Posted by Eric B. [99.100.188.112] on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 23:16:04 :
In Reply to: Re: Vaughn, what page on TM 9-2800? posted by Vaughn [99.14.87.69] on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 22:49:34 :
The letter designations by year were:
L = 1936
M = 1937
R = 1938
T = 1939
V = 1940
W = 1941-1947
B1 = 1948-1949
That's just a sample to give you an idea. I have tons of factory literature that verifies that information.
I'm agreeing with you that the 1 1/4 ton WC-62/63 isn't a 1/2 ton and doesn't line up with my statement about the origin of the WC-** designations. In 1940 the 1 1/2 ton was a VF-404 and the like. As I stated before I think the naming convention started out as:
W = 1941 model year
C = 1/2 ton
1 to 43 = specific model based on which order it was from and what body style it was.
Then I think Dodge just kept using WC even though the weight classes changed. Maybe the military preferred consistency in names from a given manufacturer? It's hard to say for sure at this point. My only claim is the fact that there are both VCs and WCs and both were 1/2 ton 4wd military trucks makes me believe that is where the naming convention started. Who knows what happened after that?
If you can share the text of what you found or a link to the page I'd like to see it. The page 4 I read just talked about generic designations regarding wheels vehicles and special purpose vehicles, etc.
Eric
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