The Frankenjeep

[gmwillys]

Yep, the fire truck photos were in forum jail until they were looked at by the moderator. It seems almost every time I try to add a link to ewillys, or other useful links, it gets flagged.

The fire department that had the Dodge, used it some for grass fires. It was originally set up with a 500 gal water tank, but proved to be way too squirrely on the road. The tank was nearly as tall as the cab. They trimmed it down to a 200 gal tank for stability. When the Dodge was retired, it had 10,000 original miles on the clock. The only problems that the department had with the M37, was that the younger fire fighters would dump the clutch, and break an axle under load. The 48 CJ2A was a factory built fire apparatus. It was with the same department from new. It was clean as a pin when auctioned off. The photo was lifted off of the Midwest Willys Reunion, a couple of years back. Before that, I hadn't seen the Jeep in almost thirty years. Glad to see her being well taken care of! As far as the side by sides. In my mind they are a huge waste of money. A department can set up a Jeep to do the same job. You don't need a tow rig and trailer to deliver the go kart on scene, so that saves money right there.

The tires are 700X16". They were the tires that were on my 47 when I purchased it, and would fair to say they may have been the originals to the Jeep. When the 16''s are put on the Jeep, the steering stops need to be adjusted out to keep the tires from rubbing the frame. With the 15"s on there, the stops were adjusted all the way in. There is plenty of room now. The profile looks nicer with the 16"s, and the price of tires isn't that much different between the two.

Your wheel stud issue,( more than likely) was caused by someone along the line pressing out the wheel studs without cutting the peened section above the stud. When the studs were installed new, the stud was pressed in, then the section of the spline just bellow the threads is pressed into the hub. There is a cutter available that cuts the pressed section out, so then you can finish pressing out the old stud. Many times than not, the stud is pressed out through the hub, pulling excess material of the hub with it. Sounds like your hubs are hogged out enough for the original studs to be loose in, but not worn enough for the oversized.