In other 1946 , Dodge announce an improver to its lineup as " the motortruck that needs no roads . “The hand truck in question was the 1946 - 1968 Dodge Power Wagon , model WDX , a new multipurpose fomite born from Dodge ’s experience building four - cycle - drive hand truck for American and allied military strength in World War II .
Classic Truck Image Gallery
It was then one of only two factory - complete ecumenical - use 4×4s available in the USA – the other being the Willys Jeep – arrive at it a groundbreaker in bringing the capability of four - bike drive to a broad consultation .
No doubt Dodge executives of the 1940s could n’t have imagined the huge food market for personal - use four - wheel - drive truck that exists today . When the Power Wagon was introduced in January 1946 , the partitioning described it as a one - short ton ecumenical - aim truck plan for off - main road operations on unimproved roads .
Neither , it ’s secure to assume , could they have forestall the Power Wagon ’s staying magnate . Despite " warfare surplus " looks and L - head powerplants , it would stay on on the domestic scene until 1968 , then last another X for export under a U.S. government program .
Four - steering wheel - drive trucks were hardly a new matter when the Power Wagon came out . They had been around since the clip of World War I. However , these were heavy - responsibility vehicles strictly for commercial or military use . set about in the thirties , it was possible for the owner of light motortruck to have conversion to four - wheel drive performed by firms like Marmon - Herrington , but these special - purchase order vehicles tended to be bought by occupation or agencies with very specific pauperism . " Average Joes " had minuscule vulnerability to 4×4s – at least until they became " G.I. Joes . "
World War II affect the capableness of multiaxle drive upon many a soldier who was serve by – or even fought with – four- and six - wheel - movement vehicles . Willys ' short ¼-ton scout car became a battlefield legend and spurred the troupe to site the Jeep CJ on the postwar consumer grocery .
Dodge , meanwhile , had a military motortruck it imagine it could discharge into civilian life as well . In fact , the screen of the first Power Wagon sales pamphlet touted it as " The Army hand truck the boys wrote rest home about … now redesigned for peacetime use . "
Still , the Power Wagon ’s martial roots ran abstruse . Dodge ’s involvement with four - roulette wheel - drive military vehicles began in 1934 when it built a ½-ton cargo truck for the Army . It had the world ’s first drive system that could be conveniently shifted in and out of four - bicycle mode by put to work a ascendance lever in the cab .
In 1940 , Dodge fulfilled an Army contract bridge to design and build ½-ton 4×4 military trucks in several styles using many commercial-grade truck voice . Designated the T202 series , they came with fundamentally stock front - death sheetmetal that collapse them a " civilian " appearing . Similarly , their 116 - inch wheelbase and 201 - three-dimensional - column inch 79 - HP six - cylinder locomotive engine gibe those discover on Dodge ½-ton trucks then plying American roadstead . A four - speed infection , optional on general - market trucks , was included on the military models .
The following year , the T202 was supersede by the T207 - serial trucks . Again value as ½-tonners , they feature a military - specific hood , grille , and fenders . These trucks were power by a 218 - three-dimensional - column inch six of 85 horsepower taken from Dodge ’s ¾- and one - ton commercial good example , but some T211s and all T215s ( both mechanical climb of the T207 ) dramatise a 92 - H.P. 230 - three-dimensional - in fifty - head six .
For more on the 1946 Dodge Power Wagon , see the next page .
For more information on cars , see :
1946 Dodge Power Wagon
The final step leading to the 1946 Dodge Power Wagon get when the T207 series was supersede by the T214 truck . tell on at ¾ ton , the T214s were wider and lower for more stability than the T207/211/215 models provided .
They were uncompromising , too . Simple cantilever front fenders were carry over from the former military truck design , but their out front corners were now slightly rounded off . The punk and top of the radiator grille sat lower and flatter , especially on opened - cab models , and shallow hood side board each hold six horizontal louvers .
A host of physical structure eccentric from statement gondola to ambulance was offer on wheelbase of 98 , 114 , and 121 inches . The powertrain lie of the 230 six , unsynchronized four - f number transmission system , and a one - fastness transfer case . Tires were 9.00×16 eight - ply mellow - flotation type . Between 1942 and 1945 , Dodge built 255,195 T214s .
With Allied triumph over the Axis tycoon came the return of civilian car and motortruck production in the U.S. Dodge engineer and the company ’s selling group see a ready market for the versatile , rugged , go - anywhere hand truck they had created for wartime use .
best yet , from their perspective , they could get it at very low cost because the mass of the engineering development costs had already been pay for by the Brobdingnagian government orders for the military trucks that Dodge had work up .
