From: none@none.com99   
      
   On 11/12/2024 9:19 PM, Gerry wrote:   
   > On Tue, 12 Nov 2024 14:02:49 -0700, Bob La Londe    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 11/11/2024 8:51 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:   
   >>> "Clare Snyder"  wrote in message   
   >>> news:d5j5jjh9l75v95jofkrde2b2r8o7lr2bfr@4ax.com...   
   >>>   
   >>> toobad that willys is so far away!!   
   >>>>   
   >>>> --   
   >>>> Bob La Londe   
   >>>> CNC Molds N Stuff   
   >>> --------------------------------------   
   >>> The M151 Jeeps we had in Germany were not good on the roads there. They   
   >>> couldn't keep up on the Autobahn and the winding back roads that BMWs   
   >>> were built for tempted drivers to exceed their cornering limits. My VW   
   >>> could easily handle the unpaved forest fire trails where we set up field   
   >>> exercise sites.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> When my dad first got that old Willys ready to go for a first off road   
   >> adventure we headed off across the sand dunes.  I thought it was going   
   >> just fine, but he said he didn't feel like it was performing properly.   
   >> When we got back to the store and pulled around to the back to the shop   
   >> he hopped out to take a look.  Then he realized he hadn't engaged the   
   >> hubs.  LOL.   
   >>   
   >> Probably, its biggest real world use for us was tracking people lost in   
   >> the desert.  Now I can track (to a limited extent) looking at the window   
   >> of my truck, but I've always been better able to track on the ground.   
   >> Back then I hadn't really learned to track.  Not well anyway.  We'd put   
   >> that old GPV in first gear and hop out.  As long as the terrain wasn't   
   >> extremely off camber or a crazy grade it would easily keep going in the   
   >> direction it was last pointed.  We could spread out, cut sign, walk back   
   >> to the Jeep for lunch or a drink of water, or to change course as   
   >> needed.  Seems like a little thing but it made a several hour to all day   
   >> rescue tolerable.   
   >>   
   >> The short wheel base and front and rear end clearance was fantastic for   
   >> crossing all but the worst washouts, and it would climb some pretty   
   >> incredible grades just idling along with somebody at the wheel.  Sand   
   >> was not even an issue.   
   >>   
   >> High speed cornering?  Um-no.  Lots of high clearance vehicles struggle   
   >> with that.  Even some you might not think.  Flat out on the Autobahn?   
   >> You are kidding right?  How much do you expect out of a flat head four?   
   >> Were you guys raiding the clinic and feeding it nitrous?  Even then...   
   >> Um-no.  LOL   
   >>   
   >> FYI:  That old '42 had a top speed in the high 50s.  Maybe low 60s (but   
   >> I doubt it), but its got a torque ratio at idle that's insane.  Its a   
   >> utility vehicle.  By today's standards just a basic 4x4 side by side   
   >> with a bed to haul some stuff.   
   >>   
   >> P.S.  I should say I can track in the desert.  Not so much in the woods.   
   >>   It depends.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> --   
   >> Bob La Londe   
   >> CNC Molds N Stuff   
   > Around 1954-55, my older brother had a jeep flat bed 2wd truck, worst   
   > truck he ever owned - that thing would get stuck going down hill with   
   > a half inch of mud on the road. My Saturday job, if the temperatur was   
   > below zero F, was to make certain  the two heat lamps under the hood   
   > were turned on so that it might start for him to go out somewhere that   
   > night   
      
   I think I mentioned it in another thread.  Pickup trucks (classic bath   
   tub bed and std cab on a frame) are usually not very good unless they   
   have a load in the bed.  A 2wd open diff pickup would not be my choice   
   either that being said from 2001-2017 all my new service trucks were 2WD   
   with auto locking diffs.  (Chevy work trucks)  With the normal load of   
   tools, wire, and hardware they were "okay."  I did not unload them to go   
   hunting for instance.  As long as I stuck to the main trails until I   
   bailed out to walk I didn't even think about it.   
      
   Of course tires make a big difference.  When I ran trap lines back in   
   the 80s I used a Ford F150 2WD with stock diff and 31 x 10.5 tires.   
   With all my traps, coolers, and camp gear it did quite well.  If I   
   remembered to air down all four) it was passable on most sand, but it   
   would still sink in bottomless sugar sand.  I got it stuck a couple   
   times, but always got it out on my own.  Sometimes it took all day, but   
   that is the life of a wannabe professional outdoorsman.  Okay, my first   
   year I used a Plymouth Volare station wagon.  LOL  I think if it had the   
   same tires it would have been better than the pickup.   
      
      
   --   
   Bob La Londe   
   CNC Molds N Stuff   
      
   --   
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