g741.org

Howdy Boys,

I was reading a post on here recently (don't remember which one) and someone made a comment about the B1's having more rust issues than the earlier M37s. That brought back a memory of when I picked up my first M. It was down in Virginia a couple of years ago now on a nice rural farm. I checked out the truck and drove it up on the rollback, and I said something to the ex-owner about the fact that I had a hard time believing the 52 M I was buying from him was so rust free after all this time. That's when he said something to the effect that they had another M that belonged to his brother, but that it was a new B1 model, and was a total rust bucket. He said "they", meaning Dodge, must have changed the steel they used to build the new B1's because both trucks spent their lives on this farm doing the same 4-wheeling, etc.

So now that I've heard the comment twice about the B1's rusting more than the earlier trucks I'm wondering if that's true. I'd expect with all the member of this forum and all the M37s owned that that myth (or fact) could be easily confirmed or debunked. So what do you guys say?

thanks,
bob

My experience was the same, I have seen farm trucks where the older 'straight' M37 'parts truck' ended up in better shape than the B1 truck they were using. I'm not sure if it's a different metal, a different paint/primer, or what, but they rust!

CD

One thing to think about is when a large group of like vehicles went through military rebuild, most were stripped down and major assemblies were co-mingled. Especially the M-37 with it's long overall service life. Figure some 160,000 of them were built over the years, and just about every one was given a major rebuild at least once or twice.

For those that find an original build card tucked away in the frame, do the engine numbers agree with it? Unlikely.

I've had many G-741 trucks over the years, and some body parts were really rusty, most without any reason, even in places where snow or mud didn't build up. Other parts on the same truck not so.

Perhaps the later B1 parts are those that exhibit the most rust.

DDG

I have heard the same thing. ONe guy claimed the metal is different in the later trucks.

I have always been amazed at how LITTLE rust was on my 65 B1 despite the fact that it looked like it led a really rough life after being released from service. I just posted over on the general forum that I recently replaced all of the original brake lines and hoses. Maybe the newer trucks, by the very fact they were newer, were used and abused more quickly. Who knows, they are still much more solidly built than anything on the market today. And easier to work on!