Though nominally betray at one - ton electrical capacity in its postwar form , the ¾-ton military truck ’s chassis did n’t have to be redesigned for peacetime inspection and repair other than to stretch the wheelbase to 126 inch . ( This some split the difference of opinion between the 120- and 133 - inch wheelbase used on Dodge ’s two - bike - drive one - net ton trucks . )
Like everything else , the ladder frame was build extra heavy and extra strong for hard usage . Side rails feature inside epithelial duct - case reinforcing stimulus . There were seven cross members , the front one being full boxed . Fully float axles were used front and rearward , as were semielliptic springiness – 11 leaf in front , 14 leaves in the rear . Double - acting hydraulic shock absorbers were standard only on the front intermission , but were optionally available for the rear .
Military trucks had used two unlike skeleton lengths , the longer one extended at the front to accommodate a winch . However , Power Wagons do only with the long figure even when buyers opted not to order their truck with the Braden windlass that was a factory option .
The taxi and interior designs dated to 1939 and were carry over mostly unaltered . Cowl - mounted parking lights , a change made to civilian - securities industry Dodge trucks in 1941 , were picked up for the Power Wagon . cowcatcher and the six - louver hood sides were keep on from the wartime T214 , but larger headlight were mounted farther off from the lattice .
The top panels of the hood and the top of the radiator surround were tall and more rounded than those of the T214 . They get from a three - ton payload truck Dodge had built for the Chinese United States Army during the warfare . The radiator filler detonator perch on top of the radiator . The massive grille was forge from heavy circular brand BAR . truck built without a winch get an extra section of this grillework to protect the lower portion of the radiator .
Front bumpers ( there was no rear bumper ) were also military style . A two - patch unit link up at the top by an angle - iron reinforcement allow a spread for the windlass cable to be play out . A thick , broad one - piece bumper was standard on truck make without the winch .
See the next page to learn more about 1946 Dodge Power Wagon models .
1946 Dodge Power Wagon Models
The 1946 Dodge Power Wagon models included a pickup , a physical body cab , chassis with windscreen cowl , and form with savorless - grimace cowl . ( The cowl - and - windscreen type was cut down in later years . ) The pickup box was of a very generous size of it . It quantify 96.06 inches long , 54 inches wide-cut , and 22.25 inch high-pitched , with a electrical capacity of 58 cubic fundament . Its floor was made of hardwood reinforce with brand skid strips . External pockets accommodated 234 stakes to help contain marvellous lots .
The surplus tyre was mounted on the right-hand side of the cargo boxful ahead of the rear fender . The flesh - cab and chassis - hood jobs countenance owners to go up special aftermarket bodies . Many were fitted with nine - metrical foot stake platforms , but tow truck , firefighting apparatus , " woody " station wagons , and even school omnibus were just some of the things that were erected on the Power Wagon chassis .
Initial paint colour included Seawolf Submarine Green ( the received people of color ) , plus Red , Dark Blue , and Dark Green . The basic rouge scheme was to paint fenders , running circuit board , and bumper contraband regardless of cab people of color , though cab color could be extended to these components at supererogatory price . Through the years , Power Wagons were available in any standard Dodge hand truck colour .
Early on , Dodge shoot a line the Power Wagon as have got a cab openhanded enough for three man . Later , though , the cab was advertised as a two - man cab , no doubt a recognition of the practical forest of levers in the heart of the floor . A gilded cab option add up vent - offstage windows on the door , a noggin light , armrest on the left over door , and treble interior sunlight visors .
The Brobdingnagian grillwork , monumental bumper , running board , rear fenders , and oversize cargo boxful gave the Power Wagon an strong-growing , no - folderal coming into court . Its winch and knobby military - type tires oozed power . The percept was not far from fact .
The dependable 230 - cubic - inch engine had a 3.25 - in bore and 4.63 - in accident . With a compaction ratio of 6.7:1 , it made 94 horsepower at 3,200 rev and 185 Egyptian pound - feet of torsion at 1,200 rpm . The four - speed infection boast extra - broken carburized gears .
A two - speed transfer case was an rise from the wartime specification . Located directly behind the transmission , it was a two - stop number unit with a 1:1 ratio in high and 1.96:1 in humiliated . With the transfer of training pillow slip in low chain of mountains , the transmission in first gearing , and a 5.83:1 concluding - thrust cogwheel in place , the overall ratio was 73.12:1 . When the front - rack - drive mode was disengaged only the lineal ratio could be used .
What to call this distinctive fresh Cartesian product ? Some former Dodge Engineering documents referred to it as the " Farm Utility . " finally , though , it was decide to call it the Power Wagon . The term had signification in the world of trucks . At one time , it but speciate a horsedrawn wagon from one that was driven by steam- , electric- , or gasoline - powered mean value . Power Wagonwas also the name of a pioneer truck powder magazine publish for about 50 yr until 1946 .
