BM-13-16 on a ZiS-151 chassis in a museum in Chisinau, Moldova 2

The ZIS-151 (russian: ЗИС-151) was a general-purpose truck produced by the

Soviet 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 nation ...

car manufacturer Automotive Factory No. 2 ''Zavod imeni Stalina'' in 1948–1958. In 1956, the factory was renamed to ''Zavod imeni Likhacheva'', and new trucks were called ZIL-151 ().Каталог запасных частей автомобиля ЗИЛ-151. Mashgiz, Moscow 1957. (Original spare parts cataloge for the ZIL-151.) The ZIS-151 was the first major Soviet military all-wheel-drive truck built following

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 opposing ...

, replacing the imported U.S. Studebaker US6 and the earlier Soviet

ZIS-6 The ZIS-6 (russian: ЗИС-6) is a Soviet general purpose 6×4 army cargo truck, a three-axle version of the ZIS-5 The 76 mm tank gun M1940 F-34 (''76-мм танковая пушка обр. 1940 г. Ф-34'') was a 76.2 mm Sov ...

. In early 1948, the cabs were made of wood, soon replaced with a steel cab. Tens of thousands were produced, including specialized versions for hauling different types of cargo. The Soviets also found the trucks an ideal platform for

BM-13 The Katyusha ( rus, Катю́ша, p=kɐˈtʲuʂə, a=Ru-Катюша.ogg) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area ...

''Katyusha'' rocket launchers. The most famous developments of ZIS-151 were the

BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet Union, Soviet armored personnel carrier (БТР, from Бронетранспортер/''BTR (vehicle), Bronetransporter'', literally "armored transporter"), built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 uti ...

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...

and the

BAV 485 The ZIS-485, army designation BAV (Russian, БАВ, большой автомобиль водоплавающий - ''bolshoi avtomobil vodoplavayushchiy'', ''big floating vehicle''), is a Soviet amphibious transport, a copy of the WWII Americ ...

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, ca ...

. Due to de-Stalinization the ZIS-151 was renamed in 1956 to ZIL-151. In 1958, an improved model, the

ZIL-157 The ZIL-157 is a general-purpose -ton 6×6 truck, produced at the Lichachev plant in the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1977, when production was transferred to the Amur plant, since the Lichachev plant wanted to focus more on modern trucks, such as ...

, was introduced and replaced the ZIS-151. It differed outwardly by its grille and having single rear tires, instead of the ZIL-151's dual tires. In 1956, the Chinese began building the ZIS-151 under license as the

Jiefang CA-30 The Jiefang CA-30 is a military truck used widely by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It is a licensed-produced Soviet ZIL-157 6x6 army truck, and looks similar to original, except that it has square fenders rather than round fenders as on ...

First Automobile Works China FAW Group Corp., Ltd. (First Automobile Works) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Changchun, Jilin.

, with slightly more power and angular front fenders. The improved single tire CA-30, introduced in 1958, remained in production until 1986.

Engine and driveline

The ZIS-151 engine, a

L-head A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

inline 6 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 2600

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 ...

. The transmission was a 5 speed with a direct 4th gear and overdrive 5th. The

transfer case A transfer case is a part of the drivetrain of four-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, and other multiple powered axle vehicles. The transfer case transfers power from the transmission to the front and rear axles by means of drive shafts. It also syn ...

had high and low ranges, and selectively engaged the front axle. Both front and rear axles were a split type.

Chassis

The chassis was 6×6, with three live beam axles, adapted and strengthened for conditions in the USSR. It had a reinforced ladder frame with three live beam axles, the front on semi elliptical

leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, i ...

s, the rear tandem on quarter elliptical leaf springs with locating arms. Wheelbase was to the center of the rear bogey and to the center of the rear axle. ZIS-151’s tires have a larger cross section, versus the US6’s . Both had dual rear tires. The wider tires spread the load over a wider area. This allows the truck to be operated on softer surfaces. The ZIL-157 has much wider single rear tires. To further increase the footprint, a centralized inflation system allows the tire pressure to be reduced from the cab for soft surfaces, then re-inflated for road use. The drive shafts were laid out like the US6, but as a mirror image, the front axle differential was offset to the left, while American trucks were offset to the right. Air brakes were used, on the ZIL-157 the air system also supplied the centralized inflation system.

Specifications

*6×6

ZIS-150 The ZIS-150 was a Soviet truck. In 1947 it replaced the ZIS-5 truck on the assembly line. Together with the GAZ-51 it was the main Soviet truck during the 1950s, judging by their quantity. A tractor-trailer version of the ZIS-150, the ''ZIS-120N' ...

based truck *Engine: ZIS-121 6-cyl, at 2600 rpm, *Bore/stroke: × *Compression ratio: 6.0 *Clutch: dry twin plate *Gearbox: 5×2 speeds *Length: *Width: *Height: *Wheelbase: , rear axis clearance: *Front wheel track: *Rear track: *Turning radius on front outer wheel: *Weight (without load): *Maximal speed (loaded, highway): *Tyres: *Fuel tank capacity: 2× *Fuel consumption:

Variants

*ZIS-151: Original production version. Produced 1947-1958. **ZIS-151D: As ZIS-151 except with shielded electrical equipment. Produced 1955-1958. **ZIS-151E: Export version of ZIS-151. Produced 1949-1958. **ZIS-151P: Cab-chassis version (for PMZM-3 fire truck). Produced 1951-1956. **ZIS-151U: Export version of ZIS-151 for tropical climates. Produced 1956-1958. *ZIS-121B: Tractor-trailer version. Produced 1954-1958. *ZIS-121D: As ZIS-121B, except powered by a ZIS-121D engine. Produced 1955-1958. *ZIS-151A (ZIS-121G): Prototype modernized version of ZIS-151. Produced in 1953; entered production as the ZIL-157. *ZIS-151B: *ZIS-151V (ZIL-157A): *ZIS-121V: Prototype for BTR-152. *ZIS-153: Prototype halftrack version. Produced in 1952. *ZIS-151G (ZIL-E157): Prototype for ZIL-157. *ZIS-128: *

: Armoured personnel carrier. *

: Amphibious military version.

References

External links

* * {{Commons, ZIS-151 ZiL vehicles Trucks of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced from 1945 to 1949