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M-715 tales; by special request from jeepDan
Topic Started: Dec 23 2012, 05:37 PM (506 Views)
oldtime
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NEVER AGAIN !

It was a dry hot summer day when Valerie and myself had just put 160 crooked miles behind us.
So immediately upon arriving at the farm I walked over to the spring for a long cool drink.
Cupping my hands I bent over where the water continuously pours out from some mossy limestone at the base of a giant oak.
Just then Tom my girlfriends brother and the farm caretaker walks up.
Nearly right off we begin talking about the Jeep M-715 that I spied on the trip down.
During the previous year Tom had become a full fledged Jeeper himself.
He had already become adept at crawling up very steep logging roads with his stick shift cherokee.
Apparently he summitted the hills only to find his cherokee high centered on a hickory stump upon reaching the top and with nowhere else to go.
At any rate the 3 of us would normally sit in the barnhouse at night and discuss plans by kerosene lamplight.
With no electric nor phone lines for miles we would entertain our minds with plans of the future.
I thought perhaps an M-715 would be usefull for hauling eastern red cedar logs out from the many miles of surrounding forests.
After all the 4 quarter horses had plenty of pasture land yet these grassy fields had no fencing.
Valerie's aussie was working overtime to keep those horses from wandering off into the surrounding forest.

Then after about 10 days of immediate farm chores me and my sidekick headed back to the city.
As usual I began to daydream when the conversation lulled.
I well knew that the M-715 was purely intended for military applications.
But due to it's inherant longevity many had resurfaced into civilian useage.
This truck supports the toughest of all Jeep components ever assembled.
Much like the 1 ton Gladiator truck yet noteably heavier.
This massive truck sits atop 9.00 x 20" NDT's.
And those large treads are driven by quality Spicer axles.
A massive model 70 in the rear with a huge model 60 up at the front.
These axles are geared way down to 5.89 / 1 final drive ratio.
That's notably lower than the world reknown 5.38 / 1 ratio used in the universals.
Of course the transmission is the famous Borg Warner T98 truck 4 speed.
With a 6.398 low gear I could nearly figure the trucks final drive ratio in my head.
I estimate that the drive train yeilds approximately a 75 / 1 crawl ratio.
Now that is off road respectable indeed !
And of course all this is powered by the only engine that Kaiser ever engineered.
Named in proper Jeep tradition the Kaiser 230 Tornado was a natural force to be reconned with.

By now we were well on our way back to civilization.
I again entered the small town of Caledonia, Missouri.
This time coming from the South.
As I neared the previous site of the M-715 I slowed to turn in.
I noticed the M-715 had been slightly repositioned at a 45* angle to the frontage road.
We pulled onto the front yard and parked the F150.
I walked over to the massive Jeep for close inspection.
It was very typical for an M-715.
Old and well used by all appearances with the addition of a homemade hard cab.
Soon a man comes out the front door of his house and asks right off if I want to drive it.
I didn't hesitate at all ... I said "sure do".
I didn't bother to explain how I had often fantasized about these trucks over the years.
After inspecting everything under the hood and seeing that all was original with nothing prettied up, I climbed aboard.
The size was so much more than the full size Ford that I had become used to.
I grabbed and turned the well worn key and the Tornado began to spin.
Being such a big machine the view was unlike the little 3B universal that I was so used to.
It was already obvious the M-715 would aparently require lots of area to manuever..
I noticed the 12 foot wide by 2 foot deep road drainage that lie directly in front of the truck.
I thought nothing of it.
I pushed in the clutch and shoved the stick knob way foreward and to the left.
I slowly engaged the Tornado to the tires and instantly moved straight foreward just a few feet.
The truck quickly terminated its foreward progress.
I was very surpised at the unexpected delay.
I tried reverse but no go. Then back into low without effect.
I could hear the rear tire spinning as clumps of sod flew past the passengers window.
I could not see below me but realized that I just strattled the wide shallow ditch at a 45* angle.
The frame and suspension was much stiffer than I had ever imajined.
This stiff frame was holding the left front and right rear tires off the turf.
I realized that I was already stuck in this monster truck.
I was fully embarrased at the thought.
I hadn't gone 15 feet and got it stuck on otherwise perfectly level ground.

I eyed the transfer lever and reading the dash tag moved the gearbox into 4WD.
As I re-engaged the tall NDT's the tires were still spinning on both corners.
It was obvious that open differentials were standard equipment.
Rocking it back and forth I finally got the monster truck out onto the road.
I vowed right then and there to "NEVER AGAIN" be foolish concerning my offroad prowess.
Once on road it seamed to take forever but I finally got it up to 45 MPH on the narrow blacktop.
Was likely the absolute lowest "G" forces that I ever encountered.
Anyway after realizing how stiff and nimble it isn't; I opted to shy away from it.
I decided that cash in the pocket was much more flexable than that massive trucks frame.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As we frequently traveled about; my partners Ford Ranger was getting old and tired.
One day it finally broke down while we were headed home.
We found a close phone booth and called the wrecker give us a lift.
He arrived in a typical 1 ton wrecker with a roll off bed.
He easily loaded the Ranger.
We then squeezed into the cab and headed for home.
To pass the time I began my ever constant Jeep conversations.
The driver looked me over hard and yelled out....." M-715 ! "
What did you have to bring that up for ?
I'll tell you what I think about the M-715.

