Hi there,

how would a floor of M-35 2,5ton truck look after years of military service? Would it be rusty ... slightly scratchy ... completely scratchy ... or is the colour used durable?

Please provide if you have some pictures.

THX

Jiri

Depends on Use and when the last Rebuild / Repaint was....... generally they probably wouldn't let them become total rust buckets........ but there could be spots & scratches....

For the Bed on an M35 if it has seen heavy use there would be some scratching and maybe some very minor rust in the scratches but remember that US vehicles are primed and painted with baked on paints so they adhere quite well even under hard use. The New CARC paint (Actually more of an Epoxy) is even tougher. I have been on M35's that were well in Excess of 20 years in service and nothing bad had happened to the paint in all that time and GI's can be quite hard on equipment. So don't go overboard on the scratching or rust as it just does not happen much.
HTH
Jeff

skarik,

Jeff is right. Don't go overboard on detailing. Recently had the good fortune to get military contract for mechanical and painting work for US Air Force. The work is done to very detailed standards brought to us from them. Even down to the paint supplier to use for the colors need for the repaints. Plus the woods used for flooring is usually just for support of metal plates set on top of it. After they start to rot or get chewed up they get replaced fairly quickly. Hope this is of some help.

Found this photo which may or may not help you get an idea. The floor of the bed appears to have three sheets of metal plating laying on the floor width wise.

You can search the Web for used M35 trucks for sale to find some examples like the one below. But like others have said, keep in mind that these trucks are well maintained while doing their military service. That's not always the case after they left the Army (just like for the pictured one).


HTH
Frenchy

My unit had lots of M35A2s and then M35A2Cs, also M813 5 Ton cargo trucks, when the vehicles came back in from major field use they were cleared and any damage done to the cargo bed was repainted(hard edge). Other wise when the vehicle was inspected by a mechanic and they found rust in the cargo bed the driver was presented with a wire brush, a can of paint and a paint brush. Our drivers learned thet we had wide and narrow brushes, if you can in on your own and the damage was fresh & dry you go the wide ones and were done quickly. If we caught it the narrow ones were given out and you had a small project to work on.

No wood on the bed of those trucks only heavy sheet metal.

What is this primer for? I don't remember that color being used in our camo patterns. LOL

Speaking about camo patterns I can't remember if the bed was OD or camo'd. Must be time for Depends for me.

They're painted whatever the base or overall color is, but even then that's not always the case.

As mentioned, most units will require the drivers to keep the vehicle reasonably well painted and scraping off the rust before the paint is applied.

That said, it would certainly not be unusual to see a slight amount of "wear and tear" on a vehicle which had not been into the motor pool for some time. Some dings and dents, some scratches, some chipped paint and perhaps some minor rust in areas which see a lot of use might be OK, but you should definitely not over do it. What you're more likely to see is dust/mud from being in the field, and that's just as effective to make the vehicle look "used".

As far as the bed color for vehicles which are pattern painted, I'm sure you'll see both pattern painted and some just the plain base color. I know that my unit pattern painted the inside of the beds on all the trucks which had canvas coverings, and those which had structures built in were left the original OD.

Tom

A lot of it depends on how may times they were painted. They will have mullti[ly layers of paint and some sections of rust. I was a mechanic in the US Army for 22 years.