In a message dated 11/12/00 8:33:14 PM Central Daylight Time,
sdeemer@austin.rr.com writes:
<< Perhaps I should rephrase my question: why did the army order more M35A2s
than M34s? >>
The theory of the single tires used on the M135 and M34 was that as all the
tires on one side of the truck tracked perfectly in line, thus only having to
break on trail through mud. This should require less power.
The disadvantages are in the implementation of this idea.
In the case of the M34 and M135, there were wheel wells protruding in the
bed, which makes palletized cargo VERY difficult, and even boxed or drummed
cargo must be carefully placed around these obstacles.
The trucks with dual rear wheels (M35 and M211) have the bed raised on sills,
which allow for a flat floor.
While I have never seen tabulated data to support this, I suppose the ground
pressure is lower on 10 900x20's is lower than that supported on 6 1100x20
(although the gross weight of the 6 wheeled vehicle is 410 lbs less than the
10 wheeler).
There is also a line of thinking that the dual rear wheels make the truck
more stable, especially when loaded.
One should note that the initial G749's were M135 single wheel trucks, then
came XM211 dual wheel trucks, then the standardized M211.
In the G742 family, I have never seen "XM35," but I have seen early manuals
which only refer to the M34.
Also, I have seen photos of the single rear wheeled vehicles of both these
series, as well as the G744 5 tonners with bolt on lock rings (ala WWII) but
never on the dual wheel versions.
Finally, the parts number sequence on the G742 frames indicate that the dual
wheel version was an afterthought. The following are the Reo Motors part
numbers for the frames:
M34 RC-2924C1 Studebaker # 913000
M35/44/45/109/V17A/V18A RC-4603C1
M46 (extra long wheel base) RC-3620C1
M47 & M59 (dump trucks) RC-3594C1 Studebaker # 915232
M48 (tractor) RC-3777C1
M49/50 (tankers) RC-3973C1 Studebaker # 915161
M108 (wrecker) RC-4091C1 Studebaker # 915146
M275 (tractor) RC-4320C1 Studebaker # 915302
Similar leaps in part numbers occur on the cargo bodies:
M34 RC-52E17
M35 through serial #111441 RC-302E17
M35 after serial #111442 RC-824E17
These type of change goes throughout the vehicle components.
All this being said, I go back to Ron's answer of "'cause they built more of
them," although I don't know WHY they built more of the M35.
Some final observations....
The CCKW, US6 and M5-H6 of WWII all had 750x20 dual rear wheels.(except
bridge trucks)
The initial postwar production of 6x6's had single 1100x20's.
Later 6x6's had dual 900x20's.
Current (M35A3) 6x6's have "super singles."
So whatever the intellectual debate was in the 50's concerning singles vs
duals, it evidently has not been resolved.
Hope this entertains, if not helps,
David Doyle
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