Frame springs

[evanso1975]

Hello All,

A couple of questions on the M38 springs that I hope someone can help with:

1) I seem to remember that the WW2 jeeps had different load ratings for left & right front springs. Is this the same for the M38's?

2) The rear springs off my jeep have 12 leaves, not 11 (like it says in the ORD 9). I'm pretty certain that these springs are correct for my jeep's military service, as they have traces of the strata blue paint on them (and the same quantities of rust as the rest of the jeep ). The eye centres are 42", which I believe is correct for the M38. Any idea why the extra leaf, apart from giving folks a stiff ride in the back? Heavy trailer payload, perhaps?

Thanks in advance,
Owen.

[RimfireJim]

Hello All,

A couple of questions on the M38 springs that I hope someone can help with:

1) I seem to remember that the WW2 jeeps had different load ratings for left & right front springs. Is this the same for the M38's?

No. The left and right front springs are the same on an M38.

2) The rear springs off my jeep have 12 leaves, not 11 (like it says in the ORD 9). I'm pretty certain that these springs are correct for my jeep's military service, as they have traces of the strata blue paint on them (and the same quantities of rust as the rest of the jeep ). The eye centres are 42", which I believe is correct for the M38. Any idea why the extra leaf, apart from giving folks a stiff ride in the back? Heavy trailer payload, perhaps?

Thanks in advance,
Owen.

I can't be sure off the top of my head, but I think one of the pairs of springs on my M38 don't match the ORD 9 in terms of number of leaves and they appear to be all original parts. I'll check when I get home. And, yes, the eye center distance is 42" on the rear.
Jim

[wesk]

On a 60 year old truck with a lot of rust it is not possible to accurately assess the originality of any of the parts by their appearance. One can assume but one cannot beyond a reasonable doubt assure us the part came on the jeep from the Willys factory.

As these jeeps aged and soldiered on in the military those that stayed the longest suffered a parts shortage issue in the military supply system. This usually led to parts back ordered to the Kaiser Factory. The factory would substitute a suitable replacement. A heavy duty 3A rear spring set is quite possible. This same spring changed back in 1958 would look just as rusty as the rest of the chassis in 2011. In the USAF we often went local purchase on out of military stock items from nearby dealers.

The WWII MB's had matched pairs of springs front to front and rear to rear. The left front spring used an additional set of torque reaction springs. Little half leaf boogers attached to the bottom of the shock mount plate and the rear spring eye of the left front spring.

[evanso1975]

Thanks for the info, folks. Much appreciated.

I'll stick with the heavy duty rear springs. As Wes has said, not factory original, but they are very likely part of my jeep's military history.

Thanks again,
Owen.