Symbol on door- what is it?

[blisters13]

Hi All:

Wonder if anyone here can identify the yellow circle/colon symbol on the passenger door of my 1968 M35A2?

It appeared after I used paint stripper to remove the top layer of MERDEC(?) paint.


Thanks!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Weight class. Same as the bridge plate on the front.

 

[gunboy1656]

It is the bridge weight class for a deuce. Like the one for the front of the truck but this is just the weight of the truck.

 

[JCKnife]

Wow, that's an awfully big door star.

 

[nhjohnny1]

My M37 has 2 sizes of door stars on it, i dont know much about markings but the older star is big like the picture above.

 

[swbradley1]

I have it in black on one of my doors.

 

[CARNAC]

Number of times you'll cuss your truck per minute or it's the weight class, one or the other.

 

[eagle4g63]

I was under the impression that it was the weight class also, however I have seen some deuces with different numbers..........I know I saw a couple with a "6" on them and also one with a "5".........my own deuce had a "8" on the door and logic told me it was weight class, but how does the other 2 numbers come close to the weight class?

And yes they were in the same spot and the same size, so not just another number.

 

[eagle4g63]

I guess the old saying "READ the TM'S" still stand true..........

Anyway, according to the the markings TM..........weight class should be displayed using a numbered plates on vehicles that are subject to changing the weight..........while painting the normal weight class on the vehicle for those that the weight will be constant......

So I am reading it as, if the truck wasn't used to haul a bunch of stuff, than they would just paint the weight class on it......or if it would change they would use the bridge plate set.......makes sense........the only thing I can think of then on the other examples I posted about above must have been a mistake on what they thought the marking was(as in a repaint and couldn't clearly read what number was underneath).

 

[Lex_Ordo]

" 6 " on the bridge plate indicates the truck is empty, and can go over bridges with the same or lower number. " 8 " indicates the Duece is fully loaded, and obviously cannot go over a bridge with a number less than 8 posted on it.

I am assuming that the numbers refer to tonnage. Ie, 6 = 6 Tons or 12,000 lbs. and 8 = 8 tons or 16,000 lbs. This however doesn't make much sense to me, because my truck empty weighs 13,020, and if I loaded 2 & 1/2 tons of weight to it, that is another 5,000 lbs bringing my GVWR up to 18,020. By logic, one would assume that I should have a 9 on the plate?

Anyone else care to guess?

 

[doghead]

It is not tonnage. Somewhere in the last 7 years of threads, we covered this before.

 

[eagle4g63]

It does deal with tonnage.........however you never round down, only up.........so in your case the least you would display on the plates would be 7 tons empty.........with my truck I weigh in at over 14,600(I am going by multiple scales that I do go over regularly, not by a guess) so mine would be 8 tons......again empty.......so like I said the 5 or 6 that I saw on a few photos would have been wrong, as an empty deuce weighs more than that.....

Also you said it backwards......you can only go over bridges with a number that is = to or LARGER than the truck number(not lower number).........if you took a 10 ton truck over a bridge with a rating of only 7 tons........you get the idea.....it wouldn't hold you.......

 

[blisters13]

Cool, thanks for the replies, I read about the weight class ID for the changeable bridge plate (the "C" is displayed with a trailer as in "Combination vehicle"), the symbol I didn't see before. It's not an eight, so I am unfamiliar with this type of marking.

Reference:
TM 9-2320-209-10-1, page 1-6, table 1-1

According to this, for my model of truck, it's a 6 unladen, and 8 laden off-highway, and an 11 laden on-highway. Notice this info does not reference a combination vehicle (towing a trailer).

So, the colon is an "8" or is it a colon inside the circle?

By the way, I read a different post stating that the numbers do not directly relate to tons, but rather a calculation based on tons divided by axles. It's just an arcane engineering table set up to make it easy for people to determine whether their vehicle will collapse a bridge or not.

 

[eagle4g63]

I did go back and re-read the section in the tm........and yes I was mistaken........it is as said "More" than just the tonnage.....roughly close but not quite.......anyway, I do still stand by the number on your door........as the info that I have researched when I looked about it on my door it does have to do with the weight class of the truck......in the tm dealing with the military markings and camo patterns it explains the painted on use like you show............it is a number 8 in black on a yellow background.........later changed to the subdued painting that was on my truck.......a flat black circle 1" think lines with a flat black 8 painted in side........per the tm the painted on class was painted on trucks that would not be changing their weights........I am thinking as in a troop carrier, not enough of a difference to change the class rating, however ones that would be pulling trailers or hauling a bunch of stuff would generally have the bridge plates with numbers that can be changed.

 

[blisters13]

Sounds good. If I was restoring this truck to a previous specific unit and use, then I would re-mark it with the one shown in my picture and not have a bridge plate installed (affixed) to the grille. And what is shown is not a colon inside a circle, but a stencil "8" with the figure itself in the background color (OD green, or possibly black) within a 6" yellow dot.

If I am displaying this truck in a general fashion unloaded and with no trailer, then the standard bridge plate showing "06" is appropriate.

THANKS for helping with this!

-Ken

 

[gerrykan]

http://www.m715zone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24272

 

[emr]

Actually the 6 was the gassers, and the 8s were the multis. they were not exact weights ,If you have a multi fuel you want an 8

 

[stb64]

I looked at the M715 zone link posted by Gerrykan: C=cross country, H=highway, E=emergency.....WOW!

 

[blisters13]

I found an example of the symbol as used in Vietnam: The M35A2 was converted to a quad-.50 gun truck and so would be loaded all the time:


As seen on this page:
http://www.vspa.com/tsn-heavy-wpns-p1.htm

Thanks to VSPA for hosting that site and David Dowdell for the first photo and Phil Block for the second.

 

[JCKnife]