The Dodge WC series, nicknamed "Beeps", and at first (from 1940 to 1942) nicknamed jeeps, is a prolific range of light 4WD and medium 6WD military utility trucks, produced by Chrysler under the Dodge and Fargo marques during World . Together with the later ton jeeps produced by Willys and Ford, the Dodge ton and ton trucks made up nearly all of the light 4WD trucks supplied to the U.S. military in WW II – with Dodge contributing some 337,500 4WD unitsIncluding the 4,640 VC trucks of 1940 (over half as many as the ton jeeps).
Contrary to the versatility of the highly standardized ton jeeps, which was mostly achieved through field modification, the Dodge WCseries came in many different, purpose-built, but mechanically uniform variants from the factory, much akin to the later family of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. The WC series evolved out of, and was part of a more extended family of trucks, with great mechanical parts commonality, that included open- and closed-cab cargo, troops and weapons carriers, (radio) command, and reconnaissance cars, ambulances, carry-alls, panel vans, and mobile telephone installation and (emergency) field workshop trucks.
The Dodge WC series were essentially built in two generations. From 1940 to early 1942, almost 82,400 of the ton 4×4 Dodge trucks were built. Initially called the VC series (for 1940), these were the U.S. military's first ever "light" four-wheel drive, (pre)-production trucks,Until then, all 4wheel drive trucks, procured by any U.S. military force, foremost the U.S.Army, which already bought over ten-thousand 4WD trucks during and after World War I, were at least 1-ton off-road payload rated "medium" trucks, and 3-ton and 5-ton rated "heavy" trucks. preceding the momentous 1940 rethink, leading to the creation of the "-ton truck". However, the great majority, from the 1941 model year, were named WC series, and built in more variants. Contrary to what Dodge's nomenclature maybe suggested, the 1941 WC models were a straight evolution of the 1940 VC models, retaining their U.S. Army Ordnance Corps' Supply Catalog number.
For 1942, the trucks bodies and chassis were largely redesigned – heavier frames and drivetrains uprated them to carry tons off-road. And widening their tracks, while greatly shortening the wheelbase on the main models, plus lowering the bodies' center of gravity, gave them a much more square stance, with a much better break-over angle and side-slope stability. The trucks thus became the shorter , ton, 4×4 truck (Dodge), and from 1943 also the longer, stretched , 1ton, 6×6 personnel and cargo truck (Dodge) — all while retaining Dodge WC model codes. Although the tons improvements meant substantial design changes, they did retain some 80% interchangeable components and service parts with the ton models — a vital Army requirement, for field maintenance and operability of the trucks.
Dodge was the U.S. Army's main supplier of ton trucks, and its sole supplier of both ton trucks and 1ton 6×6 trucks in World War II. With over a quarter million units built through August 1945, the tons were the most common variants in the WCseries. After the war, Dodge developed the -ton WCseries into the civilian 4×4 Dodge Power Wagon; and in 1951, the WCs were replaced by the very similar ton 4×4 Dodge M-series vehicles .
Though the majority of Dodges built were 'Weapons Carriers', "WC" was not abbreviated from this, but a regular Dodge model code – initially "W" for 1941, and "C" for a nominal half-ton payload rating. However, the "WC" model code was simply retained after 1941 — for both the , as well as the rated 6×6 Dodges. All in all, not counting mechanically related variants, the WC series alone involved 52 model versions (thirty ton 4×4, eight ton 4×2, twelve ton 4×4, and two 1ton 6×6 models). Creating vehicles of a common platform in such a variety of designs, with payloads ranging from ton to 1tons, had no equal in its time, and is seen as an extraordinary feat of the WWII American auto industry.
Scope of the Dodge WC series The name of this article would at first suggest a focus on models that are indeed called Dodge WC-numbers, either 4×4 or 6×6. However, the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps' central Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) Supply Catalog, covering the WC series, conveys both by its title, "SNL G-657 – Master Parts List, Dodge Trucks", as well as by the explicit types list on its second page, that (because of the large amount of shared parts and components), the family of vehicles must at least be considered to include the: 1940 half-ton (T-202) VC series and -ton (T-203) VF models 1941 half-ton (T-207, T-211, and T-215) WC series 1942 (T-214) three-quarter ton and 1943 (T-223) -ton WC series, but also 1941 two-wheel drive (T-112) half-tons and (T-118) -ton WC series. Additionally, close variants of the T-207 WC-1, and of the T-214 WC-51/WC-52, were derived and made in Canada, as the T212 'D8A' and the T236 '3/4 Ton APT' (for 'Air PorTable') respectively; and further production of T-203 variants became indicated as both the T-203B, and as the WF series.
By contrast, Chrysler / Dodge Canada built another 165,000 mostly three-ton trucks, a hasty addition to the production of Canadian Military Pattern trucks, that were more closely derived from the commercial Dodge T-, V-, and W-Series trucks, and the same is true for the 15,000 'parts bin special' (T-234) "Burma Road" trucks, ordered by Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, at the time an ally against Japan.