See the next Sir Frederick Handley Page to read about the introduction of the 1946 Dodge Power Wagon .
Introduction of the 1946 Dodge Power Wagon
The origination of the 1946 Dodge Power Wagon to the clear market came with these wrangle : " The Dodge Power - Wagon is without competition . No other hand truck manufacturer offers a model that is at all comparable . The Dodge Power - Wagon was design and built to encounter a definite need . It is a vehicle work up for continuous operation under extreme weather . Four - wheel - driving force give it tractive power for off - the - route military service that would stall an ordinary truck . It takes you places you would n’t expect any truck to go . "
At a base price of $ 1,627 , the Power Wagon cost $ 551 to $ 591 more than a conventional Dodge two - wheel - thrust one - ton pickup truck , a substantial difference back then . However , the division constantly underscore the fact that the Power Wagon was unique as a answer of its four - wheel - drive capability and ruggedness that made it as at - dwelling house off the route as on . Dodge sell the Power Wagon on three premises : It could be used for pulling , as in a tractor commit a plough ; portable might , as in running a saw ; or carrying , as a truck express a load .
Available tow apparatus started with a simple-minded surplus - cost pintle hook , a heavy - duty unit mounted on the frame ’s rear hybrid member . Another option was a standoff bar that could be easily aline to different stature and made off - nerve center towing possible . With the help of these two towing devices a client could perform many case of attract Book of Job with a Power Wagon .
Beginning in 1949 , the Monroe Auto Equipment Company of Monroe , Michigan , manufacture a hydraulic aerodynamic lift kit and a gross production line of agricultural and road - building tools for the Power Wagon . The heave outfit consist of a hydraulic pump and valve social unit climb on on the front of the engine , a three - decimal point implement hitch site at the backside , and a ascendancy lever installed in the cab .
The available implement were a plough , agriculturalist , circular hoe , terracing blade , harrow , hydro grader , land leveler , a lift - character scoop , earthmover , buzz proverb , posthole digger , spring - tooth harrow , and double - disc harrow . Dodge advertised that the Power Wagon could easily pull a three - bottom 14 - column inch plough and encouraged Fannie Merritt Farmer to use the Power Wagon in place of a ceremonious tractor for all of their farming Job .
Dodge was not alone in competing for farm tractor business in the former postwar period . Jeep had the Agrajeep that boast a three - point one- or two - bottom plough , tangle , and saucer . Crosley introduced the tiny Farm - O - Road in 1950 . It had six forward fastness and two reverse for plowing and other farm operations . It retailed for around $ 800 but not many were sold .
The Power Wagon ’s power to serve as a portable exponent informant was due to a two - sided mogul take - off next to the transmission . Power could be transmitted frontwards to the windlass or rearward through the tail ray of light . The might take - off operated at 61.5 percent of locomotive engine amphetamine when its rotational commission match that of the locomotive and 47.5 percent of railway locomotive speed when rotating in the polar centering . The rotary motion was controlled by a single lever tumbler inside the taxicab . The tail - shaft was used to power a pulley drive rise on a pillow pulley at the center of the rear mark member .
An extra - cost mechanical governor was offered to ensure the speed of adjuvant equipment powered by the tail shaft or pulley drive . The governor was belt drive from the body of water pump shaft and had a speed control determine inside the cabriolet . It was usable only as a package with another governor built into the carburettor to limit engine speed during on - road operation .
Engine - cool down features were design to assure proper temperature reduction when the hand truck was being driven lento or while operating stationary equipment . They included a partially shroud 19 - in diam six - blade fan and a radiator that , at three inch thick , was .5 - inch thicker than normal . A radiator runoff army tank was available at spare toll .
For more on the Dodge Power Wagon in the forties and 1950s , continue to the next page .
Dodge Power Wagon in the 1940s and 1950s
Dodge Power Wagon in the 1940s and 1950s definitely carried its weightiness . In terms of carrying capability , Power Wagons were real brutes . They were equipped for thoroughgoing vehicle weight ( GVW ) rating of 7,600 or 8,700 Ezra Loomis Pound . The latter was achieved by adding superfluous - cost 1,600 - pound - electrical capacity front and 3,000 - lb - electrical capacity rear springs , plus larger tire . stock size of it for the eight - ply tyre was 7.50×16 , with 9.00×16 available .
Dodge executives and bargainer were concerned with giving vendee approximation for how to use their Power Wagons . ( The 1946 sales manual of arms listed 75 types of concern ranging from airports to well drillers that could be prospects for the truck . ) For example , in an issue ofJob - Ratermagazine , which was send to all Dodge motortruck owners four times a year , the work of a New York State Telephone Company two - man pole - setting crew was profile .
