From: ddoyle9570@aol.com
Date: Mon Sep 30 2002 - 21:16:08 PDT
On this interesting subject....
yep, a gas M35 has high gear as direct, whereas the Multifuel high gear is overdrive.
The G-742 (M35) contract was awarded to Reo Motors in June 1949.
This caused quite a stir at GM, who responded by beginning to build 5 (or six, depending on which APG report you read) pilot models of a competitive truck of their own design. Ultimately the government took interest, and gave GM a contract for these pilot models in July of 1950. GM, who had a bit of leverage politically and personally (having worked with the Ordnance Dept a lot during WWII regarding the CCKW, DUKW and many other vehicles), was able to convince the government that a third source of tactical trucks was needed (Studebaker was already the second source, building copies of the Reo), and thus a production order for the G-749 series (M135 and M211) was issued even before the pilots had been tested by APG. This is why you find deficiences that the test team at APG demanded corrected (hood support is but one that comes immediately to mind) were present on much of the production.
The early trucks used the GM Hydramatic 302M (not Allison) liquid cooled automatic transmission. Shortcomings in its design (see above paragraph) required that it be replaced during the production run with the improved 303M.
Very little of these trucks were interchangeable with the G-742, G-744, and G-792. This, plus the teething problems with the 302M transmissions, led to this vehicle never being as widely accepted or used as the Reo. Interestingly, an extensive comparitive study done in the 50's concluded that the 302M trucks were inferior to the Reo, but the 303M were equal or perhaps superior in maintainability. Dynamometer tests done by APG indicate that the automatic transmission equipped GMC's had MUCH higher drawbar pulls than did the Reos.
As an aside, the Army and GM experimented with fitting the GMC 302 engine and the automatic transmission to the Reo, and the outcome of this was quite favorable, although, as we know, the conversion kits were never placed in production.
The GMC left the US service in the 70's, production having ceased in the mid 50's. But it was to soldier on with the Canadian armed forces for another decade. (The Canadian's never adopted the Reo, although they did a truck very similar, relatively recently) But by the late 50's the Multifuel Reo was on the way.
Hope this helps,
David Doyle
(gotta find a publisher before whole book is on this list!)
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