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Thread: Mounting a COMMO Shelter

  1. #1

    Default Mounting a COMMO Shelter

    During my time in the Signal Corp, we had our AN/GRC-142 shelters mounted on the '715. Of course, we did not mount them ourselves, we received the trucks and commo gear ready to roll.

    When my truck is out of the restoration mode, I'll be mounting my complete AN/GRC-142 on the back. My questions revolve around the '715 "quirks" booklet on the subject of shelters.

    This is a copy of what is in the "quirks" booklet;

    M715 COMMO GEAR GIVING YOU INSTALLATION AGGRAVATION?
    You may’ve already found out the hard way that commo installation kits for your M37 (G741 series) 3/4-ton cargo truck aren’t right for the new M715 1-1/4-ton job. Hang in there. With few exceptions, help is coming. A revised SB 11-131 is on the way with listings for the M7l5 and other new vehicles.
    No kit is planned for the Angry-46, because the Standard B set is scheduled to be replaced by the AN/GRC-142. Which means you improvise, should you lose your M37 to an M715. It’s a matter of lengthening tie-downs and adding a few 2 x 4’s around the Angry-46 shelter. For the present the Angry-142 and the AN/GRC-122 radio teletypewriter sets will be installed n the M715 in the S-318 Shelter, which was designed for the M37 3/4-ton. Which means you’ve got to improvise to install the shelter, just like with the Angry-46.


    Well, I certainly do not remember using or seeing 2x4's around our shelters. Measuring the shelter and the bed of the truck says it will fit nice. The shelter will be a bit narrow between the wheel wells, unlike the M37, but so what? Also, the bed is longer then the shelter but again, so what? It fits almost perfectly side rail to side rail. The tie downs will hold it in place.

    Any mil-rad guys out there who remember what they are talking about with the shelter mounting needed to be "improvised"?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    North Central Wisconsin
    Posts
    11,520

    Default

    They look a lot like this in an M715....minus my son of course:










  3. #3

    Default

    Exactly. I've seen many ( although without the bunks!). It still begs the question; why did the manuals tell you to improvise and use 2x4's in the mounting?

  4. #4

    Default I was thinkin of...............

    I was thinkin of putting an S-250/G on mine?

  5. #5

    Default And.......

    A great looking rig there................

    Now ya need a GRC-106 and some TTY gear.........
    perhaps an RT-524 too!

    I added LSB to my GRC-106's so I can use it all over the ham bands!
    Go figure I'm a "ham" too!

    We operate a CUCV with full up radiio shelter.... I'll take some pictures in April
    Plan to take the new M715 out this year too....even though it's in the fix-it-up mode

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    North Central Wisconsin
    Posts
    11,520

    Default

    Not my rig...Vietnam vet named Phil who was at the local military vehicle show up this way a couple years ago...nice rig and a nice guy!

  7. #7

    Default

    To answer the question I think the manual told the GI to imrpovise because the older shelter made for the M37 was different than the ones that were made for the M715

    A revised SB 11-131 is on the way with listings for the M7l5 and other new vehicles.
    No kit is planned for the Angry-46, because the Standard B set is scheduled to be replaced by the AN/GRC-142. Which means you improvise, should you lose your M37 to an M715.
    Basically it was telling the radio guy to make the old shelter fit till he got the new and improved one.
    Zone holster maker

  8. #8

    Default Shelters for Radios......and 2X4's

    The use of 2X4s around the shelter on the bed floor was pretty common, and often used on M-883 and M-1008 as well as M-715. The shelter tiedowns alone are not enough to prevent the shelter from sliding a bit out of alignment in the truck bed when the vehicle is thrashing about during heavy off-road operation, or even after really slamming on the brakes on the road. Wood planks are jammed in around the base of the shelter, taking up the extra space in the bed, and securing the shelter at the bottom. Without them, the tiedown tensions have to be super tight, which strains mounting hardware, and increases the force against the truck bed. They're needed even with the larger S-250/G.

    BTW, there were definitely M-715s with the GRC-46 installed--I've seen 'em. They were used mainly by the National Guard. But it's true that most M-715s got the later GRC-122 and 142 (GRC-106-based stuff). The initial run of 122s and 142s were in the smaller S-318, and mounted on the M-37, and many were directly transferred to the M-715 when they came out. The S-89 (steel) and S-144 (aluminum), as used in the GRC-46 were a bit smaller still.

    There were several versions of the GRC-122/142, differing mainly in the shelter electrical system and model of TTYs used. The 122E, which is the full duplex model (two ttys, two RTs--one used as a receiver), with UGC-74s replacing the older TT-98. The E model also had a radically revised power distribution, with solid state inverters and fluorescent lighting system.
    I've seen two distinctly different versions of shelters with the S-318 nomenclature. One was larger than the early S-318 and looked like an S-250/G, but was a tad smaller. If you didn't look closely, you might not notice the difference.

  9. #9

    Default Those 2x4's

    Do you remember if the shelters were slid all the way front when mounting? I do not remember. I do know we had room at the rear but not sure if we centered the shelter, front to back, or slid it way front. The 2x4's, or other blocking, is also not remembered but makes sense. Was also wondering about the shelter skids and the corrugated floor. The skids are wider then the floor corrugations so must either span the gaps or not be riding totaly on top?

  10. #10

    Default As I recall............

    As I recall they were slightly slid back to match the securing tabs on the truck bed to align the hardware with the shelter tabs and 4x4's between it and the front of the bed, but don't remember if it was 1 or 2 for spacing though.
    I also remember ramming shims "under" the shelter too. This most likely was due to what you referenced about the shelter skids and the corrugated floor alignment problems

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