M548
 

Is it possible to find (and own) a canadian M548 ?

Someone here own an M548 ?

Thanks !!

To the best of my knowledge, the Canadian ones were either given to museums or scrapped. We have one here in Shilo in running condition with the museum.



I have seen them available in the US market. Personally, I always found them to be quite a maintenance hog.

M548
 

thanks a lot Rob

that's what I was thinking but... we never know !

maybe one day I will find one, but it should be on the US side like you said

The Brits disposed of some of theirs and work was considering bringing one over but we decided if we got bogged down in paperwork it could ruin the parade so a Brit vehicle was substituted.

The Ontario Regiment museum has one. Not sure if it is genuine ex CF or US

There may have been one in BC about 5 yrs ago being offered privately. Not user what happened to it. Might not even have been a full 548 but a something similar on the "pickup truck" chassis.

Karl, friends do not let friends buy a M548. They are six tons of work when loaded with cans or ammo and most importantly what Rob Loves says about them being a nightmare to maintain as you have to take the thing all apart to access anything, or work upside down trying to wrench on it......and have eight inch fingers with universal joints for knuckles helps. But hey, if you have some degree of masochistic vehicular desire go for it. Robin that is a X-CF 548, Deihl tracked, useless mod for snow grousers on side, CF paint.

One of the worst things I have found on the M548s is the fuel tanks are part of the floor/hull in the back of the vehicle. If parked outside and without their tarps, water inevitably leaks into the tank, eventually causing fuel problems. It doesn't really seem to matter how well you seal up the access plates on the top of the tanks.



From the water in the fuel comes the other problems....heaters that quit after 5 minutes run time, broken quill shafts from an engine that is not running smoothly, and engines quitting after the filters are full of water.



They are fun to drive, but not so fun to maintain.



Back in the day, the NSN was in the manual for the hardtop. I ordered one in, and sure enough for some reason the supply system had one. We had to make the windows, but it was still a very nice addition. If the vehicle had been assigned to me, it would have ended up with an Iltis hot water type heater instead of that useless inferno of a fuel fired heater that came with them. Heat was very important here in Shilo.

What is a quill shaft? Don't recognize the term.

BTW, the Alvis Stalwart is probably worse to repair. The engine is a Rolls Royce inline 8 UNDER the rear deck. Except for a few final drive and steering components, everything else is inside a semi-armoured monocoque boat hull. And the edge is eyelevel off the ground.

The quill shaft is a splined shaft that is about 1/2" in diameter and maybe 8" long. It drives the blower from the engine's gear train. It acts a safety fuse to prevent damage to the blower from things like a driver revving the throttle up or down pretending to be a race car driver. An engine that is hunting can also cause the shafts to break.



They are normally magnetic, so you can pull the broken pieces out with a magnet, however there were some batches that were non-magnetic so it was a lot more complicated getting the broken sections out.

Speaking from experience as a member of a M109A3 howitzer section with a M548 as a ammunition supply vehicle in the US Army I would say that the M548 is the best target the Army ever bought. Right up there with the Gama Goat. They made great targets in the impact area and on the LAW range. All I have to say make sure it has a good canvas top over the driver's compartment so you can stay dry while you wait for someone to come get you after it brakes down for the 100th time.. all said with a half smile! If that's what your heart is set on go for it! Have fun and enjoy!! They are fun to drive!

Possible Specimen in Alberta
 

Surprisingly enough, I ran into a fella at the Husky station who approached me while fuelling my M38Cdn. He said he had a Cdn one and it's in Athabasca that he used for getting firewood and was trying to get it to Cold Lake. I've tried contacting him over the past year but am getting nothing now? What he described as having seemed like the real deal.