https://www.motor1.com/news/722412/willys-mb-jeep-normandy-landings/
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The Jeep was developed by the Bantam car company in Butler PA The company did not have the manufacturing capacity to meet the militaryās needs. The design was given to Ford and Willys
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Towards the end of the article they say this 4x4 is now considered a ācollectorās itemā. Repair parts must be pretty hard to find, so hard to keep this jeep in operating condition. Maybe the collectors just park and look at them.
Reproduction Jeep parts are freely available because there are so many still running.
Another history pointā¦ the iconic Jeep 9 vertical slot grill was created by Ford so the grill panel could be stamped from a single part. The Willys grill was welded slats.
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I like the look of that 9-slot grill. Ford indeed had a better idea.
Iām presuming this Jeep was full-time 4WD, with no differential in the xfer case.
No, it was part time 4wd. Normally driven as rwd until 4wd is needed. With a low range in the transfer case.
To be full time 4wd, a diff is required in the transfer case.
Iām in love with Jeep because my family all owned the land rovers when I was a kid. Itās on this forum that I learned land rovers and Jeep are two different brands. Jeep wrangler today looks so much like the Land Rover defenders
Just go off topic for your listening pleasure, it was the 80th today but I listened to Reaganās speech on the 40th which was great. Iāve been there looking up at the pill boxes and the cemetery. All quite amazing.
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As a daily driver? Vehicles of this age are usually only used about as much as you use your truck.
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+1
There are MANY MANY used and aftermarket parts available for the old Jeeps. In fact - I donāt know of any vehicle of that era that has so many aftermarket parts available.
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I saw a video of a reproduction Jeep-in-a-crate just as they were shipped to Europe in WW2.
I didnāt see what engine they had, maybe a repo Go-Devil.
Editā¦ They come without a drivetrain. Maybe sourcing a slightly more modern drivetrain would be good idea.
This weekend is the Bantam Jeep Festival there, coincidentally.
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Yeah but I think the production contract was then given to ford and Willys,
As mentioned above, Bantam could not produce the numbers required. DoD gave Bantam a contract to produce trailers IIRC. See @SteveCBTās post above.
Thanks. Still curious about its configuration. Do you know when in 2wd (rwd) mode, did the front wheels freely rotate on the spindle (i.e. locking hubs), or did the front axle shafts continue to rotate (no locking hubs). When I would drive my truck in 4WD country w/hubs locked, sometimes Iād have to travel 2-3 miles on paved roads to the next dirt road. In that situation I wouldnāt unlock the hubs, Iād just shift the xfer case to 2WD mode for the paved road segment. Convenient b/c I didnāt have to exit the truck. The compromise was that it didnāt handle as smoothly compared to getting out & unlocking the hubs. My truck has an illegal mode, with the hubs unlocked, but with the xfer case in 4WD mode. It seems like for a military jeep driven daily by different drivers, you wouldnāt want it to have any illegal modes that could damage something.
Photos donāt look like they have locking hubs.
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That would be the best configuration for a military jeep b/c thereās no illegal modes.
@texases is correct. Jeeps had no locking hubs, just the transfer case to select 2wd, 4wd Hi and Lo. NO one wants to get out and lock the hubs when the shooting starts! And no one cares much about fuel economy when the Army is paying the bill.
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Whatās the point of that? Why illegal? Am I missing something.
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OK, I will bite, what do you mean??