Coil Spring Assisted M38 ?

[Bull Run]

Does a military modification for a coil spring assisted rear axle on an M38 sound familiar to anyone? Para jeep? air drop jeep? radio jeep? or something else?

[all4jpn]

not much help but my 63 cj5 has these on all four corners..believe these were a jcwhitney type of thing years ago

hope it helps

[Ben Dover]

Your Jeep may have possibly had the M-38C conversion for the 105/106MM Recoiless.

[Bull Run]

Thanks for the help. The picture is the right idea. The only difference is that the modification looks like it is military. There is a 1/4" steel cup welded under the rear chassis rail that looks perfect as a retainer for a coil spring. Not on the front. It is very well done and was there before the jeep was in civilian hands as far as I can tell. I'll try to post a picture.

[Ben Dover]

Has your serial number Data Plate been restamped to include a "C" after the M-38?

[Bull Run]

The jeep is missing that particular data plate unfortunately. I checked some pictures and the gun placement does not match any holes in the jeep. I am thinking it must be a radio jeep as the rear seat brackets have been cut out too. It must of been a really heavy radio to need coil assist springs. If it had a radio it would of sat on the floor. The jeep also has a KEMCO hard top but I am not so sure if it is related to a radio. If a radio was mounted to be accessable from the rear this set up would of been very useful. I will have to see if there are some hood numbers. Just a guess it is a USMC vehicle which are a pretty common find in my area.

[Ben Dover]

Check the center area of the cowl for the travel lock holes in the area between the windshield and hood hinge. As far as radios go, I have not seen any springs added to Jeeps with the AN/VRC 44 Radio which was a large unit. There were other large sets used by Missile units that were installed in Jeeps.

[Bull Run]

Here are the coil spring ? retainers in question.

I am thinking that possibly a very heavy toolbox or radio was stored in the back. I found an outline of some kind of box in the back about 18" deep right by the tailgate. The jeep was reportedly used by the West Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT) which accounts for the Highway Yellow paint so probably not a civvy mod but maybe not military either. Except for this feature it seems to be a standard M38. No cannon mounting holes anywhere on cowl. Springs are 10 leaf front and back. This feature is not on the front. Anymore ideas? Thanks!

[Ben Dover]

The DOT may have used it for hauling an Air Compressor ot heavy Welder that has a tongue load of 3-400 pounds. I have done that a few times with borrowed DOT construction equipment.

[ECVJeeps]

It looks like the rear spring pack is a mix and match of different springs. Only a few have the beveled edge.

[Bull Run]

Your right the rear springs don't appear to be correct. Not sure if there was a bottom coil spring cup or did the coil spring just sit on the back of the spring pack from sheer force? The springs don't appear to be any different from the fronts. They appear to be "original" but probably not "factory". I am not really sure what I have found. The jeep was painted in either a type of chrome yellow or a highway yellow inside and out including the underside. and even the steering wheel. Everything was yellow at some point and appears to have been applied directly over the OD.

My latest theory is that the WV DOT stuff may have been just a story to explain the yellow paint as an aid in selling the jeep to the person I bought it from. The jeep appears to have had only a few civilian owners from what I can tell as the title was last processed in 1980. I am thinking the jeep may have been a "Follow Me" jeep or an airport tug of some kind with a heavy radio or tool kit. There looks to have once been an antennae mount of some kind on the hard top. I found some stenciling on the hard top above the windshield that may eventually help in figuring out what kind of jeep it was...

Lots of investigating on this jeep still to do... There are pictures of the jeep on the www.willysmjeep.coms website under M38 Barn Find.

[Bull Run]

After doing some research into coil spring conversions done for old and newer jeeps I have decided to remove these coil spring cups primarily for safety reasons. Apparently these kinds of conversions can cause major changes in how the vehicles handle (for the worse) while driving, if not done right. Obviously there are several parts missing of unknown design making it difficult to effectively rebuild this modification. The cups prevent full axle articulation and I don't like their position in relation to brake lines either. The jeep appears to be a stock M38 not something unique like an M38-C or ambulance. It will be awhile till I can get around to changing everything back to a regular leaf spring set up with new springs, so if any new information emerges that this might be some kind of prototype chassis or spring arrangement it can be preserved. Thanks for the input and recollections.