rubber pad under blackout driving light mount

keats · Post by **keats** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:23 am

Another question about M38 mounting pads.

What was the reason for the rubber pad under the blackout driving light mount on the left fender??

I know its in the ORD 9 but have not seen many m38's or M38A1's with this part.

Anyone have this part on their jeep prior to restoration?

Post by **wesk** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:30 am

It's only practical purpose was to seal out moisture from between the mount plate & the fender to reduce corrosion issues.

BCA · Post by **BCA** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:22 am

This rubber insulator pad (listed in Group 2101 along with the BO driving lamp support) may have been an attempt to insulate the BO lamp bulb from road shock. I have seen original pads: they are a black sponge rubber, originally 1/4" thick that collapse to a thin layer where the BO lamp support touches the fender: in photos you can see it oozing out along the edges of the support bracket in photos. The full thickness is preserved in the recess under the central part of the support. There are 4 special internal-external tooth washers that ensure that the lamp support is adequately grounded but this is redundant since the cable to the lamp includes a ground cable that grounds to the inner front fender. I have NOS pads packaged in 1957: they are a light gray foam rubber so there were variations in the color. This pad, unique to the M38, is not used on MB/GPW or M38A1 vehicles. ..... Brian