Thought I found a J Dually, but...

[65dually]

Hello FSJ network,

New member here looking for some assistance from the group. I apologize in advance for the lengthy post.

I recently heard about an early Jeep truck with DRWs. I was perplexed because I never heard of an FSJ dually. I started researching and found out they do exist. I began getting excited because I heard the owner may be open to selling.

Of course, like most unmotivated sellers, he was aloof and tough to get information out. But that's understandable because like most of us have experienced, his plans to build the truck never came together and the idea of letting it go is unpleasant.

Anyway, I finally got a couple quick looks at the truck and sure enough it has DRWs! However, it has a townside bed on it that looks to match the patina of the rest of the truck. Next, I noticed the front wheels do not look like the Budd style wheels that came on the duallys I've seen pictures of online. I began to wonder if this truck was a real DRW or an axle swapped.

My final clue was when he told me the truck was a "3 on the tree." My heart sank because I remembered that all dually trucks came standard with the 4-spd manual.

I haven't gotten the vin yet, he's leary giving it out, but feel pretty sure it's a SRW truck that someone swapped. But, I thought I should get further confirmation from people who have more experience with FSJs than I do. If anyone reading my post can confirm, or deny, my suspicions I would be very grateful.

Even if the truck isn't original, I'm still considering buying it and making a cool DRW converted Gladiator.

Thanks again.

[tgreese]

Interesting. Welcome from Boston!

Pretty sure there is no front axle change with the DRW config. Instead, there are adapters fitted that allow the Budd (disk?) wheels to work on the front axle as well as the rear. This allows a rear tire to serve as a spare if needed.

Also believe the factory DRW uses a Dana 70? There is also some precedent for a Townside with flares having duals. DOn't know whether this is factory or converted, but such a thing exists. Pics would help.

Manual on the column is puzzling. I did not know of such things existing for J-trucks. Maybe 2WD? There is a '62-73 parts book online at the Tom COllins site, which might answer some of these questions. Kinda sparse on illustrations - if you get to that before I do, suggest you look in the alphabetical index to locate the part in question. Might be faster than thumbing through the tabular listings when you aren't sure which section or listing number.

[65dually]

Thanks Tim. The 1965 Jeep Gladiator brochure states the 3-speed was standard on 5000-7000 GVW trucks. But the 4-speed was standard on 8600 GVW trucks. I believe all DRW models were classified as 8600 GVW, but I may be wrong.

I've attached pictures of the brochure and truck. The green paint makes me think it was a forestry dept truck. But again, that's just me speculating.

[Harry Dawg]

Just judging by the photo, it looks to be an axle swap.

The rear end sits up much higher than any of the dually J-trucks I have seen.

If you can get another look at the truck, the serial number on the door tag will tell you what you need to know. See attached photo from TSM.

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Stuka]

Definitely an axle swap. All the factory J-Truck dualies I have seen have a front axle to match, and are not 8 lug, but rather HD-6 lug.

There are some good photos of a factory thrift side dually here: https://www.motortrend.com/features/170 ... rarer-now/

Though most duallies were cab and chassis from my understanding.

[tgreese]

Someone posted a Townside dually on here; red and white? It had flares like the Thriftside at Motor Trend, grafted to the bed. These extended further to cover the tires; not the usual Townside flares as in the OP's picture.

I have seem dually trucks where the front axle has the SRW bolt pattern, and an adapter is bolted on to change to the Budd / HD-6 lug pattern. Looking at the MT pictures, that front axle looks like the usual Dana 44. Notice the plane of the drum lines up with the back of the wheel, seemingly giving the same offset as the 8-lug SRW wheels would.

DRWfrontbrakeplane.png

I looked in the parts book, and the front axle for a DRW truck is a Dana 44 with 4.89 gears. It's a different part number from the SRW truck with similar GVWR, and I could not locate any adapter/spacer for the DRW truck front axles. These trucks use the same housing for all GVWRs. I think we could conclude that the DRW front axle is only different from a similar SRW truck in having a hub that sticks out to meet the 6 lug wheel.

Yeah, seems pretty certain this truck has an axle swap, or some bolt-on dual rear wheel adapters.

[Stuka]

Someone posted a Townside dually on here; red and white? It had flares like the Thriftside at Motor Trend, grafted to the bed. These extended further to cover the tires; not the usual Townside flares as in the OP's picture.

I have seem dually trucks where the front axle has the SRW bolt pattern, and an adapter is bolted on to change to the Budd / HD-6 lug pattern. Looking at the MT pictures, that front axle looks like the usual Dana 44. Notice the plane of the drum lines up with the back of the wheel, seemingly giving the same offset as the 8-lug SRW wheels would.

The red and white one was Flint's, but it was not factory. It had a SRW D60 in back with spacers that went between the wheels. The bed was cool through. An axle swap would have made it into a great truck. He ended up selling it, so I am not sure where it is now.

And that MT thrift side likely has a hub spacer similar to what Ford (and others) used for a dually front axle. The axle housings are the same. But there is a steel hub spacer that pushes out the wheel mounting surface.