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JEEPS DON' ,

6th January 1956, Page 48
6th January 1956
Page 48
Page 49
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Page 48, 6th January 1956 — JEEPS DON' ,
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TARE!

Latest Pattern of Willys Jeep, Now being Imported into Britain; Shows up Well under Test: New Engine Develops 70 b.h.p.

By John F. Moon, ANI.I.R.T.E. FIRST introduced during the 1939-45 war as a light, generalpurpose vehicle for the American Armed Force, the Willys Jeep has since been produced in large numbers and is now to be found in all parts of the world. The wartime version has over the years been steadily improved and the latest model—the CJ-5—is now being imported into this country in limited . numbers by the British concessionnaires, Steele Griffiths and Co., Ltd., Camberwell Green, London, S.E.5.

A 1,000-mile test of one of these vehicles showed it to live •up to its reputation, both on and off the road. Although handicapped by shipping charges and import duty, the new Jeep should still find a market among British users of light 4 x 4 machines. The basic price of the CJ-5 as sold in the U.S.A. is £683, but with additional charges it retails in this country for £875. There is no purchase tax.

The latest Jeep differs principally from the familiar wartime version in respect of a new engine, and a cleaner and stronger all-steel body design. Other refinements have been made to the frame, suspension, seating, and instrument panel and controls, but the basic layout of the chassis and transmission remains essentially as before.

Higher Power Rating Whilst the original Jeep had a 60b.h.p. side-valve engine (which is still used in certain models), a new unit is offered in the CI-5 version. This has overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves, and yields a net power output of 70 b.h.p.at 4,000 r.p.m. The cubic capacity of both engines is 2.199 litres.

During my tests the engine showed itself to be remarkably lively and to have good torque characteristics, particularly at low engine speeds. These two characteristics endow the Jeep with a brisk road performance and sustained cross-country.. ability, the latter being augmented by the six gear ratios available and the frontwheel drive.

The engine was always quick to warm up to its normal temperature of 163* F., and even when starting in an ambient temperature of 10° F. below freezing point, only limited use of the choke was necessary.

As supplied for test by Steele Griffiths and Co., Ltd., the Jeep was

in standard trim, complete with detachable hood, doors and side (-• curtains, and was fitted with two items of extra equipment of particular interest to farmers.

These consisted of a power takeoff assembly, taken from the transfer box and leading to a shaft for a pulley drive at the rear, and a Monroe hydraulic lift, with which may be used a variety of agricultural implements, including those of Ferguson manufacture. Power for the lift is provided by a hydraulic pump driven from the front of the engine crankshaft.

The Jeep is made only with lefthand drive, and when I collected it I immediately foresaw difficulties in giving traffic signals, as no mechanical indicators are fitted to the British version. Furthermore, visibility is restricted when the complete hood assembly is erected.

Therefore, in the interests of my own, and everybody else's safety, I removed the whole hood assembly. Indicators and two driving mirrors should be provided, especially as there are no windows in the side curtains.

The first part of the test consisted mainly of putting up some mileage at high average speeds and acquainting myself with the full cross-country capabilities of the vehicle. The Jeep is .fun to drive, and its acceleration and manceuvrability put it at a great advantage over many other vehicles.

The driving position is comfortable, the controls are easy to reach and the steering is reasonably light and is accurate at all speeds. The engine note emitted from the exhaust system is slightly raucous, but not uncomfortably so, and there is surprisingly little noise from the transmission.

My sole criticism affecting the use of the vehicle on the road concerns the lighting. Non-standard side lights are, fitted to the front wings to act as markers but these are extinguished when the headlights are turned on, thus giving oncoming vehicles a misleading impression of the width of the vehicle.

Powerful Headlights The double-dipping headlights give a powerful beam, so much so that even when correctly adjusted and dipped, they give the impression of

still being on main beam. This doubtless accounts for an unpleasant experience one .night, when an eightwheeler was driven straight at me.

Having made myself completely at home with the Jeep, the first serious testing took place on the Army trial ground at Bagshot Heath. It was impossible to provide a suitable payload for this part of the tests, because a load has to be extremely securely mounted to withstand several fasI circuits of the alpine course. The Jeep acquitted itself admirably, however, over the course, and several British 4 x 4 vehicles of a similar capacity were hard pressed to compete in maximum speed and hillclimbing ability. The circuits were for the most part made in high gear with high ratio in the transfer box . engaged, and four-wheel drive was used throughout. The only time it became necessary to change gear was on a 1-in-3 loose-surfaced climb.

Driving as hard as conditions would allow, the „jeep gave no • evidence of the rough treatment to which it was being subjected. The combination of good suspension and four-wheel drive enabled an accurate course to be steered, irrespective of terrain or speed.

Despite the severe soaking to which they were frequently subjected, the brakes remained efficient the whole time and there was no tendency for the gears to jump out of mesh. There was sufficient ground clearance to surmount all climbable obstacles, and as an added safeguard stout shields are placed below the sump and the gearboxes.

