Ford MCP in Gympie, QLD

[Tony Smith]

Found on E-bay, item No 160068247980. Holdin' out on us, Cliff?

[Mike Kelly]

This one lives local to me . It had DUKW tyres on it at one stage .

The Epay seller is being optomistic with his starting bid price I feel . The 18" tyres are nigh on impossible to find for these . It looks like a 30cwt model with 9.00-18 tyres as opposed to a 3 Tonner with 10.50-18's .

Mike

[cliff]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
Holdin' out on us, Cliff?

Have not seen or heard of that one around here. 1941 model and the price is way too high.

Note the jack under the Left Rear wheel.

Cheers
Cliff

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Mike, I love the fact that this particular one is filled with Vets. Thank you for that.

[gordon]

I think, as I have four of them on Puff, presumably fitted when he was reconditioned around 1960.

Apparently it was a standard option on that generation of Fords if you were going to have singles all round instead of dual rears - when the more common 7.50 x 20 was standard. The size was also used on a lot of trailers and caravan stuff of the period.

They are difficult to get, but not impossible (I'm told) by a chap who got a new pair for his photographic trailer....



Anyone else here have some? I suppose I should grab four if anyone has a pile, although I've only seen US-manufactured ones.

[Mike Kelly]

Gordon ,

The 18" split rims on these Aust. pattern Fords were made here in OZ by Ford . GMH made 18" rims here also , to fit the army Chevs. Why the army wanted 18" rims is a mystery . Both companies made a big deal out of the effort required to manufacture the rims , large presses etc. . In the NASCO GMH parts books of the time , the rims are referred to as " OVERSEAS RIMS " - this means for the AIF .

I have heard somewhere ( from Mike Cecil I think ) , the AIF had an official policy of only taking Fords and Chevs overseas , this was to reduce/simplify the spare parts / logistics problem. When you think about it , it was a very clever move as the engines and other accessories are the same right through the range of models , 15cwt to 3 Ton .

I have heard of a Japanese brand of 18" truck tyres .

Mike

[gordon]

Yup, 18" tyres are nothing but grief (as regards getting them anyway)

Of course the common ones were on the DUKW (11:00 x 18) and I had one original US tyre which was 10 ply, and about a dozen British Dunlop ones that were 12 ply monsters. I just replaced the lot using Gama Goat tyres which were only 7 ply but modern construction and fine for the DUKW (as long as you didn't put a huge load in)

Two of my 8.25 x 18 tyres on Puff have been kept aired-up and are fine, but the other two have been left soft now and then so have cracked.

I know where I can find a couple in the US, but never seen the 8.25 x 18 tyre on anything other than US equipment where is seems quite common on trailers in particular. My 1.5 ton Ford-MH SnoGo weighs closer to 6.5 tons so not something to be trifled with - my garage jack will only lift one wheel at a time - not even one end of it.

Gordon

[Mike Kelly]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Mike, I love the fact that this particular one is filled with Vets. Thank you for that.

Geoff,

More pics here

http://www.geocities.com/vmvc1au/anzac.html

I was webmaster of the VMVC club site for some time , until they decided they wanted a better one ..... ! They have two sites now ..... confusing isn't it .

Mike

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by gordon
Two of my 8.25 x 18 tyres on Puff have been kept aired-up and are fine, but the other two have been left soft now and then so have cracked.

I know where I can find a couple in the US, but never seen the 8.25 x 18 tyre on anything other than US equipment where is seems quite common on trailers in particular.

If push comes to shove, you could fit 700-18 tyres, which seem to be available quite readily at places like Universal Vintage Tire.

H.