History and design 1900–1939 — Dodge Brothers start making cars and 4×4 trucks for the U.S. Army Dodge had been the United States military's primary supplier of light wheeled vehicles, since before the U.S. joined the First World War. After starting business in 1900, producing precision engine and chassis components for other car builders in Detroit — Ford and Oldsmobile chief among these — Dodge introduced their first car, the Model 30/35 tourer, in 1914. It was stronger and more high quality than the ubiquitous Ford , and in 1916, Dodge cars immediately proved their durability, both in the 1910s U.S.–Mexico Border War — the U.S. military's first operation to use truck convoys, as well as in World War I, when some 12,800 Dodge cars and light trucks were used, primarily as ambulances and repair trucks., but also as staff and reconnaissance vehicles. All the while, Dodge maintained its reputation for high quality truck, transmission, and motor parts they kept making for other successful manufacturers.
Dodge civilian, commercial trucks were at first largely based on their passenger cars, offering light- and medium-duty trucks, like pickups, station hacks, panel vans, and carry-alls. Dodge's passenger-car chassis were sturdy enough for such trucks, from their 1914 introduction. But Dodge expanded into medium-heavy duty trucks during the later 1930s and the 1940s. Crucial developments for Dodge were the switch to specific truck-frames and bodies in 1935, for a new, 1936 model-year truck generation. The dedicated truck frames were heavier and stronger than the lighter passenger-car chassis. In 1938, Dodge opened a very large new factory, dedicated to truck manufacturing, and later that same year, Dodge introduced a drastically redesigned new truck line-up again: the 1939 T-series 'Job-rated' trucks.
Dodge developed their first four-wheel drive truck in 1934, requested by the U.S. Army — an experimental 1 ton rated model, designated K-39-X-4(USA),With 'X' indicating their experimental status, as well as "X-4" denoting the addition of four-wheel drive as their experimental feature, and '(USA)' for a government/military contract of which 796 units were ordered, in multiple configurations. Timken supplied driven front axles and transfer-cases, which were added to a militarized commercial truck. The Timken transfer case was the first part-time design, that allowed the driver to engage or disengage four-wheel drive using a lever inside the cabin.1946-1948 Dodge Power Wagon – HowStuffWorks In spite of the limited 1930s U.S. military budgets, the 1934 trucks served well enough that, after a couple of years, Dodge received further Army contracts for 1ton, 4-wheel drive trucks, and these were further developed from the late thirties. Dodge built the U.S. Army further batches of 1ton 4×4 trucks in 1938, 1939 and 1940.
In 1938, a batch of 1,700 experimental RF-40-X-4(USA) trucks were procured, and a further 292 experimental units, typed TF-40-X-4(USA) in 1939 – the first to be built, based on Dodge's new for 1939 T-, V-, and W-Series trucks. All of the 1-ton Army 4×4s, including the 800 trucks of 1934, rode on a wheelbase, and the 1938 RF-40 and 1939 TF-40 four-wheel drives were the first for which Dodge moved to separate engineering codes, in the T-200 range (T-200 and T-201 respectively).
However, Dodge also eagerly pursued military contracts for half-ton four-by-fours at the same time. The smaller size had outperformed the 1-ton 4×4 during testing in 1938, and Dodge had invested greatly in half- to one-ton trucks in prior years. In 1936, Dodge's light, car-based trucks had been crucially redesigned — abandoning the use of passenger car frames, instead for the first time built on distinct, modern truck-style chassis, with the frame-rails welded to the cross-members on their half-ton to one-ton rated trucks. Additionally, Dodge had built their all new, very large Warren Truck Assembly plant in Michigan, specifically for mass-production of light and medium trucks, opened in 1938.
Then, for the 1939 model year, Dodge again presented a completely redesigned line of pickups and trucks – the art-deco styled, Dodge T-, V-, and W-Series "Job-Rated" trucks, available in an unprecedented number of sizes, payload rates and configurations, aiming the trucks to fit every different job.
1940 — -ton VC and 1-ton VF models
Well before the onset of World War II, it was clear that the USA needed to update its military. The Quartermaster Corps (Q.C.), responsible at the time for providing the military with non-combat vehicles, moved to standardize truck designs, and by 1939, as the war in Europe erupted, the Army had settled on five payload-based general-purpose, cross-country truck classes: , , -, 4- and . Introduction of a ton standard 4WD class meant a significant doctrine shift, away from the conventional belief that all the extra weight, costs and mechanical complexity of adding 4-wheel-drive wouldn't be worth it on any general purpose military vehicle with an off-highway payload capacity, below the (up to that point) standard 1ton Army cargo unit. Mirroring the civilian market, where the use of all-wheel drive was practically non-existent in anything below payload vehicles. Light-duty off-roaders were a very small niche-market, only filled by after-market conversions, primarily by Marmon-Herrington.Scout Lost Chapter Part 8: IHC At War, 9 May 2016 by Jim Allen (4×4 writer) in Octane PRESS
By June 1940 the Q.C. had tested and approved its first three standard commercial based, all-wheel drive trucks: the 4×4 Dodge, the GMC 6×6 and a Mack 6×6. With regards to Dodge however, the U.S. military reconsidered its preferences for the build-up for the war almost immediately after this.