24 volt WWII trailers

davem201m38 · Post by **davem201m38** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:18 am

Hi all, the system has let me back in! obviously the doorman has gone for a leak.

Re WWII Bantam jeep trailers on the ack of M38s in the 1950s, was there at some point a change from 6 or 12 volt to 24v and were these WWII trailers converted?

I've looked where I can but I can't find a T.O. or modification change?
Did it involve just changing the bulbs and the plug?

Was there a period of utter confusion? did they have pools of 6v and pools of 24v

I ask because my Bantam T3 will be running behind my M38 this year and I was wondering how to do it.
I see a lot of pictures of M38s towing the WWII trailer but it's hard to find a picture sowing the trailer lights.
Did they use Mseries lights like the rear of the M38? guess that would make sense if you changed the plug and lead?
Thanks,
Dave.

Post by **wesk** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:30 am

There is no evidence the Army made any serious effort to make adapters or upgrade the old 6 volt trailers. I would assume they simply used the 6 volt if they had too and ran without the lights connected.

Looking at the phaseout of the MBT/T3/MB/GPW around the mid 50's made it likely this was not a big problem.

As for your situation you can build an adapter for the harnes using a WWII jeep trailer receptacle and connecting it to a M series trailer cord plug. You'll have to consider the function of the T3's BO switch.

In this set-up you connect an Mseries tyrailer cable assembly directly to the rear light wires at the BO switch instead of adapting to the WWII plug.

davem201m38 · Post by **davem201m38** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:36 am

Thanks Wes,
I asked because I see in a number of the old photos pictures from around the globe of M38s towing T3 type WWII trailers

And on one of the photos here in the gallery a T3 looks like it had been retro fitted with M series type lamps.
Cheers,
Dave.

Post by **wesk** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:47 am

I'd like to see some of those photos. Most of the photos I have seen from the early 50's with an M38 or M38A1 towing a T3 or MBT they simply did not use the trailer lamps.

Remember that you also have to replace the original 6 volt lamps with 24 volt lamps. The old style WWII lamp assemblies can be disassembled and have their basic 6 volt bulbs swapped for 12 or 24V bulbs.

My personal preference would be to keep it simple and leave the WWII trailer electrics alone and add a portable towing lamp harness with magnetic mount or clamp on M series lamps.

davem201m38 · Post by **davem201m38** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:23 pm

Oh, they are here on this site, I don't know if they are wired up or not, but from when I was out in Germany you Yanks were very scrit about lights at night as I remember, any way,

Notice the jeep on the left with the WWII lights but pluged into the M38.

And on the back of an M37?

And this photo looks dated 1958 but the M38 is still towing a round fender WWII trailer.

This one looks like a T3 with M series lights.

[/img]

Zane · Post by **Zane** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:37 pm

I cant tell on the first pics but the last pic is a m100 trailer made specifically for the m38 jeep in the early 1950's and was factory 24volt with m series wiring and lights

Post by **wesk** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:52 pm

There is only one WWII trailer in the lot connected to an M38 and that is the first photo left hand jeep. My money says the trailer harness is not plugged in. The rest of the trailers are all M100's with 24 volt electrics.

maeserik · Post by **maeserik** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:34 am

dave, nice photo's !

ERik

davem201m38 · Post by **davem201m38** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:12 am

Ah, my fault (well apart from that first one) Generally in my part of the world we only have the WWII variant suviving. I'd thought the M100 had square mud guards so that what what I was using as a spotting tool. I see the little handles now!

Whoops! and the square axle on that last one.

That first jeep on the left, looks plugged in.
Cheers,
Dave.

Zane · Post by **Zane** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:34 am

the m416 trailer had the squared fenders and it came out in the 1960's for use with the m151 series

Post by **wesk** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:50 am

Yes it is plugged in but the trailer plug/harness is the later 24V M series. That trailer may also be an M100 but the photo is too fuzzy to clearly see the small handle area. The US Army used a mobile trailer harness with a clamp on main bracket, and M series lamp and extended harness. I have one and these would be used when towing anything that did not have lights or that did not have matching electrical components for the M series tow vehicle. I also notice the M38 pulling the M100 in the last photo didn't even bother to connect the harness.

WWII G529

Post WWII 1950 thru 60 M100

Post Korean War 1959 to 80 M416

C15TA · Post by **C15TA** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:16 pm

This is how the Dutch solved the problem They were given lots of US and Canadian 6V trailers at the end of the war. When they built new trucks they just used both receptacles and wired the truck accordingly. Smart people those Dutch.
Cheers,
Barry