Posted by David Sherman on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 at 5:26PM :
In Reply to: Best use for surplus Dueces I've seen posted by Kevin on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 at 12:40PM :
I have 2 deuces and I use them a lot for hauling heavy stuff on rough terrain. I really respect and appreciate the way they do their intended job very well. These kinds of hacks make me sad. I think someday we'll look at them the way we look at all the hacked up residues of WWII jeeps, WCs, and M37s rotting away in pastures and boneyards because they used to be dirt cheap and every monkey with a torch thought he could make something better out of it.
I've yet to hear from anybody who's actually used one of these M35 4x4s for rock-crawling. No doubt they are "bad"-looking sitting in somebody's driveway, but with the totally rigid frame, relatively short suspension travel, and open differentials, I think they'd have a hard time keeping 4 wheels on the ground simultaneously and keeping 1 wheel in traction on each axle. In the 6x6 configuration, the rear bogie gives vastly more effective suspension travel than the springs alone provide, and the lack of an interaxle differential means that you have to spin 3 wheels, on separate axles, in order to get stuck.
I recently crawled up my narrow steep crooked road in 18" of wet snow in my M35, gross weight probably about 16,000 lbs, chains front and rear, and although the truck had to dig its way down to dirt and push the snow ahead of it, it kept going in the direction I steered it the whole way. I think if it had been a 4x4 version, it would have been crosswise in a road that did have room for being crosswise in, plus I wouldn't have been able to haul anything, which to me is the whole purpose of having a big heavy truck.
Just my opinion. I'd love to hear from somebody who's actually used one of these 4x4s on rough terrain and can say how it compares to a powerwagon or a unimog.