The G-506 trucks, -ton, 4x4, produced as the Chevrolet G7100 (and originally G4100) models, were a series of (light) medium

four wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

trucks used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and its allies during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This series came in standard cargo, as well as many specialist type bodies.

History

The G506 was a

United States Army Ordnance Corps The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army comb ...

supply catalog designation for the -ton, 4X4, truck

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

built in large numbers by the

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

Motor Division of GM. Their official model numbers were initially the "G4100", and later the "G7100" series.Crismon, Fred (1994): ''U.S. Military Wheeled Vehicles''. Motorbooks International, Crestline Series, , p.258-260 They became standard -ton 4x4 trucks for the US Army and Army Air Corps during World War II. During World War II, the US military purchased a total of 167,373 four by four 1-ton trucks, and Chevrolet supplied the great majority of them. According to the 1946 revision of the U.S. military's ''Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Materiel'', Dodge (Fargo) – the initial standard supplier of U.S. -ton 4x4 trucks – contributed 6,762 VF model, G-621 series trucks in 1940; and Ford (Marmon-Herrington) and Diamond T supplied another 6,271 and 136 units respectively, leaving 154,204 Chevrolet trucks. However, some 47,700 of the G7107 and G7117 model trucks were shipped to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

as part of the Lend-Lease program.. The Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

's logistics/transport capabilities improved dramatically in the spring and summer of 1943 largely as a result of the steady supply of American-made trucks (such as

Studebaker US6 Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Ma ...

s and the Chevrolet G506s) for the USSR.

Specifications

Engine and driveline

The G506 used a Chevrolet BV-1001-UP, a

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

inline-six cylinder

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

developing at 3,100

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

and of

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

at 1,000 rpm. This is a smaller version of the engine used in the

GMC CCKW GMC may refer to: Government India * Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, in Gujarat * Gobichettipalayam Municipal Corporation, in Tamil Nadu * Guntur Municipal Corporation, in Andhra Pradesh * Guwahati Municipal Corporation, in Assam * Gwalior ...

. All models had a four-speed manual non-synchronized

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

and a two-speed transfer case.

Chassis

The G506 had a

ladder frame A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a ...

with two live beam axles on semi-elliptic leaf springs. GM banjo type axles were used, these axles were also used in later GMC CCKW ton (2,268kg) trucks. There were three wheelbases, extra short wheelbase used only on the G7128 Bomb servicer, short wheelbase (a majority of production), and the long wheelbase. All models had

hydraulic brake A hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses brake fluid, typically containing glycol ethers or diethylene glycol, to transfer pressure from the controlling mechanism to the braking mechanism. History During 1904, Frederick ...

s with vacuum boost, 7.50-20" tires and dual rear tires.

Body

Almost all G-506s had closed Chevrolet cabs, shared with the closed cab versions of the GMC CCKW – except for three models. A panel van version was built for the

Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

, open cabs were used on bomb servicers and cab over engine types were used for long-bodied cargo trucks. The pilot models had flat top panels of the front fender, but production trucks had arches over at the fender crowns.

Versions

*Model G4103 book symbol YK - stake and platform COE, K-33 truck *Model G4112 book symbol YQ - truck cargo, LWB, 4X4, *Model G4163 book symbol ZP - truck cargo, W/Winch, 4X4, *Model G4174 book symbol ZQ - truck cargo, LWB, 4X4, *Model G7103 book symbol NE - cab *Model G7105 book symbol NG - panel body, see also K-51, and K-70 van *Model G7106 book symbol NH - dump body, less winch (9,008 built without a winch) *Model G7107 book symbol NJ - cargo body, less winch (86,871 built) *Model G7113 book symbol NK - cab (tractor) *Model G7116 book symbol NL - dump body, with winch (5,133 built with a winch) *Model G7117 book symbol NM - cargo body, with winch (26,207 built) *Model G7127 book symbol NP - truck cargo, LWB (long wheelbase, 383 built) *Model G7128 book symbol NQ - M6 bomb service truck G35 (extra-short wheelbase, 7,868 built) *Model G7132 book symbol NN - stake and platform COE, K-54 Truck *Model G7163 book symbol NR - telephone body, with earth borer, see also K-44 truck G-506 4x4 Chevrolet G7163 Earth Auger, Polesetter pic1

G-506 4x4 Chevrolet G7163 Earth Auger, Polesetter pic1

*Model G7173 book symbol NS - telephone maintenance body, see also K-43 truck ;

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

versions *E5 turret trainer *J3 field lighting truck *J4 field lighting truck *J5 field lighting truck *fire truck, class 135, fog and foam

Notes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

Chevrolet G506 at Olive-Drab.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chevrolet G506 Trucks Military trucks of the United States G506 Soft-skinned vehicles World War II vehicles of the United States Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States Military communications of the United States Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944