Following the runs round the alpine course,. the Jeep was taken on to another section of. the Heath, where there are several short loosesurfaced gradients of at least 1 in 2 severity. These were all taken without any trouble in second gear, low ratio, four-wheel-drive.

On one of the 1-in-2 sections, a stop-start test was made. The hand brake held the vehicle, when helped on by the foot brake, but it was obvious that it required adjustment. An easy start was made in first gear and the vehicle even managed to pull away in second ratio, although a certain amount of clinch slip was required.

Having seen many American pictures of Jeeps with all four wheels off the ground, I decided that we ought to do the same, if only to show that there was positively no deception! These manceuvres were effected by driving at high speed over a shallow bump, and several highly spectacular jumps were made.

On one occasion, however, the vehicle landed on the near-side rear wheel first and punctured the tyre. Apart from that and a broken filament in the tail-light bulb, no damage was sustained, although at times the Jeep was well over a foot in the air.

One point, however, became painfully apparent. Drivers should beware of the hydraulic-lift Control lever located alongside the driving seat, especially when being forcibly re-seated during jumping exercises.

Although the engine was not water-proofed, several water splashes were negotiated at high speed. No misfiring was evident until seven pools of varying depths were taken at 35 m.p.h., four times in quick succession, after which the engine

faltered for a few seconds. This was not surprising, however, as all the under-bonnet components were completely covered in wet mud.

My usual course in the SheldonMeriden area near Birmingham was used for the consumption runs. In order to obtain a reasonable average figure each run was 33 miles long, comprising three complete out-andreturn trips along the same stretch of road. The road chosen was of an undulating nature and traffic was heavy, so conditions were not by any means ideal.

The first two runs were made with the Jeep unladen, one with the speed kept below 35 m.p.h., and the.other at the maximum safe speed. Under normal driving conditions, it is likely that the average consumption rate returned would be a combination of these two results.

After adding a payload in the shape of 41 cwt. of iron bars, the runs were repeated under the same conditions. I discovered that the average fuel-consumption rates, when driving "fiat-out," were identical whether the vehicle was unladen or laden, although more heavier traffic brought down the average speed slightly.

Wet Road Surface

I delayed the braking tests in the hope that the roads would dry sufficiently to yield good figures, but eventually I had to make them on a wet surface. Slight skidding increased the relative stopping distances from each speed, but the efficiency of the braking system can be judged from the maximum deceleration rates given by the Tapley meter. These were 87 per cent. from 20 m.p.h. and 79 per cent. from 30 m.p.h.

A second series of brake tests was made with the load removed, with spstantially similar results.

High efficiency can naturally be expected from a transmission hand brake; the only doubt is whether the transmission itself will stand up to it. Nothing was broken on the Jeep, however, when making emergency stops with the hand brake alone, and from 20 m.p.h. the best deceleration rate obtained was 49 per cent.

High Efficiency Hand Brake

This was with four-wheel drive engaged, the maximum figure in rear-wheel drive only being 38 per cent. Here, again, substantially similar results were obtained with the vehicle unladen, the best figure in this case being 45 per cent.

As tha figures in the accompanying data panel show, the acceleration of the laden Jeep is high and the times obtained were even more impressive when unladen. All three gears were used during the laden runs, but with no payload it was possible-to reach 40 mph. in second gear.

The standard tool kit consists of a ratchet screw-type jack and a combined wheelbrace and screwdriver, which were of little assistance to me in carrying out the usual maintenance tests. Furthermore, my own tool kit consists of standard British c10 spanners, which were nota good engineering tit on the American-size nuts and bolts.

Nevertheless, several jobs were done. The first was to adjust the wheel brakes. There are two adjusters per wheel and the snails are secured by lock-nuts. By using a badly fitting spanner and an adjustable wrench it was possible to adjust most of the brakes, Which took me 15 minutes.

The transmission brake has two internal adjusting screws which are easily accessible through sets of holes in the drum. The screws are levered round with a screwdriver until the brake is solid and then each adjuster is eased back seven notches. This brake was adjusted with one rear wheel already jacked up and the time taken was three minutes.

The air-cleaner oil bath was removed in 25 seconds, the bowl itself being secured by a single clamp ring with a thumb-screw tensioner. Replacement occupied 20 seconds. The Fram Fileron water-resistant cartridge was removed in 50 seconds • by unscrewing a single nut on the top, of the filter body. Replacement took 55 seconds, which included the time spent in cleaning the mating faces.

The three cells of the 6v. battery were checked for electrolyte level in a total time of 15 seconds, and the engine-oil level was checked in 20 seconds. As the dipstick is combined with the filler -cap, it is not easily lost and its replacement is simple, even in the dark.

During the Bagshet Heath tests the wheel with the punctured tyre was changed within five minutes. Stripping down the hood equipment and removing the• hoop sticks and side stays took 74 minutes, but replacement took longer, because of the difficulty of threading the welt of the doors through their two-piece retaining channels.

Tags

Organisations: Army, American Armed Force
People: John F. Moon
Locations: Birmingham, London

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