Their peculiarly equipt Power Wagon included a boom and windlass powered by the truck ’s engine and an auger that was motor by a six - H.P. adjuvant engine . With this setup , the men could drill a posthole 12 inch in diameter to a depth of 5.5 feet in a few minutes .
Denis ' 1949 expedition operate on in unexplored , pathless jungles using a threesome of Dodges – a four - door sedan , a one - ton panel truck , and the Power Wagon . All three vehicles were outfit with radio set phone for communicating in the hobo camp .
The Power Wagon stay essentially unaltered during the 23 years it was on the market . That ’s not to say improvements were n’t made to it , though .
The solitary show alteration come during 1951 when the manner of the pickup arm box was changed . The original corner had fluent sheetmetal sides and four post pocket . The redesign used three wager pockets and the side were ribbed for strength and a bit of heart ingathering . The newfangled box was similar in style to that of other Dodge pickup of the prison term , but its eight - foot length was unparalleled to the Power Wagon .
That same year , the Power Wagon adopted the centrally mounted gauges found in Dodge ’s B - serial light trucks . Then , in 1961 , the items that had made up the deluxe cab option became standard equipment .
A series of horsepower boosts in the 1950s had the 230 locomotive engine up to 113 horsepower by 1957 . Four yr later , it was finally replaced by another dependable Dodge truck six . It displaced 251 cubic inches from its 3.44 - column inch bore and 4.5 - inch stroke . With a compression ratio of 7.1:1 , gross horsepower was 125 at 3,600 rpm ; torsion peaked at 216 Ezra Pound - feet at 1,600 rev . Though it , too , was an L - head design , the 251 was not merely the 230 with different cylinder dimensions . It had an whole different , longer pulley block .
Maximum GVW was put up to 9,500 pounds in 1957 . This was help by sum up 9.00×16 10 - ply tires , which eventually became the stock size . Starting in recent 1956 , the four - hurrying transmittance was synchronise . A switching to fundamental start was made in 1957 .
Also during the 1950s , powerfulness steerage and brakes joined the options list and 12 - V electrics supervene upon the former six - V system . The corporal chemise to the alternator in 1961 include the Power Wagon , and ringlet - out front hub became available in 1962 .
For more on the Dodge Power Wagon in the 1960s , continue to the next page .
Dodge Power Wagon in the 1960s
Dodge Power Wagon in the sixties stay ruffianly , but was eventually surpassed by other worthy competitors . By 1968 , the Power Wagon ’s 1939 - vintage taxi distinctly was an misdating .
Still , had it been potential to test - push a fully equipped new 1946 role model against a whole outfit novel 1968 , the differences between the two would have been striking . The 251 - cubic - inch engine produced more power , which made the truck feel lighter and peppier . The larger railway locomotive combined with power steering , office brakes , and a synchronise transmission would pull up stakes you feeling as though you were driving a exhaustively modern truck .
Dodge produced 95,145 Power Wagons through 1968 , by which time the starting tab for a pickup had nearly tripled to $ 4,634 . The peak class was 1957 , when 8,706 were turned out , but other geezerhood saw anywhere from about 1,400 to 6,000 produce .
start in 1960 , assemblies for exportation marketplace start to dominate Power Wagon output signal . ( In addition to the Dodge truck , there were also Fargo - badged Power Wagons made for sale in Canada and some export territories . ) begin in 1962 , this process accelerated when Power Wagons were included in the Military Defense Assistance Program , in which the U.S. government give or sold military equipment to favorable foreign governments . Having now amount full circle in a way , the hand truck continue to be made for this program through the conclusion of series output in 1978 .
While meter seemed to have stood still for the Power Wagon , it certainly did n’t for the four - cycle - private road grocery store . As early as mid-1947 , Willys fall out with a assembly line of one - short ton 4×4 trucks . With styling inspired by the Jeep , they were priced comparably to the Power Wagon , though the Willys hand truck had less load mental ability and a four - piston chamber engine . By the end of the civilian Power Wagon ’s streamlet , four - wheel - drive models could be had from any domestic maker of weak - duty trucks , and the variation - public utility vehicle grocery was picking up steam , too .
Still , the battle - hardened reputation of the Dodge Power Wagon remained as persistent as its appearing . When the division began building four - wheel - ride variants of its more modern ceremonious motortruck in the former 1950s , it put Power Wagon badge on them – and keep doing so until 1980 .
In 1999 , Dodge showed a Power Wagon concept truck that was an court to the 1940s original . Finally , since 2005 , the name has come back for an off - road option software package – including a front - mount windlass – on Dodge Ram 2500 pickups . It seems that the Power Wagon is one old soldier that defy to evanesce away .
