Interesting post-war rebuild!

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

http://www.chrishodgephotos.co.uk/pixcma/aam566.jpg

I have not seen this type of conversion to duals and matching front wheels before! Is it a Ford as the caption suggests?

[cliff]

David that is an interesting and well done conversion. Sorry can't be sure if it is a ford or not.

thanks for sharing

cheers
Cliff

[Rolf S. Ask]

indeed av very nice convertion!

The axels is of the banjo type as used on Chevs, but it might well be it is a Ford.
Very nice with dual rear wheels and those rims also used on frontaxel.
The body looks like it has been taken from a somewhat bigger truck, turned it 90 degrees, and uses the end of it as the side hence the tailgatelooking side.
Also noticing the horn looks very similar to some Ford horns I have... And the "liftingflange"/"towinghooks" on the front of the frame and the lack of vent holes sugest a very early truck (if not velded shut).
But what is the left hand headlight cover doing there if it is a civilian postwar covertion?

Rolf

[Keith Webb]

It's a 30 CWT cab 11 and despite the GM axles it could be a Ford.

If you have a larger scan, the shape of the steering box and rear spring hangar will give it away.

The towing eyes on the front bumper mounts look to be Ford, so overall I reckon that's what it is.

Funny treatment of the fuel tank too.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Thanks for the information about the military vehicles. The Ford is a bit of an oddball. It came from a wallet that included a wartime gas producer plant and I think was either dated, or I estimated from the pictures' serial numbers that it was 1943. The light cowls would tend to bear this out. The driven front axle didn't seem right and twin rear wheels seemed odd for a British military vehicle. The caption did imply that it was for civilian use though.

It is just possible that it is a crashed/smashed rebuilt F30S and then sold onto the civvy market....if so it was with possibly a 1940 C8 the earliest demobbed CMPs I have come across. I myself prefer an immediate post-war demob and rebuild. The Southend-on-Sea registration was for 1939 onwards and is no clue, but the next series was in use in 1946 hence my suggestion of 1945 demob.

[Lang]

Only slightly relevant but may help to confirm demob use. The vast majority of 3 ton CMP vehicles in Australia that were used commercially on road were converted to dual wheel configuration (750X20) because, no matter the tyre size, single wheels were restricted in legal load to less than duals. This has only been readdressed in very recent times by the introduction of "super singles" on heavy trucks, particularly on semi-trailers.

750X20 tyres were readily available from US vehicle stocks (as well as being a standard civilian size of the period)

No doubt it made the trucks lighter on the steering.

While the farmers (except those carrying grain on road to silos who generally had duals) and off-road users stuck with the original army tyres the commercial operators went for the increased allowable payload. Purely economic decision.

Perhaps the UK regulations of the period encouraged such a conversion for economic reasons?