Inside the Chieftain's Hatch: Dodge WC-51

Those spare tires caught a lot of bullets and saved a lot of lives, enabling the drivers to carry out their missions. That saved more lives. That was no inconvenience, that was good engineering by Dodge.

In the '40s and '50s, trucks with enclosed, 1 compartment rear sections were called carryalls, where the same vehicles on car chassis were called station wagons. If you wanted to get serious about it, carryalls technically had windows in the back, like station wagons, whereas the ones without windows in truck form were called delivery vans, whereas the windowless cars were called sedan deliveries. Regarding assploding split rims, I had an acquaintance from Kentucky while I was in the Army in the '70s. We were still running split rims. To properly reinflate them after the rim and tube were replaced, they were supposed to be placed in a heavy cage, which you were not supposed to put your arms or hands inside of. Ol' Kentuck ignored that last bit one morning, and when the rim let go, it broke his arm right in half.

Military vehicles don't need safety features, soldiers carry all they need for safety with them at all times. Their PT belt. It will protect you from everything. How you may ask? Because for EVERYTHING that has ever gone wrong in a military anywhere, one of the first questions asked is "Was he wearing his PT belt?"

The rad cap access was important, because even though it is a pressurized system, it is not like what we are used to now. There is no recovery tank, and use in other than very mild conditions would result in coolant loss. Making it easy to top off the coolant was a good thing. The "jerrycan" on the passenger side with the unusually large opening is in fact, the water can. (Finding one that has not been at one time or another, filled with gasoline, is a rare thing). The wheels on this example are "Combat Wheels" , and were intended to be easier to deal with in the field, especially when the heavy self sealing/bullet resistant tire/tube combo was fitted. While being the same size as the lock ring style of wheel used on the M37 they are mechanically and functionally a bit different. It's not at all unusual to find examples of the WC out in the wild, fitted with the far easier to manage lock ring style split-rim. It is possible to speedmatch /clutchless shift the WC , but it takes a lot of practice. As you mentioned double-declutching is recommended. (Also, when going from First to Reverse, or Neutral to Reverse one may find it easier to slip it into second, let the clutch out a touch, then slip it into reverse for a "grind free" experience.).

HOLY SHIT! not only tanks, but vehicles too?! this channel has a bright future. Still waiting for that Chieftain X Gun Jesus ultimate crossover.

It makes me happy to see a vehicle this old in such nice condition. It looks good too! 😊

My grandfather remembers these in the motor pools of Italy. They seem like very handy vehicles with good maintenance access, reliability, and really everything you could want in an army truck.

For anyone curious about the videos of the tire exploding, you're looking for videos of split rim tires exploding to be exact.

What a beautiful, simple, and elegant truck. 90 HP, and I will bet you this thing would go into more places than most of today's $70K "lifestyle" trucks.

It was interesting. I am glad you are doing these, not as exciting as tanks, but good info on WW II support vehicles.

That beast is Ex Norwegian as shown by freewheel hubs. The tools are actually set up in the European manner, the US standard was outside tailgate, which means it can't drop all the way. Feild mods included putting rack on plate behind pasenger seat . Though they are early pattern seats. First gear is a crawler, far easier to start under most conditions in 2nd, There are 2 types of light switch a twist and a push. My 12 volt 51 has the push, the 6 volt 54 the twist. When topless and windscreen dropped the only type of vehicle lower than a Dodge was a Jeep. Dodge claimed the ground presure of the vehicles wa sthe same as a Camel. The standard brake are perfectly adequate, if you adjust them properly by the manual! They are vehicles you are expected to maintain, and they are made to check and maintain. Except the brake master cylinder, Dodge had a very off day when they decided to mount it behind the sterring coloum! Though a remote resovoir is easy enough to cobble up.

“I just wish my Audi was like that” #cheiftanhumblebrag

Finally, a vehicle Chieftain can sit upright in. This needs to be my Sunday driver.

I am really enjoying this slight detour into Rock Island. Interesting to see other vehicles that support the needs of the troops.

I’ve watched quite a few of your videos since subscribing. They are very well done and you do a great job explaining the features of these iconic vehicles. Thank you for your attention to detail. Cheers

My father had one of these as a command/recon/light utility vehicle when he was in the army. And he loved it. Called it his 'big Jeep' and whenever I ask him about it his eyes light up. Seeing it like this I can sort of see why he liked it. Not too big, but not exactly small either, so driving it offroad must at the time have been a positive experience compared to the competition.

Excellent job Chieftain, good to see you finally do vehicles you can easily get in and out of; and I'm already a fan of Rock Island from the small arms videos - terrific mix!

I grew up with a nice old WC 51 in my family, my sweet old dad had one in the early 60s. Ours had a soft front top, and a rear top canvas too. He eventually added a front winch, and used it to pull stuck vehicles out on the beach. It was a solid gold family surf fishing machine, when I was growing up as a kid. This brings back some very good memories. Thank you!

On double declutching, when downshifting (the only time you really need to bother at all) you need to use the gas pedal when in neutral to speed the input shaft up to match the gear ratios to the next gear. Just putting it into neutral and letting off the clutch wont do anything but put the transmission to idle speed.

This is the best looking Dodge. Thanks for the breakdown of the WC/VC series of trucks. That was new to me.