Hi Everyone
I have the new AFV CLUB and I am looking for something non Vietnam so my question is :-

who used them, ie what countries and pictures etc.
I have searched the net with out much success except in Vietnam as gun trucks , what about plain old trucks

Thanks
Ossie

A few other operators, i.e. not USA, Vietnam or Kambodja, are listed here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M54_5-ton_6x6_truck
/ Robin

thank you
but not many pictures
ossie

Greek M54 pontoon bridge truck?
Korean K500, based on same chassis?

The problem with the M54 was that most of the military usage took place before people had Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, mobile phones with cameras, digital cameras et.c.
This means that most of the pictures that can be found on the internet show ex-miltary trucks, used by a wide range of groups and individuals, from the guy who wants an off-road truck for his farm all the way to wannabee militias. I found one picture labeled 'Detroit Arsenal of Democracy'
http://www.detroitarsenalofdemocracy.org/about-us-1.html
so there is quite a selection of users.
The original military users hasn't exactly littered the internet with pictures, which is a pain in the proverbial for us model builders
/ Robin

What about a Lebanese one ?

https://milinme.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/the-5-ton-truck-in-lebanon-1-the-m54/

H.P.

Do yo already have the kit? If so, where did you find it? I didn't think it was out yet since I hadn't found it.




Sort of. The ROK KM500 series 5-ton was based on the US M800 series 5-ton. The M800 was an improved M54 with a longer hood and larger engine. Pretty much the rest of the truck was the same. Check this thread for a comparison.

ROK KM500

Hi;

These truck's never were Popular in my Collection; But looking at some of the newer kit's, I just mite have to change my mind. IMHO we don't have enough, like some of the 8x8s that Tatra made.
Hey Heavy Arty; Did you ever find A Club to join.?

CHEERS; MIKE.

Well the Guy from Real Model said he was going to make a conversion to make it into the M800 seires trucks... And the M800 truck was used alot.

M54 USAREUR
https://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ArmoredCav/Partials_11th%20ACR%20k.htm

BTW I photographed an M62 wrecker at W.O. Darby barracks, Fürth, Bavaria ca. 1994!

Hi, lucky guy having one already. I too have been looking for pics of the M54. There's a few in various tankograd books on the. US Army and I remember seeing one 3 colour CARC in the early 90's and no, it wasn't an M813.but a rebuiltM54. They were used extensively in Europe but sadly few people took pics. The colour scheme would be standard OD. A few would be inMERDC, MASSTER and DUALTEX. Hope this helps.
Regards Jason

REFORGER 1991 :


"A US Marine services a M54 Truck, Cargo, 5 ton 6x6 at the Beirut International airport, Apr 1983" :



Full size

"2nd Maintenance Bn, 2nd Force Service Support Group, perform a maintenance inspection on a Marine M-54 5-ton 6x6 truck in a staging area, Wilmington, NC, 5 Sep 1981" :



Full size

H.P.

Hi Everyone

wow just what I am looking for , I remember seeing them in the 80s when I was in Germany on exercise with loads of other vehicles,
so the last few pictures are what I am looking for .
thanks everyone and please keep it coming it will give other people ideas what to do with the truck kit

Ossie

Another USMC M54 in Lebanon. This one is fitted with drop sides (= M54A1C) :



Full size

"Marine camouflaged M54 5-ton trucks are prepared for transfer from flatcars to a cargo ship in support of a possible rapid deployment of a 12,000-troop brigade operation, Wilmington, NC, Port Authority, 5 September 1981" (I guess these are M54A1C trucks as well...) :



Full size

H.P.

French

Love the camouflage on the trucks on the flat bed , found a load today in three tone NATO scheme all scrap and up for sale .
which gives me more ideas
thanks all so far ossie

For a start, the M54A1 5-Ton Truck was used extensively in Field Artillery Battalions, and I can tell you exactly what a Divisional Direct Support Battalion in Germany equipped with the M109 series of 155mm Howitzers contained.

