 53 Reo M35 gasser that was Marine Corps, it had the rear lifting extensions still on it (they're on my current 53 M35A2) but the truck had no front paper clips, beats me why not. I plan on adding the front paper clips, as I plan on restoring the truck as a Marine deuce, and to me the paper clips make it stand out from the crowd.

The rear USMC M37 brackets are sought after by Marine enthusiats, so if you restore it Army sell them don't throw them away, if you're doing the truck up as a Marine vehicle I'd add the front paper clips.....but that's just me. I've seen pictures of Sea Bee M37s in Vietnam, but couldn't tell if they had the Marine brackets on them or not. The color appeared as Marine Corp green DEFINATELY not Army OD.

And they were VERY colorful, lots of yellow, and red paint/markings, the Sea Bees seemed to take great pride in their equipment.

 

[Dodge man]

AZDeuce,

I was considering retoring it to USMC configuration but a SeaBee configuration might also be an interesting option. Thanks for the suggestion. BTW do you know the size and dimensions of the paperclips? I wonder if they're the same size on the M37 and m35?

 

[AZDeuce]

Dodge Man, I think they are the same size. Either in the Deuce forum, or the hot rodded deuce forum, is an article with pictures and measurments, sorry I don't remeber which section, but it was one of those two. I'm pretty sure the the clips were made our of 3/4" steel rod, and are about 8" long, and 3 or 3 1/2 inches across internally, and one of the members here had some made up at a spring shop.

But find the article and double check me on the measurements. On the dodge they're generally out near the outside edge of the bumper (but I have seen a couple further inboard near the frame horns.

On deuces they just outside of the frame horns. Hope this helped.

 

[tacmedr17]

Im not sure on the Measurements of the paper clips but here are a couple pics of my NAVY M37 when i first got it hope they will help with Placement let me know if you need more pics or info i could help with

 

[Dodge man]

Thanks for the pictures. Your paperclips look a little further out than some I've seen. But maybe that's just the way they look. I wonder if there ever was a standard for exactly where they were supposed to go or it they just mounted them "near" the ends of the bumper?

Did you find any other unusual features, holes, markings or anything else in your Navy M37? I'm looking for any clues as to whether or not mine actually was USN or USMC or ?

 

[southdave]

there is some info on paint in the TM look for nav-fac and show have the pic or spec on the clips

 

[nutsfor59]

dodge m37 modifications marine corps

hi,can anyone come up with the proper/standard specs for making a hood handle ???,i can find references to them but no dimensions !!,same with the small tool box door hasps for a pad lock,thanks

 

[Cav Trooper]

I don't know the original service of my M37 but, it is Army painted now and I bought it as sort of restored that way. My hood does have a handle on it. I will see if I can take some pics with a tape measure next to it. My tool box doors also have the holes for the hasps and I thought it may have been somebody's after service addition but, if they were a standard issue on some trucks, I'd like to find a set for mine also.

Cav Trooper

 

[nutsfor59]

hi,thanks for the reply,i'm originally from cleveland and my best m37 friend is from chardon,we all have apparent U.S MARINES M37'S,AND IT SURE IS HARD TO FIND PRECISE INFO !!,THANKS FOR ANY HELP !!

 

[Cav Trooper]

Here is a drawing I made up for the handle along with the pictures. I believe the thimbles are drilled to 3/16" through hole with a shoulder on the handle that is turned down to 3/16" and threaded. The thimbles don't slide up so my conclusion is that there is a shoulder on the rod to stop them. Knowing the Gov. they could have been machined out of stock large enough to make the thimbles one piece with the rod. LOL. The handle is bolted inside in a very hard to reach area and it looks like a 3/8" wrench fits so, that tells me it's smaller than 1/4" thread which takes a 7/16' wrench. I think 3/16' is something like a no. 12, but not sure without looking at the drill and tap chart. I'm trying to figure out how to send the attachments. I can't get the buttons to bring up a window to attach anything. Give me your regular email address and I'll send them to you directly.

CT

 

[MDSA]

I was told for USMC M37 rear shackles that the side rear shackles are the same as the front shackles; they are "L" shaped but hook up to be used for lifting so they stick out when hanging loose. I also added regular rear loop shackles for tow chains to attach to.

Not a very good pic, but you can see the shackle hanging out at the rear of my M37.

I'll get better pics if this isn't clear as mud.