Posted by Brian in Oregon on June 22, 2000 at 23:53:41:
In Reply to: M 37 axle swap posted by John on June 22, 2000 at 18:56:19:
I have a friend who is putting a 440 into a 1941 WC 1/2 ton military pickup. He is using axles from a late 1960's Power Wagon. If I recall right, he has a Dana 70 n the rear and a Dana 60 in the front (or was it the other way around?)
Anyway, he is making his truck into a tow rig for heavy car trailers.
As far as off road ability, he will not have made his truck any more capable than the M37, other than the fact that he can blast through faster, and bust springs, warp frames, shake parts off, etc.
If you are looking to use the original 230 flathead, there is no sense at all in swapping axles. If you are going to go beyond a bone stock 318 or perhaps 360, then they is merit in having sturdier axles.
However, having a set of "show" axles and a set of "go" axles is not a very good idea. You will simply go bonkers swapping them back and forth. I would suggest getting two M37's and restore one and hot rod the other. I would suggest going to custom made axle shafts and optionally a gear change and lockers long before I would bother swapping the axles.
I'd leave this as a parting shot. The M37 is THE most capable light truck ever built. It is a TACTICAL truck, meant to go almost anywhere on a battlefield. It was the Humvee of its day. It had the longest production run without major changes of any US military vehicle (including the Jeep). They were made almost unchanged from 1950 to 1968. For a vehicle to have an 18 year production run like that, it must have been designed well in the first place.