Each Firing Battery had 3 of them (one equipped with a winch) each towing an M332 1 1/2 ton trailer. These were assigned to the Battery ammo section and one way to display them is loaded up with pallets of projos and powder canisters. We would often have them drive along the firing line after a trip to the Ammo Supply Point and drop off ammo to each gun or the M548 assigned to each gun section.

Service Battery had 9 (3 with winches) also towing the M332 in the Battalion Ammo Section.

Service Battery also had 2 vehicles in the Battalion Supply Section towing M105A1 cargo trailers.

And finally also in Service Battery, there were two vehicles in the Battalion POL (refueling) section and these had Tank and Pump units mounted in the cargo bed and also towed an M105A1 trailer which mounted an additional Tank and Pump unit. Vehicles would line up and drive by one to keep filled up.

That's three separate ways to display one of these trucks in a diorama.

Is this an M54?



The gun is a twin 37mm but ZU-23 or ZPU-4 may be a good option too.
Still a gun truck thought...

I guess the truck above is a M809 series one (M813 ?)

Here's a M54 towing a Nike-Hercules missile M94 launcher in Germany :



H.P.

Thought it had the air cleaner on the other side of the hood?

The M54 has a flat front, the headlights are almost in line with the front of the grille



See the straight line of the grille?

The grille on the M800 series protrudes further forward.
Someone asked for advice on backdating his 1:1 M809 to an M54/M52 and the "witty" reply was to run it into a wall to flatten the nose ...


See how the grille bends backwards?

Then came the M923 and the flat grille was back again


The air-cleaner clue can be tricky:

"The M39 series were originally powered by a Continental R6602 engine, a 602 cu in (9.9 L) overhead valve inline 6 cylinder gasoline engine developing 224 hp (167 kW) at 2800 rpm. The -A1 upgrade had a Mack ENDT-673, a 673 cu in (11.0 L) turbocharged inline 6 cylinder diesel engine developing 210 hp (160 kW) at 2100 rpm. The -A2 upgrade had a Continental LDS-465-1A, a 478 cu in (7.8 L) turbocharged inline 6 cylinder developing 175 hp (130 kW) at 2100 rpm. [3][4][5] Gas engine models have a down-swept exhaust exiting from under the body just ahead of the righthand front set of rear wheels. Diesel (-A1) and multifuel (-A2) models have a vertical exhaust stack and air cleaner on the right fender, however a very small number of the earliest -A1 models and some -A2 gas/multifuel conversions are seen with same style of downswept exhaust as on gas models. Of important note, A2's with a factory build date prior 1964 originally were gas engine models. Most of these conversions received the overdrive-5th transmission found in "pure" -A1 and "pure" -A2 models. However, some converts retained their original gas model direct-5th transmission which gave closer gear ratios but a top speed of only 45 mph with a multifuel due to the lower top rpm allowed on that engine compared to a gas engine."

The M54A1 and -A2 have the aircleaner on the right hand fender. The original M54 (call it A0 if you like) doesn't have the air cleaner outside. The absence of an air cleaner on the right side does not make the truck an M8nn, without checking the front of the grille it could be either an M54A0 or some M8nn.


M54 without air cleaner
/ Robin

AFAIK the air filter location depends on the type of engine fitted : the M809 series trucks with the turbo conversion have the air cleaner moved to the right side fender.



EDIT : I thought Erik was talking about the truck pictured in his post, not the one in mine...

H.P.

Those moroccan 5-tonners are not M54, but M800-series vehicles. Check the angled grille + longer hood. As I posted before, M800 series had two different grill styles, an early one made up of welded slats (like the moroccan truck), and a late one made up of tube+mesh style.

Early:




Late:

You're right Javier. Should have paid more attention to the grill...I've edited my previous post.

Here's another M54 in Germany :




"An M-54 5-ton truck fitted with refueling equipment is offloaded from the vehicle cargo/rapid response ship USNS ANTARES (T-AKR-294) at the Dundalk Marine Terminal, Baltimore, MD, 20 February 1986. The vehicle was used by the 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Wisconsin Army National Guard, during Exercise Reforger 86"



Full size

H.P.

cool! where did you get it from?