This is partly true, only as an example – as it should be, American equipment is often cited, they say, everything is done there conveniently, reliably, and in large quantities. If you cannot argue with the second and third points, then you can argue about the first one. Using this truck as an example.
GMC М35 aka REO М35 was produced by several more companies, and not only in the USA, therefore it can be found under completely unusual markings with unchanged appearance and technical parameters. You’ve probably seen him in numerous American war films, especially about the events in Vietnam and various “action films”.
So, looking at the dashboard of this truck, I have only one thought – everything is so scattered here on purpose that the enemy could not take possession of the car by stealing it? Not otherwise, why else scatter buttons and levers for turning on the fuel pump, starting the engine, preheater, and much more throughout the cab.
Of course, all this economy can be dealt with by carefully studying the numerous information signs, generously crammed all over the cabin, but this takes time.
But the most interesting yellow plate is located on the passenger door of the truck, and in the center of the tidy, it broadcasts about the need to wear special ear muffs while the car is moving. That would not go deaf.
When the engine is running, exactly two things are heard – the whistle of the turbine and the roar from the exhaust pipe, it is located just to the right in front of the cab, and the higher the revs, the louder this roar.
Diesel six-cylinder engine White LDT427, as it should be for military equipment, is designed for multi-fuel. If there is no diesel fuel, then you can pour gasoline mixed with engine oil in a ratio like that of two-stroke, so that the injection pump does not fail. He can also digest kerosene, including aviation kerosene.
The motor was developed jointly with the German company MAN. In normal operation, its power is 134 hp, torque is 461 Newtons, with other types of fuel, the indicators drop, but the car runs at the very least.
The gearbox is mechanical, five-speed (in the early versions it was four-speed), a two-speed transfer case, drives to all three axles. The maximum speed on a good road reaches 80 km
A rare version of the M 35 with two axles. These are now especially in the price for those who like to conquer off-road.
In the late 1940s, when the M-35 truck was being developed, ergonomics was not much thought about. In addition, before the modernization of 1962, these trucks came with gasoline engines that worked much quieter than diesel ones. After replacing the unit, the exhaust pipe was left unchanged.
This unsightly military truck, having gone through a number of modernizations, was produced until 1989, and even today they are used by the armies of different countries, and by the Americans themselves, for example, in Afghanistan. In our country, of course, it is not widespread, I know for sure that there are three cars in Ukraine and one in Belarus, and all of them are on the move.