Of all the bits to change........
The 6 x 6 drivetrain is rather lean for the existing horsepower. My
experience (watching DUKWs mostly) is that either the intermediate diff
goes or the intermediate output from the transfer case - one takes out the
other not figured out which. As a completely separate problem the pillow
block which takes the rear drive over the intermediate axle goes west if
it isn't maintained and leaves you seized by the side of the road.
The only bits of the system which never cause trouble are the gearbox
(unkillable if unfortunate in the ratios) and the engine. My advice would
be to stick to the stock engine and drivetrain, with particular attention
to careful maintenance of the transfer case and pillow block. One good
point is having a matched set of rear tyres which seems to help a lot.
If you must upgrade go for a newer version of the same engine. I think
Jack Tomlins DUKW had the 302 which had more grunt in basically the same
engine, and if you need to upgrade the engine figure on at least using a
transfer case and drive system from a newer 6 x 6. You can fit larger
diameter tyres for more road speed if you need it - several suppliers have
11:00 x 18 singles which have more plies in the construction and a bigger
rolling radius.
Maybe I'm being a bit gloomy - properly serviced and used the 6 x 6 will
go anywhere anytime, just remember transfer cases can be noisy, and can
scream all day but still work properly....
Gordon
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jul 02 2000 - 23:51:31 PDT