ww2dodge.com Forum

Want to buy a WC and drive it, but winter is bad here. Is there any way to close the cab on a WC55?
What did they do in WW2 in the bad weather?

In WWII they just got very cold!

It has been said that there were " cold weather" cabs designed and made available during the late Korean War. While I have seen pictures of a lot of cabs on WC's that were reported to be Korean Era cold weather cabs I have yet to see any documantation or proof that they did in fact exist. I think they were all post war addons.

wrevis:

With my limited knowledge, I can only recall seeing canvas enclosures on the open cab WC's, with NO heaters. They DO NOT have any insulation! My guess is that the GI's driving them were content considering their other option was walking. I would be more concerned about road salt than the cold when driving a WC in the winter.

Later

if you wanna stay warm, forget the idea of an open cabber.

if yer heart is set on a 3/4 ton, go for a carryall or ambulance.

if you want a nice pickup, in the WC family, go to the 1/2 ton wc closed cab trucks.

nice and comfy, can fit a heater to them, and they have real roll up windows.

had one for years in New England. couldnt beat it, except on hot summer days, but even that was tolerable up north all year long, as long as your moving you get a great breeze thru the cab.

Bad weather, heck, no beating them.

Watch the open cabbers run for cover when it rains, grit their teeth against the cold and sleet in convoys and normal driving, when all you gotta do is roll up them windows , crank the winshiled closed, and whoala!

comfort.

If I had the room, I would have a closed cab and a opne cab. Not a chance. one at a time, so a command car will do for my needs now here in Texas.

Hi,

The Norwegian army had a cab enclosure, steelframe with doors, for all their WC's.

Bought my WC51 (1944) in Norway 1994. It had the enclosure and heater, plus a hose and defroster nozzle placed in front of the driver. I still have the heater, hose, nozzle and waterhoses that run from an outlet on the waterpump to the heater and back. Not the enclosure, though.

I don't use my Dodge in cold weather so the heather is up for grabs.

As always,

Goran Noren
Sweden

There was a postwar issue insulated Arctic Enclosure Kit for the 3/4 Ton and 1 1/2 Ton WC series that was all metal and Insulated. They were contracted for starting around 1947. It came in 3 major parts, the top, back and two doors, along with the hardware to install. the installed kit gave the WC the awkward appearance of a roadgrader cab. I have one NOS kit left that is slightly weathered and missing door handles and mounting hardware. It was fabricated by the Stoughton Manufacturing Co. in 1947. These Cabs were developed at the same time the army contracted with Stewart Warner for their very efficient 978M Gasoline Heater kits. Some late ORD 7s may show this kit. They were very effective in making a very comfortable drivers compartment and were widely used prior to and during the Korean War period.

I have a canvas winter cab enclosure installed on my 42 WC52. It has canvas doors with pexaclass windows, as for heat there is a lot coming from the engine. When I was in Korea the standing rule was NO canvas on troop carring trucks, this was so that you could dismount quickly if came under attack. I saw 25 men get killed do to having a cover on their truck and had no way of gettin out. Myself I like to run my truck the way my brothers did in WW2 and Korea. open cab. These enclosure are very comfinding. I may be selling my top at Aberdeen this coming year. I have pictures, but do not know how to put on this web, but if you email me I can send through email. email: rpamos@comcast.net

A lot of pictures of that other vehicle, the J*** show unit built hardtops. I use a Belgian army tank suit and thermal undies. but there are modern electric motorbike suits. I have ply wood and perspex frames that act as doors which work well enough.

Airborne Bob wrote: I have pictures, but do not know how to put on this web

See: viewtopic.php?p=86#86

Well there you go I guess there was a post WW2 pre Korean War hard Cab. Ranger can you post some pictures of a correct hardcab? I would love to know what is legit and what is Bubbasized.

Hear, Hear, for the 1/2 closed cab for winter. I just changed my heater for a better on and it does a damn good job. I am searching for defroster funnels that mount under the dash.

Sudden inspiration There is an easy way, buy a carryall or a 54. the problem in UK is wind and rain blowing in sideways. Can anybody suggest how to fit wipers on the inside

My cab is stored away in a building among some other parts, it would be difficult at this time to get it out. I had it sold once to a guy who jumped me thru one hoop too many. It is now resting comfortably waiting for the day when I decide to have bare walls.
There is one shown installed on a WC in one of Bart Vanderveens' Observer series of books on WWII Vehicles.

Whats this? cab heaters in an open body WC. Those things are for yer namby pamby jeep owners. Thats why you can buy Jeep coats but you dont see anybody selling Dodge overcoats. However if you must, go round the breakers yards and buy a modern car heater and disembowel it for the matrix and fan. You dont need the aircon bit. There are tons of space to hide it behind the instrument panel. Dont worry about it being 12 volt it just runs slower which means the air passes slower over the matrix and therefore picks up more heat. Thats the theory, but theory says bumble bees can't fly. Also some of the air can be ducted up the screen to demist it. Tony if you open the screen horizontal you will find that internal wipers are not required. A set of MK8 goggles and a silk scarf (white of course) is the only additional clothing for the winter, not forgetting a Dodge tee shirt ,cut off jeans and open toe sandals. Minimal clothing is easier to dry!