He begins this story....
" I got this call just about a month ago.
Guy wants me to come and get his full size pickup and haul it home.
I arrive at this remote location and low and behold the guys full size pickup is an M-715.
I was about to go on but knew the stranded man would be all night finding another wrecker.
I hauled many a 1 ton and knew this thing was only rated at 1/4 ton more.
So I dragged the M-715 up onto my flatbed and chained it down only to realize that the suspension was squatted down all the way to the snubbers and the dually tires bulged terribly.
I knew I was in for the ride of my life as it was already getting dark.
Even so the I cautiously pushed ahead with my stranded motorist riding shotgun.
The stranded man says: "It's not very far."
"I live a couple roads over and just up the hill."
So happens these couple of roads were as curvey as a snake says the wrecker man.
Creeping along the wrecker would sway nearly out of control at every curve.
That was bad, really bad. But then comes the "just up the hill" part.
To top off the hair raising haul, the boy finnally reveiled his directions to the top of the longest and steepest driveway in the whole county.
It all started out smooth enough but there was no where to turn about.
The gravel drive soon became rutted and extremely steep.
The wrecker could barely get up the rough grade in granny low gear at full throttle.
Every rut caused another surge of screeming adreneline.
I finally made it to the top and all but kicked the guy out of my truck."

By this time we were safe at home and had already unchained Valeries Ford Ranger.

The wrecker man cimbs back in his rig and blurts one final phrase before heading off.

"NEVER AGAIN" will I haul an M-715."
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
Rock Crawler using factory parts from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)

http://s4.zetaboards.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/topic/30228766/1/#new
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div4gold
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I think the curb weight on my Duramax is more than the 715. Interesting story there, they remind me of the old 3/4 ton Army truck from back in the 60's.
Old retired fart living in Ione, WA. I have a 1964 CJ3B. Recently overhauled original motor, transmission and overdrive. 11" Bronco drum brakes on all 4. Needs a new coat of paint but that will have to wait till next summer, it's next summer and I'm working on that now :) UPS & FEDEX will continue to profit :)
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jeepdan
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Thanks oldtime , I really enjoyed the story :D
Total curb weight of an M-715 with winch is 6,000lb.
http://www.m715zone.com/vb/view.php?pg=bt_faq#1

The driver hauling mine home for me this summer probably felt the same way.
I told the towing service that I needed a full size jeep truck hauled home on a rollback truck, that said, they didn't send their largest truck.
During loading, when he started to slide the bed forward with the weight of my truck on it, the front wheels of the rollback truck started to bounce up in the air and the truck started to roll away until he threw a block in front of the rear wheels. He should have had the rear wheels chocked in the first place :rolleyes:
Then at home, he tried to back down my driveway to the garage which is fairly steep, he couldn't because the front wheels of the rollback started getting very light making braking scary and he couldn't steer.
Dan Walton Jr. Wheeling, WV

1964 U.S. Army CJ3B ( pride and joy)
1967 Kaiser Jeep M715 (my newest pride and joy)
2016 Jeep Wrangler JKU- Black Bear Edition (daily driver)
91 Grand Wagoneer (in storage)
Two 56 Willys pickups (one, restoration started, never finished)
1966 M416 1/4 Ton trailer
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HOGHEAD
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My neighbor is a kinda wheeler dealer of old jeeps & sussys,,, calls him self a offroad racer,,, Well I lift him know real fast that Id better never catch him takin inventory on my jeeps .. & when I caught his son in my mail box I took him to his daddy & told his daddy that if I ever caught him doing it again there would be hell to pay,,, (my mail box is 1/4 mile from my house)

Well I came past his house one day & there was an old fire brush truck M-715 sitting in his yard with a for sale sighn on ,, I stopped asked how much & he said $1500 I told him Id be right back ( as I needed a plow- wood truck,, wasnt 5 mins & i was there to drive it home & I noticed it was being loaded on to a rollback ... He said who ever got the cash in his hand first GOT IT ,,,, Needless to say I dont talk to my neighbor anymore,,, ,,,, Always wanted one,, Have a freind that cuts wood lots with his & its a mule and a half,,,

Love hear storys being told on this site,,, You should right a book ,, Id buy it ..Hard getting to many good storys in todays life ,, A friend of mine gets to read everyone that you guys will tell... :)
Dargan Md...
Death Before 2 Wheel Drive...
"On a Steel Horse I ride"
AMC Rules.
"Journey" not the Destination...
59 Cj3-b (married to a 74 Cj-5 frame & AMC running gear)
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